#as in ugly but its kinda iconic

[yutarts]

heyyy sorry for never finishing treebark week this year my apology is um. really shitty treebark from my sketchbook

[n-americano]

𝜗𝒞 ꒰͡ ͜ Ï ͜ ͡꒱͏ @jaes1lvr ❁

[choccomonke]

[xxplastic-cubexx]

thinkin bout magneto's lil list of aliases from that One Shot of his government file or w/e in 97 and how it lists the three main men who've played him (David Hemblen, Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender) and kinda cackling at the idea 1.) if they included All his names 2.) having 'michael' on that list twice

[himejoshiangels]

hot take, robin war is corny asf. it does nothing fr except kinda stomp on the whole point and like major themes of We Are Robin. like I dgaf abt the ogs..SORRY!! Only good thing it gave us was the beautiful duke and Damian interactions and that training segment w dick. the whole thing comes off as insecure like see comic fans! these interesting characters aren't taking ur faves spots see!!! we have labels for the "real" robins (our speacialist boys in the world!) and the not real robins (random disenfranchised kids we don't care about). like what!! the whole point is that it's a movement, this robin shit is not exclusive bcs growing up in gotham makes you want to grab destiny by the throat and take that shit into ur own hands!!

[hexados-on-a-string]

before i go back into hibernation again. spectra and gus' mechtanium surge designs >>>>>>>>>>> their new vestroia designs. i think they're just cooler and less messy and all over the place. i also appreciate that it does actually look like they're older which is neat. also i think gus looks kinda like a prince.

[leatherbookmark]

ootd features the words "black dress" in its lyrics and people are like oh! this is a reference to another group's song, "black dress"!

i'm unwell.

[xecat]

oh boy i hope this movie is at least kinda good cos ive heard mixedf stuff about it but ive put it off for this long .

[gossippool]

what do you recommend for people who are very new to deadpool comics and looking to get into them?

hiii thank u for asking!! this is kind of a complicated question because there's no right answer really. especially with deadpool, there's no actual best starting point because besides the basic origin story that he was experimented on, everything else about him is fair game (he just lies all the time and has false memories about his past) and so all the comics are different and pretty much standalones. but here's a list of a few comics depending on what you want to explore (i have not read every deadpool comic ever so this is not the best list but i will get there):

for shorter and more lighthearted reads:

deadpool (2022)—SO so cute wade has a crush on this non-binary assassin and it's actually adorable how much he likes them lol. in terms of shorter deadpool comics i think this one is quite a standout [update: the ongoing deadpool (2024) is brilliant as well and is a direct more in-depth continuation of this]

deadpool infinity comic (2021)—a short partnership with sue storm. funny and the art style is so cute too

deadpool (2018) #6—the issues in this run are all kinda standalone stories (although they all connect at the end). they're all a fun time but this issue in particular is hilarious. comics usually don't make me actually laugh but this one did

for a more meta read that explores exactly what makes wade unique from other superheroes:

deadpool kills the marvel universe (2011)—in my opinion THE most iconic deadpool run, i'm sure everyone's heard of it lmao. a little darker but hey cameos from every marvel character ever. this was the first deadpool comic i ever read and it was a good time

for a familiar face from deadpool and wolverine (for other specific familiar faces you could just search "deadpool vs [character]" and that comic would probably exist):

honestly just search "deadpool and wolverine" and you'll probably get the whole list but here are some i've read that are lovely:

deadpool & wolverine: wwiii (2024)

deadpool vs. wolverine: slash 'em up infinity comic (2024)

weapon x-traction (2024)

for long in-depth characterisation that explores a lot of deadpool lore:

deadpool (2012)—if you've been following me you might know this is my favourite deadpool comic ever. it's pretty depressing and much grittier than the movie deadpool you might be used to, also REALLY long so it can be daunting but it's very worth it imo. it starts to get really good by the good, the bad, and the ugly issue and there's just SO much in it. for me wade in this run is inseparable from wade as a character to me (this comic is also followed up with deadpool (2015) and despicable deadpool (2017). these aren't necessary to read because 2012 kind of wraps up on its own, but it's definitely bittersweet to get to the end)

deadpool (1997)—another hulk of a comic run. i have not read this yet but i've heard very good things about it, and many people say that joe kelly is the defining deadpool writer so you could give it a go! older comics may be a little harder to read though, from experience

for comics featuring ellie (wade's daughter) that you may want to read in order if you want to fully appreciate her and wade's relationship:

deadpool (2012, 2014, 2015)

deadpool (2018, issues #8, #12, #15)

deadpool (2024)

a lot of comics will sometimes redirect you to other comics that explore a sideplot, and the main comic will just pick up where those left off so you could miss some storyline. despite this it's not necessary to read those other comics, but if you want to avoid multiple instances of this when you first go in, then i would suggest starting with the shorter runs!!

i hope this was helpful lmao sorry this got really long but i think the starting point really is different for everyone depending on what they like

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Some wand redesigns

So, as in continuation to this post and my not liking some of the Harry Potter movies designs, I actually redesigned some wands. Mostly because in the movies none of the wands look to be made of the wood they are supposedly made of and it annoyed me.

The Elder Wand

The Elder Wand is the first I redesigned because I personally find the movie one kinda ugly. I don't know if it's just me, but I do. I wanted the Elder wand to look like a Deathstick, you know? I wanted to keep some of the silhouette from the movies but play around with the wood to make it look more interesting.

This is the color of European Elder:

But, when researching this wood, I saw Box Elder (native to America) which looks like it Bleeds:

So, I took inspiration from it to design a wand that is called the Deathstick:

I was going for something that resembled arteries but kept some of the movies' silhouette.

Voldemort's Wand

The wand in the movies is iconic for its bone-like look, the thing is, that's not what yew wood looks like. Europian yew actually has a very warm golden color:

And honestly, the resulting wand, which I still gave some of the iconic angles doesn't look as stereotypically evil. Because, for real, why would Ollivanders make an evil-looking wand and expect its owner not to turn to villainy?

As I said, I tried to give it some of the iconic movies' silhouette, but made it sharper and angular instead of bony, to give it somewhat of an evil look, even with the golden color.

Harry's Wand

Now, if any wand is bone white, it's Harry's holly wand:

European Holly, as you can see is practically white (the photo is not the whitest it can go). But I didn't want Harry's wand to look evil, so I made sure to keep all the angles rounder:

I also gave it a lighter pattern in the wood, kind of like Harry's scar, so they could match.

[herefortheships]

On media portrayals of older women

Commentary on Lydia's characterization in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. 🕷

This post was originally a response to a post from two months ago, but it got so big (and also I kinda moved away from the topic a little), I decided to make it its own post. It's a long ramble, basically, about my feelings around how women over 30 tend to be written and how disappointing it often is, especially now that I am a woman over 30 myself.

Before I get to Lydia and my issues with how she was written in BJBJ, I just want to say something. There is a blatant unwillingness to represent an older woman who isn't a mother or, at the very least, married or divorced, and often those women who are depicted as individuals outside of these roles, tend to be either toxic or unhappy characters (Cruella De Vil totally came to mind when I just typed that 😆 But even Cruella is married in the original story). As a matter of fact, the ex-wife or divorced older woman is often depicted as a cruel, bitter, or even evil woman (Miranda Priestly form "Devil Wears Prada" came to mind. Hey, another iconic fashion industry character lol). Single older women are often also depicted as "ugly", or flat out scary characters (Miss Trunchbull in Matilda came to mind).

It's like for many screenwriters it's impossible to visualize a mature woman who isn't or hasn't been married, and is childless.

The issue is not that they are given these roles; the issue is that their character arcs often seem to revolve around these roles and their identity is very focused on being either the mom, the wife, or the ex-wife. More often than not, female characters over 30 that are good are usually moms or struggling wives, and their identity is confined or greatly centered around her role as the mother or the suffering wife. (Chances are, if she's happily married, she's either not the protagonist or the story is over 💀). And if it is not centered around these, then motherhood is something adjacent to the story in some way, shape, or form.

Using the first "Beetlejuice" movie we have an example of a happily married woman in a leading role, Barbara Maitland. She's not an older woman, per se, but she is a happily married woman in a leading role. But what is one of her main concerns as a character? She can't have children. So she does have a motherly-adjacent struggle. At least Adam accompanies her in this story thread and it isn't just a struggle Barbara alone is facing; both of them are pretty balanced as far as their struggles go in "Beetlejuice". (I could have also used Delia as an example here, but she isn't exactly the main character as Barbara was in "Beetlejuice". That said, she is both a mother and wife.)

I'm pretty new to the Beetlejuice fandom (as in I was a fan who watched the movie a few times a year around Halloween, but never actually interacted with fandom or analyzed anything, until I watched BJBJ and became totally obsessed), and as a relatively new fan who has been here since September 2024, I'm not sure what the expectations around Lydia's future were throughout the years in the fandom. But, I'm positive a lot of fans never considered Lydia would choose to get married and to a pretty regular guy at that at some point and become a mother. I'm sure many fans shared Winona's idea of older Lydia being a goth spinster, living a pretty unconventional, but happy life, just doing her thing. She might have gone into photography and kept interacting with the dead and being her goth, "strange and unusual" self.

So it must have been pretty shocking to see that older Lydia is not only a struggling mother, but she is also anxiety-ridden and in an abusive relationship with some normie guy.

Lydia at least has something that separates her identity as an individual from her identity as a mother, in her show, but it's made clear that getting into making the show was considered by her as "selling out", a sentiment that came up in her conversation with Delia. I wish they would have gone into that a little bit more, because it's not entirely clear how Lydia felt about the show exactly and what her reasons were to do it in the first place. Lydia's interest in photography from the first film, and subsequently from the animated show as well (meaning this was an inherent and very characteristic part of her), is non-existent in the sequel.

While it's understandable that "life happens" and people just change over time, and a life of seeing and interacting with all sorts of ghosts must have taken a toll on her, Lydia's characterization was considerably far from the person she used to be, and it feels like a lot of it had to do with her mother role.

I know a lot of fans also appreciate this, too, don't get me wrong; Lydia as she is now is relatable to many women's experience, but what I'm getting at is that a choice was made to write older Lydia like this, and that choice is the same treatment that's given to too many older female characters in the media. They chose to make her a struggling mother, is the point I'm trying to make.

Her character has also become more reactionary; she isn't exactly in control about anything. Even making her show appears to be a reactive decision, too, rather than something she did because she genuinely wanted to. She's even taking medications to get through the day when she starts seeing ghosts (Nadja disappears after Lydia takes the pills, so one can assume she takes these pills to quiet down her psychic abilities and stop seeing ghosts; Rory's comment in the bathroom also supports this).

Lydia is indeed, overall, unhappy, and she has been for a long time. Not saying this is a bad thing; stories need conflict, and it would have been strange if she was living her best life at the start of the film. After Charles funeral we confirm that she wasn't exactly happy when Richard was around, either ("our relationship was over long before the accident", strange thing to say to Astrid when she's questioning her about why she cannot see her father). Things seemed to have ended amicably between them, but it looks like Lydia was not happy in that relationship by its end.

Lydia only seems to take control when her daughter is in danger, so that which spurs her into action is more linked to her mother persona over any other conflict that's more directly linked to her as an individual. If it wasn't for Betelgeuse's intervention, she might have even ended up marrying Rory, who, not only did she not love, he was also using her and being emotionally manipulative and abusive.

I know Lydia at some point became affected by seeing ghosts every other day through her life, as evidenced by the pills, but (and this is something I talked about before here) the way they ended the previous film, there was nothing to indicate that Lydia was in a downward spiral or that seeing strange things and dead people affected her negatively in any strong, life-altering way (unless Lydia was pretending to like the dark stuff before, and by the end she's more herself and admits to not like the creepy stuff; she does reject dissecting the frog in her science class, but then again, she asks the Maitlands to levitate her and pretty much do a ghostly possession in the house for the "Jump in the line" scene. But I digress. Lydia's character arc in the first film is an analysis for another post).

Moving on, Lydia's brief experience with Betelgeuse in the first film also does not justify her current emotional state for the reasons stated above and in that post I linked. Losing Richard also doesn't seem to be enough of a reason to have created the emotional issues Lydia is struggling deeply with in BJBJ, and it does seem that the movie pointed at that, but it was poorly done, when Lydia told Astrid she didn't have a relationship with him long before he passed away; she also didn't have a strong reaction to seeing Richard in the afterlife.

Whatever happened to Lydia that led her to this current state wasn't properly explored, is what I'm getting at, because the film decided to focus her character struggles mostly on her relationship with her daughter, over her own personal conflicts as a separate individual. Lydia as the suffering mom, struggling to connect with her daughter was the focus of her arc. Did we ever get to know exactly why she was willing to marry Rory despite clearly not loving him? (she even seemed disgusted by him kissing her and when he tried to kiss her lol).

Was it because she thought he was her only chance at being happy again? Was it because she thought she needed to be married for Astrid, to rebuild their family? Lydia's actions were entirely steered by Rory; he emotionally manipulated her so much, he made her believe she had feelings for him and start a relationship with him, even. Maybe it was him, the one who convinced her to start the show in the first place, to take advantage of her psychic abilities (which he totally believed to be bullshit, anyway, but he thought he could use her delusions/fake claims to attract fame and money), he was her producer, after all. (Actually I think it was him who convinced her?? Was she making her show before meeting him? Lol I totally forgot this bit. Fill me in because I've only watched the movie twice.)

By the end of the film, ironically, Lydia takes more control for herself when she sends Betelgeuse away (and I say "ironically" because, without Betelgeuse she would still be stuck in the same toxic situation she was with Rory. In fact, things would have gotten much worse as Rory would have gotten away with his plan. She also had no issues handling Betelgeuse during all scenes they had together; she would even raise her voice at him and act exasperated with his behavior--that is not typically how a person who is terrified or traumatized by someone acts around them, but ok...), and she makes a choice to be more focused in her life, assuming she did quit her job, which is up for debate, depending on when the dream sequence started.

Without Betelgeuse, Lydia would be stuck in a terrible relationship, where her life would have been ruined, and she would have also lost her daughter on Halloween night when Jeremy used her to get his life back. So it's really strange a choice (and poorly executed, again) to have Lydia's character resolution be sending Betelgeuse away like she's finally confronting some deep-rooted fear or trauma, when her character really wasn't explored individually all throughout the movie to showcase in what way exactly did her brief interactions with Betelgeuse over 30 years ago might have crumbled her emotional stability to that degree. The movie isn't clear if her depression and anxiety are related to losing Richard and therefore that's what she needs to heal from; or if it's more related to her past trauma around Betelgeuse, and then, that's what she needed to heal from.

There really should have been more of a focus on her as an individual apart from her struggles as Astrid's mother for her character to really have a good payoff at the end. And truly, if facing Betelgeuse was going to "fix her", then she's back at square one when he shows up on her bed at the end. Lydia's character and story are incomplete. More reasons why we need a BJ3.

What's truly going to heal Lydia is her finding herself again, as just Lydia; not the mother or the TV presenter. And she must get there herself, not have it all fixed for her by Betelgeuse yet again or another external force. She has to make a choice for herself. They need to show her picking up her camera again, and yes, enjoying the "strange and unusual". She needs to embrace her otherness and be herself again.

(And if she doesn't want to be alone... she shouldn't go after a guy like Rory or a normie. She needs another weirdo like Richard who loved scary movies, or, ahem, Betelgeuse, who has already proved he loves her more than any normie ever could.)

I can't stress enough how disappointing it is that mature women are mostly presented as moms or wives or even grandmas, without dreams and motivations of their own that are entirely separate from their (societal) roles. Mature men can be out there living adventures and doing all sorts of things, like James Bond for example. Meanwhile women are either divorced, mothers, wives, grandmas, aunts, etc and these roles are a huge part of what defines them as characters. And if it doesn't define them, they still are moms, wives, ex-wives, or grandmas. It's rare to see a single older lady doing her thing and being just a character and like, falling in love and going through a satisfying arc that has nothing to do with having kids, or dealing with estranged kids, etc. At least Delia was out there doing her thing in BJBJ; she was doing what she loved, while still being a mother and a grandmother, and a loving wife/widow to Charles. She was a realized character. And that's what I want to see, you know? I don't mind seeing an older female character who is married with kids (and even grandkids!), as long as she is also a fully realized individual when her character arc is wrapped up at the end.

If Lydia being behind the camera instead of in front of it in BJBJ is representative of her feeling lost in life, and her being in a toxic relationship and almost saying yes to someone she doesn't love or even remotely fit in with, then healed Lydia should be behind the camera again in BJ3, and saying yes to someone she does love and fits in with by the end.

I definitely want to see a Lydia who is more than Astrid's mom in BJ3; a Lydia who isn't easily manipulated and stepped on, and who has a firm grasp on who she is and a love for who she is. Yeah, I totally want her to end up with Betelegeuse (edit: And I am writing a post about why they are perfectly matched to complete each other's character arcs), but I also want to see her fully realized outside of the mother and (potential) wife roles.

[jumpingwjoy]

another watercolor painting!! im going through my pokemon sun playthrough as ricky, and this outfit is what i dressed her up in ^_^ i tried to match her band au fashion as much as possible 🫡

i’ve got game screenshots and long ass ramble under the cut 😭

realizing tumblr can let me ramble continuously as much as i want so i could talk about my thoughts and my previous pokemon runs too woaw...maybe i’ll post pics of those playthroughs one day, but probably on my main blog instead 🤔

here's ricky's current team where i’m at and what she looks like in game!! i was sooo peeved that twin tails are locked in post game, even if they don’t even look like ricky’s hairstyle at all, i just think she needs some kind of ponytail…i used to have her with straight bangs to imitate her three bangs style, but it kinda looked ugly af… :V

i’m just before vast poni canyon so gummy will soon be the rail gun beetle that ricky deserves ^_^ i decided on a sweets/dessert nickname theme, tho i did consider a norse mythology theme, but i thought she’d be more cutesy in a pokémon au/world where she is not in life threatening stakes.

i want to write out my reasonings for each pokémon pick too, this team isn’t exactly what i had in mind since it’s limited to the sun pokédex, but i’m pretty fond of them!! mostly, i thought she could have a non-dex rotom (but since it’s like this, her rotom dex is definitely named mike), and i also thought she’d have a porygon - but u can only get it post-game and i’d have to deal with trade evolutions o<-<

i also chose pokémon sun as ricky’s game since i headcanon her to be wasian HAHA specifically japanese and american/german - since hawaii is known for its japanese immigrant population (which is also reflected in the game itself), i liked the idea of her having an actual game background of immigrating from kanto

1. alolan raichu - pikachu is the iconic mascot, just like ricky XD alolan raichu shares her love of sweets, and i think lets her identify with being alolan too

2. vikavolt - he’s a rail gun!! ricky should always have fun with guns. i think ricky has an affinity with machines, and vikavolt has gundam aesthetics hehe. his pre evolutions are cute too, which i think ricky would like. notably he’s another electric type, a remnant from when i used to have ricky as an electric type specific trainer, before i decided to diversify types for eo teams. rotom also would’ve been another electric type…😅

3. metagross - another association with machines—it reminds me of gladsheim as well. i like the juxtaposition of this hulking creature made of metal next to ricky too. showing off her cute and cool sides...

its name is ike as a companion to mike, making them fit into the sweets theme LOL

4. wigglytuff - i headcanon that ricky enjoys singing (and is the lead singer in band au) so i wanted a music related pokémon. maybe in universe, she would stay as a jigglypuff?

5. toucannon - also because of gun. i actually hunted a shiny version, bc it looks like the bi pride flag aghdjshfd. i think ricky can be prone to have a temper, matching toucannon's angry look

6. alolan ninetales - ok so i was conflicted bc i wanted an ice type, as a reference to ricky’s cryo sleep lol, and i was also considering vanillite bc ice cream… but its moveset sucks ass!!! sorry!!!! i do like ninetales as an additional reference to her heritage though…i have vanillite in rosa’s hypothetical team too so it wasn’t really meant for ricky in the first place :P

honorable mentions:

i chose litten as her starter since i think she’s a cat person, and also someone who likes buff people……….

vanillite like i mentioned—harder to catch than i thought cause it needs to be snowing for this guy to show up as an sos helper >:0

alolan exeggutor - long long yggdrasil

this turned out a lot longer than i thought im not used to writing down so much even in tweet threads but it was fun to spill out some of the very specific things i think about in my day to day lol...if you somehow read all of this, thank you for your time wakjhsdg 🙇🏻‍♀️

[yeokii]

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎୨୧ RANKiNG MY THEMES

hai since its the new year I was thinking of doing a little post where I rank all my themes >< anyways hope u liek this silly post (they are ranked from best to poop worst) I also didnt add all my themes cuz some of them were boring erm

── OO1 . GIGI THEME (NOV 2O24)

🎧 ꒱ RATES 102930/10 absolutely love this theme this is literally my child the flip!!!! was in my prime when I made this omg absolutely ate down and the fact that this my first work on photoshop OMG will always glaze this theme IDC!!!!!

── OO2 . HOW SWEET THEME (SEPT 2O24)

🍓 ꒱ RATES 10/10 oh ya this was insane how'd I manage to do THREE HEADERS (why is it so long bai) I think I was insane when I made this Jesus (peak procreate era) anyways the amount of detail that went into this was crazy

── OO3 . RIKI THEME (OCT 2O24)

🎸 ꒱ RATES 8/10 my last work on procreate 💔💔 lowk obsessed with the riki header but I HATE the minji poster lord but it looks cute overall (got to add my goat kdot)

── OO3 . WONY THEME VER 1 (AUGUST 2O24)

🎀 ꒱ RATES 8/10 the three header theme again liek this was crazy what was I thinking !!!! WHY WAS IT SO LONG BRAHH but its a cute little brat anyway (wony my goat)

── OO4 . WONY THEME VER 2 (DEC 2O24)

🩰 ꒱ RATES 7/10 uhm ya wtv I think I lost my creativity it looks so honk shoo mimimi here I HATE THE FUCKASS FRAMES WHAT DA HELL!!!!!!! though the top part looks cute maybe idk

── OO5 . HAERIN THEME VER 2 (AUGUST 2O24)

🖇️ ꒱ RATES 6/10 LOVE LOVE LOVE the header its so cutie icl lowk cooked with this but its kinda boring other than the header anyways (haerin my booka)

── OO6 . BRAT THEME (JULY 2O24)

🍏 ꒱ RATES 6/10 icl I loved this so much (BRAT EVERYWHERE) but I feel like I could've done more like there's not anything special except for brat but still cutie

── OO7 . CYBER THEME (APRIL 2O24)

💿 ꒱ RATES 5/10 the top part was eating but look hate the karina one (NO HATE TO MY GOAT!!!!) I feel like it didnt match the top part but it looks oke

── OO8 . EMO THEME (APRIL 2O24)

💄 ꒱ RATES 4/10 EUGHHHHH WHAT DA FUQ IS DISSSSS brah the fuckass emo fonts and the ugly ass gradient colours bai!!!!! I wouldn't be caught dead using this EW (the icons are the only things that saved this maybe I could recreate it but better and more decent erm)

anyways thats it !!!! I couldn't add more cuz there's only 30 images per post (TUMBLR FACK YOUU!!!!!) but I could do this again mayb

[spockandawe]

You know what I can't get enough of? Speculation about what the fictional novel Proud Immortal Demon Way says about its fictional author. Because it would be completely possible to make a story like this without that connection. I'm not sure I've read any other transmigration story where the author was a character, so just that addition adds a lot of interesting texture to the situation even without getting deep in the author's head, but it's so interesting how deep I can speculate in so many directions if I think about getting in his head.

And oh man, I could talk for AGES about how Shang Qinghua and his iconic protagonist reflect each other, but a lot of people have written about that already! Including in the medium of fic, which is my favorite way to consume that kind of crunch. So let's talk about familial neglect and mistreatment and the author's favorite character.

Honestly, when I look at how iconic this ship is, I'm astonished there aren't more hit novels where the author gets yeeted into their own book and has to navigate platonic or romantic relationships with their own characters. A lot of the parallels between Shang Qinghua and Luo Binghe are about them being alike in ugly and vulnerable ways, ways I don't think either of them likes about themselves, and regarding aspects of their personalities that I don't think they'd be happy discussing period. Like, Binghe very much hates himself, that's right there on the page. And Shang Qinghua is a ridiculous character, he's very funny, but he's also not stupid. He's very aware of who he is and what he is, and makes a decision to behave the ways he does. I'm typing this up because I was scrolling through an old chat looking for something and tripped across a conversation about shang qinghua and fawn trauma response.

He knows he does this thing! He has an easy opening to turbokill Mobei-jun while he's unconscious and decides to go the route of begging for his life and trying to ingratiate himself after Mobei-jun wakes up instead, which is a much trickier process. He says it himself, that Mobei-jun is his ideal, that he embodies everything Shang Qinghua wants to be, that etc. And that's hilarious and all, especially in light of the eventual romance and the clownery it takes to get there, but in classic svsss fashion, it also becomes a lot sadder when you add up all the pieces and see everything Shang Qinghua hates about himself.

In some ways he's an even more avoidant narrator than Shen Qingqiu, he deflects and jokes like a motherfucker, so it really is a matter of assembling all the pieces and seeing where there are gaps. But what really underscored the connection for me was Mobei-jun's reaction to parental neglect. Because that's what pushed Shang Qinghua into being an author in the first place, his parents divorced and remarried and kinda just.... forgot about him.

Mobei-jun's dad doesn't exactly do that, but he is operating without a mom in the picture, and rather than remarrying, he just chooses to ignore the thing where his shitty brother is persistently trying to kill his son. That really sucks! But Mobei-jun never shows the smallest hint of weakness or vulnerability over this, even when it would have really helped to use his words, like 'hi my uncle is coming to kill me and i trust you to protect me.' He's everything cool, aloof, arrogant, proud, all a bunch of adjectives that really do not apply to Shang Qinghua. Mobei-jun honestly looks like a boring character if you just stick to the main story, because he's so self-contained and controlled. Compare and contrast to Shang Qinghua, who accidentally outs himself as a transmigrator like two minutes after showing up and proceeds to be hilarious for the rest of the book.

(Brief aside to say that I don't think Mobei-jun is necessarily a happier or healthier person for all of this, lmao. The conversation that fawn reaction thing came from was talking about freeze (tee hee) versus fawn in response to threats or stressful situations. But that goes along with the svsss theme of people used to engaging with this universe as a fictional property coming to terms with the depth and complexity of other people's emotions and not just seeing them as simplistic not-real characters in a book)

(Additionally, this makes the ship hilarious as a take on 'opposites attract,' but also it gives me actual Emotions that Shang Qinghua's ideal who he wishes he could be, purely incidentally, he is able to value and love Shang Qinghua in a way that Shang Qinghua can't and doesn't seem to totally understand)

And what's very interesting here. Is that Shang Qinghua made these two characters, Luo Binghe and Mobei-jun. His protagonist ultimately reflects a lot of his own vulnerabilities and insecurities (secretly and quietly in pidw, much more.... overtly in svsss), and Mobei-jun corrects for his vulnerabilities and insecurities. He's the person Shang Qinghua wishes he could be, which is basically... the opposite of Shang Qinghua, to an almost comical degree. And he then gives Mobei-jun the VERY BEST plot armor he can devise. It's hard for a male character to exist near a stallion protagonist without getting swept up in rivalries/suspicions/etc and getting killed by the protagonist, but he makes sure that his favorite character is safe from these things. He's protecting the character he wishes he could be from the character whose faults most reflect his own. That is very sweet and weird and sad, and that's very reflective of the svsss experience, I think.

[oinkinpigprince]

Can I request Pim or Charlie x Gyaru reader?!

Sure thing! I don’t know much about Gyaru but my friend rlly likes the style so

Pim and Charlie x gyaru reader

Pim

He thinks your style is sooo cool!! He canonically watches anime(enough to have that iconic anime drawing style) so I’m actually 90% sure he knows what gyaru is, although not a lot he’s still able to recognize it

That being said, gyaru isn’t really represented good in anime(they’re usually bullies I think) so he might be a little scared to talk to you at first due to stereotypes

But he’s NEVER met a person he can’t befriend so he kinda sucked up his nerves and found out you were actually really nice!!

Pim dresses like a Mormon so even though you two are both kinda dressy it’s two VERY different styles. You’re both dressed for two very different occasions

He thinks it’s really pretty!! He finds more feminine looks really attractive so he thinks you’re really pretty, even if it isn’t traditional femininity he still likes it because it’s you :33

The more out there looks he has to admire, with the fancy eye makeup and heavy accessories. It’s def one of those ‘on the occasion’ looks but he still finds them really special

Learning about the history of it is really fun, he loves learning about people and cultures so Pim will read up on it on his own time just to impress you

Absolutely loves it when you take selfies with him, it makes him feel really special! He does some cute little poses and smiles really wide

Charlie

He has literally never heard about Gyaru in his life. When he saw your outfit he had to do a double take, it’s just something he’s never really seen so it was a little shocking

That doesnt mean he thinks it’s ugly or sum, he doesn’t really mind it after a bit and even comes to enjoy it! Thinks its really unique and kinda cool

When you explain to him it’s actually more of a counter culture thing is when he really starts to dig it. Really respects you for wanting to go against beauty standards in a way he’s never seen

Even though he wants to pretend he’s this confrontational macho guy he usually freezes especially when the other party is bigger. But if something happens he’ll always be there to defend you

But you usually are able to speak up for yourself well enough Charlie just admires you from afar. Always there to back you up though

You are the underdressed boyfriend and over dressed partner duo. People don’t even think you two would even be associated with each other w/ how Charlie dresses and acts

Kinda forgets after a while how wild you dress up until someone asks to take pictures with you. He gets it but it always surprises him because you’re just his partner to him

[nilufleur]

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VARIOUS TOKYOREV + TATTOO HEADCANONS

( emma - kazutora - nahoya )

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# EMMA

- small & pretty ones

- shes always wanted a tattoo but was too indecisive so she used henna a few times to see how they would look

- her first tattoo was an angel number yes she one of those girlies BUT she had a breakdown right after getting it cause she thought it looked ugly but in the end draken had her convinced that it looks pretty

- i can totally see a butterfly tramp stamp or maybe like a little heart/bow one or like a butterfly sternum tat

- bonus she also gets a tattoo for drakens inital <33

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# KAZUTORA

- kaz is def a big tattoo enthusiast

- has considered becoming a tattoo artist

- aside from his iconic tiger tattoo he would get like 7-10 more tattoos

- and all of them are so edgy i love my emo bf

- cyber sigil tattoos are probably his fav ones

- also he kinda likes the sting and pain he gets while getting tatted idk he's a weirdo

- i don't think that he would be very impulsive with it. he'd probably kill himself if they turned out to look ugly so he's very serious about getting a tattoo and contemplates a lot before getting one which is surprising coming from him tbh

- him and kei have a matching tattoo. kei didn't really want to get one at first but kazutora convinced him somehow. idk where those tats would be located to

- i just know this mf is a diehard vamp so he would probably get something tatted onto him related to carti in red ink

- OK WAIT I GOT IT its the upside down cross 😭😭

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# NAHOYA

- hand tattoo nahoya hand tattoo nahoya hand tattoo nahoya

- hand or on his fingers tbh

- probably has one (1) matching tattoo with souya

- omgg wait they would match ying and yang

- souya would have more tattoos than him btw

- has something written on his throat which makes him look hot when he throws his head back and his Adams apple pops out ifykyk

- would also have red inked tattoos

- he defffinetly has a smiley face tattoo like this :)

- also im a drummer nahoya truther and drummers having hand tattoos is just right to me

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check out my finished works

© nilufleur