#I made this song part of 3 different stories of revenge

[homochampagne]

quinn’s in love and death stream summary: all of the lore

he described the way bert’s voice sounds towards the ending of i caught fire as “cute and sweet”

he said he has synesthesia and gave us a color for a lot of the songs. the only ones i remember are: i caught fire is red and yesterdays feelings is green

at the beginning of yesterdays feelings, quinn’s voice can be heard saying “creaks and cracks”. it turns out he was talking about a really old guitar he was playing that wasn’t very good for recording because it made noises as you played

regarding the meaning of yesterdays feelings, quinn said he couldn’t describe it.

a lot of the songs on this album were from ideas quinn came up with. he said he did background vocals on about 75% of the songs

light with a sharpened edge was a title bert came up with, quinn said he really liked that title

in 2004, while the used was working on in love and death and mcr was working on revenge, the two bands lived in the same apartment building in la and would hang out a lot. gerard would come over to quinn’s place and quinn told a story about gerard playing 3 songs from revenge for quinn in his bedroom. quinn said he remembered thinking revenge sounded very cohesive and in love and death was a lot different; it was kind of all over the place and he worried it was too pop and that they were getting too far away from the used’s original sound. he played some songs for gerard as well

quinn talked really positively about mcr, he described them as having a “vampire motorcycle gang” aesthetic back in the day. around 2003 i believe the used took mcr on tour in europe with them; quinn said he’d often film them/take pics of them from the side stage, at one point he was thinking about maybe making a music video for them of liveshow clips but that never happened. he remembers being sure that mcr would become a really huge band (they were still in bullets era at this time)

in 2004 during the writing and recording of in love and death quinn was doing mushrooms and smoking weed and he was reading a lot of philosophy books. i forget the authors name, but chapter 8 of a book he was reading that was about transferring the perspectives/teachings of eastern philosophy into a western lens was called “how to be a genuine fake”. at this time, tensions between him and bert were high, they were butting heads a lot and quinn was sick of his behaviour. he noted how bert would act around people/treat people completely differently; he’d be great to some people and horrible to others. in quinn’s room at the apartment, he handed bert the philosophy book opened to the “how to be a genuine fake” chapter and told him to read it. bert read one page and then threw it on the bed and was like “whatever”. a few days later, bert had written lyrics to a song and said it was titled “i’m a fake”

someone asked about blue and yellow and he said “yes that song’s about me”; he gave us the exact meaning of the “your hands were shaking” line. feldy and bert have both told a story about how during the recording of the first album, bert disappeared for ~2 weeks. bert said he met some girl and was gonna quit the band and whatever. (<- when he’s talking about blue and yellow in that interview, it’s one of those half-truths where like, it did happen, yes, but it’s like the irrelevant part of the larger story, which he obvs doesn’t want to talk about now. gina is a convenient fake inspiration. this section of this interview is so eyeroll inducing because he literally admits to lying about the song in the kirsten dunst part. bert has talked about quinn being the subject of blue and yellow so many times; i have very thorough citations & proof for all of the blue and yellow stuff in my fic masterguide). REGARDLESS, when bert finally showed up at feldy’s again, quinn said that he was so mad and upset that his hands were shaking. (when i say disappeared i mean DISAPPEARED like they couldn’t contact him at all). quinn said that feldy just hugged bert and was like “you can’t do that”. quinn said that at times, feldy was kind of like their dad.

as we all know, all that i’ve got is about bert’s dog david bowie that passed away by getting hit by a car, which in some roundabout way was due to the wrong plane ticket being booked for him meaning he couldn’t take bowie, so he left him with someone who was going to drive him out to wherever the band was heading. quinn said that the line “so deep that it didn’t even bleed” is a reference to the phonecall bert received from his dad who broke the news to him that bowie died, saying “it was quick, there wasn’t even any blood”

the line “i couldn’t come/you couldn’t come” in cut up angels means cum, like orgasm

sound effects and overdramatics is about sex, relationships, and drugs/addiction

feldy told quinn to listen to the beatles entire discography around this time, which he did. he said that there were definitely beatles and nirvana influences on this album. he specifically mentioned territorial pissings, and he mentioned playing a beatles riff backwards on one of the songs but i can’t remember which one :( sorry

quinn likes thursday, and he listened to full collapse a lot

when asked, he said he likes fall out boy

he still talks to mikey sometimes

someone asked if his kids know the used songs and he basically said no, and then he started talking about how his son says “skibidi” and “rizz” and “ohio” and “brainrot” and he like knew all of the lingo???? NDSJSKAKKS and then he was like “back in my day the cringe stuff we would quote was pauly shore” (i’m paraphrasing) and then he did a pauly shore impression

off-tour he would just live out of his backpack, and he rented a spare bedroom at his friends house (im assuming this was like late 2002-early 2004 because in summer 2004 they had the la apartment). he built a bed out of bricks with planks of wood on top. (……this info combined with him just sleeping on the floor of his bedroom at his parents place because there was no bed makes me think he was just used to sleeping on hard surfaces????)

he confirmed that hard to say is about kate, bert’s girlfriend who passed away during the recording of in love and death. it was a song that was added in right at the end of recording and they weren’t sure if they would keep it in. quinn said that he and his family were close to kate, because back at the beginning of the band when bert joined and quinn said he could move in with him, kate lived with them for a period of time too. quinn said that bert and kate were recovering addicts and that he left home for a while at this point because they were staying in his bedroom and sometimes it was “hard to be around them”. we know for sure that quinn sometimes did stay there with bert, because of the whole story where they were sleeping on his bedroom floor together when feldy called from norway in the summer of 2001 and blah blah blah (which he told on branden’s podcast)

towards the end of the recording of in love and death, quinn said that he and bert were not speaking to each other. finding album cover artwork became his responsibility, quinn found alex pardee and basically organized/chose all of the album artwork working with alex (who was the artist)

because we would never figure it out, he told us a secret about ocean of the sky. put on the film 2001: a space odyssey, skip to 20 minutes and 1 second from the ending and play the song tethys and it’s supposed to line up exactly to what happens on-screen. he was inspired by those rumors that you could do the same thing with the original wizard of oz and pink floyd’s dark side of the moon. the guys had been talking about 2001: a space odyssey in regards to ocean of the sky, the “ocean of the sky” meaning outer space. he said he created the song tethys in one sitting, from 9pm - 6am and his computer crashed twice. he digitally mixed it and then sent it off at 9am that morning and that was the last song on that ep.

quinn said that he’s happy bert’s sober now, but it’s “too little, too late” (his exact words)

he confirmed that bert’s struggle with addiction and his behaviour for the majority of the time quinn was in the band was what lead to quinn’s departure. it was draining, exhausting, and the 23 hours a day that they were not on stage was a “nightmare”. he says very confidently that he’s happier now. (side note: if you haven’t listened to this interview with bert about addiction/sobriety i think you should, because he gives details regarding the severity of what was happening. tw: discussion of self-harm)

when asked if there’s any chance he’ll ever play a show with the used again, he said “no”

re: the band and quinn’s frustrations about bert, quinn said he found himself “sitting on his hands” (exact words) a lot of the time and just going along with whatever was happening because he had no other means of enacting change that would actually work (paraphrased). he used a really good metaphor of letting bert “drive”, but quinn would always have “one hand on the wheel”… i feel like that’s self-explanatory

during part of this section of the stream, he got emotional and teary-eyed and said that some of it is hard to talk about

regarding some of the meaning behind quinn’s song i digress, quinn said that it’s about the difficult experience of trying to help a friend who struggles with severe depression and persistent suicidal thoughts, and how he felt that all of his efforts were futile. this seemed to be a recent experience of his. he also spoke about a similarity between this situation and being in the band, which he described as very negative and emotionally taxing when you continually try to help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves. for his emotional wellbeing he needed to step away (in both situations). he also clarified that the lyric is “i’m hanging by your thread” which i got wrong in my transcription. he compared the “i’m hanging by your thread” line to the heart noose.

quinn showed us the physical prototype for his book which is completely finished. he is hopeful that pre-orders will be available in mid-october through kickstarter, he is planning to make a signed book and cassette tape ep bundle which he wants us to receive before christmas (this is all tentative).

he is apparently filming a music video for his second single today (yesterday he spent building the set for it). physical versions of his ep will only be available in cassette tape form because that’s what he grew up with, he likes that they’re small and easy to display

the book has A LOT of exclusive photos in it. he showed us some pages of the book. he said that he started writing it/working on it back when he left the band as a therapeutic, cathartic hobby. aside from the written chapters, there are a lot of pages he created in photoshop that have photo collages that he would draw little pictures on and organize. he said he would work on this to process his emotions, he would cry and let himself feel angry or upset, but it ended up being a very healing project

someone mentioned that they gave him a scrapbook in 2012 (he remembered it) and he said that he still has all of the stuff that the fans gave him/the band. he would box all of it up after their tours and ship it to his house. some of this fan stuff is featured in the book

he really enjoyed the stream and he will likely do another one sometime in the near future (no date is set yet). he’d like to do a listening party for the first album and talk about the songs/behind the scenes lore like he did for this one. he’d also be open to doing a stream just about guitars. people were requesting for him to put out official guitar tabs for the used songs and he said he’ll definitely work on it now that he knows there is interest

he had literally stacks of old photos and showed us some of them which i’ll make a separate post for. at one point he was like “ohhh i can’t show you those” and skipped through a bunch which is just the most infuriatingly intriguing thing like…… i can only imagine.

this was all just written from memory bc for some insane reason recording desktop audio on obs if you have a mac is literally impossible which is crazy in 2024 but regardless i think the livestreams are more special if they aren’t recorded because you have to be there to witness it. i got the vibe that he doesn’t want them to be saved (he said “i can’t” but that’s not true), so instead of asking him in chat next time and you really really want to save it, just record it for your own personal viewing and keep it on the down low. (i’m not telling anyone what to do but i feel like re-uploading to youtube would be against his wishes (he never said this, it’s just my inference)).

if anyone who watched feels like i missed a crucial piece of lore, feel free to add XD

[2sw]

🖤Understanding Season 4&5 Sam🖤

long post, 30 gifs

sorry I don't care if my english sucks or not anymore. I live with the urge to defend Sam 24/7, that's what it's about.

this post looks weird on pc… recommend you to read on the app

Supernatural S1E01 Pilot // S1E06 Skin S3E08 A Very Supernatural Christmas S4E19 Jump the Shark

Do you see the parallels here? This is why I think people who say season 4 Sam was annoying also hate every other character in this show, they just don't realize that. It was not a big deal when other characters treated Sam the way they did, but when Sam started to mirror them you suddenly find it annoying? That's absurd. I know almost every filmmaking choice of this show is unfair to Sam and I hate that too, but still we audiences can see things from various angles and think for ourselves. And sometimes you need to see the story as a story, not something to take sides.

Supernatural S3E16 No Rest for the Wicked Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Sam lost his entire family at the end of season 3. He was full of remorse, and to make up for that he was literally following his family's footsteps. Sam became obsessed with revenge like John did after Mary died. Season 4 was about that vicious cycle, the tragedy of it. Dean sold his soul for Sam just like John did for him. Sam tried to be more like his dad and big brother and did what they taught him. And Sam's relapse was a part of the addiction cycle. But Dean locking up Sam in the panic room changed nothing, the final seal was broken after all. So Lucifer gets out, and the oldest family drama is about to start all over again. It wasn't about who was right or wrong. It was about the circle, a never ending story. The next season was about restoring trust in each other and seeking redemption, and Sam eventually broke the chain by sacrificing himself. That's what makes Swan Song the tragic ending of all time. (though it all comes back as the show keeps going on... but what is spn without The Codependency™)

So, yeah, it's beyond me how some people can't see the reason behind Sam's choices in this season cause the context was SO clear. If you watch the show, you can see how much Sam and Dean affect each other and how much both are affected by John in different ways. And it's natural because they are family. We are who we are because of everyone and everything that has happened in our lives, and same goes for every fictional character, including Sam. It's just as simple as that. Sam was just trying to live by his brother's will while battling with grief and loss. He had to keep on fighting without Dean. And the reason why Dean wasn't with him was because Dean sold his soul to save Sam and went to hell for it. It not only made Sam the sole survivor of the family but also made the very being of him their entire legacy. Starting with Mary making a deal with Azazel, every choice ever made in this family is what brought him there. As I said earlier, it's the cycle. And a consequence. In short, if it is a sin, I think it’s everyone’s.

Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Sam and Dean's fate to be vessels? Their destiny? It doesn't matter in the end. This show was always about fate AND free will. Free will was always there. You always have choices. Sam was the one who believed that most desperately so he became the one who broke the cycle. Even though it was only the last page, he ripped out the written fate anyway and wrote the ending himself. YES HE IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. And after everything he did for the world, the story made him suffer eternal agony with the Devil because he is also a tragic hero figure. (SIGH literally the character of all time)

You can see this all only as an observer, as an audience. For Sam, the only thing he could do at the moment was just find the person to blame―in this case, it's a demon named Lilith― and get revenge. And he was lost somewhere along the road, he became an addict because he couldn't do anything about his loved ones dying, but when he drinks the demon blood it gives him power and a sense of control. (aaaaaand I still don't get why writers wrote this as some kind of diabolical desire in 4x18. I get it sammy what the fuck would chuck know about helplessness)

You can say you wouldn't suck up the demon blood, that's fine, but this story was written in this way, and if Sam didn't do that, the story couldn't go forward. Why? Because he is the main character. (It always had to be you, Sammy!) And reminds you that if you want to watch a show with multiple seasons, you have to remember what happened before to understand what’s going on now. So please don't make up things in your head, just go back to where it all started. There are contexts in everything. Everyone is a consequence of each other, but we don't have to be bound to that fact. We have choices: to change, to make things better. That's why we should be kind to each other, and for that, I love and respect Sam so much cause he didn't let his traumas define him and always tried to be a better person. ♡

I'm not done yet!!! see also this:

Supernatural S3E04 Sin City Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Dean worried when Sam killed a demon with the Colt to save him cause it also killed a person who was being possessed, and it was 'cold'. But then when he finds out about the demon blood, he is so mad that he doesn't even care about the fact Sam was saving possession victims and just screaming in Sam's face "Use the knife!". It's so??? What is the logic here? This just proves it's always been about his feelings, not really about saving people. Is that an evil thing? No, I don’t think so. Dean is just a human, he can’t control what he feels. But if you use this to beat up Sam, I'll go feral then. Cause Sam is a human too.

And look at Ruby's masterful manipulation skill. Makes Sam feel guilty about everything, and comes back with what he needs when no one's left around him. She really was the best of those sons of bitches.

Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Seriously, what was Sam supposed to do? Everyone on this show didn't even bother to understand Sam and just decided everything he ever did was fundamentally wrong. Sam was using his own body to change the things outside of him, cause there is nothing he can do about the fact of his body, the blood in it. In life, there are things we can change and we can't. We have to live with that non-negotiable fact for our whole life. Sam learned this most painful way... And one thing about Sam is that he never let the unchangeable things make him give up the things he can change. It's not always a good thing though, cause Sam in s4 was very self-destructive. He was obsessive, and that is one of his problems. Sam is so stubborn and doesn't give up on anything easily. Actually this problem could be solved after s7 cause he tried to move on, but s8 happened… so it got worse, kept getting worse, and look what happened in s10. The most heartbreaking domino effect, I'd say...

Supernatural S5E03 Free to Be You and Me Supernatural S5E06 I Believe the Children Are Our Future

Anyways, back to the point. Unfortunately, Sam started the apocalypse. And what did he do after that? When the whole world tried to hunt him down, the devil wanted to crawl inside him, and an angel called him an abomination? He didn't give up there to remain that abomination. He didn’t surrender. Instead, Sam begged for a second chance. He wanted to atone, wanted redemption. He still believed in others even though he lost trust in himself. He believed there was still something he could do about it. Even when he was possessed by Lucifer, he fought till the end to save his brother and the world. And he did it. He was a fucking hero at that moment, sadly a tragic one too. But the important thing is: Sam Winchester represents hope. (I think Swan Song was a perfect ending as a tragedy. This show got weaker and weaker after s5 which kinda ruined the perfection, but I'm also so glad the show continued cause this message fits more hopefully in Carry On. I needed to see Sam rewarded with something better than eternal agony after all those additional tortures of 10 more seasons.)

One last thing, you know what's funny about Metamorphosis? Dean had nothing to say about the fact Sam saved more people than when they were hunting together, so he just went "That what Ruby wants you to think?" Dude what was going on in your mind. like that was what Ruby intended, he was right about that only by chance, but I still find it funny that Dean said that at this exact moment. And he does this a lot, attacking the messenger when he can't refute the message. He didn't have any rational reasons like Sam, he just didn't like it and that's all(and honestly I think this can be an actual reason too cause there's a history behind it which I talked about it here. I wish Dean had just talked to Sam and had a real conversation. but he never talks about his feelings, that's what Dean Winchester does. so… yep not gonna happen. also, if the brothers have a healthy relationship, that is not supernatural lol), so he brought up Angels and evoked Sam's religious guilt. And the Angels in question also turned out to be manipulative assholes later. Everyone makes mistakes, but somehow Sam is always the one who gets most condemned and blamed. Dean, On the other hand, is justified by the narrative so many times even when it is actually his fault. As I said, unfair. This is not even a Dean crit post, I'm just mad at unreasonable people and the way this show works in general.

I swear I was normal before watching this season. Sam's demon blood arc was what made me insanely fall in love with him, so when I found out all those hate for Sam… that really could be my villain origin story but instead I chose to be on tumblr, so yeah I believe love wins<3 ha what a way to end a post. sorry guys

[exactlycleverpirate]

Wild Theories About Rafayel

Spoilers under the cut.

So, I've been contemplating how the various deceptions Rafayel has experienced occured and how that connects in his story over all. He or his story references being deceived at least 3 times: in Anecdote 3, in the Myth, and in Your Fragrance.

Anecdote 3:

"The young boy sits alone in the middle of the coral reef, softly humming “Siren's Ballad.” Waves lap the shores, staining it dark red. The color blends almost seamlessly with the bloody setting sun in the distance. Those who deceived him have long since sailed away on their massive ships, laughing all the while. “Siren's Ballad” isn't a song of revenge. It's an elegy sung for Lemuria.”

Myth:

Amund: “I believe in Your Quintessence. Her method of acquiring the heart wasn’t forgotten, was it? If that island sparked the beginning of our demise, then everything should end there. The Lemurians cannot be deceived again!”

MC: “The Lemurian tales I’ve read said the God of the Sea died long ago… I’m sorry, you must refer to it as a “slumber.” How can there still be a God of the Sea?” Rafayel: “Does Your Highness know why he perished? His heart was stolen by humans.”

Your Fragrance:

“It must be an allergic reaction. This isn’t perfume. How dare they use such underhanded methods to trap me…” “Who gave you the perfume?” “Are you trying to run away again?” “I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna lock me up again… You’re with them, I just know it. Don’t think I’m unaware of what you’re about to do. (MC name), I won’t fall for it again. Not this time.”

They all seem to be connected to you somehow, but not enough so to make him hate you or lose trust in you, as he is still willing to be incredibly vulnerable with you (Ebb and Flow), give up his life for you (Myth chapter 8-9), deeply love you, and want to be with you for the rest of his life.

So my thoughts are that MC has been used as bait against Rafayel in at least 2 lives. There seem to be events that reoccur in their different reincarnations, such as Rafayel meeting MC when they are young/children and vowing to find MC again. He gives her the blue fish, the Emissary of the Ocean, in both current and Myth lives as well.

So going with this idea of reoccurring events, I think on their first life, which I believe was the Island of Songs life, there was likely a vow made as children. But then as adults, I think there were a group of humans (or perhaps just one in particular) who decided to use her as bait to trap the God of the Sea and plunder Lemuria's riches while he was weak. She is unaware of any of this. She is offered to him as a sacrifice (think Bride of Habaek (manhwa)), essentially becomes something like a temple maiden trapped on an island. What she doesn't know is that those who sent her there are using her as a honey trap.

And it works. She and Rafayel fall in love and bind themselves to each other. Now, I haven't decided yet whether I think the humans knew he would go so far as to give her his heart or whether they just got lucky there. But the end result is, Rafayel is trapped when he is weak, Lemuria is plundered, and I believe they then go into hiding in the deep, becoming the stuff of myth and legend.

MC, meanwhile, is seen as the betrayer by the Lemurians, though not necessarily Rafayel, not completely at least. They curse her and turn her into a Sea Witch (Fragrant Dream). But eventually Rafayel finds her and saves her at the cost of his own life.

Now fast-forward to current day Rafayel. He has once again made a vow with her when they were children. And I think he is deceived by the same person/people as before, be they gods, reincarnations or some other immortal. And I think now that they are behind Ever Corp, Onychinus and related organizations. (I also like the idea that Astra from Zayne's Myth is somehow a part of all this.) So, they use MC as a lure, to draw him away from Lemuria, since even as a child, he is their protector. They once again plunder Lemuria, this time nearly wiping it out.

Meanwhile, I think they know MC has a Sea God’s heart, and were experimenting on her to find a way to use it. Hence the Aether core and what not.

Sometime in the far future, they will use what they learn from it to remake Earth into Philos, with a fake core that keeps all humanity immortal, except those sacrificed to it. Eventually, MC's immortal heart is essentially connected to the core like a battery, to drain, die, recharge the core, then be reborn to do it again. Essentially making all human life on Philos leaches off of Rafayel's immortality, draining him as well and eventually condemning him to eternal slumber if he does not reclaim it from her.

What do you think? Wild and crazy? Has some merit? What are your own theories? Let me know in the comments or PM me!

[regularconvexheadcanons]

oKAY BUT CUBS OBSESSION WITH SCAR IS SOMETHING NO ONE CAN BREAK- THE I D E A S- (also hi sculk scar anon again :3)

1: Cub Totally uses Scar as a basis for spite specifically! Or at least Scar level spite (then you get Grian level instigation, Doc level revenge, aaaand honestly Cub uses himself as a Knows It level to see how others vary on what they know like parkour and different mechanics for it in the Labyrinths case - everyone elses mini games and businesses are enough data on their own, talkings just a bonus)

2: Cub had to lock himself away, listen to the Songs of the Vex and later the Sculk, when Grian was soulbound to Scar. Already Grian was connected to Mumbo, Grian already was paired up! Scar was *His* proven and Earned soulhalf- Sometimes he can only be brought out of his jealousy by the Vex, other times he calls Scar over and covers absolutely Covers Scar in jewelry while looking at their shared earring/necklace/ring/piercing. They may not have the Cathedral anymore but hell if Cub didn't know how to make Scar feel like an altar, worshipped and made *perfect*.

3: Though course connected as they are, Cub is near by, watches, listens, plans, *lives* near Scar in ways the other Hermits could never even Attempt. But Scars version? It's Being. Cub is near by? Scar slows, stops, flies predictably. Cubs watching? He becomes more animated, smiley, putting on a him sized puppet show for Cub. He's listening to Scar? More inflection, tone, stylized pacing- ends some stories as "For the one and only, Cubfan!" Planning is Inevitable for those two. Living?

They are Vex. They have always been before and after. Even Watchers look on, envious of the Connection eyes cannot achieve.

...aNYWAY- Hope yall like it :D (need more convex crumbs I am Dying)

1: Yep. Definitely. Scar spites, and holds grudges, and gives his friends the cold shoulder like no one else. But never towards Cub. They’re not sure if it’s a vex thing, but Vex definitely hold grudges, so it’s probably part of it

2: ooooh yess. Cub would definitely be at least a little bit jealous and begrudging of Grian for being Scar’s soulmate, and respond by treating Scar even better than usual. For so many reasons. A: how the other soulmate pairs get to act around each other without anyone questioning. He and Scar are happy to be close and affectionate in private, but being able to do that more publicly without the other players teasing them for it? Yes. Cub needs that.

b: he’s heard Scar’s stories of Grian being distant and rude and then later cheating in Scar. He knows Scar just wants an ally who cares for him. Grian has a chance to be as friendly and excited and caring with Scar as he is in Hermitcraft and he’s blowing it completely. (Which also made Cub wonder if Grian was faking it in Hermitcraft) C: one of my headcanons is that during Double Life, Cub ALSO feels the Scar and Grian’s injuries (but as phantom pain), even stronger than usual. And then Grian saying how Scar’s always getting hurt when he really isn’t. And Cub can’t quite understand Grian’s problem.

Also, on the same point, I want to know more about this Song of the Vex. I love it. Clearly it’s something that calms vexlings down, perhaps something only vexlings can hear. And maybe allays as well, and the allays are either calmed by it, or it makes them act up. And other players are really confused. I can imagine a lot of humming, no real lyrics. But a lot of pent of emotion. And now that’s led me to a thought that Vex - and Vexlings - hum when they’re happy. Like the equivalent of cats purring.

3: Scar putting on a show of normal everyday things whenever Cub’s around? Yes. So much yes. Anything he can to make Cub’s day that little bit brighter. And when Cub’s in a conversation with other hermits, Scar sometimes appears behind and Cub’ll be left trying to explain Scar’s antics. And he never quite can explain how Scar made him laugh in a way that the other hermits understand. In the same way neither of them can explain how they understand their secret non-verbal language of tiny movements, or what any particular movement means. They just have that connection with each other. Is it the Vex? Probably. Are they in love with each other? Only in a QPR way. But would they exchange that feeling for anything else? Absolutely not.

[calliopefiction]

Hi!! I just finished playing through chapter 8 and it was amazing!!! The dance was so sweet. I can’t wait for more! I’m so worried for Vynn though ;w;

Vynn’s been my favorite since I first started playing and I made this fanart of them a couple weeks ago. How you describe their eyes is so sweet, all chocolate and brown. I love all the songs too! The scene where MC tells Vynn that they’re a changeling is probably my favorite scene so far, Vynn is too good :D

I wanted to ask, what were your inspirations for all the different characters? Which ones did you create first? If you’re busy or have already answered this before feel free to skip, I was just curious! Thank you for creating this story! ^o^ <3

First of all, that piece of art is wonderful! Vynn looks so utterly charming there, I love it!

Happy to hear that you enjoyed chapter 8. I'm also always glad to see appreciation for Vynn! They're such an integral part of the MCs life, whether as their best friend or otherwise, so it's great to see readers enjoying that dynamic.

That's a great question, I am happy to answer!

It's difficult to say which character I created first. I knew from the start that there would be a prince, a best friend, and a representative of the fae. So I'd say the ideas for Az'Lean, Vynn, and Maeve came to me rather quickly. Then I figured there should be a half-fae character, which ended up being Lester, and a magic-expert on the human side, which then became Thianne.

As far as inspirations go, I sometimes don't even consciously know that I'm drawing inspiration from, or sometimes it is just a part of my own personality manifesting itself in the characters.

For Az'Lean, my thought process was along the lines of 'stereotypical fairytale prince character, but his mother was killed by fae in front of his eyes' and then I extrapolated what kind of person he would be like from there. Honestly, a prince seeking revenge isn't that novel a concept, but I think what makes Az'Lean so compelling is that he isn't too overt about it, and that there's a lot more to him than that. He has a very specific role in the narrative, and so many of his characteristics arose from that. His care for his kingdom, his complex dynamic with the MC, his duty as a prince - all of that is connected.

For Vynn, I imagined a sort of 'bard knight' archetype, someone who should stand in opposition to the more duty-driven MC while filling the role of the supportive best friend. Some of my own personal struggles kind of ended up reflected in Vynn: the wish to be a writer for a living, but being unable to, inspired the idea that Vynn would only be a knight out of obligation, while music would be their true passion. Since they aren't invested in knighthood, they also make for the perfect bastion of neutrality. Humans? Fae? Vynn doesn't care much either way, so they can easily accept the MC no matter how they identify, and it is important to have a character like that.

For Maeve, since she was the first fae character (aside from the MC) that I came up with, I wanted her to be their representative in more than just the narrative sense. At the same time, I wanted her to be Az'Lean's opposite. While Az'Lean hides some of his darkness behind a princely veneer, I wanted Maeve to at first appear off-putting, untrustworthy, and difficult to read, while hiding all of her warmth and compassion underneath. She was always supposed to be a bit mysterious and otherworldy, but still a very 'human' character, for lack of a better word. I decided to make her a dryad not only to tie her to the location of the castle gardens, but also to represent nature, longevity and old wisdom, as well as femininity and healing.

For Lester, obviously he needed to fill the role of half-fae. From there, I soon got the idea that he would be at odds with Az'Lean, so once again, I created him as a sort of foil to Az'Lean, while making sure he also felt distinctly 'fae-like'. Where Az'Lean is ice, Lester is fire. Not only in the sense of being a fire-sprite, but also personality wise. He should be volatile, impulsive, difficult to get close to, but also bright and full of life. He harbours resentment similarly to Az'Lean, but expresses it differently. I also wanted him to carry some of that fae mischief and wit with him.

For Thianne, I kind of liked the idea of her being a foil to Maeve, instead. They should both be magic-experts and fountains of knowledge, but whereas Maeve shares it readily, Thianne keeps it to herself. While Maeve expresses her emotions freely, Thianne has difficulty doing so. She is much more reserved, and much less invested in whatever is going on. Thianne leans heavily on her rationality, and so it seems like she doesn't care about the human-fae conflict and revenge and all that, but she is still very much on the side of humanity, which I thought was a perspective still lacking. Also, I find dry humour very funny, and she is the perfect character to make use of it.

So to sum up: I created the characters by looking at what the story needed, and then looking at how the characters function in relation to each other. I defined them through contrast with each other, to make sure that all of the characters feel unique.

[chaos-grimlin]

Into:No one truly knows what happened that night in Woodsboro, California. All the public knows was that two teenage boys, Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, went crazy. That the boys killed with no motive, that it was a case of crazy and peer pressure. Sidney Prescott, the "girlfriend" of Billy Loomis,Y/n L/n, the girl both boys were deeply obsessed with, and Gale weathers, a news reporter, where 3 of 5 witnesses that were willing to talk and tell their sides of the story to the public while Dewy Riley, the deputy sheriff of woodsboro, and tennager Randy Meeks refused to talk to law enforcements at the time. All the stories told to law enforcement seem to differ from person to person, but...in this tale, we will focus on Y/n, the obsessions, side of the story...

Marked (Poly!Billy loomis and Stu macher x reader)

Word count:921

Chapter 2 -keeping her is a bad idea

^^^Y/n P.O.V^^^

Casey had told me that the Baskin-Robbins in Woodsboro was amazing and that the workers were very nice.

Me and the group walked in and as soon as we did a sweet, fruity smell hit me like a brick to the face. My mouth watered slightly at the scent.

Soon we all had our ice creams and were all seated at a table. Me, Sidney, and Tatum all sat on one side of the table while the boys sat on the other side.

“So..Y/n..are you enjoying Woodsboro so far?” Billy asked as his eyes moved up to meet mine. Billy's voice was dark and deep. He pronounced my name with sharp precision, the words strung from his lips and swirled around my head.

“Um..Yeah other than the kids swarming me I like it” I said as I ate my ice cream.

“Ugh yeah that's so annoying! No wonder you always look so miserable!” Tatum exclaimed. Tatum talked like she knew what being swarmed was like.

I looked over at Tatum and looked at her closely. 

Her shoulder length honey blond hair framed her face perfectly, her lips had a perfect fullness to them, and her golden green and brown eyes had a siren shape to them..she was pretty…very pretty..then it hit me. Tatum was a popular pretty girl..but she wasnt mean like the other pretty girls you would see around town or in every high school movie.

“Y/nnnnnnnn you okayyyyyyyyy?” Stu said in a sing-song voice, drawing me from my thoughts. “Oh! Um yeah!” I said with a chuckle. “You were totally just zoned out right now” He said with a snarky laugh before looking over at Billy, who just gave a small sided smirk.

As the night carried on, I became good friends with Stu, Randy, and Tatum. Sidney and Billy seemed to keep to each other or themselves when i'm around, yet Billy was always eyeing me, like he was observing my every move and if I messed up..it wouldn't be good.

Him doing that made me slightly paranoid but I kept pushing the feeling to the deepest darkest part of my overflowing mind.

^^^3rd person P.O.V^^^

Billy watched Y/n closely…he needed to make sure that her coming into the friend group wouldn't hurt his plans to get revenge on Sidney and her family.

Billy already knew that Randy wouldn't get in his way. Randy was always too high to do anything or at the video store working. Tatum never posed a threat, but Billy made a deal with Stu, his best friend and the person who would help him carry out his plans, that if Tatum ever got in the way, they would kill her. 

Now… Billy had you to worry about. You seemed to be a smart, clever girl, with the ability to think quickly, you seemed like someone who, if attacked, you could put up a fight and have a good chance to win…you seemed like a final girl in his eyes. You remind him of Laurie Strode from Halloween. And that ment…you might mess up his plans…

^^^3 Weeks later^^^

^^^Y/n P.O.V^^^

I rushed down the street, feeling a smile form on my face. I used to hate going to school, but now, thanks to Tatum, Stu, Sidney, Randy, and Billy, I started to love going to school, just to see them and hang out with them.

“Hi guys!” I chirped out as I walked up to the group.

“Hey Final girl,” Billy said. Everyone else said hi and Tatum even hugged me, But, what loomed in my mind was how Billy started calling me, ‘Final girl’ a week after I met him. He didn't sound like he meant it in a nice way, but more of a way to… intimidate me, to warn me away even. His tone didn't sit right with me.

“Guys! It's the start of September and I was thinking since it's a month before Halloween…why don't we start a horror movie marathon?” Randy suggested as he chewed on something.

“Oh..i'd like that” Billy muttered. “Hell yeah! You can get the movie Randy..girls you down?” Stu asked as he pointed at Sidney, then Tatum.

“Yeah I'm down” “ Me too” Sidney and Tatum said. I stayed quiet, biting the inside of my cheek. “What about you Y/n?” Randy asked, moving closer to me. 

“Oh I don't know..when will it be?” I asked. “We will start it tonight and continue it every other Monday till Halloween” Randy answered.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I'll see if I can come” I said as my eyes fluttered open only to meet Randys. I saw Randy's face break out into a smile at my answer that wasn't a direct no. 

I already knew where Randy's house was due to me and the group having gone over there on the nights when Randy's parents were not around and sometimes… I'd sneak out of my house and just go to Randys, due to his house being close to mine. I'd rather say and get high with Randy rather than stay at home.

“Well you know where my house is so stop by if you can..this time doll face, don't sneak through my window” Randy said with a chuckle and with that… Everyone looked at me with a look of confusion contorted on their faces. “I wont” I muttered....

[music-my-beloved]

A Hard Day's Night: A 16yo's (horrible) album review pt.3

A Hard Day's Night: Catchy, she's so nice! She's like, a classic. Wasn't there that movie made with this same name or am I tripping? Dude making these reviews is like, giving me carpal tunnel I've never typed this much b4 !! Erm,,, but yea :/ this song is just a classic that's all I gotta say !!!

I Should Have Known Better: Harmonica goes insane honestly. Uh this song confused me 😭 like. i'm stupid??? I don't know girls this one through me for a loop. At first I was like, "Dang this girl's a runner she's out with other guys '-'" and then for a brief moment I was like no, "Okay maybe she's loyal she's just stupid and doesn't know what to say when the guy compliments her or something" I'm leaning towards the second option but the title still trips me up like, I should have known better what is that supposed to mean 😭😭??? Likeee,, "I should have known better that a girl like you would run off with different men" or "I should have known better that a ditzy girl like you wouldn't know what to say when I told you I love you" ?? I'm confuseddddd. Maybe I'm stupid. Help me 😭😭!!

If I Fell: THE DRUMS!?? Hellooo?? They're so cute !!!! They're so faint yet full it's so.. uh girl idk they're striking a chord with me. Was there a looping machine ??? Was that a thing in the 60s ?? If not that steady hand work was AMAZING. Good Job Ringo! 👍 Anyway yeah I'm familiar with this song already, she's another sister to me I love her!

I'm Happy Just To Dance With You: This song has like, melancholic undertones 😭 it makes me depressed. Not like, super sad but it's like, "Once this dance is over, I'll still love you" or something like that. Idk she's just so sad :(((( but I actually really like this track ! She's so sad I love it!!!

And I Love Her: erm, she's a bit too slow and sweet for me! I can imagine that under the right circumstances this song would be an absolute banger and just get me in my feels but right now a loud english class probs isn't the environment for this music idk.. but uhhhhh yeah. I WASN'T bored per se just mildly amused by her.

Tell Me Why: Girlllll we're getting drama???? Why this girl crying 😭 and lying ?! 😭😭 I'll tell you what these girls are! toxiccccc !!! Is it the same girl or multiple?? Because omg it's actually insane these girls are crazy or this one particular girl is just an absolute mad woman I can't tell 😭😭 uh but overall it's a pretty energetic song it's pretty good 👍

Can't Buy Me Love: Okay I heard the first line or whatever and I was like, "sugar daddy :3" what. girl nevermind. He wants a girl who doesn't want material things from him that's so sweet!! Apparently Paul and John turned their backs on Money from their previous album but whatevs I get it. Sometimes people are in a mood 👀. Uh I liked the song but the girl could bark she was a little loud for me idk 😭

Any Time At All: This song sounds a bit more modern idk but oh em gee he's gonna be there for you! Not in like a romantic way (but it could totally be seen as such) but in like a friendly sweet way !! Super cute idea for a song. Unfortunately Bruno Mars has already capitalized on such an idea with that one song that I cannot remember for the life of me rn idk

I'll Cry Instead: Teehee this song is evil >:3 !!! Revenge is real and this girl is gonna be a victim!!! I love itttt it's so catchy and just makes you wanna bop your head along with it. 10/10 for her, she was exquisite.

Things We Said Today: A parting song 🤨 hmm interestinggggg. Girl they had A LOT to say in this apparently 'cause looking at the lyrics, it reads like a short story. I mean, I know that is technically what a song is but most of the time the songs read like poems this one goes crazy (and yes I know, some parts are repeated) but OMG she was a lot !!! Charming track but I didn't really groove with this one!!!

When I Get Home: okay when I read the title I thought this song was a threat I'm not gonna lie to you 😭😭.. it still seems like a threat to me. ALSO these songs need some gut to them !! These tracks have the potential to sound more angry but they won't do it and I'm trying to understand why. The Beatles have made some angry sounding songs before (but that's for a later albums) and they've all sounded fantastic. I get that the songs at the time (60s) were all lovey dovey and cute and not so aggressive but RAAHHHHH it's so frustrating to hear the same thing over and over again. But anyway yeah I feel like this song was just too repetitive for me :/ EDIT: okay listened to this song multiple times I completely misunderstood it but the rant is STAYING !!!!!

You Can't Do That: uh this girl's a runner !!! Quick someone get her, someone watch her 😭😭😭 this song is a pretty tame response to the knowledge that your girl is talking to other people. Also this dude is oddly obsessed with his reputation like, boy, reputation don't mean nothing if your girl doesn't even respect you that much ?? I don't know i've been mean with these reviews don't mind me I'm just crazyyyy this album review has been a mess 😭

I'll Be Back: this relationship is not healthy wut. He left her just to see if she would chase after him. You know what good on you girl 'cause that was a crazy thing to do on his part. Uhm overall (despite the weirdness in the relationship dynamic) I think it was the perfect track to close out an album with. It's not using all the tricks in the playbook but it's also not completely lacking either !! It's was also a very chillaxed song and not too overbearing. I liked it!! Probs won't listen again but idk I could totally be lying don't listen to me!

More Reviews on the way, next up: Beatles for Sale...

[mysticsparklewings]

Three Cheers for Harmonic Revenge (+ Time Lapse!)

________ This is what happens when you're a fan of both Winx Club and My Chemical Romance, apparently! 😂 Truly a labor of love—I started on this for an MCR album anniversary on June 8th. I so missed the date, but I had to see it through!

⭐️ AND I've got a Time Lapse of the art coming together, featuring my very rough attempt at a matchup of MCR's Helena and the Winx Club Harmonix song as backing music! It's a wild ride! ⭐️ (...There's also an unlisted version with "normal" music just in case my less-than-amateur audio editing skills are too much for anyone. 😅)

Anyway, to make a very long story a little bit shorter, a few weeks ago I ended up down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to identify likely sources of inspiration for the thing to come out of Winx Club Season 5 that the fandom at large actually kind of loves:��Harmonix. I went in thinking Ballet, and despite my best efforts came out with that opinion pretty much unchanged. 

Not long after, but for the entirely unrelated reason of Being An MCR Fan on The Internet, I ended up looking at some screenshots from their Helena music video. [I think this was prompted by a Reddit post asking about the dress for cosplay purposes, I'm not sure.] 

It was then I had the thought, so simple and off-handed: "I don't see how you can look at a ballet outfit like this and not think Harmonix was ballet-inspired." 

If you've ever seen a TV show or cartoon where a character says something, and then only after the words leave their mouth do they realize the implications/meaning of what they just said, that was me in that moment. 😱

On the one hand, I want to say "I can't believe I didn't see the similarities before," but on the other...Well, I can believe it, actually. Comparing Winx and MCR in almost any capacity is not a natural thing to do, even with a Ballet connection in each. The fact that I finally did notice came largely down to the serendipity of being a fan of both and just happening upon the Helena pictures not long after spending an abnormal amount of time looking for clothes that look like Harmonix. I think there are many points leading up to that moment where if just a couple of things had gone differently, I still wouldn't have noticed. 

Either way, once the connection was made in my brain it took all of about 10 seconds for "Helena as a Harmonix Fairy" to follow. 🤩

At the time, I didn't have immediate plans to act on it. It was just an idea to be filed away on the little shelf in my brain where I keep "Things that would be fun to draw eventually." [That shelf is super full and in danger of collapse, for what it's worth. 😉]

Earlier this month, that changed when I remembered June 8th is the Anniversary for Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the album that Helena comes from, and I had yet to come up with any other plans or ideas to commemorate it this year. 

Now, clearly I ended up missing that deadline, and two others I set for myself afterward. Things have just been very chaotic around my house for last 3-ish months or so, and June has been no different. Other IRL things just had to take priority. 😔

In my defense, the art itself was finished on June 12th. This description here and the Time Lapse Video (mostly the video) were what really set me back, even aside from household chaos. But it was really important to me to get a video done for this piece, so getting that done vs. getting the art out faster was the trade I made. 

But part of the reason I bring this up to underline that originally, I thought I was on a fairly tight deadline. As a result, during the planning stage I didn't really have time to tinker with refining the base design or debating details like I normally would. So I drew from the Winx's own Harmonix designs as much as possible—picking out pieces that naturally resembled the structure of Helena's dress. 

If I'd had more time to noodle around...the structure probably would've been largely the same, but the details most likely would have changed to help it feel more original, and I may have gotten crazy enough to try and find a happy [lighter] grey medium between Harmonix's pastel palettes and Helena's stark black and red. 

As it stands though, I'm not unhappy with how that all turned out, I just think it's worth noting how the visual concept may have changed if I'd had more time to toy with it. [Especially for when Future Me ends up referring back to this description; Hi there Future Mystic 👋]

Since my process for making the art can both be seen in the Time Lapse and is something you've all seen/heard me describe before by now [I think I have finally nailed down a fairly standard "Winx Art Process" over the last few months in large part thanks to Winxsona Winter—which yes, I do still intend to eventually finish], instead of taking you through the general stuff again, I'm going to do a bullet-point list similar to one I did for Sirenix. 

The main difference is this time, it's more focused my observations for what similarities exist between Harmonix and Helena's costume, as opposed to just a list of Harmonix traits and how I handled them. [Though there will still some of that too, naturally.]

Most notably, both feature "fluffy" layered skirts. Harmonix skirts don't really look like the same fabric texture, but that could be either a stylistic/animation choice or could be chalked up to there also probably being some Wedding Dress inspiration in the designs alongside the Ballet elements.  Also, at first I didn't think the train on the Harmonix skirts was a similarity, but upon a closer look at the Helena music video...Helena's skirt is definitely longer and train-like in the back, so...Cool, I was wrong! 😄 And: As it turns out, Bloom's Harmonix skirt actually does have a small section that's ruffled a bit differently from the rest—It's just really hard to tell because on her, it's all the same pastel blue color. But as you can see, referencing that part of her skirt here to incorporate the Red underlayer that peaks through on Helena's skirt worked a treat! 😊 P.S. Wow I really hated drawing a lot of really tightly-confined ruffles like this. 😤 And trying to shade them was even worse! 🙃

Both feature form-fitting tops with minimal or no straps. I more specifically saw Helena similarities in Stella's Harmonix top [with the frills over the bust and structure lines below], and later I realized the top-most portion of Musa's has an even more similar kind of frill.  To that end, Helena's is once again definitely supposed to be something transparent like tulle, but since there really aren't any transparent fabric portions of Harmonix, I chose instead to use a slightly lighter near-black to give it a similar effect without breaking that Harmonix "rule." Also, the bodice portion is a true jet black with no shading. I tried the more typical near-black grey that could be shaded at first, but it just wasn't doing it for me. I tried this on a whim and decided it looked good enough to keep.

Most of the Harmonix designs have a kind of "belt" that connects the bodice to the skirt; Perfect match for Helena's red one!  Similarly, most of those same Harmonix designs have a "belt"/ribbon just under the bust as well. Helena does not, as far as I can tell. But I chose to add a read one here for a little extra variety and helping break up all that black.

The Harmonix shoes are almost entirely ribbons winding up the legs; Helena wears black ballet slippers with, you guessed it, black strings/ribbons that wind around her feet and ankles.  Now, maybe I could have gotten away with all-black ribbons and black for the heel portion of the shoes, but 1. The Harmonix designs all use 2 colors for the ribbons and the heel is usually in the "contrasting" color. 2. I knew from the beginning that the skirt train [a mandatory aspect of Harmonix] was going to either be black or a very dark grey, and even during the Concept phase before I had a specific pose in mind, I had a feeling the ribbon tails were going to overlap with said train. So I used a dark red. Originally, it was about as bright as her sash and belt, but then I realized Bloom and Musa's pink ribbons were darker than the pink used in the bodices, a darker red would be closer to the original black anyway, and that would yet again add just a tiny bit more visual variety.  One last note about the shoes: I did my best to match the original winding of Helena's shoe ribbon, except for the very first ribbon across where the toes connect to the rest of the foot. That strap was specifically added as a nod to how Helena's proper ballet slippers outright cover the toe. 

About the train: Similar to the bodice, I started out with the train in one color, the color you currently see for the skirt itself and the very top of the train. It was fine but I was itching for some more variety, so after reassuring myself "Layla/Aisha's train has a few different shades of green instead of being solid so it's fine," I used the different tiers [taken from Flora's train] to create a little bit of a gradient from the black to a charcoal grey. It kinda works as a hint toward Harmonix's more pastel palette. Sort of. 

Aside from Tecna, all the girls' hair is at least partially pulled back in Harmonix. This sorta works out because it appears the front "bang" sections of Helena's hair are pulled back. [In my brain I call this "Doll Hair" because I personally have seen that kind of look way more often on dolls than on real people.] It's similar to the front of Bloom's Enchantix hair.  The rest of Helena's hair appears pretty thick and a little wild, so I tried to incorporate a bit of that here, but I couldn't push it too far without "breaking" the Winx Style.  And while I'm here: I did choose to make Helena's hair a very dark brown. In the video, most of the time it does just look plain black, but there are moments where my eyes pick up on a "warmth" to the color, which makes me think maybe it really is that super-dark brown hair that just looks black. Even if it isn't, I stand by my choice as slightly more fitting for the Winx style, since Winx almost never does truly black hair anyway. 

All of the Harmonix designs feature some sort of small head accessory, usually a tiara. Helena's costume very prominently features netting over the face...And there appears to be something going on towards the back of her head, presumably whatever is holding the netting in place.  I've seen fan interpretations of whatever that is being flowers [usually black roses], and since Tecna has a few flower-ish pieces as part of her Harmonix tiara, that seemed like a fair choice here.  As for the netting...You'll see very briefly in the Time Lapse that during the concept phase, I really did want to include that, but it was too hard to ignore how out of place it felt. Winx rarely does anything with netting in the first place [though a couple of rare examples do exist], and considering certain parts of Harmonix feel like it was designed to be fairly simple [but look complex at first glance, which it does]...I just couldn't do it. So instead, I...Well, it ended up being almost a copy of Layla's Harmonix tiara, but I really truly did not realize how similar what I was doing was to hers until after the full-color version was pretty much done. 😅 I thought I was doing more of an upside-down version of Musa's, and my entire goal was to just do something that came down over the forehead like the netting did. 

Speaking of Musa, if those wings look familiar, they kinda should. Remember before that I mentioned I was originally working on a pretty tight timeline for this piece? 

One of the things that has proven to take me the longest with original Winx designs since I picked up making them semi-regularly again is undoubtedly the wings. I got to really learn that the hard way with Believix at the beginning of this year. 

Because of the very limited time I thought I had and my sluggish pace with wings, when while collecting Harmonix screenshots for reference I noticed "Hey, Musa's wings would still work pretty well if they were flipped upside down..." A little bit of a lightbulb went off. 

I don't even know why exactly that thought occurred to me before I'd even really considered the wings. The best I can figure is a little hangover in my subconscious—At one point I remember reading one of the Winx's Sirenix wings are apparently upside down at the end of her transformation sequence. That stuck out to me at the time because I don't really understand how you could tell if Sirenix wings are upside down or not because of how they're shaped. 🤨

Anyway. So I found a screenshot with a fairly clear shot of one of Musa's wings, flipped it around, and really just traced right over it. 

I did make a few small tweaks, and most notably I added some..."Lines of Tears?" like Layla and Flora's have, but at the end of the day they are still really Musa's wings. 

Normally, I wouldn't have done that and instead would've just taken heavy inspiration from Musa's wings, but again, I thought I had a lot less time than I really did. And to be fair, plenty of other Winx fans re-color or otherwise re-purpose the Canon Girls' wings for their OCs and/or Fan Transformations on a regular basis anyway, so it's not like this is a totally unheard-of idea or anything. 🤷‍♀️

Much later, I also figured in a way it fits; Musa is a fairy of Music, this artwork is largely based around a specific piece of music/the band that made it; I even opted to add music note shapes like Musa's wings produce [all the Harmonix wings produce specific shapes in that way] when they move to deepen that connection after I thought of it. 

Other things worth noting [and this is again a • bullet point list because, frankly, at the moment I'm just too lazy to make this all flow together in more story-like paragraphs]:

I did my best to match Helena's skin and eyes, but her lips and eye makeup were a little trickier. Her lips ended up a bit pinker and not as close to her skin tone in the spirit of Winx, and I had to compromise and use greyish reds shaped like the Trix's eyeshadow to get a similar effect. The eyeshadow still really isn't perfect for Helena or Winx, but I was short on other ideas so, "close enough is good enough."

The shape of the mouth isn't quite what I wanted, either. You'll see in the time-lapse that I already changed it pretty drastically from the first sketch I had. I definitely wanted something open, because while Helena's mouth is not open for the entire music video or anything, it is more open at certain points and this shot in particular is pretty iconic.  But I also didn't want anything too crazy because, y'know, Winx Club.  The bared teeth and lack of upturn for a smile was my compromise. Either the mouth itself needed some more tweaking, or the eyebrows did. The whole expression is okay, I just don't think I pushed it far enough. 🤷‍♀️

There isn't really one specific pose that represents Helena more than the others [...at least not standing up/dancing], so I picked mostly from a general feeling from the music video. I did reference some official stock arts of the Winx in Ballet attire [mostly this one of Flora], but the feet had to be changed pretty notably to fit the shoes, and overall I had to make some tweaks in the anatomy where the stock art and show style differ. [These differences seem to increase from Season 5 onward, too.] 

The background was mostly inspired by Layla's Harmonix, and it might be my favorite part of the whole piece, actually!  Upon closer studying for this project, I was surprised by how much "junk" is in some of the Harmonix backgrounds. There's tons of texture in all of them and a fair bit of color variation in most...It's pretty interesting compared to past transformations and even Harmonix itself. The backgrounds end up being a lot more intense than the solid and gentle pastel dresses. [Wouldn't surprise me if that was intentional!] I had a little more work cut out for me since I couldn't just slap bright colors all over the place. I did consider just sticking with blacks/greys/white and maybe some red, but I thought it might help my version of Helena here pop a little better if I was able to change up the palette just a bit. And, of course, the warmth of the background helps add more variety and liven the whole image up.  Much more to my delight though, I was able to create the background without having to download any new Procreate brushes! 🥳 Between a couple of default ones, the ocean-themed brushes I already had from previous projects, and a couple I just happened to pick up along the way [mostly as monthly freebies from brush makers who normally charge for their work], I had all the brushes I needed already right there, it just took a little experimenting. 

I will reiterate that while it still took time, making the art itself really wasn't so bad or difficult. And it helps that this ridiculous crossover idea was something I really wanted to make—Because if I didn't, who else would, right? 🤪

It's not perfect, sure. But it's here and it still came out pretty good overall, I think. So I'm happy. 😊

Now I would also like to take a moment to explain part of why putting the Time Lapse together for this piece ended up taking longer than it probably should have, because I really didn't have room to talk about it in the video itself...though it does sorta get a mention right at the beginning: The audio. 

To once again make a very long story short(er):

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided instead of the usual royalty-free music stock, to try and create a mash-up of Helena and the Harmonix song for this video. That was more or less the visual premise for the art, so why not go all-out with the theming?

For once, I cannot take you through the full nitty-gritty because, at least to my inexperienced brain, audio editing is a pretty nebulous process. But I can tell you that aside from inexperience, the other thing that probably held me back was my choice of program to handle the task. 

I did not have the patience nor motivation to try and teach myself how to use an audio program for this one silly project, and I semi-accidentally learned at the beginning of last year that DaVinci Resolve has an entire section dedicated to just editing the audio for videos. Since I was able to fumble my way around in there for the light audio editing I wanted to do at that time, I figured that was a slightly safer bet here. It may not have saved me a ton of time, but it was at least vaguely familiar, and for me, familiarity goes a long way in making me comfortable with a program even if I still don't really know what the heck I'm doing. 

This isn't really what DaVinci is supposed to be for—as far as I can tell it doesn't even have an "audio only" export option, which did complicate things a bit—and even if it was, I'm sure any true audiophile will still probably cringe a lot at what I managed to create.😅 I did my best to make it "tolerable" for a listen or two, but I know my ears are inherently biased since I know and enjoy both songs quite a bit already. But I did manage to get feedback from two persons that know notably more about audio than I do, and they weren't horrifically appalled, so I don't feel like I'm committing a crime against music by putting it out there, at least. 

Aside from that, the video did also have to wait on me to finish this description [to a certain extent, anyway]. For smaller projects, I can usually write the on-screen notes for the video first and worry about the description later, but most of the time for a big project like this, I need the bulk of this written description done first so I have a baseline of all the things I want to mention and can pare down from there. 

I can do a fair bit of the video editing up until the point I need those notes, but once I hit that wall there's really no way around it. And in this case, I did actually use all that other video editing as a form of procrastinating on the description. 😅

Most likely because I knew there was going to be a lot to cover, I really put off like 70% of this description as long as possible. 🫣 The other 30% I actually did relatively soon after the art was ready. The plan was to go ahead and get most of it out of the way, but clearly I lost my writing mojo partway through and had to come back to it later...and I was still a little lazy with certain aspects. 

But hey, the description isn't the art, it's just meant to describe the art, so whatever works, yeah?

In any case, I think that's everything I wanted to mention about this particular process. It's been quite a ride, and I'm glad it's over. Mostly so I can go back to working on some other projects I already had cooking before this one came up, but also...I am just glad this is one of those ideas that, as I said much earlier, originally got put on an "eventually" shelf in my brain and actually got to come to fruition fairly quickly after the fact. 

Kinda gives me more hope than I previously had for some of those other "eventually" projects, which is nice. 🙂

Similarly: I don't know if I'll find a way to revisit Winx Club x MCR ever again, but I'm thrilled I I found a way to do it at least once! Doubly so that I'm happy with how it turned out! 😊 With that in mind, you never know. It's possible I'll figure out another way to do it again someday. 

In the meantime, I leave you Sparklers to enjoy this one and the time lapse [whether you're brave enough for the mash-up version or opt for the "easy listening" one instead]. 😉 s usual, I'm off to those other projects I mentioned shortly ago...

_______

Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings Winx Club © Rainbow S.p.A.

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and associated concepts © My Chemical Romance

[isfjmel-phleg]

1, 4, 7, & 15-20 for Tenthragon; 2, 3, 9, & 10 for The Candymakers; and 9, 11, & 15-20 for The Secret Garden, please?

Tenthragon

1, what got you into this story?

At some point, I decided to read every Constance Savery novel I could get my hands on. The atmosphere and mystery drew me in, and I could hardly put it down.

4. assign this story a hyper-specific genre name, e.g. "inspirational religious semi-horror sci-fi western" (yes, that's Trigun)

Psychological-horror gothic mystery revenge-tragedy family-drama redemption story with fairy-tale motifs.

7. how does the story compare to your initial impressions of it? has it surprised you yet? how?

I didn't know what to expect of it going in, and I was surprised at how invested in it I became. It hasn't really surprised me on rereads, but I have never stopped being impressed.

15. what time are you most likely to be found reading/watching this story? (time of year, time of day, season of life, whatever makes sense to you)

I tend to get a hankering for it around Christmas. It's not an overtly Christmassy book, although there is a chapter set at that time, but for whatever reason my brain has designated it in that category.

16. do you think this story has broad appeal, or is it meant for a very specific audience? if it's more "niche", what kind of person would most enjoy this story?

It will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea. The depictions of abuse (mostly psychological/emotional) can be intense. (And it's not that I'm not sensitive to such things--I am!--but I sometimes find that reading about certain awful things in fiction helps me process.) The ending is vague and not everyone will find it satisfying. It's hard to classify, since the protagonist is a young child but the themes are more suitable for an older audience.

If you like dark, atmospheric stories dealing with complicated and difficult family relationships, but with an ultimately hopeful and redemptive worldview, you might like Tenthragon. That's a big might. I make no guarantees. Please don't come after me with sharp implements if you happen to read it and hate it :P

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

It is a bizarre, bizarre story. The vague ending isn't typical of what I usually gravitate toward, but it works for me.

18. compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

The eerie and atmospheric old house settings, family mysteries, and Sad Children get to me every time.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

I'd pick up right where the novel leaves off. The Tenthragon boys have made a lot of personal progress, but how are they going to handle moving forward now that the originator of much of their issues has returned and holds power over most of them?

20. what's the WORST thing about this story, in your opinion? (feel free to be positive, e.g. "it's not longer", if you want!)

The unanswered questions. The fact that there isn't a sequel. The fact that it's out of print and very difficult to find at a decent price so I can't easily inflict it on people.

The Candymakers

3. quickly list 3 things you like about the story!

The main cast, the use of multiple POVs to constantly shift our understanding of the narrative, the themes.

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

It's a light-hearted story about four children competing in a candymaking contest--nope, it's a coming-of-age drama--nope, it's a thriller--nope, it's a revenge tale--nope, it's still a light-hearted story about four children competing in a candymaking contest but now you're emotional about it.

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

Ohhh, this is difficult. Maybe "Another Believer."

The Secret Garden

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

Terrible child touches grass and gets an attitude adjustment, then passes the lesson along to a possibily even worse child.

11. if you were put in the main character's position, how well would that go for you on a scale of 1-5?

I would be a lot more compliant and ready to mind my own business, but I sure wouldn't get much plot moving. Maybe a 4.

15. what time are you most likely to be found reading/watching this story? (time of year, time of day, season of life, whatever makes sense to you)

Spring is TSG season around here!

16. do you think this story has broad appeal, or is it meant for a very specific audience? if it's more "niche", what kind of person would most enjoy this story?

It's a beloved classic, so yeah, it apparently has pretty broad appeal.

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

This story has defined a lot of what I enjoy ever since I was seven, so I can't really think of anything.

18. compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

So much. Terrible children with growth arcs. Atmospheric settings. A general sense of mystery. Etc.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

...you know, this is one of those stories where I'm actually pretty okay with leaving the characters where their story ends. I know they'll be fine, and I don't particularly care what they do when they grow up or who they're romantically involved with.

But a story focusing on the Sowerbys specifically might be fun.

20. what's the WORST thing about this story, in your opinion? (feel free to be positive, e.g. "it's not longer", if you want!)

I could live without Burnett's heavy-handed philosophizing toward the end of the book.

[fastigiums]

[OP-ED: This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of allkpop.] 

If you haven't spent the past year living under a rock, then you've probably heard of Boys Planet. And if you're gay or an Mnet stan, you've probably seen it. And if you've seen it, then you've heard of a certain Hwang Jaesun.

For the uninitiated (feel free to skip this paragraph if you saw the show), Jaesun competed as an independent trainee specializing in dance. He's a former Cube Entertainment trainee, presumably having brushed shoulders with Sung Hanbin and Seok Matthew before BP. After the show, he signed with Zenith Entertainment (best known for so-called cultural representatives Fable, but that's a different story) and debuted almost immediately.

Now, onto the point. Jaesun's second mini album released last week. It's a bastardized, commercialized, watered down excuse of a punk/rock album. The pop-punk-ification of kpop was a mistake. We need to put back whatever Olivia Rodrigo released into society. As if it couldn't get worse, Jaesun's album was supported by an NME cover and the worst interview I've ever read. Every sentence was physically painful, like the author had shown up to my doorstep to stab me with her pen. 

In the interview, it becomes very, very obvious that Jaesun is playing at being an idol. He speaks about his veteran actor parents in a way Lam (the author of the piece) refers to as "refreshing." It is not. She refuses to call it what it is. Nepotism. Jaesun is an idol because his parents pay for it. (That's also Zenith Entertainment's biggest issue, but again, a different story.) What happened to sheer grit and determination? Plain old good luck? Working a part-time job to finance your dream? It’s unlikely Jaesun has ever worked a day in his life.

Every word out of his mouth about his music reeks of inauthenticity. He sounds robotic and spoon-fed. He names Bring Me the Horizon, My Chemical Romance, and Paramore as his favorite bands. Anyone who’s listened to music in the past year could name the three of them. Jaesun never offers anything more concrete. There’s no “That’s the Spirit made me fall in love with rock” or “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge inspired me to make music” or “Brand New Eyes was the first CD I bought.” Why? Because I doubt Jaesun could name any of these albums on his own.

In an era of kpop that puts so much emphasis on artistry and self-production, it’s shocking to see him succeed when so many other talented musicians remain unheard of. For all his faults, Jaesun is surprisingly open about his reliance on his producer, who wrote both of his albums. Lam describes his debut mini as "distinctly kpop" which could mean any number of things. It's average pop? Every song is three at once? The boundaries of music as we know it are being expanded upon? If it’s anything like his second album, it’s the first category (but I haven’t heard it, so you’ll have to let me know).

One thing remains obvious: Hwang Jaesun has no idea what he’s doing.

[+71, -3] not olivia and fable catching strays 💀💀

[+51, -8] if you’ve listened to his new album you’d know jaesun has writing credits. wtf are you talking about.

[+49, -3] there are other nepo babies in kpop. why is he the problem?

[+15, -10] you're not missing anything... this new album is better than his debut

[+14, -26] I agree. K-pop is so oversaturated recently. Anyone with a lot of money or the slightest interest is an idol nowadays. We still need plumbers and electricians.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT HERE.

[katy-133]

Rick Prime Theories: A Masterpost

A masterlist of theories relating to Rick Prime from Rick and Morty.

I'll update the OP of this masterpost with links to other posts as season 7 approaches. Feel free to add to this.

C-137/Prime as Backstory:

Backstories:

[x]-Rick C-137 and Prime were in a relationship before the events of the story. Rick choosing his family over Prime is what led to Prime killing Rick's family, kickstarting the beginning of the entire show.

-The fake season 3 backstory and season 6's flashback don't line up, revealing which parts of the season 3 backstory were "made up" by Rick to trick the Galactic Federation, and which were real.

-Prime is a time traveller, or lied about being a time traveller to manipulate C-137.

-Prime started a Rick cult that eventually became the Citadel of Ricks.

-Verbal evidence ("They kill your family", "Ricks don't pass on this").

-Parallels between C-137/Prime, C-137/Birdperson, and Beth/Space Beth.

[x]-Additional Birdrick and C-137/Prime parallel.

[x]-How the show handles foreshadowing using a specific pattern of denying and then later confirming continuity, and how this could be foreshadowing a C-137/Prime backstory.

[x]-The series repeatedly uses the "lovers to enemies" trope with Rick, and Rick Prime is yet another example of this.

[x]-Rick Prime had a kid with Diane (leading to our Morty's birth) because of a rebound.

Parallels and Dialogue:

[x]-Parallels between C-127/Prime, C-137/Mr Nimbus, and Crowscare.

-Verbal evidence ("Forgetting the ice cream", "The only person we like", "He's the real deal").

[x]-Verbal evidence ("Well, we'll see how long that lasts").

[x]-Space Beth: "You'd know, old man".

[x]-Call Me By Your Name film parallel.

[x]-Rick cheated on Diane. ("Leaving you stranded in a failing marriage. I did it.")

-Diane and Rick had an unstable relationship, possibly even before Prime entered the picture.

[x]-Diane and Rick had an unhealthy relationship wherein Rick cheated on her, and Diane used kid!Beth as a barrier against him to prevent communication that would have helped stabilise their marriage.

[x]-Young Rick's wedding ring.

Music Theory:

[x]-Prime's leitmotif is a variation of Dies Irae, which historically symbolises death, villainy, judgement, and obsessive love.

-Prime's leitmotif is a darker remix of Rick and Morty's opening theme song.

Prime's Ultimate Plan:

Finding Morty:

[x]-Prime's plan is to find Morty, to hurt C-137 in revenge for rejecting him.

-Prime will kidnap Morty by pretending to be C-137.

-The serum Rick drank in the Unity episode "syncs" the drinker with every dimensional version of themselves.

-Prime will use the serum on Morty to kill every version of him.

-Rick will (try to) use the serum to defeat every version of Prime.

[x]-Colour theory: Pink = time manipulation, while orange = syncing between others. Further evidence that Prime knows how to make the syncing serum from the Unity episode.

[x]-Rick Prime will use the serum to sync up himself with Morty. Rick will need to choose between revenge and family.

[x]-Prime doesn't know Morty is his dimensional grandson.

Keyser Söze Parallel:

[x]-Keyser Söze reference and parallels with Prime.

-Portal 2 reference and Prime's knowledge of popculture.

Prime's Portal Gun:

[x]-C-137 owns Prime's unique-looking portal gun because they knew each other for a while.

[x]-Prime has different portal gun designs between different hologram memories and flashbacks, implying that Prime visited Rick multiple times.

[x]-Rick C-137 was the one who designed the Prototype portal gun, and let Prime borrow it.

Portal Travel:

[x]-Prime lost the ability to portal travel.

[x]-Prime's holster is different between seasons, indicating that he doesn't use it for his portal gun anymore.

[x]-Prime and C-137 had already invented portal travel together. Prime proposed the idea of the Citadel, which C-137 rejected. Rick C-137, while pursing Prime, discovered the concept of Mortys before going to Prime's dimension.

[x]-Prime had opened a rift (similar to Evil Morty) to escape the Central Finite Curve.

The Bomb:

[x], [x]-The bomb that killed Diane and Beth was meant for Rick C-137, not his family.

[x], [x]-The bomb was intended for Prime, not Rick or Rick's family.

-Prime didn't drop the bomb that killed Diane and Beth.

-C-137's revenge quest was due to a critical misunderstanding of who dropped the bomb.

[x]-Unknowingly, C-137 himself caused the bomb to drop and killed his family, due to time travel that will happen in the future.

[x]-Prime doesn't even know who Rick C-137 is.

[x]-Beth and Diane were blown back/forward in time, becoming unreachable to Rick.

[x]-The bomb was meant to only destroy Rick's equipment, and not kill anyone.

Neutrino Bomb:

[x]-Rick tried to destroy the Earth in Prime's dimension in episode 1 out of revenge and Morty disarmed the neutrino bomb when Rick blacked out.

Prime Existing in Multiple Places at Once:

The Multiverse and Clones:

[x]-Prime uses the multiverse outside of the Curve to find other versions of himself.

-Prime uses clones of himself.

-The "clone" in Prime's lair was actually him because we see the escape pod later when Prime meets Jerry.

-Prime lied about the message being pre-recorded, as his eyes follow Rick during the fight scene in his lair.

[x]-The Central Finite Curve is a cage built to keep Prime contained.

[x]-Prime was the very first Rick clone of a memory from C-137, or another Rick who travelled back in time.

Time Crystals and Time Travel:

[x]-Prime uses time crystals (crystallised xanthenite) to manipulate time.

-Prime is associated with the colour pink because xanthenite is pink.

-The Central Finite Curve was built to keep Prime fenced in or out.

[x]-Rick Prime was actually offering Rick time travel, not inter-dimensional travel.

Cross-Temporal Asteroids:

[x]-Prime uses cross-temporal asteroids similar to the Jerryboree to evade people.

[x]-Prime is possibly the Rick responsible for creating the Jerryboree.

Prime's Immortality/Lack of Ageing:

Past Episode Foreshadowing:

[x]-Prime's immortality/healing ability comes from the fate creature from the fortune cookie episode.

-Prime is using the technology from the Whirly Dirly's immortality field.

-Prime figured out how to perfect Operation Phoenix to stay the same age.

[x]-Prime got the fortune cookies because the pink portal that opened in Final DeSmithation was a wormhole that sent the cookies through space and time.

[x]-Prime de-aged from Rick resetting all portal travellers in the Solaricks episode. (NEWEST ADDITION)

Misc Category:

Visual Design:

[x], [x]-Prime's robot designs and lair, and how they show Prime is a version of Rick that hasn't grown up.

[x]-The vision Jerry had while "merging with [Rick's] essence" foreshadowed Prime killing Arc Jerry. The vision's images will continue to foreshadow events that will happen in future seasons.

Pocket Mortys Game:

[x]-Prime can be found in the game Pocket Mortys as a playable character. He is named "Weird Rick."

-He costs the highest amount of coupons to unlock, implying that he is a major series character.

Characterisation:

[x]-Prime is the reason why Rick feels that he needs to always be the smartest person in the room.

[x]-Prime values being unique and fears not being the most outstanding Rick in the Universe.

[x], [x]-Rick in season 3 was trying to act like Rick Prime to emotionally numb himself, it didn't work, leading to his character development in seasons 5 and 6.

[x]-Rick Prime's influence is, in part, the reason Morty is "the Mortiest Morty" and why Rick fears Morty becoming more aggressive or overpowering him.

[x]-Rick will need to get over his dislike of time travel to defeat Rick Prime.

[booksteaandtoomuchtv]

In The Lonely Hour (5/10)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | A03 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Summary: A collection of canon-compliant(ish) one-shots that provide glimpses of Killian's life based on the album "In the Lonely Hour" by Sam Smith.

I'm Not The Only One Emma's affections are torn in different directions.

In retrospect, it was a bit childish to argue with Baelfire over a flame. Killian had long suspected that Neverland slowly reverted one to an earlier age. Perhaps part of the magic that kept visitors from ageing despite losing years, or centuries, to the cursed land was that it reverted them to an earlier age.

In all honesty, he’d begin to see exactly how this would end; princesses may kiss pirates in the depths of a jungle, but they made lives with more respectable partners in beautiful houses overlooking the sea. Losing Emma before he’d gotten a chance to prove to her that he was more than the villainous captain she knew from the stories had left him feeling unmoored and he panicked. And so, he’d ended up fighting like a fool with Baelfire.

He knew those antics weren’t going to win him Emma’s affections. He needed to find a way to show her that he would not abandon her at the first sign of trouble and that she was truly incredible. When he’d told her that he knew she would succeed in saving her son, she seemed surprised. But he had never seen such a strong and determined person, she would never face a situation that she could not conquer. Still, that did mean that she should do battle alone. He hoped to be able to fight alongside her and to help shoulder the burdens that sometimes clouded her stormy eyes. And to earn that honour, he needed to remember how to be the man Liam had been proud to call his lieutenant and his brother.

The old wound in his chest ached as the image of Liam smiling down at him from the helm of the Jewel filled his mind. The freedom of being in command of such a beautiful vessel was such a rush for two boys who had grown up under the thumb of a cruel captain. As the memory faded, loneliness rushed to fill its place.

Killian’s long years chasing the crocodile suddenly felt hollow. If he could devote centuries of his life to an empty cause, revenge that would not bring back Milah or the love they shared, he could certainly stop focusing his attention on a silly competition with Baelfire and begin chipping away at the stones guarding Emma’s heart.

——

The diner was packed with the townspeople welcoming Emma and her family back to Storybrooke. Emma only had eyes for Henry, as if he would cease being healthy and whole the moment she looked away. Watching them together reminded Killian of the soft songs his mother once hummed in his ear and the wistful longing in Milah’s eyes when she spoke of reuniting with Baelfire. Henry and Emma had the chance at being a family. And, Killian realised that he had the opportunity to give Milah’s boy the family she always wished for him. He could be there for Swan and care for her without coming between her and Baelfire; if she would even allow the boy a second chance at breaking her trust.

In Killian’s experience, absent fathers did not wake up one day and become involved in their children’s lives. No, such men were selfish children themselves; if they ever did breeze into the lives of their offspring, they were oft gone before any meaningful connection could be made. Killian suspected that Baelfire was keeping to the shallows with Henry and he knew that Emma would not permit such disappointment in her son’s life. Especially not after surviving the disappointment she’d experienced her own childhood.

But, for now, he would step back from the pursuit to allow Baelfire a fair chance to prove him wrong.

The warm ale did nothing to ease the pang of loss. He had been close enough to feel the heat only to have the fire die down before he could be warmed by it. Once again, love had brushed his fingers tantalisingly before slipping from his grasp.

“I don't think they serve rum at Granny’s.”

Guess it is time to let the man, himself, know.

[frogiwi]

HELLO AGAIN TOP 5 ANIME OPS AND EDS FROM YOU AS WELL PLEASE

HELLO CRAB thanks to scrolling through my OST playlist and messaging what i'd include as i went, this shouldn't require as much thought now LOL

extremely long so proceed under the readmore!

OPs:

re:re: by asian kung-fu generation - erased

i mean. this op ruined my life. erased was such a beautiful show that took me on a journey i wasn't expecting and it's my favorite time travel related story ever. i was so moved by it and i was devastated when the op changed because of [spoilers]. the show has a crazy ending but it was thrilling and parts of it were the most anxious i can recall an anime ever making me. what a gift honestly this op makes me tear up whenever i hear it

2. bloody stream by coda - jojo part 2 ed

OK so i was torn between this, sono chi no kioku, and fighting gold, but ultimately this won bc part 2 is my favorite of the three and i love and miss the cgi openings so much so fighting gold's visuals got disqualified. i fucking LOVE this op i linked the version with the extra sound effects but the visuals are all just so fun and i love joseph and caesar so much and coda is brilliant and this song is just a fucking party and FUCK YEAH

3. cry baby by offical hige dandism - tokyo revengers op 1

oh my god i almost forgot to put this one in. i had bnha op 2 peace sign in this list at first and then i was like I FORGOR. anyways cry baby is an incredible fucking op that was part of why i got hooked to tokyo revengers. i have a lot of complicated feelings about this series but overall it still means a lot to me and has been the most involved i've been in a fandom, and it is definitely special to me even after everything. i think this song has a wonderful energy to it that gives me such a strong impression of takemichi and toman and the whole theme of fighting on for a brighter future and the visuals are simple but extremely effective and beautiful. they do a great job at portraying takemichi's struggles. i love u crybaby hero. i love this song dearly

4. hikari are by burnout syndromes - haikyuu op 5 (shiratorizawa arc)

this one is here for a lot of reasons. this arc is one of my favorite parts of haikyuu because of what it means for karasuno to win and go to nationals, but also for my fav character tsukki to finally have his Moment where he gets hooked on volleyball by being able to block ushijima,,, AND the shot of ushijima pushing hinata and tsukki down when the karasuno senpais daichi, asahi, and tanaka come to their rescue and support them to push ushijima back.... there's just so much significance to this season AND in terms of this op itself, the song is so beautiful and the visual where hinata jumps and turns into the crow diving makes me tear up every time (and did again when i rewatched it for this kgjsdg) and i just. i really love it a lot

5. jikai yokoku by tatsuya kitani - sentai daishikkaku

i too am going to include this bc omfg what a fucking banger of a song and the visuals are incredible. both the lyrics and the visuals convey the repeating cycle fighter d is in and his struggle to break free and fight back and i LOVE the parts of the song sung in children's voices because it ties even more into the sentai theme and the words themselves are JUST. ITS SO GOOD WATCH SENTAI DAISHIKKAKU IM SO GLAD I SUCCUMBED TO CRAB'S PROPAGANDA

EDs:

first death by tk from ling tosite sigure - chainsaw man ed 8

this ending ruined my fucking life. ok so i read chainsaw man over a year before the anime aired and like it was good but it was confusing and so i didn't think about it much after that. BUT THE ANIME DID SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB i suddenly cared about it so much. the effort that was put into creating a different ed for each episode is remarkable and they're literally all incredible songs with incredible animation and i truly would put all of them on this list. but first death wins because episode 8 ruined me and then this ed singlehandedly made me fall in love with himeno and akihime. i suddenly saw the beauty and tragedy in their relationship and codependency and i was enamored by how the last few episodes of the anime felt like a love letter to himeno. she deserves it. ed 9 (deep down by aimer) is also beloved but this one makes me crazy. seeing aki and himeno at the gravesite where they met, and sharing a smoke, and fighting together perfectly coordinated, and aki at the gravesite alone after her death.... it's so cinematic and a story on it's own and it's just so lovely. i think the song is also very csm and the energy of it is unmatched

2. el canto del colibri by mabanua - megalobox op 2

i was pretty torn as to whether to put the first op, kakatte koi yo by NakamuraEmi, or this one, but i ultimately went with this one because it is a true reflection of the core of this series and i think it being in spanish is a great bridge to the characters of season 2 (it is amazing to watch something where brown characters aren't of an ambiguous minority race; the culture is deeply intrinsic to the themes of this season and it's so special). i don't want to get too in detail and spoil anything but i went into megalobox expecting a regular sports anime and got out of it so much more than that, and it truly touched me. i listen to the entire ost by mabanua often, and it comforts me a lot.

3. datte atashi no hero by LiSA - bnha ed 3

ok this one is just the best bnha ending ever and the official bakudeku anthem of all time, and the fantasy au being animated will NEVER be forgotten. this song is such a joy to listen to and it being about deku's feelings toward bakugou is truly amazing. i love all the details in the visuals and i would love to see more eds like this honestly where the characters are just put into a little AU. it's just really good!!!

4. hunting for your dream by galneryus - hxh ed 2 (yorknew arc)

ok i had to find a version of this with the lead in during the last few moments of the episode bc that was always badass. anyways yorknew arc changed me and i became a deranged beast about chrollo and chrollopika for months. hands down my favorite part of hxh, and i just love the energy of this ed. there is nothing really special about the visuals but i still rly love when it goes through all the phantom troupe members and mostly i am just fond of the memories of this time

5. future fish by style five - free ed 2

dammit ok i put the first ed splash free here at first but i rewatched them both and changed my mind. i watched free rly late compared to like everyone else (2019 i think???) but oh my god i would put every ed on here LOL especially this one and splash free. i love the outfits and "story" of splash free but this one is even MORE fun with all the different profession outfits and the guys just being sillygoofy and oh my god its so cute i miss them so much I NEED TO REWATCH FREE RIGHT NOW

(i have to give honorary number 6 to hyori ittai by yuzu (hxh ed 5) because even tho chimera ant arc was difficult to get through at times, i love this song a lot and the visuals of the gungi pieces especially with gon and killua fuck me up. the ending of this arc with meruem and komugi destroyed me and i cried like a fucking baby)

[streets-in-paradise]

Andy Barclay Nirvana Playlist + Lyrics - Part 2

Tags: @silvershewolf247

1 - Heart Shaped Box

" I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black"

" Hey Wait I got a new complaint Forever in debt to your priceless advice "

2 - In Bloom

( Since the chorus is ironical, I'm skipping it, but I do imagine this song reminds andy of chucky)

" Sell the kids for food Weather changes moods"

" We can have some more Nature is a whore Bruises on the fruit Tender age in bloom "

3 - Serve The Servants

" Teenage angst has paid off well Now I'm bored and old "

" As my bones grew they did hurt They hurt really bad."

4 - Stain

" Well he never bleeds and he never fucks And he never leaves cuz he's got bad luck. Well he never reads and he never draws And he never sleeps cuz he's got bad blood yeah I'm a stain, I'm a stain, I'm a stain, I'm a stain "

5- Something In the Way

( taken ironically, this song makes me think of andy's time as a loner in the cabin with chucky as only company)

" Underneath the bridge Tarp has sprung a leak And the animals I've trapped Have all become my pets "

6 - The Man Who Sold The World ( I know this is a Bowie cover, but I'm counting it)

" We passed upon the stair We spoke of was and when Although I wasn't there He said I was his friend Which came as a surprise I spoke into his eyes I thought you died alone A long long time ago

Oh no, not me We never lost control You're face to face With the man who sold the world

I laughed and shook hand And made my way back home I searched for form and land For years and years I roamed I gazed a gazeless stare We walked a million hills I must have died alone A long, long time ago "

7 - Son of a Gun ( The Vaselines cover)

" Up, up, up, and down Turn, turn, turn around 'Round, 'round, 'round about And over again

Gun, gun, son of a gun You are the only one That makes any difference What I say

The sun shines in the bedroom When we play The raining always starts When you go away "

8 - Sliver

( no special lyric bond, except that it's a song describing a childhood anecdot about a kid feeling disturbed and distressed)

9 - Scoff

" In my eyes, I'm not lazy In my face, it's not over In your room, I'm not older In your eyes, I'm not worth it

Gimme back my alcohol "

10 - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle

( In this song kurt connected self referencing lyrics with the story of an actress who suffered terrible abuses in a psychiatric hospital, shock therapy incluided. To me, this fits with Andy's depression mixed with his wish to avenge Karen and Nica )

" In her false witness I hope you're still with us To see if they float or drown Our favorite patient Display of patience Disease-covered Puget Sound She'll come back as fire To burn all the liars Leave a blanket of ash on the ground

I miss the comfort in being sad "

Bonus:

Floyd The Barber

( not a character song, but the barber creep thing reminds me of sergeant botnick from child's play 3 and I can imagine chucky referencing his murder to this)

[bbbeowulf]

YIPPEE I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON AND HAS A HAPPY NEW YEARRRRR!!!!

I have a lot of art resolutions that I wanna get through this year so I figured I would share them with all of you… VIA BINGO CARD!!

Bingo card inspired by AlmaKRowan on Twitter/X!!

List and explanations below the cut!!

Architecture: I want to learn how to draw buildings, rooms, etc.!!

Adopts: I want to make adopts!!

KOI character refs: Reference sheets for the characters in my story “Knights of Irene”!!

ArtFight: I’m gonna aim for 20 attacks/revenges, but we’ll see!!

GraVT piece: a group picture of the indie VTuber group I’m in, GraVT!!

Animated Illustration: I’VE BEEN WANTING TO DO THIS FOR YEARS MY TIME IS NOW

Animal studies: learn how to draw animals better

PNGtuber+ comm: I made one for myself (see it HERE) but I want someone to commission me for one >:,(

VTuber redesign: potentially maybe redesign my VTuber (even tho I literally just killed myself making the PNG+ model but WHATEVER IM ON DRUGS IG)

Leo TOTIKFR animatic: animatic for my OC Leo to the song “The Only Thing I Know For Real” by Tyson Yen

Digital painting: IVE BEEN WANTING TO LEARN HOW TO DIGITALLY PAINT/RENDER BUT I CANNOT WRAP MY HEAD AROUND IT BUT I WANNA TRYYY

Holiday YCH: YCH comms for major holidays!!

Snow Fairy MAP: I have a part in @jurygarroth’s Snow Fairy MAP so I need to get that done :D

Art Prints: I WANNA SELL ART PRINTS RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Bug studies: I wanna learn how to draw bugs :3c

OC sticker sheets: I wanna make (AND SELL) sticker sheets of my OCs (and maybe other fandom characters like MLP and stuff!! We’ll see.)

RP movie posters: movie poster style illustrations of my active role plays!!

DTIYS: I WANNA MAKE ONE AND PEOPLE PARTICIPATE PLZZZZ 😭😭 JUST ONE PERSON PLZ I BEG

Emotes: re-do my twitch/discord emotes

Sell canvases @ gallery: I have an art gallery in my town that I wanna apply for and sell some irl artwork!!

YCH comms: more YCH comms!!

Lobelia lore animatic: lore animatic for my VTuber

Pose studies: learn how to draw poses better

KOI cover: book cover for “Knights of Irene”

Abaddon Webcomic: this is a HARD maybe, but I’ve tried to make this webcomic happen 2 or 3 different times and I always got sick and tired of it before I got ANYWHERE with it. I think if I take it in more of a mini comic approach like Shen or Merryweather!!

There are a few more ideas I had that I didn’t put on my bingo!!

Leo’s Final Form: conceptualize Leo’s final form and draw the finalized version

Backgrounds: get better at drawing backgrounds

Foliage: get better at drawing foliage

Color Theory: learn color theory

Interesting shading: play around with colors and shade with different colors perhaps to make it pop?

Aphmau art: draw more Aphmau art

KOI: Finish planning out KOI and potentially start writing it? It’s not art in the sense of it being written not drawn but whatever I wanna do this

Commissions: keep doing commissions! I wanna try to do at least 20 this year 👉👈

Art trades: do some art trades with people outside of ArtFight!!

Art raffle: do an art raffle 🧍

Draw my FRIENDSSS: I WANNA DRAW MY FRIENDS WAHHHHHHHHHH

GET HIRED BY YORUNOMACHI: *on my hands and knees sobbing, begging, throwing up*

Do Aphtober/Cringetober/some form of tober AND FINISH: I doubt I’ll finish lmfao

Make OC profiles on UnVale: it’s like toyhouse but it doesn’t make me want to kms when using it

Learn VTuber Rigging: I just wanna know how to do it :3

Anyways I’m sure there’s more but this is just a list of everything I can think of off the top of my head! A week from now I might decide to not do any of this LMFAO! But we’ll see how much I actually do this year!! Yippee!!

Happy new year everyone!!

[taylortruther]

I still feel like sharing my opinion about Forever & Always - Haunted - Foolish One.

So it's confirmed by Taylor that Joe broke up with her in a 27 phone call (The Ellen Show, 11.11.2008) and that Forever & Always was added to the Fearless album a day before the tracklist was finalised ("She's writing her future" by Randy Lewis)

Joe Jonas responded in 2009 with the song Much Better: "now I'm done with superstars and all the tears on her guitar [Teardrops On My Guitar] ...Everything I'd need is the girl in front of me // she's much better"

Taylor released Better Than Revenge in late 2010: "Let's hear the applause // come on, show me how much better you are (so much better yeah?) // so you deserve some applause // 'cause you're so much better

Last Kiss has a 27 seconds intro -> 27 phone call breakup.

Majority of the fandom agrees these 3 songs are about him. In those songs she's describing a situation where someone walked out on her, and that made her feel very frustrated and confused. Forever & Always might have been written after the breakup, but so much of it deals with the feeling of knowing you're about to get broken up with. Only after the breakup you realize you've been ignoring the signs -> "now I'm sliding down the walls with my head in my hands, saying, "how could I not see the signs? You haven't written me or called -> "This thing is breaking down, we almost never speak. Baby, what happened? 'Cause one second it was perfect now you're halfway out the door" -> "Come on, Come on, don't leave me like this // I thought I had you figured out" -> "I never planned on you changing your mind"

Then there's The Ellen Show interview the day Fearless was released:

Ellen: "He broke up with you on the phone? That's not right."

Taylor: "It's all right - I'm cool. You know what, it's like, when I find that person that is right for me, he'll be wonderful. When I look at that person, I'm not even going to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 27 seconds when I was 18."

And that just makes me think about Foolish one ending with "the day is gonna come for your confessions of love // when all is said and done, he just wasn't the one" it's a very Taylor thing to call herself an idiot for falling in love and then still believdin love. "Stupid girl, I should've known" to "I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well"

It's a especially a 2006-2009 Taylor thing to berate herself for falling for an asshole, but end up still believing there's a good guy out there. I think things changed after John. Part of her struggles with falling into adulthood was getting seriously burned by love.

You know CBHF's theory that Electric Touch is about Jake? I love that and wish I could find her posts about it because they were so good.

Electric Touch is so hopeless, in a way. It's Delicate's pop punk sister. "Got a history of stories ending sadly" -> "the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now"

I think after John Taylor started to understand love is a ruthless game. She went to her first date with Jake knowing that "we fall in love 'til it hurts or bleeds or fades in time" but holding on to that little bit of hope that this time would be different. And I just don't see her writing "the day is gonna come for your confessions of love" after John.

I understand Haunted feels too dark to be about Joe because their relationship & breakup wasn't as scarring as Dear John. But the idea Taylor couldn't have written something so moving and emotional  at 19 after getting dumped on the phone is offensive to her skills as a writer and offensive to all teenage girls with very big feelings. She wrote Cold As You when she was 15 and I like to think it was written about the same subject as Picture To Burn.

When she said she's haunted she means haunted by the relationship, by his love, which is why she sits on the floor wearing his clothes.

this is compelling evidence... i'm gonna make a poll