#This is definitely unintentional on the part of the show btw I'm just thinking a lot about Elrond's complicated childhood and echoes+thefun

[group-dynamic]

Elrond, to Cirdan: "What is beauty when it is born in part of evil?"

Cirdan: "No less beautiful." * *After which he immediately turns behind him with a knowing look to Elrond until the camera adjusts focus onto him

. . .

Also Adar to Elrond "You have the beauty of your fore-mother Melian of the Valar"

Me: Shaking crying gnashing teeth; Ohh OKay!!

[ravioliet]

ok so let me be cringe on main for a minute here (this is a joke btw i know cringe isn't real). odd squad mlp au for your consideration

please ask me questions about this by the way i have so much for this. i'll put some of the basic info (it's a lot more than that now but in my defense it started as a basic summary) and a few more drawings under the cut though please look at it with your eyes thank you

so for some basic explanations we have Olive who is a unicorn, Otto who is a pegasus, Olympia who is a part unicorn earth pony (which i'll explain in a sec), and Otis who is a full blooded pegasus (which i'll also explain the importance of in a moment). i haven't drawn Ms. O, Oscar or Oona yet but they are an alicorn (formerly an earth pony), a unicorn, and an earth pony respectively

Olive and Otto are the only two that i've come up with cutie mark designs for so far (they are so hard to design..) but Olympia and Otis have them too, they just get them mid-season. specifically after the talent show. i'm designing them side by side so that they kinda match because they get them at the same time and also they're besties your honor, but anyways theirs are a little fireworks design and some sort of a swan design because y'know. the ugly duckling story. and also i think part of his talent is dancing and like swan lake exists etc etc. and yes this does mean that he's a little bit scared of his own cutie mark at times but he just tries not to think about it and usually covers it with his wings anyway. all four of their cutie mark meanings are kinda abstract personality trait related things

Olive got hers after stopping the pienado because character development moments, which also kinda means that she's sorta tied to Todd because of this which she Does Not Like. i'll need to make a whole other post about Todd in this au because he's definitely a guy, but anyways while they were partners Olive was a blank flank and despite how good at his job he was Todd was one too and it was like one of the only things they really had in common, but it also ends up being one of the reasons he goes rogue because not only is Todd bored but he's also frustrated because he's tried everything he can think of and won every award he possibly can and he still doesn't have a cutie mark even though he feels like he definitely should by now because this has to be his talent. why would he be so good at it if it wasn't? he doesn't get his cutie mark until after he reforms btw, because before then he was either too certain about his talent being something else or too busy causing trouble to entertain himself that he never really took the time to stop and discover that his actual interest was gardening and that's when he finally gets his cutie mark. in my head i have this alternate version of Otis's tomato speech where when Todd is like "i'm Odd Todd it's who i am" Otis is just like "that's not what your cutie mark says" and it's very silly but anyways i'm gonna circle this back around to Olive real quick

so on top of Todd's cutie mark being in gardening he also has a sort of side meaning as well in the sense that he's a little bit like the CMC and has a sort of knack for encouraging character growth in others whether he realizes it or not because. encouraging plants to grow.. encouraging people to grow... the whole villain rehab thing...... you see what i'm getting at here. but the funny thing is the first pony he really did this to was Olive and it was completely unintentional. he didn't know that she would get her cutie mark by stopping him, at least not consciously, but she did. it probably takes him quite some time before he actually puts together the fact that he's had that talent the whole time.

Otto's cutie mark is a lot sillier. he actually doesn't know how he got it or what it means (as mentioned earlier it's symbolic but he doesn't know that. also shoutout to Shroom aka Evillandscaper for suggesting a paper crane because i did NOT know what i was gonna make it) he just kinda walked into work one day and Olive was like "oh cool you got your cutie mark?" and Otto was just like "WAIT I GOT MY CUTIE MARK?????" cue a whole silly filler episode involving the two of them trying to figure out what it means and also Olive having a crisis over the fact that Otto can do that pegasus thing where they use their wings like cartoon hands. both of these become running bits from then on. also i drew this comic about it and it might be one of my favorite things i've made for this au honestly

and on the topic of cutie marks as i previously mentioned, Olympia and Otis both get theirs after the talent show and they're also matching a little bit. theirs are also personality things but in addition to that Otis's is also for dancing and Olympia's is for magic, and you may be wondering how an earth pony can be a magic talent and this is where that half unicorn thing comes in!

so Olympia is half unicorn half earth pony which i don't think is too uncommon on its own, but the thing that makes her weird is that she inherited traits from both sides instead of just one over the other, so she actually has unicorn magic but no horn to actually use it with so she's unable to cast actual spells or anything but her magic will kinda spill over at times, especially if she's emotional, and cause things to happen like that one time she exploded into glitter when interviewing Olive or of course the fireworks! she's kind of like the Pinkie Pie character who just does unexplained things sometimes she's just very silly. fun fact in her ref you can see that her mane and tail are sparkly and that's because they kinda just perpetually look like they have glitter in them, but the thing is it's not really glitter it's all just magic. i imagine her coat is like this as well but i just didn't draw it in

also as a side note it came to my attention that she bears an uncanny similarity to Sparkleworks from G3 and i have absolutely no idea how that happened At All. like they have the same cutie mark and everything it's so weird. i've never even watched G3 i'm a G4 kid i legitimately have no clue how the hell this happened. i did make this out of it though

anyways for Otis, he's a pegasus of course but he's specifically a Cloudsdale weather pegasus, which yes i did make up but hear me out. so basically in my mind pegasi born in somewhere like Cloudsdale are more likely to have weather talents or like. stronger abilities in controlling the weather and such, which means stuff like larger wings and weatherproof wings and feathers to make it easier to deal with storms and stuff like that, so basically all this is just an excuse for me to give Otis waterproof feathers like a duck. but anyways since he was still raised by the ducks he doesn't actually know he's from Cloudsdale or anything so he just thinks he's weird for the feathers thing

okay i have. way more but i'm cutting myself off here so i don't overload everyone with information but anyways, please ask me about them, and also here's some extra drawings i've done of them :3

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: ACA Top 10 Disney Villains

Aka the medley/top 10 video that probably has the most songs covered by Voiceplay in other videos (whether partial or in full) (and though I won't talk about vocals or arrangement, I will point out each one as we go along). (And yes I'm skipping over most if not all of the Partwork videos)

It's another Aca Top 10 video (released in March 2019 btw), and so it's another round of themed shirts! Geoff is wearing a very cool Scar shirt, Layne is wearing a Dr Facilier shirt, J is wearing a Claude Frollo shirt, Earl is wearing a Hades shirt, and Eli... is wearing a Darth Vader shirt (in the style of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, it seems). Like I know Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney in 2012, but seriously Eli, c'mon man! ����

Starting off with Friends On The Other Side with J on lead vocals, which of course J did as a full-length cover with Voiceplay in 2021, his first "guest vocalist feature" since leaving the group 5 months earlier to go join the US Navy Band (and I'm very much looking forward to eventually doing a post for that video, let me tell you!)

Earl and J fooling around during the Trust In Me section 😄

"Close your eyesssss" (why would I close my eyes when I could just stare at Geoff instead?)

"miaow!"

The teeny tiny cat is I think the cat from Pinocchio? Figaro I believe?

Geoff and Layne have been best friends since middle school, roughly 30 years ago (same with Earl), and it shows 😄 (Friendship Goals honestly)

Unintentional funny pause moment! 😂

While we're here, time for another hair study!

My sketch really doesn't do it justice, but Geoff's hair in this one has a bit of a "lions mane" quality to it imo (which is fitting given the shirt he's wearing)

We're now onto Oogie Boogie's song, with Geoff on lead vocals, and of course I don't actually have to say it, we all know it. but Voiceplay did a full-length cover of it (again with Geoff on lead) 7 months after this video, as their Halloween release for the year!

Love Geoff's facial expressions on "and if you aren't shaking"

Eli Eyebrow Raise!

Now we're onto Cruella De Vil, which VP did a full-length cover of back in 2015 for a promotional collaboration thing with Disney! (Not on Voiceplay's channel though)

Gaston next, which Voiceplay did as part of their Beauty And The Beast medley on their 2012 Once Upon An Ever After album

"As a specimen, yes I'm intimidating," ('intimidating' isn't the word I would use...)

And yes I see Layne's wrist tattoo that I first noticed in the This Is Halloween video! (Also a little jealous of Layne getting to touch Geoff's hair)

"Gimme that hurrah!"

Eli and J doing a mini floss, and Earl holding a chapstick? 😂😅

Number 3 is Hellfire, which, as I'm sure you know, Voiceplay finally did a full-length cover of, 4 and a half years later, in October 2023, again with Geoff on lead vocals just like here, and well, I'm gonna save my thoughts for when I eventually make a full post about it because oh my god

(Also love J pointing to his shirt like he did in the 80s Cartoons video 😄)

Immediately followed by Poor Unfortunate Souls, with Earl on lead. Earl had left the group by the time Voiceplay revisited the song for their Little Mermaid Medley in 2020, but we were treated (and I mean treated) to an amazing "Geoffsula" performance instead! (Another one I'm very excited to get to)

And finally we have Be Prepared, another one that was in a medley on Voiceplay's Once Upon An Ever After album (Geoff took lead for that one, but he can definitely go much lower now than he used to be able to)

Final frame!

So basically there were only 3 songs in this that Voiceplay hadn't already done previously or revisited at some point later: Mother Knows Best, We Are Siamese, and Trust In Me (hey Geoff if you ever wanna make a cover of Trust In Me on your channel, like even just as a short... 👉👈)

I'll be skipping over a few more videos from here, but the next video I talk about will be very fun!

[not-xpr-art]

just wanted to share a few comparisons to show how my digital painting skills have developed over the years!

(these were all done with the same brush type on the same program btw!)

see below for a mini kinda Art Advice post where i go into each of these comparisons!

wanna start by saying the brush i used for all these pieces is the 'watercolour' brush on firealpaca... essentially just a default flat brush that usually comes with most software!

the first two are to show unintentional messiness vs intentional messiness. a lot of my early art had a pretty messy quality to it purely because i was still unfamiliar with the mechanics of digital! (though i will say, i think i was going for a more painter-ly style in the 2015 art anyway because i was basing it on pre-raphaelite works)

i think once you become a lot more familiar with certain mediums, you allow yourself to be a bit more confident with the brushstrokes you make! the 2022 piece is one where i wanted to create a sense of texture, almost like a digital version of impasto (aka thick layers of paint), and i know better now how to use digital software to create this kind of effect!

and you can see with the next row & the 2016 piece that i managed to create a much smoother, more blended appearance whilst still using the same brush! a part of my improvement came from me allowing myself to spend a little longer on pieces, especially in those first few years. i think a lot of beginners to digital (or any other kind of medium for that matter) think that if they spend the same amount of time on a piece as they would in another medium that they're more familiar with they'll get the same results, but it doesn't really work that way lol... especially if you're very new to digital... my advice here, then, would be to allow yourself to be slow at figuring out the medium (and let yourself make mistakes!)

going back to the 2016 vs 2022 comparison, i wanted to include this to show how sometimes you can keep things still messy, but still controlled and complete looking! also, remember that in digital most programs will let you adjust the 'colour mixing levels' or another similar 'blending level' option, which essentially just means how much the strokes blend or don't blend into what you've already painted... (knowing this would have made blending a whole lot easier back in 2016 lemme tell you lol.....)

(i also wanted to include that comparison cos it looks like they're looking at each other and i find it funny pfft)

the final comparison is, again, to show how controlled brushstrokes can give a piece a simultaneously painter-ly and smooth appearance! in both the 2015 and 2023 pieces, i wasn't super precise in my painting skills. but the 2023, to me at least, doesn't look as messy purely in the way i've been able to use the brush!

i mainly wanted to share this because i spent a long time trying to make my paintings look smooth, and i definitely do still do this in some artworks (particularly if i'm using fluffy/textured brushes), but i realised that i really enjoyed being able to create messy works that overall feel more finished due to the painting skills i've developed over the years!

i also just want to say that i'm not saying that either of these sides are 'better' than the other, they're just a few different ways i've approached art in my years as a digital artist! my observational drawing skills have grown a lot since the left side pieces, but i still think there's a lot to like in my early works and i'm definitely still very proud of them!

~~

thanks for reading & feel free to check out my other art advice posts and consider tipping me here on tumblr or heading to my kofi if you wanna support me! (no pressure ofc!!) <3

[kmze]

2x12 - 2x22 Alright I did something different this time, I put my thoughts down while watching (usually after I finished the episode) instead of doing it after I finished all the episodes. So I have way more thoughts this time lol, my short term memory was struggling before. All this is to say this is much longer than my last recap thoughts, also this is one of the best seasons of the show so it made the rewatch more enjoyable.

Poor Rose and very dumb on Damon’s part to leave Elena with her having absolutely no idea what the werewolf bite was going to do. The dream sequence he gives Rose is one of the best Damon scenes ever IMO. RIP Rose and that awful wig.

Elena told Damon to be the better man and the groan I let out... I wish you an eternity of misery Kevin Williamson!

I could not stop laughing at Stefan's brilliant idea of talking to Tyler involved him sneaking into his house and then slamming him against the wall LMFAO!! Genius idea Stefan that definitely made him want to help you and be friends, truly a mystery that you two never get along.

The Lexi flashbacks made me sad I was 100% with Stefan glaring at Damon like BTW you’re awful in case you forgot.

Is Alaric wearing eyeliner sometimes or am I seeing things?

The Damon/Andie scenes just make me so mad and uncomfortable, there's moral ambiguity that always exists in this show and then there's this disturbing storyline, fuck the writers.

Ok I admit Matt and Caroline have one good scene (though Caroline does the heavy lifting here) when she sings to him at the grill and they kissed. I clapped, a moment of weakness. Matt ruined the good feelings by the end of the episode though so balance has been restored.

Unintentional Intentional Foreshadowing? At the 60s dance Stefan and Elena are dancing and then Caroline and Matt come in. Stefan leaves Elena to go dance with Caroline and spins Elena into Damon’s arms. While this is happening the song playing is Last Kiss, which is a song about a guy who lost his girl in a car crash. I don't think it was intentional but if I were the writers I would totally take credit and say it was.

I'm sure this is part of the Delener manifesto (which I will never read) but the line "I don't mind being a bad guy. I'll make all the life and death decisions, while you're busy worrying about collateral damage" had me like DAMNNNNNN. Maybe I don't give Damon enough credit because that was a pretty great summarization of why Stefan eventually lets Elena die in 3x22 by "respecting her choices".

I am so tired of the suicide missions this season, choose life!

At least Caroline chooses life! This is when I really started seeing how Caroline is climbing up in the narrative and especially how her love life is gaining more depth and importance. The porch and door scenes in particular because lovers and potential lovers on the porch was something Elena got in S1. For Caroline the doorway represents her heart. We got Tyler inside while Matt is outside in 2x10 because that's when she was helping Tyler and started falling for him, meanwhile she broke up with Matt to protect him. Then Tyler fucks up and he gets the door slammed in his face. Stefan says he can come in if she wants him to in 2x13 but she's not ready to let Stefan in yet, and he realizes that so he brings back-up. Then you've got Matt back inside her heart but really her Mom put him there to spy on her. I really like the shot of Matt at the door looking at Liz in 2x18 before the dance.

IMO most of this season Elena has a relationship with both brothers; she has a physical one with Stefan and an emotional one with Damon and she does that so they are both all about her. And I think this current version of the triangle was the only way she could have both. Because Stefan doesn't care that Damon is also in love with Elena because it means he'll protect Elena (re: quote above) and he'll be in Stefan's life which is all he ever wanted. And Damon because he's so obsessed and consumed by Elena will stay there pining and flirting and acting out when he feels ignored because Stefan will be there to "clean up it up." Everyone wins in a very fucked up way. The problem is she couldn't keep Damon at just an "hopelessly pining" distance and once Elena chose Damon, Stefan wasn't interested in being the one in an emotional relationship.

Klaus knowing all the Mystic Falls gossip already lol.

Tyler saying who’s Klaus my poor boy I wish you never found out. Really loved the Tyler and Caroline scenes the last few episodes (I mean the heart eyes he gives her in the tomb *melts*), they'll always hold a place in my heart.

I'm sorry Liz but you were a terrible sheriff, my god. In fact MFPD is up there with GCPD as the most inept police department in all of fiction. How the hell could they not take down one vampire who was weakened by werewolf venom?

The Stefan and Elena goodbye in 2x20 was so heartbreaking damn, they absolutely have moments where I totally ship them and that's one of them.

2x21 is the best episode of this half and overall the storytelling in this season is really solid. Everything with the sacrifice ritual was well done and even though I knew exactly what was going to happen I was intrigued the whole time, the best was Bonnie coming in with the wind and the fire and the magic. I feel like the show often has a problem where one half of a season will be good than the other meh, this season was solid throughout. Loved the twist that the sun and moon curse was made up.

Some of the acting choices Joseph makes while Klaus is watching Stefan drink the blood bags are… sir I see you and I appreciate you.

Lines that made me laugh:

Damon: Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust. (this made me laugh so hard I had to pause LMFAO his jabs at her were so good)

Caroline: Everyone just needs to stop kissing me! (a classic! Caroline's milkshake brings all the boys to the yard)

Not a line but Alaric having to write “The dagger will kill you…” on a piece of paper and then their mad faces was hilarious! They are just so dumb.

[septemberrie]

Battle Lines is a comfort read for me and I was VERY interested to note that a particular chapter (Renegotiation II not that I have it memorised or anything) has had some tweaks made to it (all of which I love, btw. I think you mentioned you were keen to rewrite it a bit and I think the updated version is 👌).

I was also very excited to see you updated the chapters to be 21/22. This isn’t a “hurry up and write an epilogue” comment, but more of a “how you feeling about it?” comment, because I think you also said you didn’t realise there’d be such an appetite and hadn’t originally planned for one. Is it nice to be writing it because so many people want it, or is that like, a lot of pressure?

Oh goodness waking up to this ask was just 🥰🥰🥰 thank you Dexter!!

Yes I did update Renegotiation II but I didn't make a public announcement, partly bc I didn't think many people would notice but I stand corrected 😅🤩 I've gotten a few comments and they have all been very kind, so I'm very grateful it's been received well. I've been summarizing it as "a little less spicy but a little more true to the characters" so I hope it came across that way to you, too!

This so funny lmao I feel like I've been caught with my hand in the cookie jar! I have almost finished the epilogue, I'm 99% sure I'll post it today. I did notice yesterday when I was futzing around with ao3 to draft the author's note, etc that it showed as 21/22 but since I just saved a draft I assumed that only I would see that change. Guess not lolol you're an amazing unintentional sleuth 😂😂

But to answer your question, I am finally feeling good about it. It took me a couple days after I posted the climactic chapter that the ending, as written, wasn't "neat" so much as "pithy" and after some reflection I decided it was not what I wanted. I am a people-pleaser so while I'll say yes, I felt pressure, it's not because of anything anyone ever said or did, it's definitely a "me" problem of internalizing the toxic notion that "if you're not producing then you don't deserve to be part of the fandom" which we all know cognitively is bullshit but that little voice is always there for me.

That's why I allowed myself about 4-6 weeks off to decide if it was really something I wanted to do, and by then I'd had some time and distance and there were ideas I wanted to share about what happens after the curtain falls and at a certain point, I'm a writer so why not spell it out within the story as a slice-of-life epilogue rather than as an addendum outside of it.

So. I'm happy with it, fluff is a challenge for me but I found some ways to balance it. It does make it easier to write after I've finally accepted that it is a good enough story that readers will forgive a little hokey-ness 🥰 Thank you for asking! Writing is hard but rambling about my writing never is!!

[jondoe297]

i missed regularly sharing all the toys an junk i get on here. i had fallen off the wagon of doin so an thanks to an all too familiar mix of laziness,procrastination an just puttin off doin somethin even if want to for some reason. i thought i'd get back to it with this post of all the stuff i've gotten so far since this year started. yeah almost no one sees these posts but doin em makes me happy so here we are. most of these are thrifted.

these aren't in order of when i got em but let's start with Superman figures

we got the Mattel DC Multiverse Super Friends Superman. (Mattel's DC Multiverse is the superior one btw. still sour they lost the license. especially with McFarlane bein generally lackluster) i've wanted this one for a long time since they were announced. got im second hand but in the box! he's really classic Superman from Mattel's DC Universe Classics line with Super Friends themed base an packaging. display background comes with part of the Super Friends logo(that you collect the whole wave to form)an a José Luis García-López drawn Superman on the other side! best part is that an the Kenner style cape😍 it's like they made this figure specifically for me lol

also got a Smallville Clark figure! not really the biggest fan of the show but it's pretty nostalgic an a Superman figure is a Superman figure(even if he's just wearin a leather jacket lol)plus these go for bonkers prices online an i got this one for like,9 bucks. Score!

also a cute lil Superman and a Man of Steel cake topper figure. can you believe it's ten years this year since Man of Steel came out?!

Batman figures next

okay so i found not one but TWO toybiz 1989 Batman figs. and on the same day too!! definitely a highlight.

a Battinson bobble head cinema cup topper. i was stoked to find any Battinson in the wild lol.

plus lil New 52 an Rebirth Batman figurines

some Robins. these were found in the same place. makes me wonder if it's from the same person who lost or gave away or sold their Robin collection. makes me pretty bummed tbh :/

i think about this aspect of thrifting a lot. Anyway..

a navy blue variant of the new 'Tooned' '66 Batmobile Hot Wheels. i love it!!

Green Lantern movie ring. was pretty jazzed to find this! movie is.. meh. it's not that bad it's the studio interference that really grinds my gears. toyline is top-notch though i always loved it!

now this is a McFarlane DC Multiverse figure i really wanted to have. ZSJL Cyborg!!

back when it just came out no one where i live got the Cyborg except the version with the helmet thingy for some reason(if there is a reason i have an idea what it might be but anyway)but i got im now an i'm pleasantly surprised how good he is given McFarlane's track record. Very happy❤

and another lil Cyborg. found in flea market but originally from a Kinder egg.

not many Marvel stuff as it happened. but some real fun stuff! especially that gem of a Spidey figure. from the Spider-Man 3 'Webworld Racers' sub-line who came with motorcycles. he has like 14 points of articulation an can fit in the palm of my hand(unintentional reference lol). texture on his suit is bonkers too. like Hasbro didn't have to go that hard for such a small figure but they did. i've also always really really wanted im but the prices for them were ridiculous back in the day so to find im in the wild all these years later.. yeah :')

we also got an Invisible Woman figure from 1997 that is so good you wouldn't believe it was made by KFC. and a Hulk as War,Horseman of Apocalypse from the 'Handful of Heroes' from like 2009-10. always love finding these lil guys an unpainted figures are generally a win for me.

Star Wars stuff

we got a Clone Wars Obi-Wan action figure. seller had a bunch more Clone Wars an other Star Wars figs but i uhh had to hold my hand an only got Obi-Wan.

a 1983 Kenner Chief Chirpa fig,without his headdress thingy. but funny enough,what are the odds,i found another one with his headdress and a 1984 Gamorrean Guard in the same day at another shop! i gave those to someone else i know who loves Star Wars figures.

we also have a Darth Vader keychain,a lil Hologram Palpatine and a few Micro Machines.

now this is the 'other/miscellanious' category

we have a Raph as The Mummy from the TMNT/Universal Monsters crossover toyline Playmates did from 1993 which just.. checks so many boxes for me. he also glows in the dark!

a gorgeous figurine of Obelix with a little dog friend💕

a lil Guile from Street Fighter who looked real nice an probably vintage so i grabbed im. looked it up an apparently he's from 1990 an from a gumball machine. NICE!!

the green fella i grabbed cuz i like alien figures an stuff an he's from '98. later looked im up an he's from a Fisher Price space set. fun stuff!

the lil orange friend is a Chimp from an animal themed sub-set of a line called 'Glyos Bit Figs' that are pixel-styled lil vending machine figures. again,so many boxes checked. i also found another one from the line before,both times with their ball/capsule,so of course i grabbed it.

last but not least that lil car i got from a chips packet lol

thanks for readin me blaberring about toys for a bit if you did. Hope you have a nice day regardless💕

[magnus-the-maqnificent]

Let's Analyze - Alec in CoFA

So, I’ve been seeing plenty of discourse on two of my mutual’s blogs about this topic… so I thought I’d sit down and write another analysis post about my beloved Alec Lightwood cause people are still giving him shit for a book that came out ten years ago 🤦‍♀️

This is gonna be in two parts, and I'm putting both under the cut:

PART 1 - ALEC’S INSECURITIES 

So, the first part - how Alec’s insecurities drove him to saying stupid things in CoFA

A quick disclaimer - I’m NOT blaming Alec alone for his and Magnus’s break up. What happened was pretty complicated, and the blame cannot be put on one person alone. 

That said, let’s start with Magnus and Alec’s early ‘official’ relationship, in trsom.

These scenes are taken from only the first part of the book, but I’m pretty sure they’re more than enough to get a sense of Alec’s insecurities and all the chinks in their relationship. Throughout the entirety of trsom, we see more bits and pieces of Alec’s insecurities about Magnus’s sexuality, and his past and all the people he might have known - and that’s okay! Insecurities happen, cause brains are stupid like that.

But all of Alec’s insecurities could’ve been laid to rest with a simple conversation. But the conversation never happens. Magnus tends to deflect and change the topic every single time his past is brought up. I understand Magnus’s reasons for hiding his past, of course, but it doesn’t help his relationship with Alec. Magnus hiding a good chunk of his past will inevitably lead to Alec questioning himself - why is he so secretive? Why is he not telling me anything? Does he not trust me? ...and so on.

And when Alec is already feeling insecure in this relationship, this happens - (sorry about the terrible cropping btw)

And then later, while Magnus is talking to Camille,

Now… when people are insecure about something, they get irked at the smallest of things. I’m saying this as an insecure person myself. So now, you've got Alec, who's insecure as fuck, and his vacation with the person he loves got cut short by his ex who refuses to talk to anyone but him, and when they get there, his lover and his lover's ex seem to have obvious chemistry, he gets hit with the reality that his lover has dated several, probably even hundreds of people before him; and he has to leave them alone in a room so they can talk, and then he hears the ex basically just list all his shortcomings - i.e, his mortality, his appearance is compared to some random dead guy (sorry, Will) whom your lover had a crush on, which is just weird, and when you've had enough and open the door, it's to see your lover and his ex, standing close as fuck, and he's! touching! her! face! and! looking! into! her! eyes!

*takes a sip of water* yeahhhh... Alec was straight up having a bad day.

And at this point, a) Alec is still in his first relationship. He didn't get to navigate romance when he was younger, and while there's nothing wrong with that, there weren't exactly cutesy presentations titled 'how to keep your relationships healthy' floating around the internet. Heck, he didn’t know the internet. He didn't know that he had to communicate with Magnus, and it doesn't help that boy avoids conversations about feelings like the plague. And b) at this point, Alec would be facing several negative emotions - insecurity, obviously. Hurt. Helplessness, because of his mortality. Fear, that he might not live up to Magnus’s past lovers. Jealousy at seeing Magnus and Camille so close.

Negative emotions like these often tend to show up as anger or sorrow... and in Alec’s case, that would be anger. Which leads us to THIS- (🙈)

*sighs in second-hand embarrassment*

*drinks more water*

*this is gonna be so hard aksjakak*

So. Alec dealt with his insecurities... by being a mean, mean bitch to Magnus :/

Let's break this scene down, slowly, bit by bit.

First, Alec cuts into a conversation between Magnus and Jordan, when Magnus mentions Woolsey Scott, followed the rest of that particular page. To Alec, he's just a figure from Magnus’s past, and a possible lover, though in Alec’s defense Woolsey Scott WAS Magnus’s lover. This is the first instance that we see in which Alec lashes out at Magnus. It seems like he's trying to make a point to Magnus - "I don't know anything about your past, and so I don't know who you've had romances with, but I want to know." Except he makes his point in the worst way possible and ends up slutshaming Magnus.

The "What's true?" line, in response to Jordan saying "so it's true what they say about warlocks, then?" is pretty obvious. Alec is clearly not liking the idea that this random werewolf might know about warlocks, and in particular, his Warlock boyfriend.

Next... ooh boy... Alec basically snaps and in the next few paragraphs accuses Magnus of wanting to flirt with others which... is not a good look on ya honey 😕. These lines are the ones that get him accused of being biphobic... but is he really? I'm gonna talk about that in part 2.

So, in the first paragraph, where Alec makes the comments about Jordan, I find his choice of words pretty... interesting, seeing as 'messy-haired', 'broad-shouldered' and 'chiseled-good-looks' are all used to describe Alec in the series. Not sure if its relevant, but definitely interesting.

And in the next one, where Alec says, "or there are plenty of pretty girls here, since apparently your taste goes both ways. Is there anything you aren't into?" The 'apparently' makes me curious. In rsom, Alec mentions that he's only recently heard of the term bisexual, and there's plenty of time between rsom and cofa, so Alec should be absolutely sure of atleast the basic meaning of bisexuality. But I'm pretty sure it's just inconsistency on cc's part, since if rsom didn't exist, this book would be the first time Alec learns about Magnus’s bisexuality. (Which is obvious when you look at the scene after Magnus reveals that Camille is his girlfriend.) And as for the second sentence, I feel like it's a fallback to earlier in the book when Magnus says (I'm just gonna write the dialogue from memory), "I've dated men, women, warlocks, faeries, vampires, werewolves and even a djinn or two." Here, Alec is angry, and he takes the knowledge that Magnus has dated a variety of people and once again, lashes out.

Looking at all of it together, Alec’s insecurities are definitely a factor in all of this. We know Alec has pretty low self esteem in tmi, and he keeps having irrational thoughts about someone else grabbing Magnus’s attention, like in the trsom scene I've posted above. And he ends up taking out his insecurities on Magnus.

Was it wrong of Alec to say all those things to Magnus? Yes, absolutely. But looking back through all his scenes in cofa, it's easy to see how he could've fallen into the pit trap of emotions.

And before anyone says "but it wasn't addressed in the later books", it was, in CoLS. I’ve hit the image limit, so I'm just gonna type it out -

"[Magnus] said it would be better if he didn’t come. Apparently him and the Seelie Queen have some kind of history."

Isabelle raised her eyebrows.

"Not that kind of history," Alec said irritably. "Some kind of feud. Though," he added, half under his breath, "the way he got around before me, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Alec!" Isabelle dropped back to talk to her brother....

So, there. Alec makes yet another slutshaming comment, Isabelle overhears and is clearly not happy about it, and it's clearly implied that she talks to Alec about it. And Alec doesn't make any more slutshaming comments since then. Boy now knows what he did was wrong, and makes sure not to repeat it again.

Although, I do wish we had more than this. I wish we had more of Magnus and Alec talking about this argument, heck, even about all their arguments and the reasons they broke up, but you can't get everything you want, apparently :(

And now onto the next part...

PART 2 - IS ALEC BIPHOBIC?

The short answer, uh, no, not really.

The long answer.... would be complicated.

So, back in the day, when this discourse was at an all time high, I remember reading a bisexual person's essay about this topic, and they said that this comment from Alec - "or there are plenty of pretty girls here, since apparently your taste goes both ways. Is there anything you aren't into?" - would be a biphobic microagression.

According to Google, a microagression is "a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority".

And in Alec's case, IF his words were biphobic, they were completely unintentional. They were microagressive. Which is... still bad, of course, but it's more complicated than that.

If you look back on Alec's supposedly biphobic statements, they're more about Magnus’s hypersexuality and promiscuity than anything else. Yes, even the line i mentioned like two paragraphs ago. At first glance it may seem like a direct attack on Magnus’s sexuality, but think over the explanation I gave for the line and it will make sense. And a lot of people know that the whole 'bi people fuck around a lot and are cheaters' thing is a stereotype.

Now, it may seem like I'm going off topic here, but bear with me. I couple of days ago, I watched this video by chance. (Tw for the aids crisis and lots of biphobia, not from the narrator, if you wanna watch the video). Basically, back in the 1980s, bisexual men were scapegoated for spreading aids to the straight community and were vilified by popular media as being promiscuous scepters who would cheat on their wives with gay men and then give aids to their wives. (Yikes 😬). And since bisexuality was practically unheard of before all this (several bisexual activists have stated that all this shit, though unfortunate, pulled bisexuality out of the closet), it's safe to assume that this is how those stereotypes came to be - through 1980s propaganda.

But living with this propaganda is... a very limiting experience. The people who leaned and unlearned and fought against this propaganda are mostly US Americans who grew up with it, either the actual propaganda itself or passed down by their parents. But like I said, it's a very limiting experience. US is but one country out of many, and even for those living in the USA there's a chance that they grew up in a very hush-hush environment. People who grew up hearing all these stereotypes will see it as biphobia, while people who didn't - like Alec, and me, and several other people will not. A lot of people grow up with absolutely no knowledge of the queer community, and chances are that they'll be incredibly confused when a stereotype is pointed out to them, and they often get no more explanation than 'this is a harmful stereotype'. Queer experiences aren't the same for everyone, and while I respect the people who see this as biphobia, they should recognize that there are many people who won't see it that way.

I have seen bisexual people say that Alec's words were biphobic, and I've also seen bisexual people say that they weren't. Thus, there is no clear consensus about whether or not Alec was being biphobic. And like I said earlier, Alec grew up far, far away from mundane anti-queer bigotry. He was essentially a clean slate when it came to knowledge of eer microagressions of any kind, because microagressions and stereotypes are often incredibly specific, don't have anything to do with a person's race/sexuality/gender, etc. and will make zero sense unless you know the history behind them. To Magnus, who lived through the anti-bisexual scapegoating, the words would've definitely stung, but Alec didn't even know the implications he would be making with this words! Of course, the impact is greater than intention, and I imagine Magnus would sit Alec down one day and talk about all this history with him.

And idk if I can even blame cc cause the history of bisexual men is RARELY ever talked about, atleast on the internet.

Also, this scene in cofa is the only instance where he can be interpreted to be biphobic. Nowhere else in all of tmi, and even tec, do we see Alec express hatred or disgust or microagression towards bisexual people. If this was seen in a repeating pattern from Alec, one could argue that he's biphobic... but he isn't. Some might point to some of his internal thoughts in trsom to argue otherwise, but I believe that actions are superior than thoughts.

There's also the thing about unlearning prejudices, but in Alec's case there was hardly anything to be unlearned. The only prejudices he did pick up on were against himself, through vague homophobic comments from Robert.

P.S if you've read this far, I am legally entitled to compensation for thinking of cofa Alec for 48 hours. Put your favorite Alec moments in my askbox cause I wanna focus on his good side now. 😎

But yeah, the main thing here is that Alec has grown from his mistakes, apologized, and hasn't repeated this behavior at all.

And lastly, I just wanted to add - I don't think all this was unintentional on the author's part. She's grown up with the us American queer community, and has mentioned that she has bisexual friends, who have no doubt faced prejudices because of these stereotypes. I think she was trying to condemn making such statements, but a lot of people don't read between the lines and end up misinterpreting it and make both the character and her to be biphobic.

So... TLDR; was what Alec said biphobic? Maybe. It depends on who you're talking to. Is Alec, as a person, biphobic? Nope. Not at all. 😌

[tsuki-sennin]

Welcome to Episode 37 of Kamen Rider Revice~! Or as I call it, "Kamen Rider Live Gets His Cheeks Clapped - Episode 7". So uh... Kinoshita, when you gonna give Daiji his due? I'm waiting~!

For now though... Spoilers, I guess...

-They just gave Tamaki a headband, I'm :sob:

-Wow, they're really multiplying.

-We're really

-Oh, Akaishi's alive! Yay~!

-"Have you ever heard of our lord and savior Gifu-sama? He gave me a res and said 'Hide-chan... in times of sadness, at the lowest points in your life, where you could not see my footprints in the sand... it was because I carried you.' Anyways, we're cancelling Kamen Rider Revice and replacing it with me doing cool skateboard tricks in honor of Gifu-sama~!"

-Ah, so it's not like a weird anti-vaxxer thing, it's just like... DNA gathering.

-"We did it, Daiji-kun. We successfully scared all of humanity. :)"

-Ohhhhh, there's a maximum. Thaaaat's concerning.

-Daiji, you really need to go apeshit.

-How was your Weekend~?

-Ehhhhhhhhhhh, like, I'm trying not to read too much into something that could've just as likely been totally unintentional, but Kinoshita's on Twitter and there's an extreme excess of stupid and horrible people on there.

-Ah, yep, Akemi-san's hint.

-"Daiji, you're really jobbing right now."

-Just standing back and letting things play out isn't gonna do a damn thing, Daiji.

-Oh there he is...

-So, George thought his dad was dead his whole time.

-Ohhhhhhhhhh, that's harsh.

-Giffdemos. Our target.

-Ahhhhh, we freezin'?

-Barid Rex? Ohhhhh, we increased its freezy power~! Epic.

-Oh great, demons...

-Yeah, good luck Sakura.

-Daiji... hurts to watch, not gonna lie.

-Hello,

-Ergh... I absolutely do not want creepy-ass Akaishi as my stepbrother.

-Oh yep, there she is. Akemi-san, and the Super Giffterian or whatever it's called.

-Yeah, Sakura's got that guy.

-Ohhhh, regens.

-"Most impressive, George. All we need now is for the Igarashi children to-"

-"Shut up Daddy, it's time for backstory."

-All of George's sinister moments are traced back to his crippling daddy issues.

-...quite relatable, to be honest.

-Ohhhhhh, he's got Shroud face!

-Ohhhhhhhh, Daiji's mad!

-Oh finally, Hikaru has another character trait. It ain't much, but hey, at least his brazen overconfidence is something. Hana's definitely not amused, so at least there's room for debate.

-Ah, fnally,

-Ohhhhh, Gifu's own essence.

-"Heeeeey, Akemi-san, do you wanna come back?"

-Ahhhh, finally, more space.

-Yeah, you're worried, huh Akaishi?

-Yoooo, Ikki, it's about time to Bari-Bari~!

-Ayyyyy! ...I assume Volcano works just the same though, right?

-#NiceGeorge

-btw, I saw somebody somewhere complain about Aguilera's knifey thingies being repaints of Ichigo Arms's kunai? And like... yeah? Sure, it might be lazy, but are you really jonesing for Ichigo Arms to come back? They can just make new ones!

-Oh cool, Hikaru can Genomix. Epic.

-And he also can't count! Epic!

-Wow, he's working Daiji to death.

-Oh no, misunderstanding.

-I thought those were suspiciously light in Donbrothers so far.

-Oh shit, Sakura lost!

-"Bye bye, Akemi~!"

-Nooooo... we're losing her!

-Aaaaaand, he's here!

-Be a real man, Dai-chan!

-...please don't misinterpret this in the worst way possible.

-OHHHH!

-Hiromicchi's here!

-Hiromi-san... things are bad, man.

-I'll probably watch Dear Gaga Part 2 later, on my own time.

-Fuck, dude... I think I'm mostly just getting really sad whenever I watch Revice now lol

-I love the new suits tho, holy fuck.

-This show, i stg

-Uhhh... I guess I'll see you next week.

[ais-n]

Hi! One piece/icos anon here!! Your reply on my OP ask was lovely! Actually to answer the question there, I'm not updated with the manga.. but I'm watching the anime weekly because I like to suffer like that. That show had brought me tears like LEGIT TEARS and ughh, I love it so much I don't know how to describe it.!! 😭 Oh, AND I DO PLAY OPTC!! But i'm a poor pirate so I only do it for free.. I cried when I got Ace btw. And I wanted Law for so long But I still dont have him....

You aren’t crazy far behind then if you’re watching the anime :) The manga’s ahead of the anime, of course, but not by a bajillion arcs. So that’s pretty cool :) ISN’T IT SO FREAKING TOUCHING? This series is ridiculous. I have reread and rewatched it so many times and I still cry in places, or still burst out laughing other places. It’s just so freaking well done. And then the places where it isn’t 100% perfect it’s like, who cares because everything else is so amazing. Nothing will ever 100% be perfect, anyway, because everyone likes different things. 

I love the current arc in the manga…. I’m not sure if the anime is on that arc already or if it’s still in the arc just before it, but either way it all leads together into sort of telling the same story.

OPTC - Oh cool! You should add me! I’m ID 320,084,061. If you haven’t used that function yet and don’t know what to do with my ID, go to the friends button and click “find friends” and then it will let you input my ID. My username is harleton trotters.

OMG NO KIDDING ON ACE T_T Did you get the Ace that everyone got around the Marineford thing a month or two ago? He’s the only Ace I have. I really wish I could get other Aces too T_T There’s one of him at a hot spring which I just think is fucking hilarious XD So I really want him XD

That’s one of the funny things about OPTC–it’s really fun getting the characters, but then the fact they have all these versions of the characters, and the things they say in some of their versions, or the way they look, is so funny.

My friend just got a Mihawk who cracks me up because he sounds like he’s coming onto Shanks XD He’s in this super sexy male model pose and he’s like– wait, let me just show you XD

ORLY MIHAWK. RLY.

I DON’T THINK SHANKS WILL MIND YOUR POWER, MIHAWK. U GON BRING IT TO HIM IN THE BEDROOM OR…?

lolll just kidding but seriously, it’s so hilarious. I know that’s just a line taken from the series, a pretty cool scene in fact that was relatively serious, but when you combine him saying that while specifically addressing Shanks and in his male model post plus also what is he doing with his right hand??? 

It’s just so funny XD Combined, it gives this really amusing totally unintentional other vibe than what the line was from the series XD

(I got way too excited and talked more + included more screenshots so I’m putting this behind a cut for anyone who’s like DO NOT WANT ON DASH)

Anyway – I have Law

Also, I have Giolla (not sure if you have her too) – she’s great to have on the weekends because she doubles the berries earned so if you use her on the treasure cave isle, you get more money. If you don’t have any sort of beli/berry increaser as a captain, if you ever need me to play her on a weekend you can let me know.

You are doing the right thing, even if you have money. You should definitely not spend money XD I mean, I’ve gotten some great characters from using gems I bought, but I also wasted a shit ton of gems. 

Like this latest sugofest, I had 50 gems I’d bought, and I thought at least I’d get some cool marines or something. I got the shittiest pulls!!!! wtf! I only got 2 legit actually good characters out of 11. My friend who started playing the game with me in January (he’s also obsessed with OP and he told me about the game), he’s had way better luck than I have on a lot of his pulls generally. Like he got Fujitora right away, and right away found a Blackbeard friend. I’ve been on the struggle bus for different parts lol But finally I’m getting cool, more powerful characters. Jinbe/Jimbei, Marco, and Namule with a Moby Dick ship are my fucking jam, and then I’ve been cycling the other 2 characters because some big bosses have immunity which renders my beloved Usopp Golden Pound useless, etc.

Anyway point being, this shit is random as fuck, so whether you spend the money or just diligently save up through the free play, you have the same chance for luck as anyone else.

BUT if you haven’t already checked out the optc subreddit and guidebooks, I did find them useful. I don’t really play as a AND SO I MUST BE BEST PLAYER EVER KEEPING ONLY TOP NOTCH CHARACTERS ALWAYS PERFECT TAP TIMING!!!?1/11 sort of person–I like collecting the characters because I love them from One Piece, and it amuses me to see different teams, etc, but I do also like being able to clear content without being annoyed. So I do tend to use my Jinbe/Jimbei team the most, because it works really well with Elephant Gun Luffy as my helper/friend captain. But anyway I don’t know what pirate level you are–if you’re a lower level than me and are trying to figure out if you should power up this or that character or evolve someone or whatever, if I happen to have heard anything about it I can let you know :)

Also, since you play OPTC you’ll get what these mean so check out some of the screenshots I’ve done of things that amused me, whether it’s the animation or the crews XD

Double Luffy, with Law, Corazon, and Brook–that team made me so happy XD Also, Corazon sets himself on fire XD Plus Zoro

I feel like the below team would have had really awkward conversation before they set out…. you’ll know why if you’re through Dressrosa XD

I screenshot this because Calgara looks like he wants to murder and then eat you on his picture lol

Look how cute Perona is when she’s bound:

She’s so much more dramatic than the others lol SAD STORY though I realized that when Marco is bound, his wings/flames go away T_T So sadddddd

btw that’s been my usual crew when I can afford it–EGLuffy, Jinbe, Marco, Namule, Usopp GP, and then I like to have Perona but my Jinbe costs 55 atm so I can’t afford her but HOLY SHIT DUDE I did Smoker + guard point Chopper instead of Usopp/Perona on the Garp isle yesterday, and I still had to spend gems because that fucker kills me so fucking fast, but it was super helpful to have that defense instead of offense on an immunity boss–idk why that hadn’t occurred to me before.

And then this team below has a common theme which I maybe won’t say in case you aren’t far enough in the series to know it but you probably do:

And then!! I was so happy to make this team!!

It’s the mentor/guardian team

Cora would also end up burning the entire fucking building down on accident, you know he would XD

Lastly, I had to share this just because omg Bonnnn I’m so sorryyyyy T___T (He’s so cute XD)

I’ll stop now lol I have a lot more screenshots because I’m A FUCKING NERD but probably everyone’s like CHILL THE FUCK OUT LADY OMG

Oh oh oh I saw some pics I took of my figurines though, in looking through this, so I’ll do a separate post of that in a second because they’re cute XD I got the little tea guys (I wanted the whole crew T_T But I couldn’t get it to order from Japan T_T Crunchyroll told me I ordered it and then it canceled on me T_T) so anyway I only have 3 (Zoro, Nami, Chopper) but they’re really cute on my bigger figurines XD They’re supposed to hang out on a cup but they’re way cuter hanging out on these guys. I’ll do another post to show them!

(If you want other screenshots of my character crews or anything let me know, I just don’t know if it’s that interesting for others lol)