#but from the way it's designed idk how safe or practical this would be

[sage-reads-things]

That is WILDLY unsafe O.O What's stopping you from rolling your own feet out from under you when you try to take a step? And what's more, it doesn't look like there are any braking mechanisms on those things—you'd never be able to stop moving! You'd be forced to skate around for the entire time you're wearing them, the way a shark can't stop swimming or it'll suffocate. Sure, it gives you speed, but at what cost?

[hoonvrs]

SECOND BUTTON — n. riki

PAIRING riki × gnr

GENRE fluff, confessions, coming of age

WARNING none

W. COUNT 0.5k

S. NOTES happy bday to my baby <//3 cant believe he’s growing up

finishing high school is a bittersweet feeling.

realising that you’ll never be in the same school as all your friends anymore, that you won’t be seeing them five times a week when everyone moves on with their lives attending different colleges. safe to say it isn’t the happiest day in your eyes.

halls filled with students crying and hugging, some with markers in their hands as they write their goodbye messages on each other's t-shirts, their own covered in colourful messages.

everyone roaming the buildings one last time as a high school student before they leave to officially enter their adult stages. thankfully exams were over so the weight on your shoulders had lifted slightly, making sure to cherish the last few moments you had in this stage of life.

“guess what? i heard that kei is going to give hana his second button,” your friend gossiped, filling the whole group with gasps.

“poor guy, she’s definitely going to reject him.”

every year there would always be a select group of boys handing their crushes the second button of their uniform, a common confession practice at the end of high school year. there’s something sweet about it, giving the person you like the button closest to your heart instead of outright saying it.

it feels youthful, too shy to speak but brave enough to do something so bold in front of the whole school.

so after witnessing keis rejection live, your friends decided to go out to eat not being able to handle the second-hand embarrassment from their classmate. you didn’t make it too far out the school gates before someone called your name.

“yn!”

turning around to see someone running towards you, nishimura riki. everyone knew of riki for his dance skills always shown through the multiple stages and events he holds yearly, and maybe you’d spoken to him a few times but nothing enough to be considered friends.

you can hear your friends mumbling behind you as you walk towards him meeting him halfway, “hi riki, what’s up?”

there’s no denying riki is cute. from the mole adorning his face and his pouty lips, anyone could see he was blessed with looks alongside talent.

“erm—“ you could see him nervously fiddling as he reached for something from his pocket, “i just wanted to give you this.”

in his hands was a single gold button engraved with your school's cherry blossom design. you look up, scanning his uniform to see all his buttons intact except one.

the empty space where his second button once was stared back at you, as riki was starting to feel his adrenaline wear down and embarrassment start to crawl up his body when he noticed your friends a few feet away giggling and talking amongst themselves.

“you don’t have to take it. actually, this is stupid. i’m—“

before he could finish his sentence, you grabbed the button before his hands could close around it, clasping your own around the metal and pulling it closer to your own heart, “thank you riki, i'll text you?”

under different circumstances, you would’ve been worried how red the boy had gotten in the face as he aggressively nodded his head before running back the way he came. 

maybe this next step is sweeter than expected.

perm taglist @mesopret @whoschr ​@haknom @shinsou-rii @redm4ri @lacimolela @llama-lyna @boyfhee @lazysmushi @flwoie @kocokookie @kyexvly @seongclb @dammit-jjk @flwrshee @produmads ​@teddywonss @aleiouvre @dneltrise @aleiouvre @nyxvrse @yohanabanana @whois-alexis @tinyegg @sserafimez @satsuri3su @yuemvi @chirokookie @idk-tbh777 @s00buwu @ynsvnte @isawritesss

[zarvasace]

Next is Depth! He is dark Sky. (He gets his own special dramatic portrait—the perspective mostly works? Idk I need to practice and find some good refs for this sort of thing.) So much rambling about him and his design under the cut.

Masterpost

The most striking thing about Depth is how normal he looks. Disregarding a few odd features, he looks like Just Some Guy, at least until he opens his mouth. He occasionally feigns being mute around others so he can keep the charade of being human up for longer, since his voice sounds truly awful. Depth is paler than Sky with much darker hair and orange-red eyes, but is otherwise identical. He doesn't mind that, and chooses to play it up a bit with very similar clothes, too. His tunic is rust-colored, opposite Sky’s spring green, and his chainmail is pointed and jagged on the ends instead of smooth. He wears a purple sash with more angular designs and lines, which matches the purple charm that keeps his cape on. 

Depth’s sailcloth is both a source of pride and a sore spot. He made it to contrast Sky’s, dark and tattered, but one of his very secret desires is to get one as beautiful as Sky’s, made by Sun, maybe dark, but functional and lovely and a reminder of her. 

See, Depth doesn't understand Sun—he doesn't actually know her, though he has memories from Sky. He wants her to be a damsel in distress that he can rescue, he dreams of her choosing him over his Light, but he doesn't realize that she won't. He loves his idea of her. While Depth follows [insert LU bad guy here]’s directives, he makes his own plans and he has his own agendas, and many of those plans aid him, in some way, to win Sun’s affection. 

However, as Depth has been growing into the leader role, he's starting to become attached to the other Darks. He's annoyed by them, but his plans have started to expand to benefit them in a way that doesn't necessarily benefit him, too. He might have a little altruism in him, after all. 

Despite that, unfortunately, Depth remains someone who would not save the world, but someone who intends to damn it over and over again. He doesn't flinch at the thought of Demise’s curse, in fact, he would welcome it. He likes the idea of having a purpose and a destiny. He wants to coddle the few people he cares about and would set everything on fire to do it. He says he loves Sun more than Sky ever could, but he would lock her away to keep her "safe."

Depth is the de facto leader of the group, since he's driven and has ambition. He has a very strict idea of what the other Darks should be doing and gets upset when they don't do it. He hates being touched and is ruthlessly practical. Once, when Nothing was being particularly annoying and tried to steal Depth’s sailcloth, Depth broke at least one of Nothing's fingers. He hasn't gotten close to injuring someone like that again, due to equal parts nobody bothering him like that again and him trying to be a little gentler. He doesn't hesitate to threaten injury to keep order, though. 

Depth knows about Ghirahim as a sword, and wants to wield it, but is under the impression that he needs to prove himself worthy first. (Whether or not [LU bad guy] actually intends to let him use it is a different story.) Depth is one of the more skilled sword fighters among the Darks, remembering formal training, but his sword isn't anything special. In a fight with Sky, they would be evenly matched if it weren't for Sky’s ability to use a Skyward Strike, and Depth's inability to block that much light. 

Depth’s special ability is his voice. In a mundane way, the others try to not make him use it, because it's almost painful to hear. In a magical way, Depth’s voice carries over long distances. When he sings, he can summon creatures like bats, crows, rats, and snakes, and they'll listen to him for a time. When he screams, his voice is a magical, short-range wave of destruction. Yes, he's an evil Disney Princess. Depth doesn't feel any strong affinity for the animals he attracts, but he doesn't let Dire or anyone else hurt them, and he doesn't send them to their deaths. He mostly uses them as spies and distractions. 

Depth is one of the more dangerous members of the Dark Chain—not because he’s physically imposing or particularly powerful, but because he can see beyond the next mission and is determined to ruin the Lights once and for all. He's one of those who would happily kill his Light—but only after Depth shows him how he has lost everything dear to him. 

[shutupineedtothink]

More Moiraine & Lan (and the Bond) thoughts, because I really just can’t help myself.

Just thinking about how we know every Aes Sedai and Warder share the Bond, but we don’t see any other AS/Warder teams using it as a form of communication NEARLY as much as Moiraine and Lan do.

Like these mofos are having full conversations with head tilts and tiny eyebrow raises and 3 seconds of eye contact from the jump. Sometimes not even looking at each other. And it’s extra great if you’re a show only like me because you only realize it when you go back later after all the stuff with the Bond is explained in 1x04/1x05. Like I remember thinking when I was first watching the pilot ‘wow, these two are really in sync, clearly they’ve known each other a long time,’ but it’s so much more than that obviously.

Now, one easy explanation for this is that we’re just seeing them the most, they’re main characters, and s1 especially does a lot of work hyping up the Bond and how important it is so that we get the full impact of them being cut off later. Makes sense.

But… idk like even Alanna and Ihvon and Maksim, who are actually in a romantic relationship, don’t seem to prefer the Bond as a way to communicate. We even see them have their little diplomatic discussion before Ihvon goes to follow Tomas. It’s an actual conversation. Maksim even prefers the Bond masked, so I guess in that way they kind of have to talk to each other.

Verin and Tomas are pretty quiet in general, but still it’s not emphasized that they use the Bond to communicate that much. Perhaps this is also highlighted by Tomas’s advice to Lan that the Bond isn’t the only common language they share with their Aes Sedai.

Except for Moiraine and Lan, it’s like AT LEAST 80%. It’s the primary way they communicate. Because 1. they’re both so naturally reserved on the outside (but feel very deeply on the inside), and 2. I imagine it comes in handy to be extra good at it when you’re on the road searching for the Dragon Reborn and you don’t want everyone around you to know what you’re about.

Then there’s Stepin’s comment from s1 to Kerene, “Can you imagine their dinners?” Which is funny but also very telling. To all the other Aes Sedai and Warders, Moiraine and Lan seem pretty cold and distant, to everyone else and each other. But again, that’s by design to protect their mission. They’re just having conversations no one else can see, even other Bonded pairs. It’s like most AS and their Warders use the Bond as insurance, a fail safe even, to understand and communicate with each other, with normal human communication (i.e. TALKING) as the primary method. But for Moiraine and Lan it’s the other way around.

My POINT BEING, that this adds weight to their storyline in S2. Like they are REALLY struggling because on top of everything else, this fundamental piece of their relationship and communication is just gone. And it opens a door for Moiraine to push Lan away, when she NEVER would have been able to before, practically or emotionally. And he reels from her attacks because he’s just not as good at understanding her without the Bond, when he would have seen right through that shit before, just from feeling alone. So Tomas can say to him, you need to really listen, but 20 years of shared emotional mind reading is not that easy to bypass. You don’t learn normal person communication skills overnight. Certainly not when there’s this gaping hole in your head/heart where another person you probably knew better than yourself should be but isn’t.

Anyway, I think it just adds even more credence to why they’re both so lost throughout most of S2, especially Lan. And what makes them so badass with the Bond but so absolutely uncoordinated without it. And why every other Aes Sedai/Warder thinks they’re fuckin weird. And why we love them, because who doesn’t want to be so fundamentally understood like that? Who doesn’t want their own secret language with someone that no one else really gets, but that person gets you on a level so real it can’t be replaced? That’s what we’re all reaching for, and that’s what they have with each other. For better or worse.

[ezdotjpg]

ok but know I need you to Tell Me Things about the Zeldas. all of them. I am literally*bouncing*.

(I love how both your TP Link and Zelda have RBF. they have truly Had It)

HEHE sorry i held onto this ask until I had all the Zelda designs posted, and then I,,,forgot to do that lol.

some Bonus Zelda thoughts! some of this i've maybe said before idk:

ALTTP Zelda

her armor is more ceremonial than practical. While I didn't give this to every Queen Zelda, I liked the idea of the princess's pauldrons progressing to more plate armor in the queen's dress. That's also why I changed her color scheme to blue to differentiate from the princess' pink (exceptions for this being HW Zelda who wears red as queen, ST Zelda who still wears pink as queen and BOTW Zelda who wore blue as princess)

anyway. she's more of a scholar than a warrior but she still has killer aim with a bow

her pet project has been recovering, restoring, and filling in the gaps of the royal library and archive. Mage helps her out with this as he has a knack for stumbling upon forgotten ancient texts in his travels

A lot of ppl assume she's rather prim or austere but she's actually got a lot of whimsy and humor in her. It's why she and Mage get along so well :D

She lets Mage get away with a lot of shenanigans and keeps the royal guard from arresting his ass all the time

if mage is ur weird uncle she's like. ur cool aunt

Tetra

she's still sailing the seas with her crew!

she and Wake have had a bit of a falling out though, partially over disagreements about searching for New Hyrule, and have gone their separate ways for now. There's not any real animosity between them, just like,,,frustration. They'd still do anything for each other.

She's got 2 pistols and a cutlass and she knows how to use them

She could bench press Wake. easily.

She's brash and commands a lot of respect but she's also a lot of fun to be around. She's brutally honest and says what's on her mind.

I think she still feels a lot of confusion and frustration about the revelations about her lineage and the role King Daphnes seemed to force on her because of it. She doesn't want much to do with what the divine. She values the freedom sailing on the sea gives her.

TP Zelda

she's. so tired. a lot of the responsibility of rebuilding the kingdom has fallen squarely on her shoulders. She's holding shit together by a thread but by god is she holding it together.

Looks pretty cold and unapproachable but she has a kind heart. She cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. She would sacrifice a lot for them and already has.

Never relaxes. Works like 24/7. get this girl a hobby

Midzel canon. Midna also had a thing with Link but it wasn't a polycule more of a this is my girlfriend Midna and this is Midna's boyfriend Link kind of a situation. Anyway she misses Midna.

Wolf and Zelda are like. coworkers. They haven't really gotten any closer in the aftermath of everything. Wolf wants nothing to do with playing the role of the hero in a political sense like Zelda keeps asking him to. I don't think Zelda necessarily blames him for escaping that responsibility, but she Is frustrated she doesn't have that luxury.

MC Zelda

a little cutie!! very bubbly and extroverted and curious about the world. She spends a lot of time outside of the castle running around with Mini. The King is so glad she's safe after everything he still just lets her do whatever she wants lol

She used to be the one dragging Mini into shenanigans all the time but he's gained a lot of confidence over his quest and is less timid now. now they are equally engaging in shenanigans

Hangs out with Malon too!! The three of them are besties

I like to think she can also still see the minish even if she can't shrink down to their size. she thinks they're so cute. Maybe mini gives her a jabbernut so she can speak to them too :-)

She helps Mini build his fucked up little trash robots. She also pretties them up with paint

scolded by castle staff frequently for getting grass stains and dirt on her nice clothes lol. She probably isn't usually running around in her full princess garb though.

Like Mini, has mostly refused to process most of what happened to her and is just trying to enjoy life.

Prince Zel

I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to go with naming him Sheik or not. I decided against it since this is the version of him that never had to become Sheik. He keeps Zelda as a legacy name and shortens it to Zel most of the time.

Pretty lonely in the castle without many friends his age. He desperately wants to be better friends with Mask but is mostly rebuffed.

Even though he doesn't have to become Sheik in this timeline, I think he has begun training with Impa. Just under a lot less duress

Still occasionally has prophetic visions but has become somewhat hesitant about sharing them. I think he understands a little more of what went on in other timelines than he lets on, but he doesn't know or put together all of it.

Often described as odd or intense or standoffish by ppl who meet him but he can be really chatty and lively under the right circumstances

HW Zelda

Her armor is also mostly ceremonial, even though she's definitely more of a warrior queen. She and War are both dressed to project 'peace time' and 'prosperity'. She has other sets of armor that are more suited for combat.

She and War are a lot alike, calculating and cunning, which is why they understand each other. It's also why they're often at each other's throats. They're not really above backstabbing each other, though has Queen she has a lot more leverage.

She's not exactly warm or particularly kind, but she does care about the safety of the Kingdom.

Also never relaxes and works like 24/7

Constantly dealing with a tense, power-hungry and antagonistic court looking to undermine her authority. She has her own private ambitions she's working towards.

ALBW Zelda

She's a really charming and fun person! very down to earth as Queen and a lot more willing to eschew tradition.

She comes across as carefree but she's been ruling Hyrule by herself since she was young and has been subject to a lot of pressure. She had to grow up pretty fast and is wiser than she seems at first glance. She has her court and the people's respect.

She and Mirror share an interest in fashion and the arts. They're,,, they're both theatre kids.

I don't have a lot of other headcanons abt her yet sorry but. i love her

ST Zelda

Has been crowned Queen at the ripe old age of 16 because the last time they appointed a chancellor he turned out to be a demon who stole her body. so

She does not feel ready to be Queen at all but she's doing her best. She's determined not to let anybody push her around again.

She's taken an interest in learning how to fight after the events of spirit tracks. She never wants to feel as helpless as she did then, trapped as a ghost outside her body. Also she really enjoyed hitting things with a giant sword in her big phantom armor. She's become a much better swordsman than Spirit ever was lol

She specifically requested her own suit of armor to mimic the phantom armor

she's pretty protective of Spirit

BOTW Zelda

I think she was conscious for all 103 of those years fighting ganon, even if it seems somewhat blurry and surreal to her now. She remembers it in fits and bursts. She often feels disconnected from her body.

She has no interest in reviving the monarchy or ruling over Hyrule again. However she does have an interest in rebuilding Hylian towns and helping all of Hyrule recover. She still feels like it's her responsibility, not because of her role as princess, but because of what she perceives as her own failure to avert tragedy.

she doesn't just blame herself though- she blames the gods and her father too.

Right now though she's mostly taking a break to get her bearings and recover from 103 years of endless fighting. She and Slate travelled around Hyrule for a while at first, and now she's settled in Hateno trying to figure out how to be normal again. Some rebuilding efforts have already started spearheaded by Hudson and she helps out with those.

SKSW Zelda

honestly not even she is sure what parts of her are herself and what parts are hylia. it's as disconcerting for her as it is for Loft. She's both frustrated that he looks at her differently now and understands completely why he does. She still wishes he wouldn't.

she remembers more about being the goddess than she necessarily lets on

she's really invested in the settlement on the surface and is basically its unofficial leader. she puts a lot of time and effort into making sure everything is going according to plan and that they have everything they need to keep living on the surface

she's protective of Loft and worries a lot for him. She blames herself for a lot of what he struggles with now and wants to make it better.

she's not the fun police though, she likes a death-defying loftwing stunt as much as the next person

she did become a knight after the events of skyward sword! They don't really wear the uniforms down on the surface much anymore though and it's become less of a formal order while everyone focuses on building and improving the village.

She's been working on her swordsmanship

I think she really loves music and singing

[shadowtriovibes]

Just an idea but what how would the boys act to Mc doing things in class trying to turn them on???

Like it would be completely scandalous for the time which I think would hilarious just a sexually frustrated Ominis just trying to survive through charms while Mcs just running her hand up his thigh or something. He's praying to Merlin that no one noticed cause he's pretty sure his face is completely flushed.

Sebastian oh I can just see him try to match the energy while still being subtle just waiting for class to end.

Idk about Gerrith though???

let's be honest, MC is a menace to society in general but especially to these poor boys. curious as to how she ensures the three of them will never pass their N.E.W.T.s? read on:

tease me, please me

Pairings: Garreth Weasley x f!MC, Ominis Gaunt x f!MC, Sebastian Sallow x f!MC

Rating: M

Word Count: 1.7k

Garreth: Sometimes he wonders if you’re doing it on purpose, because you must be aware that much of your chest is visible. You’d feel it on your skin, wouldn’t you? (Merlin, he wishes he could feel that skin.) Ominis: Sharing a bench with you is a special kind of purgatory designed specifically for Ominis, who supposes he must have done something either wonderful or terrible in a past life. Sebastian: These days Herbology lessons are simply occasions for the two of you to attempt to outdo the other with subtle, salacious behavior. Sebastian is more than happy to take advantage of the fact that all the other boys – and more than a few girls – are too distracted by Professor Garlick’s presence to notice.

Garreth

Garreth sometimes thinks that putting the Potions classroom in a literal dungeon was a mistake.

Sure, it’s all well and good when Professor Sharp is simply going to lecture for the majority of the lesson about the different ways of handling Ashwinder eggs, as if Garreth hasn’t already poured over half a dozen books in the library pertaining to that precise topic.

But whenever there’s a practical class, it gets quite hot.

As soon as the flames are lit beneath two dozen cauldrons that will bubble away all afternoon, the room starts to fill with steam and the occasional fiery spark. This only worsens when students begin to fill their cauldrons and becomes nearly unbearable by the time their brews reach a rolling boil.

Everyone eventually shrugs off their robes, and the gentlemen are known to loosen their ties a bit if they feel they can get away with the impropriety of it.

(Garreth cares little for propriety, so he often takes the miserable thing off entirely.)

Ladies frequently choose to suffer the heat fully dressed, lest the churning rumor mill turn its vicious eyes toward them.

You, however, could give a damn, and Garreth adores it.

First, you gather your hair in a messy pile on top of your head and use a simple silk ribbon with your house colors to tie it back — a necessity for simply being able to see your cauldron through all the steam. Then your tie comes off, abandoned at your station and safely tucked away from any open flames.

Lastly, you undo not just the top button of your shirt, but the one beneath it as well.

Needless to say, Garreth always claims the station across from you.

As the hours slowly drag on, you tend to get more and more flustered – equally from the heat of the room and the complexity of your N.E.W.T.-level potions. When the heat becomes too much you’ll fan yourself with a stray textbook, but whenever your potions start to fail, you’ll curse under your breath and lean over the cauldron to peer frustratedly at the sickly-looking liquid.

That’s when Garreth gets treated to a very generous look straight down your shirt.

Sometimes he wonders if you’re doing it on purpose, because you must be aware that much of your chest is visible. You’d feel it on your skin, wouldn’t you?

(Merlin, he wishes he could feel that skin.)

He’s not subtle about looking, either. He’s practically slack-jawed whenever he catches a glimpse, once becoming so distracted by the lacy hem of your corset that he knocked over a full bottle of horklump juice.

Professor Sharp had been livid, especially since Garreth’s recent bought of distraction typically meant there were fewer disasters in his classroom than usual, not more.

While Sharp had berated Garreth and made him use a rag to clean his potions station by hand as punishment, you bit the inside of your cheek and slyly undid a third button, wondering if you could tease him into working up the courage to sneak away with you and undo the rest of your buttons himself.

Ominis

Like most of his classmates, Ominis had never found History of Magic to be particularly compelling. Having grown up in a wizarding family himself, he had at least heard of many of the significant territorial skirmishes between wizardkind and other magical populations over the years – though with much less objectivity, mind you.

As such, much of the class felt like old hat to him, and obviously it didn’t help that it was taught by the most dreadfully boring ghost to ever haunt the halls of Hogwarts.

He typically dreaded having to spend the afternoon fighting to maintain consciousness while Professor Binns droned on and on. Without visual stimuli to help him focus on anything other than Binns’ voice, staying awake the entire time was usually hopeless.

That is unless you’re also in class.

Compared to Ominis, you and Sebastian have a much less rigid interpretation of how much attendance is actually required at Hogwarts, so occasionally you’ll skive off and simply submit your inches of parchment to the Professor in his office. He’s never mentioned that you don’t often appear in his classes, nor does he seem to realize that Sebastian may never have actually attended despite having some of the best marks in your entire year.

Ominis much prefers when you do actually show up, even if you only seem to do so in order to torture him.

Sharing a bench with you is a special kind of purgatory designed specifically for Ominis, who supposes he must have done something either wonderful or terrible in a past life.

Lately, your favorite way to drive him mad is to covertly rest your hand atop his knee. Ostensibly this is to help him retain his cognizance – to give him something else to focus on other than the dull lecture. What a kind gesture, one might think.

But Ominis knows better. Slowly over the course of an hour, you slide your hand up the length of his thigh until your pinky finger brushes against the button of his trousers and your warm palm is cupped against where he’s achingly hard.

Merlin, he wishes you would simply open up his trousers and wrap your hand around him right then and there. He’s been worked up for nearly an hour now, so desperate for it that he couldn’t care less if anyone sees. He’d probably even beg if you asked.

So much for focusing on his studies – this is all he can think about. He’s mercilessly at your whim every time you use your thumb to trace a deliberate line up and down the length of him, or press your hand down and grind against him with the heel of your palm to help relieve a little bit of tension.

He’s hunched over the desk to shield your hand from view, and even when he occasionally lets out a soft whimper, anyone who might hear simply assumes he’s mumbling in his sleep.

In fact, he wishes he was asleep. Then instead of being painfully aware of every tiny movement in your hand, he could dream about what you’d do if you ever decided to take pity on him and give him some release right there in the room.

He’s been aching, leaking for so long now that you could easily slide your hand underneath the waistband of his trousers and stroke him off. He wouldn’t even mind if you simply left him with the mess – it’s pathetic, of course, but nevertheless true.

Maybe you’d even slide off the bench and kneel underneath the table. You could undo the front of his trousers and pull his cock out so you can use that sinful mouth on him while everyone around you is either sleeping or bored to the point of catatonia.

But you don’t. You just smirk to yourself and continue taking notes on some insignificant goblin rebellion from centuries ago, one hand on your quill and the other in Ominis’ lap.

(You’ll take care of him after class, of course. You always do.)

Sebastian

Across the board, Sebastian is a fantastic student – attendance issues aside, of course. He’s decidedly studious, remarkably clever and even more ambitious when it comes to achieving high marks than his house placement would typically demand.

Most of all he’s a hard worker, but thanks to the green thumb he’d inherited from his mother, Herbology is the one class where he can get away with slacking off just a bit.

It’s just as well, because at the start of term he’d quickly staked out the planter next to yours as his own. As a result, he usually expects to spend most of the lesson being distracted by you rather than his rambunctious chomping cabbages.

You’re a horrendous flirt, as it turns out. Sebastian couldn’t believe it when he’d finally met his match, having spent much of his fourth year attempting to charm girls who would inevitably go red at the slightest compliment and run off to giggle privately with their friends.

These days Herbology lessons are simply occasions for the two of you to attempt to outdo the other with subtle, salacious behavior. Sebastian is more than happy to take advantage of the fact that all the other boys – and more than a few girls – are too distracted by Professor Garlick’s presence to notice.

For example, he can usually get away with sliding a hand inside your robes and groping your ass whenever you bend down to get a scoop of fertilizer from the pot on the floor.

In retaliation, you’ll then lean in close and whisper something downright filthy in his ear while he’s gingerly attempting to move a finicky Dittany plant to a new pot.

Maybe something like, “Meet me in the Undercroft after this and I’ll see if I can get you off without using my hands at all.”

Sebastian curses under his breath and nearly tips over the pot – thank Merlin it wasn’t a mandrake.

Later on, while Professor Garlick is offering some tips to a captive audience about how much soil to pack alongside Mallowsweet plants, Sebastian sneaks up behind you and starts to kiss your neck, ego soaring when you sigh softly and tip your head back.

“You’re going to get us both in trouble,” he murmurs against your skin. “You can’t even wait for class to end, can you?”

“Do you think we could sneak away?” you breathe. “No one would even notice, I reckon.”

“We could,” Sebastian drawls. “But where’s the fun in that? I think we should wait.”

“Are you sure?” you demand, grinding your hips back against his. “I can make it worth your while, Sallow.”

“I’m sure you can,” he laughs in a low voice. “Just consider it payback for all the times you’ve gotten me worked up and ran off to go be brilliantly heroic.”

Then he presses his lips to your neck once again and quickly sucks a bruise into your skin before stepping away.

A few moments later, Professor Garlick sympathetically asks you if the mark on your neck is a stray bite from one of Sebastian’s cabbages, and you have no choice but to grit your teeth and nod while Sebastian looks on smugly.

He knows he’ll pay for that stunt imminently, but at that moment, it’s completely worth it.

[teardew]

-

im thinking about making a patreon because i .. uh .. i cant justify drawing for myself anymore and its killing me lmao

it takes me really long to draw so any time i hav should be spent on comms... iv been trying to fight off burnout by drawing things i like inbetween commissions like that sv anatomy practice and vampire/werewolf mngling was just for me but it still ended up setting me behind schedule because i had to rest my eyes and wrist afterward. but not only that i also wanna like. make a lot more things ...

like i wanna do animal, insect, architectural, jewelry studies and fashion and character design explorations and try designing icon packs and branch out trying embroidery with mixed media and clothes making and get into making like 3d things with clay and soft sculptures. i wanna make historical fashion coloring books with việt phục and fashion zines ...

also theres a lot of stuff i dont post bc im not sure if anyone would be interested in all the design concepts and notes i had for example the homestuck dreamer outfits or the various sha hualing designs and sketches i had before getting to the thing i posted? like i hav a bunch of different sqh outfit and hair designs but theyr more clothing based and not detailed character/face art ...

idk !! it sounds like an excuse. its like, who cares just post it ! i know i shouldnt value my art by the amount of numbers i get from posting on social media and i dont mostly but its kinda unavoidable ? to me ? i know i only post fanart and ppl follow me for that and its not a bad thing ! being realistic i just dont think anybody but me would be interested in it ??

i dont know. god. i dont know what this post is about. ''i dont think anybody would be interested in the things i really wanna make'' but im thinking about making a patreon for things i really wanna make anyway because thats the only way i can justify it is if i can profit off it in some way. i dont really want to, but with my financial circumstances i dont know. i never wanted to make my livelihood off my art. i dont even consider or call myself an ''artist'' really, i just want to MAKE art

i dont know why i still cant find a steady job after 5 months applying to everything and its making me miserable. its embarassing, they say to be persistent with jobs but calling and even walking in to check on applications and watching employers awkwardly try to turn me away without just flat out telling me no even though none of them hire me is an exercise in public humiliation. how bad do you want a job? bad enough to make a fool of myself with nothing to show for it. and i want to make art for myself to cope but it takes too much time and time is money

maybe this post is about my art anxiety under capitalism. i dont know

i think im safe enough now to admit my friends gofundme i was posting about months ago about helping their friend escape their abusive household was actually my gofundme because i was worried about them finding out and preventing me from leaving or internet stalking me afterwards. i did hav a scare when i got a phone call i thought was from my brother but ended up being a police officer, whos my mother's friend ...

but anyways. me admitting this is just to give context that. i ran hundreds of miles away from financial security and everything i ever knew and im still struggling to find steady income nearly half a year later. i just dont understand what im doing wrong. is it my name? is it because im not from here? iv been working continuously ever since i could legally my resume isnt BAD. am i just stupid? should i have just tried to make peace with my lot in life?

i thought getting away from my family would let me be in a better place to create more art, thats one of the things i was so excited about but this feels just as stressful as when i was the only earner supporting my family during covid. i just want a stable job so i can make art. i dont want making art to be my Job. i dont want to be a ''starving artist'' begging for people to care about my art i just want to make art. but fuck i dont know how to sustain any of this

sorry for this mess. insurance is different out here and i havnt been able to find a psych either so its not like i can talk about this in therapy instead of venting on my art blog. all my life i wanted to make things without the fear of it all being destroyed. the main reason i havnt branched out from illustrations is because its entirety can be saved digitally even if its physically ruined. my sketchbooks were thrown away or ripped apart by my family either from carelessness or anger to hurt me but now that im finally enough safe to have them again or make something i can hold in my hands without the fear that someone will come in break it and make me clean up its corpse i cant afford it

i dont know what to do. is it worth it? is making art worth it? i mean. its worth the rent this month. and i still love drawing god this is probably bad for business because i dont want people to feel bad for commissioning me or anything but not to be dramatic why does it feel like im fucking dying

[m1d-45]

you think genshin characters get their vision and then create an outfit to match it? or their vision just so happens to match their color palette?

but like,, what if their chosen signature outfit is blue themed and they're a pyro??? how will everyone know that they're a pyro vision wielder and not a hydro or a cryo????? god forbid its a teal blue and they're mistaken as an anemo and their friends are dead!!!!

- curse anon

on god fr, i have not given this anymore thought than surface level. random bullshit go

i think that the outfits we see aren’t their day to day colors. albedo’s is the closest one off the top of my head to what he typically wears, but most everyone else has… it’s like their more formal outfit?

like baizhu. man doesn’t have the time nor energy nor patience to go through all those charms, but for more formal occasions, such as news of the creator visiting the pharmacy…

ayato and ayaka may be an exception just cause they are both heavily involved in politics, but like. kujou sara? we all know how impractical the genshin outfits are, it’s insane sometimes

if i had to make a sort of ranked, non exhaustive list, then it would look kinda like this:

outfits closest to day to day wear: venti, albedo, xiao but that’s a bit of a stretch, the raiden shogun but idk if that technically counts

outfits are a ‘formal’ attire, but it’s still somewhat feasible that this could be somewhat daily wear: ningguang, kazoo, heizou, diluc, tighnari, a good proportion of the male cast

outfits are clothing reserved for special occasions/events: baizhu, yun jin, beidou, kokomi, noelle, nilou, a good proportion of the female cast (cause GOD knows how mhy feels about practical outfits for their fem characters)

the way i see it, they would want to make a good impression, typically by dressing up in their best! obviously there’s some bias what with hoyoverse and their failure of a believable design team, but we make do with what we have. i ranked them based off my entirely subjective opinion, so obviously this isn’t set in stone or any sort of authority, but hopefully that wasn’t a waste of your time to read.

to address visions… perhaps that ties into the prior chart. bringing back up albedo, our lab-safe king, nothing about him really says ‘geo.’ you could recolor his vision to anything and it would likely fit him fine. his design isn’t centered around visions, its about character and practicality. he’s an alchemist, he wears a uniform, it’s all plain white so he knows when there’s a spill, he wears gloves and tall boots with low heels, i went on a rant about his design before and i’m .2 centimeters away from doing it again.

the archons get free passes on their colors for obvious reasons, and klee is a borderline pyromaniac so she gets one too. jean, lisa, amber, and kaeya (to an extent) all fall in the last category from before, which would translate as.. like a way to signal “hey, this is what i’m good at”? i’m losing the words for it, but a “this is my vision, this is what i offer” sort of deal?

of course, this is biased data since from a game design standpoint, hoyoverse would obviously want it clear that gorou is geo, yelan is hydro, hu tao is pyro, etc etc so it makes sense i can’t explain everything (barbara isn’t all that obviously hydro, yet keqing is clearly electro, and yet their characters would clash on that… but whatever i’m not an artist). however, from a purely sagau standpoint, the best solution i can come up with is sometimes it’s because their formal attire draws attention to their vision (notably lisa, ningguang), and sometimes they just have a sense of style that differs (heizou, beidou probably), or sometimes it’s just for practicality’s sake (razor, albedo), and i have a feeling this is directly proportional to how close their outfits are to day to day wear

[butterflydm]

wot on prime rewatch: 1x6 the flame of tar valon (part 1)

spoilers through the end of season one of the wheel of time. I will do a reblog of this soon after I post it, with additional book-related spoilers. This is only for the first half of the episode, because my brain was getting overwhelmed with the idea of doing all of it, so I broke it in half. It splits right around the 30min mark.

1. We open this episode with BABY SIUAN (and Tear). I love the set design for the Sanche house and that Siuan is sleeping in a hammock. The relationship between Siuan and her dad (Berden, the subtitles say) is very sweet as well. I love all the fishing-related terms of conversation used here as well (so true to Siuan in the books lol). We learn that her dad does fully know that she can channel but that they have a rule that she doesn’t do it in sight of the village. “A wise woman knows the breaking point of her line”.

2. We have been slowly building up “what people think about Aes Sedai” over the course of the season -- there’s some wariness in the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks call them witches and actively hunt and kill them, when Moiraine was capsizing the ferry the ferryman said that the Whitecloaks “were right” about Aes Sedai, Thom expressed over concern over Aes Sedai potentially targeting Mat in episode four, and now we get the Sanche house being burned down because someone saw that baby!Siuan could channel. We also get our first deliberate Dragon’s Fang drawn on someone’s property, illustrated rather than verbally explained.

3. They’ve been found out, so Berden sends Siuan off to Tar Valon with their boat and some advice - practice her network manually, don’t solely rely on the Power. She asks when she can come home and he answers, “When it’s safe in Tear for girls like you.” This scene grips my heart. He loves his daughter and is so proud of her! And he sends her away both to keep her safe but also so that she is able to reach her full potential. “daughter of the river, clever as a pike, strong as the tides.” <3 And we get some very important information here that Tear is NOT a safe place to channel/be Aes Sedai. Love the music here too.

4. The episode proper starts with Siuan Being Announced and the intense look in Moiraine’s eyes. We get to see everyone dressed up in their fancy wear! I love how we can see all the different cultures’ fashions reflected in the different clothing choices. They’re all formal but in different ways. Siuan’s entrance is VERY majestic and I love the Seat itself. Love the big overhead shot that pulls back and back to show us how tall the Tower is. I have to admit, I understand zero (0) of the aesthetic-based critique of this show, because I just think it looks SO gorgeous. What about any of this looks cheap? I am baffled, I swear.

5. Notes about the Sisters! Okay, they are arranged like so, clockwise out from the Amyrlin Seat - Red Ajah, an ajah we don’t know yet, Yellow Ajah, Blue Ajah, two more that we haven’t been introduced to yet, ending on Green. We can see that each set of Sisters comes in three but the middle seat for the Green Ajah is empty (was Kerene a Sitter?). This is the first time that show-only viewers would get to see all the different types of Ajah. The framing here on Moiraine is so good because though she has her current companions (Liandrin & Alanna) framing her in the foreground, she’s framed by two of the Blue Sisters in the background. The visual depth! What we’re being told about the characters simply via blocking! I feel like part of the reason that the Ajahs are in the order around the room that they are is so that we can have that great blocking with Moiraine.

6. I love how overwhelmed Moiraine looks to be facing Siuan. On a first watch, it can be read just the way the other Aes Sedai are reading it but Once You Know, then it’s just so much more delicious.

7. Haha, the stole is kinda odd -- I think in the books it’s more like a big scarf or something? idk fashion don’t judge me. It’s very pastel here. But her fancy clothes are so fancy! It’s such a good contrast for what we will see her wearing later on in the episode.

8. The first event of the episode is Logain being brought in for Siuan’s judgement. (and here is where my rewatch paused for several weeks as my brain tried to tell me that I needed to be Very Thoughtful and Very Incisive when that is not, in fact, actually a requirement for rewatching episodes of TV. So from this point on in the rewatch, I am trying to be less hard on myself! The problem is that I do find the episodes very rich and there’s a lot to talk about... and then I’ve accidentally overwhelmed myself lol)

9. After Logain is brought in, Siuan has his chains removed because, “gentled as he is, he poses no threat” which I imagine only made everything sting even more for Logain, tbh. He’s not even a threat anymore. Still, Siuan starts into what I assume are the traditional forms of the trial, asking Logain if he knows why he’s here. Logain goes on the (verbal) attack, telling Siuan that the world is beginning to see the Aes Sedai as weak, the further you are from the Tower. In addition to the acting (which is great), I also really like this section because we do some closer shots on all the Sitters, which is great for pausing and checking out their outfits and vibes. We have at least another couple of Aes Sedai wearing pants, which I still find exciting. I do think (though I would have to check the wiki to be sure) that the show shook up the composition of the Sitters to make them less weighted towards Andorans and that we get a wider set of cultural backgrounds.

10. Logain is, of course, also trying to incite Siuan into killing him so that he doesn’t have to live with being gentled. Siuan does realize what he’s trying to do and tells him that he is going to have to live out a long life. Interestingly, she seems to believe that the madness will continue to progress. I’m not sure if we know one way or another from the books? Logain tried to get under Siuan’s skin and make her react publicly and failed, while she DOES succeed in getting to him and he begs her to kill him. Though he’s definitely emotionally vulnerable in a way that she is not, given that he’s been gentled.

11. After Logain has been judged, it is now time to judge Liandrin, Alanna, and Moiraine for their extrajudicial gentling of Logain (as the three strongest channelers among the surviving Aes Sedai). Here, Siuan takes a stand for the law and for holding to a certain standard when in times of fighting/war, while Liandrin argues, essentially, that there are no rules in war. Because Logain killed one of their companions, he deserved harsher consequences than their rules more normally allow, she argues.

12. When Siuan says that, as the person in charge, Liandrin must face the consequences for her decision, Liandrin then goes in for a major distraction tactic - she throws Moiraine under the bus to get the attention off of what Liandrin did in breaking the rules and trying to get everyone to focus onto the fact that, omg, Moiraine has a secret, everyone! Come and learn about Moiraine’s secret that she should have told the rest of the class about! And, in doing so, she throws Nynaeve out for the wolves as well, by letting all the Sitters know that a very powerful potential is currently in the Tower and not a novice. Also, Liandrin calls Moiraine “Sis” here which I find DELIGHTFUL and HILARIOUS and I want more.

13. Siuan continues to do a good job at not getting distracted away from her purpose, just as she did when Logain tried to rattle her, and asks Liandrin what the point of her tangent is. Unfortunately, Liandrin was prepared for this too and she has an entire speech -- directed at the Sitters and not at the Amrylin -- about how Moiraine is a loose cannon who needs to be taken back under the firm hand of the White Tower. And Liandrin is able to twist the situation into being such that Siuan HAS to ask Moiraine her purpose in order not to be accused of overly favoring the Blue Ajah. And Moiraine has to say that she is unwilling to say, because she can’t actually be honest about what she’s doing because it’s such a delicate situation (and, right now, complicated by the fact that she lost all four potential Dragons and hasn’t found them again). So Liandrin is able to take a situation where the main punishment was firmly directed at her, the person who exacted “battlefield justice” on Logain, and instead redirect that punishment towards Moiraine. And she’s able to do that because she breaks the social norms of the Tower --  gentling Logain and saying that she believes Siuan still sympathizes with the Blue Ajah over the others are both examples of this same kind of behavior, though different in degree.

14. In general, the politics in this episode just- light my brain on fire, I really loved them. We also get a helpful timeline drop, in finding out that Moiraine last left the Tower two years ago. There’s also a great interplay between Moiraine and Siuan here (of course) as they try to communicate between the lines even as they’re re-inforcing the general belief in the Tower that they have had a falling out (by the line of attack Siuan uses, I think they implied they’re ‘falling out’ was over class-related differences, about Moiraine using her family name against Siuan at some point). I do love how we can see the Sitters react to Moiraine’s noble rank being brought up. Like, you kinda get the feeling that the Moiraine-Siuan breakup was basically like the White Tower’s soap opera. Also! This seems like an early hint from Rafe & co that we will possibly get more focus on Moiraine’s relatives and her connection to them, since we also got that line about her being from a ‘fallen house’ earlier in the season. But, yeah, Liandrin was able to swerve the punishment from being focused on her to being focused on Moiraine.

15. After the meeting ends, Alanna recommends to Moiraine that she publicly apologize to Siuan to soothe her anger, and Moiraine says it’s pointless. Also, one of Alanna’s Warders is Right There to hand her a post-judgement fruit. What a great boyfriend/husband/bodyguard. Lan is right there too but where is Moiraine’s post-judgement fruit? She does not get one!

16. Liandrin has already hooked back up with her Mean Girls Clique of fellow Reds. Moiraine and Siuan HAVE definitely fooled Liandrin with their playacting, tho, which was probably a relief for Moiraine to realise. Liandrin does NOT know her anywhere near as well as she thinks. SO intrigued by Liandrin calling her ‘old friend’. Love me some implied history.

17. And now we are out in the city of Tar Valon! Moiraine is taking tea on a lovely circular stone balcony. Very pretty. I love the flooring and how it looks classic and weathered. The stools are neat too, and the shape of the tables. And I like how her dress drapes along the floor. And the lanterns! It’s just very pretty to me and pleases my sense of aesthetics. We see, over her shoulder, that she Has Discovered where Rand and Mat are, as we see Nynaeve and Loial leaving the room. Ah, the detail of the vines creeping up the wall of the window! That’s so pretty! Love the open air vibe of the balconies and it implies a lot about the normal climate of Tar Valon too. Anyway, now that Nynaeve and Loial have left (and Lan confirms this by coming in -- presumably he’s the one who tracked Nynaeve to the room originally as well), Moiraine and Lan head over to collect a pair of wayward potential dragons. Lan has already been able to get a sense of how badly Mat is doing as well.

18. Ah, this is the moment that made me start shipping Cauthor and just brought a whole new dimension to my understanding of Wheel of Time! Rand doesn’t know how to channel (and is in denial that he even can) and doesn’t know how to use a sword, but he tells Moiraine and Lan that he won’t let them hurt Mat. He doesn’t have any clue what he’s doing! Moiraine and Lan can (and do) handle him like a kitten at this point! But he TRIES because Mat matters to him and so he’s going to try to protect him, even if he has the protection power of wet cardboard at the moment. So, of course, I was just hilariously gutted when Mat stayed behind at the end of the episode. I’d only just started shipping it! (luckily, Rand would manage to provide plenty of additional material in episode 7, bless him). And Mat’s exasperated fondness over Rand’s ineffective protectiveness here kinda sealed the deal. He also knows that it’s useless and pointless, but it matters to him that Rand tried anyway (even when he’s deep in his most paranoid mindset! It matters to him and he notices it!). This sort of dynamic is exactly why I tend to ship Friends-to-Lovers more than any other kind of ship.

19. Moiraine and Lan are definite Bosses in this scene, but I am too busy having stars in my eyes over how completely useless Rand is, lol. I just love it so much. This is my catnip. This is my kryptonite. Rafe Judkins reached into my soul and plucked out cauthor and put it on screen. And I didn’t even know I wanted it! And now here it is!

20. Moiraine and Mat are actually united here on agreeing that Mat Cauthon would make for a terrible Dragon Reborn, but then when Mat draws the dagger on her, she realizes that it’s not the madness affecting him but the taint of Shadar Logoth instead and we get a very cool (and icky) scene of her drawing it out of him (temporarily? permanently? I guess we’ll find out in S2). I think the show did a really good job showing us why Mat would have such a low opinion of his own character and also showing us that that’s not who he is. Oh, I am going to miss Barney as Mat. Looking forward to seeing what Donal does, but wow, Barney was fantastic in this role.

21. Rand looks very angelic and also a bit like a confused sheep, in the shot after Mat has had the corruption drawn out of him. Love the way the light is coming through the windows here. Gorgeous. And we can see that doing that for Mat took a LOT out of Moiraine, really drained her. We have this great moment of connection between Rand and Moiraine, because of what he saw her do for Mat. Back when she healed his dad, it was in the wake of their home being attacked and Rand learning that he was... adopted, kinda, so he was not in a receptive place towards Moiraine. He’s more receptive now to looking at things from her perspective and giving her the benefit of the doubt, because he was able to see her struggle with this and to risk herself to help Mat. Rand’s very sincere ‘thank you’ to Moiraine here is really nice, and it feels earned.

22. I do find it fascinating how Rand and Moiraine are STILL talking past each other, even in this scene where Rand is being genuinely grateful. Rand personalizes what Moiraine did -- she took on that evil for Mat -- but for Moiraine it’s greater good based -- she would have done it for any of her potential dragons, because wow it would SUCK for the world if the Dragon Reborn was corrupted by Shadar Logoth. Moiraine is Big Picture here and Rand is still very Small Picture. Rand does also check with Moiraine that if all that was Mat being affected by the dagger, then he isn’t... but Moiraine still says that she doesn’t know. “He’s stronger than he has any right to be. If he weren’t, that dagger would have consumed him weeks ago,” she notes about Mat, post-dagger, and it makes her think that Mat still might be the Dragon. I am 100% on the “Rand was unintentionally healing Mat with the Power during their journey” bandwagon for the show version. It just Makes Sense, and it lines up with the story Nynaeve told about Egwene ~getting better~ from her bone-breaking disease (which she attributed to Egwene being strong but, of course, while Egwene IS strong, Nynaeve also most likely healed her with the Power). She warns Rand to keep a careful watch on Mat, because if he touches the dagger again, “he might be lost forever”.

23. When Nynaeve and Loial return, Moiraine briefly shames Nynaeve for being too prideful to ask for help. So, uh, that relationship is going well.

24. I love this show’s use of non-sexual nudity. The whole scene in the bath-house is great; we get to see Moiraine relaxing while she chats with Maigan. Also, Moiraine trying to avoid the Tower as much as possible. Maigan gives us some tantalizing future plot hooks -- “Ships are disappearing off the West Coast; “Aiel have been spotted this side of the Spine”. Maigan asks Moiraine if she knows how Trollocs got to the Two Rivers undetected but Moiraine doesn’t have an answer. Maigan says that she might go west to track the disappearing ships. Oh, dear. Anyway, Maigan plans to try to convince Siuan to forgive Moiraine, and Maigan wants Moiraine to stay in the Tower on a more permanent basis while she’s gone. Obviously, this goes hard against Moiraine’s own plans.

25. Moiraine is now alerted that her other two potential dragons have been found! She has the whole set. Much like poor Mat was a wreck, poor Perrin is a wreck, but the Yellow Ajah Aes Sedai are healing him. So, Moiraine has contacts among the Yellow Aes Sedai who gave her info here. Hmmm.

26. Egwene shows Moiraine the rings that she took from Valda and tells her that Valda isn’t going to hurt any more Sisters. Oh. Oh, honey. Pretty sure you didn’t kill him. You stabbed him in the shoulder, bb. Love you tho. Egwene tells Moiraine about Perrin’s eyes going golden and Moiraine compares the color to a wolves’ eyes, so Egwene tells her about the wolves attacking the Whitecloaks and Perrin not being afraid about them. Egwene asks if the eyes could mean that Perrin is the Dragon, and Moiraine is basically *shrug emoji*. Moiraine must be so relieved to have Egwene back tbh. Egwene listens to her so much more easily than any of the rest of the Two Rivers’ folk. Also! Loved how green the Yellow Ajah’s healing room is. But it’s another change that... okay, the rest is going in the spoiler reblog.

[imogenkol]

For the Character Design questions, how about stillness, texture, & favorite for Imogen, and glance, arms, & alternate for Wicke?

stillness: How does your OC act while still? Are they fidgety? Do they have any common gestures or tics? Does their clothing affect how they hold themselves while at rest?

Imogen is a very still person in general when she's not in a fight. All of her movements are deliberate and she prefers not to waste time/energy with unnecessary motion. She does not fidget. She has no tics. When she goes still still, she's basically a statue and it's difficult to even see her breathe. A lot of people find her talent for this unsettling, which is the point. It's Imogen's way of being ready for anything while also appearing unpredictable - like a big cat that's stalking you, going utterly still with an intensity in its eyes that makes you hold your breath because you don't know if it's going to pounce or lose interest.

texture: Does your OC favor any specific kinds of cloth or textures? Is there anything they can’t wear or don’t like? What sort of fabrics do they prefer?

Imogen almost exclusively wears high end fabrics and leathers from all over the galaxy, with a slight preference for durable materials over comfortable ones. Her entire wardrobe is a mixture of expensive taste and practicality. The one thing she does compromise on is legwear. Certain materials can snag on her cybernetic leg, which can be uncomfortable at best and painful at worst and that can also restrict her movement in combat.

favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What’s the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

Imogen has an armorweave coat that she wears every single day for a bit of extra protection. She had it custom made not long after she started to rise through the ranks in the Bounty Hunters Guild, so she's pretty proud of it. It has a detachable hood and plenty of storage/hidden compartments for whatever can't fit on her belt. And she looks damn good in it.

glance: At first glance, what stands out the most about your OC’s appearance? What’s their distinguishing feature?

Probably her smile. Wicke has a wild, troublemaker type grin on her most of the time that makes you equal parts excited and a little worried. It's contagious though, especially when Wicke starts going on about her projects and ideas. Nora certainly loves to hang out in her little workshop and hear all about what she's cooking up. It's usually a new gun that can pack one hell of a punch.

arms: Does your OC have any weapons? What weapons do they carry, and how do they wear them when they’re not fighting?

While Nora usually gets the special toys Wicke makes (gf priviledge), she also modified a special lever-action rifle just for herself. Fondly dubbed "Jolene", you can always find the gun within reach of Wicke at all times, either slung over her shoulder or resting in a chair while she works. Sometimes.... sometimes she lets Nora borrow her, but only if Petrichor (the hunting rifle Wicke enhanced for Nora) needs repairs.

alternate: What would your OC’s alternate universe look be? If they’re a fantasy character, what’s their modern look? If they’re sci-fi, what’s their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself?

It would be really fun to have a western au for Wicke. I already picture her having a bit of a southern drawl (idk why they're literally in boston but what the hell lmao) and seeing her in a cowboy hat, button up shirt, leather vest... woof. Maybe she just needs to make a trip across the country to New Vegas.

[devouringyourson]

I'm curious what's your view on working in the film industry in general?

I've been in and out working in the costume/wardrobe dept for a few years now and am ready to call quits. I find it too unstable, stressful and underpaid, but i'm from a small country with an even tinier industry so idk how it is in london or hollywood?

I have a feeling like the entire industry is on it's knees, with the major drop in quality and the insane lifestyle that comes with the job imo steel nerves and rich parents are a must.

it's.. yeah i empathize with you a lot cos right now it's incredibly spotty and unstable especially for freelance crew. I can only talk for the UK but generally there was a big commissioning boom after COVID that gave everyone unrealistic expectations and lots of people (including myself joined the industry) now after the strikes every studio is playing it safe and there's just not the work for all of us and so many people are leaving or being pushed to breaking point. I do think departments like costume are the worst hit, especially as these have so many below the line female workers who depend on often only dailies. I would love to work in costume I have such a passion for costume design and construction but it's too insular and toxic I've stayed well clear haha

I've always been in production and started out in factual TV (which is generally a lot more chill but has suffered huge losses recently no one is commissioning and loads of unscripted indies in the regions have gone under) so haven't experienced the worst of the industry which imo seems to be freelance film crew. Especially in 'craft' areas as these are particularly unregulated and difficult to break into. There's increasing schemes but there's so much gatekeeping in costume, props, sfx, art etc which results in nepotism and abusive practices. Generally I've found the production management side a bit more stable and meritocratic as anyone can do office work but there's still so much nepotism and black listing going on. I've always managed to stay in-house which gives me some security and stable employment but it's still a waiting game to see if we're actually going to shoot anything this year or all be fired. Every film/show release feels it could flop and we'd all be gone tomorrow.

So yeah I'm kinda losing the will to live but I've been super lucky and have purposefully chosen the more boring routes that are more secure. I'm sure if I had rich parents I probably would've done something I'm passionate about and pursued screenwriting or directing or set design but that was never really an option for me so joined the industry in the only way I saw I could: the management side. I also never thought film was possible so aimed for local TV and just kinda ended up here by accident

It's definitely kinda awful but if anyone is discouraged I would still say that we're still living through a comparative historical boom in content (though it's shrinking) and a career is possible. There's a lot of access schemes and ways in if you want and if successful you can get a very good wage. It's just hard bloody work and kinda psychologically scarirng. I would always say just aim for what you can cope with. There's a lot more 'boring' options that are a lot less toxic (local TV, children's content, unscripted and then a lot of tangential work like film finance, marketing and management).

I don't wanna discourage people to try cos I feel like underrepresented voices is exactly what we desperately need to get some interesting storytelling 😭😭 I'm hopeful something's gotta give though as even though the studios are being super cowardly, consumer taste is at least changing and people are desperate for something new. People have just gotta try new things, support local and indie talent and stop watching bloody sequels (and also hot take actually watch films legally when they can)

[theme-park-concepts]

If disney was to make a brand new theme park focused on “the magic of the movies” what lands would you have in the park?

I love that this prompt is not just "the movies" but "the MAGIC" of the movies. That's actually thematic, that's something you can construct a narrative around and emphasize that takeaway. Movies are magical and the park demonstrates that.

So why are movies magical? Well one obvious reason is they make impossible things real. All sorts of special effects and illusions. But I'm not sure that's the only reason. There's something particularly special about walking into that dark room with a flickering projector, popcorn, trailers, other people gathered with you excited to see something new for the first time before you all go in a trance for 2 hours...it's a ritual gathering...spiritual, not unlike a church or temple. So that's a thing we should keep in mind. What's else? Well there's something inherently magical about the movie/story itself and its ability to transport us someplace else, almost like a portal. And not just see other places but let us experience other feelings in a safe way. And maybe there's something inherently magical just about being able to control and conjur light, the ability to make an image and make it move and bend to our will.

And since this is a Disney park, maybe we should try to feature Disney movies.

So let's start with the icon and move out from there. Out of the observations we made earlier I think the fact that movies are a spiritual, church-like ritual experience that bring us together, connect us together...the magic of that...I think the centerpiece of the park has to be an elaborate movie theatre designed in such a way as to evoke a cathedral, mosque, etc. Elaborate, breathtaking, etc. and whatever experience is inside really needs to be a reverent love letter to movies (and tbh the great movie did a LOT of this thematic work both by choosing the Chinese theatre, and the ride itself). Not to get too into the details, but that's definitely the right track.

As for lands...keep in mind this is a tumblr post with not that much thought put into it. But my initial reaction is:

----a land specially devoted to illusions and special effects, both practical and digital. Attraction ideas would be a stunt show, some sort of guardians esque coaster where you get sucked into CGI and VFX computers, some sort of behind the scenes attraction maybe more akin to the horror makeup show or the old foley shows. There's also something really cool about being on set...idk how you'd channel that but would be great to implement somehow.

---a land devoted to color and light and sound/music. Torn between whether this should be an animation land, or whether this should be more abstract. I almost lean towards abstract and having it be the entrance land of the park. Where we start with amorphous blobs of color and sound and as we move towards the park icon it gets more controlled and specific and evolves into distinct structures. Would play really well for nighttime shows as well. But then again animation probably demonstrates our ability to control those things more than anything else. Maybe there's an animation attraction in the land. Probably staring sorcerer and streamboat Mickey because this is a Disney park after all.

And then maybe at the back of the park there's a series of mini lands all connected by various imaginative portals/transportation devices...the ability of movies to transport us to other words...maybe the movie cathedral is big enough these portals are at the back of it? And these could be various IP oriented worlds. Maybe some are tied to one specific IP, maybe others are more genre or studio based. I always liked the idea of a Pixar land, a Lucas Land, a Marvel land, a animated musical land. You could easily do it that way and keep the content more evergreen.

I've got a thing for symmetry though...maybe the color and light land should mirror the special effects/magic land. The other lands in the back, and there should be a separate entrance land in the middle? Idk what it would be. Like you could do Hollywood I guess but that's overdone and the theme is the magic of movies not Hollywood...Hollywood is just one place that makes movies. Haven't really talked about the camera yet...or editing...those are pretty critical unique bits about movie making...the ability to specifically direct the audience and make them see only what you want them to see, manipulate their perspective of time and space. Kinda magical to be able to construct a different reality. Could you make a land about that? Might be interesting to do something with a giant camera obscure or something. Idk. I like that road thematically but it might be almost too abstract to turn into a physical environment.

Ok so maybe the park needs an entrance land, maybe color/light/music land is enough. And the park is just lopsided or has space for expansion. That's what you get. Phase 2 lol.

[beetleviolet]

How did you come up with there designs??

- previous anon

HELLOOOO ANON! :D

THANKS SM FOR THE ASK HHEHEHE I LOVE TO RAMBLE!

WOW this is a loaded question. Idk if you know what you just signed up for loll.

Short answer: Vibes

Long answer:

First I just chose 4 species of turtles i thought were cool. I did a project Alabama Red Bellied Cooters (Leo) so it was already in my brain, after some research I found the yellow bellied slider (donnie) which is just SO PRETTY, Mikey is a mud turtle, which is a super small turtle and has these gorgeous orange spots, and Raph is a northern diamondback terrapin, because ahhh they have polka dots!

The turtle types i chose were purely aesthetic, and then i just assigned one for each turtle in a way I thought looked nice. The clothes and how the characters present themselves is really what I worked the most on.

I wanted to focus a lot on the characters differences and similarities. People dress differently depending on what they do, where they go, climate, sensory needs, personal style, etc. Its important to kinda balance practicality and something that makes sense for the character vs something that just looks cool. I talk about designs under the one for each character, but here I'll hit the highlights from a purely design standpoint.

Leo: The tallest of the brothers as he accepts his role of the oldest and carries it with him wherever he goes. I thought his stripes being over his eyes would be a nice nod to rottmnt leo. For his outfit, he wears his mission outfit (ninja pants and straps), just most of the time just the pants with no straps. Leo experienced some pretty intense trauma at a young age (i will get more into this in the comic) resulting in him never really feeling safe. This is why he is constantly in his battle outfit, ready in case something goes wrong. His straps for his mission outfit are the base for the rest of the group.

Donnie: Donnie really looks up to Leo, and wants to make it up to him for stuff that happened in the same traumatic event. He wants to be someone his brother can be proud of, and from his perspective, this means being like Leo. This is why things like their face shape, stripe pattern, and height mirror eachother. Donnie wears overalls because he needs lots of pockets, plus they are cute, but what says the most about him is his mask. Leo wears a more classic tmnt mask, and in an attempt to be like him, Donnie does the same, except it gets really annoying on his face, so he pushes it up on his head like a headband. This is my favorite detail! He wears his mask when trying to be impressive or serious, but you can see the real Donnie peaking through when he pushes it back. This happens already in one of the early updates of the first part of the comic.

Donnie's strap for his mission outfit is very similar to Leo, except his Hamato crest is put on his chest, and it attaches to a tool belt instead of his pants.

Raph: so admittedly I didn't put as much time and thought into raph and mike as I did Leo or Donnie, but whatever. Raph typically wears dark colors, sweatpants, t-shirts, tank tops, and hoodies. Clothes aren't super important to him, and he just wants something he can move and be comfortable in. Like all Raphs, he is a bit of a rebel, and is angsty, so this kinda translates into his clothes. Since Raph doesn't put much thought into what he wears, neither do I. Oh, and he wears his bandana like a kerchief on his head, so it's out of his face like Donnies.

His straps go in a V because I ran out of shapes.

He is shorter then Donnie even though he's older, because I'm short and projecting.

Mikey: Mikey is the smallest of the group, since a lot of his arc is trying to stand out and be treated more like his age. Fun fact: he and Donnie are twins, but people, especially those outside of his fam, treat Donnie with more respect because he appears and presents older.

Mikey loves to wear bright colors. Like, so much that you can barely see him under them. He wears big t-shirts that he tie dyed himself and mismatched leg warmers. I can't wait to show his "going to the surface outfit" because it is just so much fun. His mask is around his neck like a cowboy because 1. He's more childish 2. Leo and him are obsessed with a comic about Space Cowboys.

Mikey's mission outfit straps are an x over his chest like a safety harness. (I also just got this idea, but an X over someone's chest in ballet means death. This might come into play later)

Side note: the characters bandanas will help symbolize their arcs. When a character goes through development, their bandana will change, for better or for worse.

April O'Neil: Actually the first design concept i came up with. Thinking of the original April O'Neil yellow jacket, I wanted to give her a battle jacket. Because it's a comic I couldn't get in too much detail, but I'll probably do a full design at some point. Probably.

April wears combat boots, pants with patches, and she dyed her hair since April O'Neil was originally a red head, except in mine April's hair is the color of a fire truck. Her outfit is good for school and tramping through the sewers, and the smiley faced knee patch is a nodd to Mikey from rottmnt.

Splinter: I've only seen brown or gray Splinters, but a lot of the pet rays I've seen are white or spotted, so I decided to give him spots. I wanted the characters to have a stable parental figure, and most of their unresolved trauma resulted from that event I keep talking about (aka "the incident") and a lack of proper acknowledgment afterward.

Splinter has his fancy robes, but he also has his Dad Outfit, which is Khakis and a polo. It was very important to me that he was rocking a Dad bod, because every good Dad need a dad bod. He has 4 ninja children to rangle, after all!

LONG LONG STORY SHORT SHORT:

Never design a character before you get to know them. Learn stuff about them before determining what they might like. Draw a bunch of little thumbnails, experiment, have fun! Draw or doodle all your characters next to eachother to see if their vibes make sense, even if they contrast. Draw your characters doing things. Focus on their verb. What does your character do? What do they need to wear to make that work? And how can you make that cute? And don't be afraid to have them change over time!

Well, that's all I got. Thanks for the ask!

[joys-of-everyday]

So did LQG abuse children?

First of all, this is a joke. The true answer is no, of course not. But this is funny, so let's do it.

This is brought to you by a collection of anecdotal evidence, with varying levels of experience in doing martial arts as a childhood hobby. Please do not take it as legal advice. It will not help you.

Highlight of the conversation:

Contact sports aren't illegal. Martial arts can be practiced by children. This can include both children practicing techniques on each other, and the instructor demonstrating techniques on children. This may cause light injury (scrapes and bruises). This is fine.

More serious injuries in sport do happen (sprains, broken limbs etc. Concussion is far more serious than fiction tells you - if you hit your head, please get medical advice). That being said, any decent sports instructor should have training in practicing sports safely. A karate person pointed out to me that karate has a lot of focus on control, so if you're causing injury in practice, you're doing something wrong, but also said they weren't sure about other martial arts. The only martial arts I've done is MMA very briefly, and I never got to the stage where anyone was capable of causing anyone serious injury, but we were given a briefing on day 1 about not hurting people. (If people are more knowledgeable about this, please chip in!) So LQG sending floods of children to Qian Cao is quite bad. There was, however, lack of consensus as to whether this would be illegal, but whatever the case, you would probably get in trouble for one of the following:

Safeguarding practices

Harassing, threatening, bullying, or intimidating students is absolutely no-go, obviously. (idk what the legalities are though, although it will get you fired from any decent institution.) So LQG's brutish ways leaving students shivering in fear gives him minus points.

Discriminating students for their background, ethnicity, gender, sexual-orientation etc. is also not okay. So more minus points for discriminating against demons.

Safeguarding is serious stuff. Places that work with children (at least in the UK) should have a designated safe guarding lead, to whom which safe guarding concerns can be passed on to. Students should have a way of raising concerns to higher levels (no matter how high up in the organisation the person of concern is, so may involve contacts outside of the organisation.) Cang Qiong Mountain does not seem to have any of this in place (*cough* student-teacher relationship *cough*), or any method of preventing bullying, so even more minus points here.

Endangerment of Children

It turns out it is not okay to endanger children!!! (Can you imagine how many fictional characters need to be arrested?) So no, you can't get kids to shoot guns at each other. This is illegal. Cang Qiong Mountain gets minus points for sending their kids to the Immortal Alliance Conference, or on life-threatening missions.

If it's your responsibility to look after a child, you should (surprisingly enough) look after said child. LQG seems to spend most of his time off the peak, and notably not looking after children. On the other hand, we are aware of other instructors on Bai Zhan peak - Ji Jue makes an appearance in the airplane extras, who is of the same generation as Liu Qingge. So evidently, there are some older people around to take care of the kids when Liu Qingge is off doing whatever. (Which would make sense, because no way is Liu Qingge correcting form and stuff) So we'll give him benefit of the doubt here.

So in summary LQG is (probably) not guilty of child abuse. However, he is definitely guilty of child endangerment. (As well as discrimination, reckless endangerment, arson, assault, hate crimes against demons etc.) Moreover, you could probably sue the whole of Cang Qiong Mountain for being unsafe and neglecting kids. Health and safety man. Gotta take it seriously👍

[tsukkismoonlight]

Hi! May I request a TR match up (:

Sag sun, sag moon, sag leo

Intp, 6w5

male preference, I'm 25! (:

My dream job would honestly just be a stay at home mom/housewife. If they don't want kids, I want to at least have cats

Appearance: i'm plus size. I'm learning to love my body. Also always hiding all the scars on my body from eczema  by wearing cardigans and long skirts.

Hobbies: reading, watching anime, embroidery, writing hand written letters, lots of naps

Likes: the cold, head pats, collecting trinkets, cats, hydrangeas

Colors: pastel orange, tbh most hydrangeas colors

Fav foods: doriyaki, hotpot, sushi, ham&cheese croissants, curry pan

Dislikes: spaghetti, things that slither scare me, neglected, unfaithfulness, inefficiency

The most important thing traits for my soulmate is their ability to make me feel secure. I can easily go to hell and back for someone as long as I feel secure with them. I'm also loyal to a fault.

Thank you!

You glance at the clock nearby, noting how late it is. Despite that, your curiosity gets the better of you, and you find yourself opening the letter…

Hello !!! You absolutely may have one !! And my top favorite color is also a pastel orange!! Specifically like a sunset orange (and i also really don't like spaghetti??? I think i had it too much as a kid :p )

Anywhooo, if i were to match you up…id give you…

Ken Ryuguji!!!

Some hcs for you

▪︎your first meeting was probably, definitely chaotic, i mean, Draken spends most of his time just looking after Mikey, and we all know how that goes

▪︎so imagine this:

▪︎you've taken a trip to the pet store with a friend, wanting to pick up some new toys and more food for your cats

▪︎now imagine this next

▪︎a few isles over, Mikey is asking the poor employee to hold one of the snakes, all the while convincing Draken that Mikey absolutely needs one as a pet

▪︎i'd like to think that somehow, said slithering animal gets out of Mikey's hand and is now sneaking around the store.

▪︎Your friend would spot it first, and try to warn you as carefully as possible

▪︎but the little guy makes his way towards your shoes, and as soon as you feel a little nudge, well, you're paralyzed with fear, trying and failing to get any words out

▪︎now, when you see the towering form that is Ken Ryuguji, suddenly appear as he bends down to gently pick up the animal, you are stunned for a few reasons

▪︎the first being just how easily he had done that, as if the reptile in his hands wasn't so grossly terrifying

▪︎the second being, that this man was heavenly looking, even as he passed the snake to the employee, and scolded Mikey for not being careful

▪︎From then on, you happened to run into Draken fairly often, eventually growing to become friends

▪︎you wrote him a lot of your famous handwritten letters, often times sliding in some pressed flowers, or little stickers you found that reminded you of him

▪︎not that he ever let the others see these, and face their jokes, but he keeps every single letter in his top drawer, and he reads them whenever he feels down

▪︎skip to current times, you live together, practically already married in the way that all of your shared friends would say you two argue like an old married couple

▪︎most of the arguments are over small things, such as who's turn it is to clean the litter box, or that Draken needs to stop being so picky with his food, and to stop ruining his clothes because you can't keep patching them up

▪︎you threaten to embroider cute little designs on his stuff, knowing full and well that he has his own little appearance to uphold

▪︎oh and for these hcs, Draken and the others ??? Their gang lives are strictly like, idk competitive sports or gaming or something, we don't need any danger here

▪︎especially because i think that Draken would want kids, and he'd want to keep his family safe, so if he was in a gang like Toman or whichever, he wouldn't be having kids

▪︎but he loves the idea of them so much, though he only ever tells you that. He wants to come home to little footsteps and tiny voices calling for him

▪︎and of course, his favorite part about it is coming home to his lovely wife, knowing that he has everything he could ever want.

A lock screen for you ! Its a little plain, but i didnt wanna crowd it up, but i think it looks really pretty !!

Thank you so so much for joining in on this event! I had a lot of fun with this one, so I really hope you like it!!! I also hope that your day or night goes amazing !!

[finsterhund]

a bigger post more about the Boogeyman movie I guess.

Continuation from this: here

When the Boogeyman destroyed the spherical nightlight it made me so sad. The poor nightlight. It was like one of the moon ones yeah? Kinda. FUck him.

Interesting that they're playing into the Boogeyman being capable of voice copying as well as the shape shifting. So this feels like a simpler IT.

I always like to think about if these supernatural things actually evolved naturally and the fact that a creature with seemingly impossible mimicry abilities would evolve to fit the "preys on humans" niche that our houses and cities have caused to have been left vacant for so long. It uses familiarity to get close and blend in, and then it eats children who are unattended in "the safety of their own homes" because we're so comfortable in how our dens are safe have been for so long, and when natural survival instinct is filed away under "neurosis that must be cured" hmmm. An opportunist that evolved to permeate the safety of our nests, relying on us having gone soft. Something that adapted to the specifications of our own protective measures we're so confident works on everything in nature. Now I'm just thinking about the speculative evolution brainstorming I've been doing for my Underbed project again. How I'm torn between just how much the creatures of Underbed are naturally evolved and how much they're supernatural. I'm leaning more into "they were animals… at one point… perhaps evolved originally on Earth… but that's not where they live now… as in maybe they've completely adapted to being forced to live in this other dimension and only capable of coming into the now hostile alien world known as Earth from humanity's empty liminal spaces. Hahaha. Wish I could actually write the damn story though.

The visuals are pretty great in my opinion. The sketch of the entity is pretty cool while not being over the top. Spectre-esque, and the infecting tendril roots it puts down in places it's taking up residence are very good looking. I hate to come back to Skinamarink all the time but something like that, some more obvious more unnatural fucking with the house's appearance beyond removing exits and slightly fucking up stuff would have been cool to see just in the corner of a shot for like, less than a minute at a time to really add to it. More stuff like the hand I thought was so well done. But budget restraints of a tiny micro indie title I suppose. But then again if Kyle had a friend who was into textile arts and special effects on the project a whole lot could have been done practical. Idk. I hope for his next project he stays super indie but gets like, a gang of friends who each has like, a different visual medium special interest. I'd love to see those big goopy practical effect slime blood monster puppetry smoke and mirrors of old again.

This part: "it needs the dark to stay hidden… fire was the first thing man used to see at night" "it's really been around that long?" "I think it's been around forever" fucking sick as hell. So cool. Loved that.

The home movie lullaby scene got me crying a bit. Props to the dad not pushing his own way of grieving too much on the kids. When the older sibling gets after him for wanting to get rid of the mom's art supplies he actually APOLOGIZED and allowed her to keep them. Even if she had to put them in creepy basement.

I'm really hoping the mom becomes some sort of Spot Power not-exactly-an-entity that can fight the boogeyman. Also older sibling has an almost "Andy mullet bowl cut" hairstyle and I didn't notice until she had the house party.

Our first substantial look at the monster and the design is pretty good too. Has a partially mummified humanoid face with milky white eyes that have just enough luster to them that they glow in lower light in that way that has the potential to fuck with me but coincidentally it would seem the total absence of pupils nullifies how scary I find "human eye white glowing in the dark" so huh.

The bullying is also pretty realistic in this movie. You know this fucker was just trying to push the boundary as much as she could on how much abuse could she "accidentally" direct at the girl with the dead mom she wanted an excuse to demonize. She fully deserved that fucking slap. But then she immediately played the victim waaaahhhh wahhhhhh you hit me. And she gets to be in the right because she's the "calm one who never resorted to violence" oh no, just secretly instigated the entirety of the thing… 😒 God.

FUCK. THE SCENE WITH THR YOUNGER SISTER FIRING A WEAPON IN THE VIDEO GAME BECAUSE IT LIT UP MORE OF THR SCREEN BRIGHTER AND SHE WAS TOO SCARED TO GO AND GET A BETTER LIGHT SOURCE SO SHE TRIED TO IMPROVISE AND ADAPT WITH THE TV AS A LIGHT SOURCE SHE DID HAVE ACCESS TO UNLOCKED SOME PRIMAL REPRESSED MEMORIES OF SIMILAR. OH MY GOD.

Of course then I had to think about how I still intuitively on instinct do that shit with phone and computer all the time 😬😬😬😬 great. Just. Nyctophobia moments. I guess.

The shot of the bogeyman perched on top of the TV was so good. I got fucking chills. Then it cut to the scene of it actually jumping into the glow of the TV and moving and bruh… actually seeing its anatomy and how it moves. It's just like, quadrupedal Slenderman/the rake and the effects don't look "there" enough. Like it doesn't feel like it actually takes up space. It's a 3D model. Such a great shot but then immediately I'm broken out of it. For some reason I thought her getting thrown into the TV looked funny. I blame that gangly fuck.

Using a child as bait. Lmaoo oh my god that got serious fast. "I finally figured out how to kill this thing. I'll need … … YOU." DJGJDHDJFJS the fact that the floor candles were a thing that was established was cool on its own but then how it showed them getting systematically blowing out which signified the encroaching entity in the space. God. That's good. The architecture in this movie is really nice too. The way the house is built really pairs well with the shadowy spiderweb roots on the walls and ceiling.

Again, low light and from in front the creature design looks incredible. Really fucking good. But then you see it's full body fully in frame and illuminated and it's just an awkward thing. If they would have made it more anatomically hominin or more alien and unnatural in either direction it'd work better but it's right on the middle of "ehhhh it just looks a bit wrong but like in a design way not a body horror way" man. I wonder if making it black and muddling the visibility would improve this.

Love the use of heavy drums in the soundtrack.

Also how it still fucks with adults. Not as lazy as IT lol.

The scene where there's a fakeout death with it just lying on the ground was surreal to me. Don't see that all too often anymore. Just have the whole ass monster out there meme death posed degrading itself for the hopeful jumpscare payoff. Also the shots of its body stationary look creepier and more visually believable than the shots of it in motion. Huh.

Older girl's logic of "I saw it bleed" (like predator lol) doesn't really stand up considering she also saw it get shot like 20 times including four or so with a shotgun at point blank range. Like yeah you saw it bleed. Does that matter though?

The younger kid going around wearing the blinking Christmas lights is iconic to me. I did that sorta shit. That's Cayden armed to the teeth to pet some spectres type shit.

Literally fire kills it. Fire is literally the answer. (As a worldbuilding design that is fucking cool as hell. Early man figured it out. How to keep this thing away. But then we forgot) but also it did end up having like a sorta (same vein as Spot Power tbh) the mom's lifeforce being what stopped it. As symbolized by the fire. I liked that. I like how it's ambiguous as to the full extent of the mom's spirit. Would fire have worked otherwise or is it special magic dead mom Spot Power fire. Sad to see the house and mementos go though. Always sad. I will try not to think of love being consumed by flames I think about that enough.

I stand by the monster design being good but just doesn't end up meshing well and how obscuring it more would have helped. Maybe other people find weird almost spider human fucked up anatomy thing more scary than me but idk.

Pediatric psychiatrist: hey older kid now that this is all over just one more thing can you come back into my office alone haha no reason haha

Me: oh fuck oh shit the original story ending!! (But no. Lmao)

Was good. Loved the scenes of it hissing back away from the fire/light and when it skittered across lit spaces just enough. So much of the light and darkness effects are just really good.

I really lived the two houses but that's a given because knowing Stephen King this movie was set in the state with both an excess of cool houses and fucked up demons in it.