#I’m gonna go eat breakfast since I put it off to finish this 😅

[cuteniarose]

To undo the headache, fine, fine, I'm cheating, you get two asks! MoM!

Now you’re talking!! Except.. hm, how about we make it more fun? New rule: I am only allowed to put in each character once, because otherwise… we’d just get stuck in an endless repeat of Suiren and Summiya, wouldn’t we?

*pulls up OC list because I just woke up and brain isn’t braining rn*

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) – Do I even have to say it? Suiren. Of course it’s Suiren. Who else would it be? Who else could POSSIBLY measure up to how much this feral wet cat of a traumatised lesbian means to me?? Nobody, absolutely nobody, nobody can compare , it’s not even a competition at this point. She genuinely has lived in my head rent free for almost 6 years now, thinking about her has got me through some hard shit, I draw her so much I could do it with my eyes closed… truly, she is the most important girl in the world and I love her beyond words <3

scrunkly (my "baby", character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) – Another obvious answer, but Ehuang. Come onl I literally call her Sweet Baby Ehuang, who else could I have picked? Specifically in that piece where she’s wrapped in The Blanket held by her mama. She’s the sweetest, most adorable little baby to have ever existed and I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we created her. But also, honourable mention goes to Midori and Emran (yes, specifically him, not Aiza. Or at least not Lady Aiza, perhaps Acolyte Aiza triggers the same feelings, I’ll have to see if I ever draw her), because little Midori is as adorable as her daughter and Emran is who makes me think “scrunkly” whenever I look at him, he’s the So Shaped one <3 And.. my original Malina art remains my utmost favourite way I’ve ever drawn a face, there’s more character packed in there than in most of my other pieces combined, so perhaps she counts here too? Oh! Oh!! And Kumisai!!! I still love the way I drew her, very cute, very scrunkly 💚💚

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) – The Brothel Gang!! All of them at once, yes. They deserve so much more attention and love (and material for me to get off to 🤭) and like.. the only downside to having so many OCs is that there simply isn’t enough time to pay due attention to them all 😔 And just so we’re clear, Mekhali is very much included in this, because somehow, even though they’re the one who started this OC branch, they’ve become even less relevant than the girls :’) More brothel shenanigans content with the six of them and Mekhali and baby Kumisai and adorably awkward Summiya when???

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won't shut up about it for a week) – LIU AND NUYING AND AFARIN. THE DEAD MOM CLUB. YES YES I GET IT SUNAT IS UNIQUELY FASCINATING AND MAKES US CHEW ON DRYWALL BUT WHERE’S THE LOVE FOR THE REST OF THEM?? JUST BECAUSE THEY CANNOT PROVIDE EMOTIONAL REUNION SHENANIGANS DOESN’T MAKE THEM ANY LESS IMPORTANT, YOU HEAR ME??? (but also, honourable mentions of course go to their respective husbands, Bingwen and Cadeo and Siamak, since I’m weak for good fathers in media, it’s spiritually healing. And Cadeo WILL provide emotional reunion shenanigans at some point even if it kills me!! [And.. Ming-Hua was only 55 when Ehuang was born. Who’s to say that Cadeo can’t be around to meet his great granddaughter, the one named after the same legend as his late wife?? I’m making myself emotional thinking about this, fuck 😭]. As for the really, REALLY obscure honourable mentions, Shezan’s siblings. I’m extremely curious about them and what their lives ended up as.)

poor little meow meow ("problematic"/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) – HAYAAAAA. I know I’m the one who created her and made her as awful as she is, but… once upon a time she was just a fourteen year old girl who loved her Ma very much and had her entire world ripped away from her in a matter of weeks, with no one left to help her raise her little brother or to work so she can keep going to school and meeting with her friends or to simply comfort her as she deals with the biggest loss a child can experience 😭😭😭 Her past and what shaped her and how she became what she is and the way her future plays out makes me genuinely, genuinely insane, and I need to get back to my fic about her one of these days. But given that she is, in fact, a terrible person who, at least in the main verse, abused her nieces for sixteen years.. she is very much “problematic” and controversial 😅

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) – Jia ☠️ She gave me whumperflies once and I was never normal about her again, thanks Kat. She didn’t have to suffer the way she did, but my love for causing characters pain took over and I’m very, very obsessed with her fate and the aftermath and the eventual reunion with Aiza. I even drew her with flogging scars once, I am truly beyond saving when it comes to her. But also Summiya, because somehow my verdict of “a good dicking would fix her” turned into the most visceral and insanity inducing exploration of a character’s breakdown and fall from grace than I have ever seen before or since, and I LOVE shattering that porcelain doll and watching her struggle to put the pieces back together, knowing she will never again be able to hide the cracks >:)

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) – Jusamah and Himman. No other commentary necessary, I believe (but fun fact: when I answered this for MC some years ago I put Suleiman and Ibrahim in this same category, and given that they’re essentially the same characters as the previously mentioned ones in a different font… the years pass, the fandom changes, and yet Nia’s hatred of assholes ruining the lives of every woman they know stays the same 😂). Oh, and Daigo. He can rot 😊

[theunstuffedpepper]

I’m still over here, friends! Eating good food, getting a big ol’ chop to my hair, and enjoying Valentine’s Day with my boys.

First things first: I chopped a TON of length off my hair and I love it so freaking much. I’m losing a lot less hair in the shower, all the color I put in my hair ages ago is finally gone, and pep doesn’t rip my hair out anymore! Plus, way easier maintenance-wise. I didn’t realize how dead and style-less it was before, until I chopped it. Sometimes a fresh cut is so rejuvenating.

Second: since last weekend when I had an awful night with pep, when we were up all night together, we’ve started sleep training, and it’s been so much less emotionally taxing than I expected. He’s a little champ. Instead of rocking him fully to sleep like we’ve been, one of us will now sit quietly with him for 10-15 minutes max in the rocking chair before bed/naps, whisper to him, sing a song, play with a stuffed animal, whatever, and then put him down awake in his crib. He whines and sometimes cries right away, but as soon as we leave the room, he settles and puts himself to sleep. It’s gotta be related to this that he also really hasn’t woken up at all crying for us overnight. He woke up once crying over the past week, and it was because his nose was super stuffy. We helped him with that and he went right back to bed. I can’t overstate how AMAZING and transformative this has been for me. I had tied so much more stress and anxiety to his sleep troubles than I had realized. I started to anticipate him waking or having trouble going down, and I would be filled with such dread, anticipating the exhaustion to come. Fingers crossed - those days seem like they’re in the rear view.

Valentine’s Day here was simple and lovely. I took some cute lipstick-on-the-cheek photos with pep, though he totally did NOT love the process. 😅 B and pep went out to the supermarket and got some steaks for dinner, plus picked me up some flowers and stopped at my favorite bakery for cherry cheesecake and my favorite cookies. So cute, simple, and thoughtful. Steaks cooked in cast iron with baked potatoes and a salad was a delicious dinner, and a much needed departure to have an adult meal together, at a table. (Have you guys done baked potatoes in the instant pot?? If not: try it. It’s so easy, it’s incredible. Baked potatoes in 20 minutes. Yes.)

Today I’m going for a quick ultrasound to finish up the anatomy scan — hopefully this little nugget cooperates. Tomorrow I’m headed into the city to work in the office for the first time this year. Strangely enough, I’m kinda excited to get out of the house, get dressed, and see other adult humans?

I’m sure there’s more to say, but for now, I’m gonna go put together some breakfast for pep. Happy Wednesday, babes.