"I know I usually write about films and TV shows on Fridays, but I have to be honest. Sometimes I don’t watch things in time to write anything, or, conversely, I watch stuff I feel no desire to write about. That being the case, I decided there was really only one appropriate course of action... make a list recommending the stories I have been consuming this week instead. Which, in this case, are mostly manga and webtoons."
(what if they died because you tried to get a better ending?)
ok i’ve been in this fandom drawing silly little blorbos for long enough. time to put them through the wood chipper. this is the first proper painted scene i’ve done for isat surprisingly. and of course i had to draw my silly little critter 😊😊😊 my little thang 😊😊😊 please enjoy my very normal bonnie art i’m very proud of it 😊😊😊😊
(also!! gradient map + my sketches!!! i don’t usually post my wips here but i spent an hour on them smh)
Charles whose dad smashed his cassette tape with a hammer learns to navigate the backpack cause, like, he needs to be useful, yeah?
and this way Charles has everything Edwin needs, and if Edwin gets sick of him he’ll just.. he doesn’t know what he’ll do.
but then Edwin gets the record player.
he suggests, tentatively, that Charles might play some of his “queen” if he liked. after all, if they are to haunt potential realtors away from their new office, they may as well entertain themselves.
so they take turns, switching out; edwin likes opera. he shows Charles how to waltz, chiding Charles to stop looking at his feet til they’re gliding, whirling around like they’re in the movies. Edwin’s smile is small and pleased and lovely. (Charles attempt to get Edwin to headbang along to queen results in a sort of awkward rhythmic nodding. Charles loves him so much he could die again.)
And, like. Edwin doesn’t like clutter. he doesn’t bother with the random tidbits ghosts give them for solving cases.
until now, apparently.
now he comes back from trading at the goblin market with little useless things—a cursed rubix cube, records from bands Charles mentioned years ago.
Charles is so busy trying to subtly read his book on Edwardian courting rituals (disguised by Nikos discreet manga covers) that he doesn’t realize what Edwin’s set down in front of him. he stares at Edwin’s spiky handwriting, the tidy numbered list.
“I thought, perhaps, that we might—start a new tradition.”
Charles blinks, eyes stinging. “Mate, did you.. make me a mixtape?”
“Crystal assisted me, and while she was absolutely insuffer—“ Edwin staggers, catching him with a surprised little noise.
“I love you so much,” Charles says, muffled into his throat. “You’re my favorite person. I love you so much it hurts, sometimes.”
“Yes,” Edwin says softly, hands curling around his waist. He takes Charles weight like it’s nothing. “I believe I know the feeling.”
was it casual when i sat in your lap in public? was it casual when i said "recently my heart is crying because you're leaving"? was it casual when we decided how your last name would fit with mine? ("yuki tsunoda-gasly" / "no tsunoda, only gasly" / "yuki gasly?") was it casual when we sang adele's "someone like you" together at your going away party? was it casual when i knew it was you just by touching your ass? was it casual when i knew it was you by smell alone? was it casual when "will you miss me?" / "for 2-3 minutes maybe" / "i'll take that. even if it's just 2-3 minutes, i'll take that"? was it casual when that bus was completely empty and we still sat right next to each other, all the way in the back? was it casual when i picked you up multiple times so you could dunk a basketball? was it casual when i begged to come over to your house multiple time and then you finally let me and we cooked fried rice together? was it casual when we played christmas twister together and i said "your big eggplant is touching my ass"? was it casual when we were pressed up against each other on a scooter going two miles per hour? was it casual when-
i feel like people are sleeping on the occam's razor situation of how buckwild it is to outright accuse a guy of being a clone of your friend even if you DO have a lot of circumstantial evidence. there's other options is what im saying. they could just be like. a guy. that's a sensible deduction. you should explore that deduction. ignore my shirt that reads I <3 RED HERRINGS.
i still think odile has the correct theory on lock but she's smart enough to know it needs like... a real smoking gun to be able to bring it up without sounding insane.
anyway. (mirabelle voice) i know its rude to speculate but has anyone else noticed the grieving? they seem to be grieving. does anyone have any thoughts on the grieving? i have some thoughts on the grieving.
I keep thinking about Merlin’s love for Arthur and how it’s so clearly portrayed in the show to the point that it practically drives the plot of the show. However when it comes to Arthur’s love for Merlin it’s more subtle and sometimes difficult to even grasp, and I started thinking why that was, aside from the obvious fact that Arthur has a lot of trouble expressing his emotions affection or otherwise. I think it also lies in the fact that Merlin knows Arthur intrinsically throughout the show; he is one of the closest people to Arthur, and sees him for who he really is. Arthur admits as much.
Sure, Arthur knows Merlin but the main part of the plot is that he really doesn't know Merlin. Merlin wants him to desperately understand him and “see me for who I am” but he can't yet. And I think this subconsciously creates a barrier in the way in which Arthur can care for Merlin, and how Merlin can let himself be seen by Arthur.
Which is why I think he was also so hurt when the magic reveal happens because more than the betrayal of Merlin having magic, it was the betrayal of Merlin not letting Arthur see him for who he really is and for hiding a main part of himself. Arthur says it himself “why did you never tell me” that’s what hurt him the most.
I think the most damning piece of evidence for this is the fact that while we see snippets of Arthur’s feelings for Merlin thought the show, the biggest signs are in the last episode after the magic reveal; in which he finally gets to understand Merlin, and this time REALLY know Merlin, and as the barriers of what held them back from understanding each other truly fall away, Arthur evidently “falls in love with Merlin all over again”. We see him actually express himself to Merlin.
This is another reason why I think if anyone was ever to create another season of Merlin after Arthur’s return, it’s physically impossible not to make it about Merlin and Arthur acknowledging their feelings for each other. Because there is no way forward without them acknowledging how deeply they care for each other, obviously anyone is free to argue what kind of love that is, but its impossible not to see the deep love there either way.
They always knew they loved each other, just maybe never realising how much and what that means, because its almost second nature to everything that they do.
Okay! Obviously, I love Wolf 359. The available scripts for Wolf 359 are recording scripts, meaning they're inaccurate in a ton of places when it comes to finalized or improvised dialogue, and don't function well as transcripts (especially since the scripts for the live show and some of the mini episodes were never made available.) That said, I think everyone should read the scripts; the sheer amount of physical description that you can feel in the show, even if you can't see it... I guarantee it will enhance your listening experience. Most visual show to ever be an audio drama. So, in pursuit of both of these goals at once, I went over every word in the scripts, and wrote up new scripts for the unavailable ones. Some of the sound effects described - especially in early episodes - might not line up exactly, because I didn't want to mess with the non-dialogue portion of the show, but I hope this strikes a good balance and can be a useful resource.
Getting over my fear of posting this was CRAZY but here we go
MARX RPG
I’ve been working on this for days, made an accidental (The nova itself) and purposeful reference (the background) to Birth of a Wish by itsquakey (you should go check em out their art is SICK /pos)
- More ramblings below -
I wanted to make an RPG type thing with Marx for a while. Originally I was going to make an actually playable one but then realized I don’t have the time or knowledge to actually do that so I turned around and made it a video. Marx actually wasn’t the first idea I have for who the video would be about.
The first character I’d considered was actually Taranza but then… I’d have to draw Taranza and I was not in the mood. So I went with Marx.
The reference to Birth of a Wish (via the Nova specifically) wasn’t intended but someone I’d shown the video to pointed it out and I couldn’t leave it out in mention. The actually intended reference (the background) was specifically placed there because original all the video was going to be was some sample text and audio and then I got carried away and by that point I was over 200 images in on CapCut and unwilling to turn around.)
Where the plot was gonna go from here included the Nova having something to do with the rain in dreamland and being a small part of one of popstar’s larger moon’s or something of the sort meaning Kirby and Marx would have to find all the pieces to this “planet”. At least that’s what I imagined LMAO 😅
Note: Itsquakey if you ask me to take this down because of the references to your work I will without questions!
Last thing! I wanted to mention two posts I’ve seen that have done something similar that I think you should also check out!
Marx’s Fun Shop: while working on this I found that video and thought “wow! We even used the same music! That’s super freaking awesome!” The art here is amazing, the way Marx is written is also cool! You should go check this out!!!
Magolor’s Item Shop: A series of images in an RPG style that feature Magolor specifically! These are really cool and also what kinda struck the idea! They’re definitely worth checking out!
-slamming bolt upright in a cold sweat- what do you mean verbal contracts cleo. what do you MEAN verbal contracts cleo. artists if you're doing commercial work you're A) charging much higher rates and B) making them SIGN A CONTRACT, right? right? you understand why that's VITAL, right? why having a written contract is VITAL for commercial work? you understand? you make them sign a written contract? please if you go looking in proper artist/graphic design circles i'm sure you can find a basic form that's legal in your locality and doesn't require you talk to a lawyer but if you're doing commercial work you're MAKING THEM SIGN A CONTRACT RIGHT--
okay unironically I love so much that porter is like this world SUCKS its BAD here and it HURTS you why do you care abt it!!! and literally every single bad kid is like ngl we just hate ur ass it does not matter what ur philosophy is
So how’s ride kamens going for you as I just pulled my self together long enough to read the other half of the current main story
I've been working on catching up on the event stories since they announced the upcoming main story update! (I totally bombed the last few events...they're so fast-paced and I just didn't have time...😭)
and then of course they went and dropped THIS on us today
(you don't understand, I LOVE Tajador and I already love the two blurry frames they've given us of non-silhouetted Kelka, I'm ready to absolutely lose my shit come the announcement/reveal(?) stream on Thursday --)
honestly if you're planning a new perennial garden, especially a native plant garden, especially if you're unfamiliar with plants, when you are in the nursery/garden center to select plants for that garden, you absolutely need to turn off the consumerist part of your brain that decides when something is of a quality worth buying.
most species native plants in pots look like scraggly, scrappy bits of greenery. they may not stand upright. they may not bloom in the pot. they certainly won't get their mature height in the pot. they might be a little or very ugly. sometimes they are ugly because nurseries are bad at caring for them (trying to force a taprooted long day growing species with mature heights of several feet tall to be ready to sell in a pot on mother's day is um.. uh) but sometimes, they are just not selectively bred to look good in pots.
most perennials in full bloom with tidy, compact growth that you see lined up neatly on the shelves in garden centers are cultivars that have been increasingly selectively bred for first year blooming. consumers only want to buy things that look good on the shelf, and this isn't any different for plants. if they're from a bigger grower, they have probably also been treated with growth regulators to keep them from toppling over on the shelves.
neither of those are signs of a plant you shouldn't buy necessarily, but it still means you won't have a good idea of what that plant could look like in your landscape. you're buying a simulacra of that plant. maybe it will look the same next year but also, a lot of the common impulse buy, nice to look at on the shelf perennials are short-lived perennials that have also been bred to bloom longer and go to seed more slowly, if they go to seed at all. those babies ain't coming back.
i lost the plot of this post but point being, as someone who professionally grows perennials, the species native plants are always always a hard sell even when we have people begging for species native plants or complaining that local garden centers only stock nativars. because even nature-loving plant shoppers are programmed to think of anything they buy as a series of product specifications.
when you're buying a herbaceous perennial that you intend to come back in your garden every year, you are buying the root system, not the flowers or even the leaves.