#forgot how much coloring this scene SUCKS

[queenincrimson]

Lucy x Flynn Timeless - Chinatown (2.10)

[p0rk-guts]

Velvette if she served cunt

Design breakdown below 👇🏾(BEWARE IT'S VERY LONG)

Alright going into detail about my gripes and edits. Like Velvette but her design is just. Not good to me. None of her (main) outfit details look like they fit to me— pinstripe pants + long fur coat paired with black crop top and scene sleeves? Skull earrings? TINKERBELL HEELS????? Tell me how any of that meshes well or even makes SENSE for the social media influencer persona she's supposed to have going on. Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be clown themed... But I'm just gonna toss that idea out bc being a revered social media influencer and a clown at the same time just seems a bit oxymoronic to me, and the "clown" details aren't adding shit for me.

And don't think I forgot about her features. Pale ash grey skin and wavy hair at best. If she was supposed to be some type of creature where a nonhuman skin tone would make sense then maybe I could let it go?? But as far as I can tell she doesn't have an object or creature or animal theme like the other V's and if she does I shouldn't need to do detective work to figure it out. There is no reason for *any* of these poc characters to have grey skin, especially since they don't have any other poc features at all.

Sorry that shit gets me heated anyways. Onto my redesign. Gave her a more obviously black skin tone and textured hair bc I love a 30 inch buss down as much as the next girl but considering how there are no significant poc cast members with visibly textured hair I think she deserves to flaunt some coils if no one else will.

Ngl I'm not. A fashion girlie. Idk what's trendy idk what screams "influencer" so a lot of this was just throwing shit at the wall that I've seen around recently but it looks cute enough to me. And there was a bit of inspiration taken from Aliyahcore and ghetto fabulous fashion ❤️

If you can't tell this is shamefully inspired by lovesart23's Velvette reimagining because imo they had some outstanding ideas for Vel. I low-key stole their idea for those floating eyes in her hair that follow her around and help her keep tabs on shit it was just a superb idea for a social media overlord to me. I also took some inspo from @furbtasticworksofart 's redesign because vampire influencer sucking up the souls of her followers in exchange for content??? Too good (also the eyes were supposed to have bat/vamp wings I just forgot 😭) So yeah she's a vampire demon now. Without the features she was looking too human anyhow. Maybe she also feeds off of the energy of her followers through tech like after Vox mind controls them or whatever... Idk idk is that anything

Speaking of Vox, the screen glasses are meant to connect her to him w/ their color and shape while serving the purpose of being like a second phone she can post and check the web with. Like lovesart said in their reimagining vid, Vel doesn't really do more than pose for selfies and scroll on her phone when it comes to social media so in my head she's constantly flipping her shades on and off, using them to scroll and stay active, and they can show when she's not paying attention or respect to something/someone bc scrolling is more worth her time in the moment.

The hearts everywhere are also supposed to kinda represent social media likes + connect her back to Val w/ his heart patterns. That might've been what the hearts in her og design were for but. I just didn't like their placement bc I'm a nitpicker and a hater❕

I have so much more I could say about possible ideas for Velvette because I love evil black girls and I only want them to succeed in my media and I could treat her so much BETTER but I'll refrain bc this is way too long anyway.

Alright for reading/scrolling through all that rambling I offer you the sketches + some alt hair ideas I had

P.S. I'm very open to constructive criticism but if I see anyone just dick riding in my replies or rb's I'm just blocking you on sight ✌🏾

[margoshamangolord]

HEADCANON TIME WOOOHOOOO YEEEAAHHH

TFA BEACHCOMBER IN TEAM PRIME;; SFW, PLATONIC/BROTP HCS!!!

How he'd get there???

Very easy. He's definitely a job hopper, and having a geology education would definitely be valued in the spacebridge repair scene. He'd be positive and excited about trying it out — travelling, finding new stuff and getting away from the noisy autobot scientist department for a while. What he expected was a fun little mission and a sweet experience. What he got was way different.

What he didn't expect was bumping into the Decepticons, trying to save the allspark and crashing into an organic planet.

Yeah, that kinda sucks. But, hey, new opportunities, new environment, new colors, sounds, smells and tastes. Look at things from a good angle and they're gonna be good.

So let's start with the bots!!!

OPTIMUS PRIME;;

Optimus was pretty much respectful when he met him. He didn't have anything against him, that's just some guy who has good job experience and who would be valuable, even if he's a little sleepy sometimes, so why not? He didn't grow close to him immediately, just like the rest of the team didn't grow close together immediately, until The Accident.

Beachcomber is aware that a Prime wouldn't be operating a space bridge repair crew under normal circumstances, but he doesn't ask questions about it. He too respects Optimus, and there's just some feel of quiet understanding between them. "If you ever feel bad or need to talk or something, you can come to me if you need it." They rarely do. But from a stricter boss-worker relationship they definitely grew into casual family-like friends who can grab each other some soda on the way home or replace one another at a night shift.

RATCHET;;

Beachcomber was Ratchet's nightmare at first, at least because of his hygienic habits and attitude towards parasites. He really wanted to kick him out at first ("look, i get it, he's a good geologist and all that, but if the whole crew gets cyberfleas or cassette-tapeworms, I'll never forgive myself"), but Optimus insisted he comes with them. Under the conditions that he maintains a strong shower schedule.

Ratchet wasn't fond of him, but he didn't, like, hate him. He would click his tongue and send him glances and mumble curses if he forgot to do an exercise or take a nanite, but that's just Ratchet. Even if he's not the healthiest bot, he'd have to admit that he's a bearable patient, unlike some. He's understanding, calm and compliant. Nodding politely and muttering "sure, doc". Trying to take care of himself at least to not upset the medic guy, isn't he? Now that's some delight in his life.

Eventually, he forms a spot in his spark for him, like for every other member of the team. He may still raise his voice if he doesn't shower or drag a swarm of ants to the base, but that's just Ratchet, he just cares for everyone. And he cares for Beachcomber no less than others.

And BC cares about Ratchet too. He'd frown if he caught snickers about the grumpy doctor. "Yeah, he needs to chill, but he has a good spark, guys. He's been through a lot, imagine yourself in his place. Be nicer, yeah?" And even if Ratchet rarely trusts anyone enough to talk about himself, there's just an air of calm and warmth when he's alone with Beachcomber.

And also it's nice when Beachcomber tries biology research. Even if he's just a beginner, it's always helpful when he could get information about an Earth species that Ratchet wouldn't thought of himself. He's really proud.

BUMBLEBEE;;

They aren't really clicking together as 'soulmates', but they still love hanging out and sharing their time, even if they don't get each other's habits or worldview sometimes. Bumblebee is fast-paced, bright, downright explosive, and Beachcomber is dreamy, laid back and breezy. But they both love enjoying the moment, trying new things, playing video games, snacking at night and forgetting to take their medicine.

Beachcomber would totally block the hallway lying down watching ants carrying a stick. And Bumblebee would totally short out the whole city of the electricity for ten minutes to download a nice racing game. (By the way, Beachcomber loves tycoons, cooking games just like Bumblebee, and cozy stuff like animal crossing and minecraft)

Bumblebee would try racing him, and even though he wins every time, he still finds it fun. Like Beachcomber said, it's about the game, not the victory. Besides, itching your tires once in a while feels good every time eveb if you are a silly little buggy and not a flashy racer.

BULKHEAD;;

Beachcomber adores him!!! He really likes Bulkhead, he thinks he's really sweet and deserves way more than how others treat him. He likes listening to his stories from the farm, he likes listening to his spacebridge research or favourite books, he likes rambling about his lovely gems and germs back, he likes just sitting on the couch and watching a movie with his friend. Every time they hang out, half the things the base hears are weird intelligent speech and the other half is "epic", "gnarly", "sick" and "cool".

And you know that Beachcomber loves Bulkhead's art. He likes painting with him sometimes. He loves discussing their pieces, making compliments and finding out new things about art. He really enjoys this hobby, and it's even more fun to do together! Love and peace on planet Earth!!!

PROWL;;

They're *besties*. Of course they didn't click immediately, with Prowl being so closed up, even though Beachcomber was pretty much friendly and understanding, but they grew so warm towards each other.

The biggest factor would be fascination with nature and its children. They definitely went out camping more than once together. They definitely go to the forest and just Look at the Species and think they are Very Nice. That's something they agree on so well. They have ten pet kittens and the squirrels call them by their names.

Their worldviews are definitely affecting one another. Both did not want to fight, so there are many points of agreement.

Prowl certainly is fond of Beachcomber being patient and pacifistic. Even if he's unfocused, he appreciates the beauty of life on a deep level. Even though he feels like he should remind his friend that not all problems could be resolved through a cube of energon and a nice talk, and that he needs to fight sometimes to protect the beauty of life from those who threaten it.

Beachcomber loves the wisdoms Prowl passes to him. Everything about focusing, protecting, preserving, discovering and learning. Taking action and loving the world around him. They definitely agree on lots of stuff and learn more.

HUMANS;;

Sari thinks he's a chill lil guy and is happy to show him silly human stuff like shows and snacks and books and toys. Optimus didn't expect him to be good around children at first, but he turned out to be a decent uncle-like figure, not super responsible, but always up to buy her an ice cream or make a shenanigan on Halloween.

Oh, and he LOVES earth culture. He loves a nice book or a good movie, he thinks that humans are incredibly whimsy creatures. One of the things he's particularly In love with is clothes, he loves colorful cheap styles and he would wear a scarf in winter even if he doesn't need one.

Sometimes he would get in trouble with Fanzone for little things like speed limits or walking on lawns, but he learns how to properly move in Detroit to be careful.

One thing he also loves about Earth is the beaches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He'd really enjoy going on a vacation solo or with Bee, Bulk and Prowl. He'd love to go for a swim to look at the fishies and corals and stuff!

Conclusion: the beachcomb :)

[ahoystevee]

The Sweetest Torture One Could Bear | Part 1 of I Despise My Rotten Mind (And How Much It Worships You)

It’s 1990. Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson are forced to confront their shared past and shifting dynamics under the ever changing hues of a gay club in Indianapolis. Eddie, exuding confidence and embracing his sexuality offers a helping hand to Steve who is buckling under the weight of societal pressures.

OR: Steve wants to sleep with a guy for the first time and Eddie reluctantly helps against his better judgement.

Indianapolis, 1990

Eddie leant back on his elbows against the metal topped bar of the club, eyes squinting as he delicately held the rim of his glass between his fingers.

It was a Saturday night which meant that it was nothing short of a a visual feast for the senses.

The music pulsated through his body, situating itself in his spine as he squinted out at the vast expanse of potential conquests through the smoky haze.

The multi-colored lights above bathed the adumbrate dancers in an ever-changing rainbow of hues. The walls were adorned with mirrors, reflecting the dancers and amplifying the feeling of being part of something larger than oneself. Giant video screens played music videos and club scene footage, immersing them all in a world of pure hedonism.

Of course, Eddie couldn't deny that a majority of the time the clientele were just as visually stunning as their surroundings. Dancing bodies adorned in leather, lace, and sequins were all in abundance, as per usual.

But something was different. He didn't have the usual feeling that anything was possible in there tonight.

Something was missing.

"What about that guy?" Robin asked; voice elevated so it could carry over the bass of the music as she leaned across from behind the bar on her tiptoes to point out across the room to a guy with spiky blonde hair in a tank top.

“Nah - had him already. He's boring." Eddie said cavalierly.

"Boring?" She reiterated, busying herself with wiping the rims of highball glasses with a dish towel.

"He sucked dick like he was working a nine to five." He scoffed a laugh, taking a sip of his drink.

"Okay, fine." She shrugged, neck craned as she scoured their surroundings.

"Him?"

"Nah - too - muscly." Eddie grimaced, immediately glancing away without wasting a second.

"I thought you liked that?" She asked, looking up at him beneath furrowed brows.

"I like 'em toned, like a subtle 'yeah I work out but it's not my entire personality.' I don't want someone who looks like they're the face for sports steroids advertisements." Eddie said firmly.

"God you're so picky, you're looking for a hook up not a husband." Robin clarified, rolling her eyes.

"There's just nobody new and exciting. It's the same faces, same music, same routine. It's exhausting." He said, staring out ahead of him as he kissed his lips between his teeth.

"Yeah, I forgot that getting your dick sucked could be so tedious." She said in jest as Eddie chose not to respond.

"You know, maybe you're just not as into it as you used to be. That's fine, you know. To grow up and get a life outside of hooking up with people. Maybe settle down, get a boyfriend or something."

Eddie narrowed his eyes, pretending to be in deep pensive thought.

"Nah, that doesn't sound like something I'd do." He eventually said, lips breaking out into a devilish grin as Robin glared across at him.

He allowed his eyes to glaze back over the crowds of people.

His vision fixated on a lone guy with lightly tousled brown hair leaning against the metal bars of the balcony, facing away from him. It was long, layered. Purposely messy? Eddie couldn't decide. But he loved how it curled around his neck from the length.

He was wearing camel coloured chinos and a navy blue T-shirt. Fingers tapping against his crossed arms as he continued to look out at the vastness ahead of him.

Two go-go boys dressed in nothing but tight fitting, metallic shorts and pairs of cheap angel wings that were most likely bought from a Spirit Halloween store were either side of him.

They were elevated from the floor, encased in metal caging with dollar bills hanging limp from their waistbands.

It was an ethereal sight given the circumstances. If he believed in that kind of la-di-da butterfly effect bullshit he would have assumed that the universe had placed him in his line of sight for a reason.

Eddie's eyes scanned the length of his body.

He couldn't help but admire the curvature of his ass; how it was packed so tightly into the material it almost made them look as though they were painted on with the way they hugged his hips and thighs.

"Him." He said firmly, not breaking his gaze.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Him, over there." Eddie said, clicking his fingers with an outstretched arm to draw her in to his line of sight.

"The guy in the chinos?"

"Yeah. I want him."

"You haven't even seen his face yet." She warranted.

"Don't need to. He's got an ass that goes for miles. He could be the ugliest fucker in the world for all I care. I'll just go behind, don't have to look at him." He clarified, biting down against the flesh of his lower lip.

"Here I was thinking you were shallow." She shot back, voice tainted with sarcasm as she slung the dish towel over her shoulder.

"I'm going over." He affirmed - voice low as he downed the remainder of his drink, reaching around to place the empty glass behind himself on the bar.

"Okay, have fun. Be good." Robin called out after him as he brushed down the front of his black tee.

"Never. Don't miss me too much." He shot back, teasingly as he ran his fingers through his bangs to ensure they were placed in the perfect divide between careless and purposeful.

The thing with Eddie is that he didn't get rejected. In fact, he couldn't even recall the last time he got rejected.

He read an article that stated that statistically speaking, men think about sex on average around 19 times a day. This was one of those times that Eddie was happy to be branded as above average.

Of course, these statistics were based solely on straight men. Go figure.

When Eddie wasn't having sex, he was thinking about having sex. And the second he was finished having sex with the most beautiful man who ever lived, he was thinking about the next beautiful man who ever lived that he'd meet the next night.

And luckily for this guy, he was right on his radar.

He sauntered through the throngs of people, skin prickling in anticipation as he approached him. It was almost exhilarating, reaching the apex of a desired conquest.

"Hey, had a busy night?" Eddie asked, slinking an arm around the guys waist as he whipped round to face him.

He had hoped his gaze would be met with the same inquisitive eagerness. Instead, he was met with brown forlorn eyes and furrowed brows with a sinister familiarity to them.

The chiselled jawline, the mole on the side of his neck beneath the stubble, the irate demeanour.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Eddie announced, retracting his hand with the same speed you would if you caught it on the side of a hot teakettle.

"Oh God." The other breathed out, eyes darting maniacally across his face as Eddie watched the muscles of his neck contract with a deep swallow.

"Steve?" Eddie asked, biting back a laugh as his jaw slacked in awe.

"No." He said hastily, shaking his head as he darted around at his surroundings for a quick escape.

"Oh my God, it is you. Steve Harrington. From Hawkins High." Eddie pressed as he watched him back away, hand gripping the metal of the balcony for stability.

King Steve. Hawkins High maverick, belligerent basketball captain, disciples at his heels. He sounded like a cliche.

He was a cliche.

The man was a planet who carried his own gravity.

Continue reading on AO3:

[luketaluketa]

i was organizing some files and found all the wip stuff from the previous secret samol for @/seamonsterart (go check out their work!), and these are two of my favorite illustrations ever, so here's some insight into how i made these!

for starters i already had a pretty much finished design for pickman that i had first drawn back in 2021

she has a completely wrong gun in this version because i did not remember how it was supposed to look like and couldn't find a description of it anywhere. she's wearing a hat because i forgot it was supposed to be a helm and so i ended up giving her the large hat just because the long horns coming through it are a fun image, though today i cannot imagine her wearing anything else. she already has the sword she takes from the lake skeletons, also. her armor is based on the armor the torumekian soldiers and kushana wear in nausicaa of the valley of the wind, with the incredible neck guard and long cape covering their entire body

i've always loved these designs and how the plates are evocative of insects, but also how mysterious they look with covered faces and bodies. matter of fact, at this point i had no fucking idea what pickman looked like below the cape.

the second inspiration is the young man from angel's egg.

OK, STAY WITH ME. i cannot explain this other that in my head pickman and him are VERY similar characters. the image of the half pulled cape while he holds his sword-cross-thing over his shoulder and the quiet demeanor are pretty fundamental to how i try to make pickman FEEL. i actually wanted her armor to have more piping, pulling from the biomechanical appearance of his sword-cross, but it didn't feel quite right

and the third inspiration is less inspiration and more reference work, the book "arms & armor, a pictorial archive" by carol grafton

it's a compilation of illustration works sourced from several books from the 19th century. VERY cool book to take a look at historical armor. it's on the internet archive for free!

there was also a fair ammount of looking at goats and sheep, but eventually i reached this after learning i suck at drawing furry designs. big shoutout to the furry community for making so many tutorials available btw. in highlight a very important study of the character.

now that i kinda knew what pickman looked like i entered the wonderful phase of "i don't know what the fuck i'm doing" which resulted in a bunch of bad doodles now sitting in a folder dubbed "dev hell". at this point i kinda had an idea for a relaxed scene based on one of the prompts, which i developed for a while on blender but eventually gave up on.

i then moved on to the second prompt, of pickman being badass. i decided on a low angle to make pickman look incredibly tall but the low angle of a goat's head legitimately kicked my ass so i eventually made a goat head on blender and used it to generate references with the help of designdoll. here i made her design a lot more muscular and fat, also, eventually coming to her final design.

the valve on her chestplate looks WRONG to me now, but at the time i was so tired i just rolled with it. the first pass of her armor was in a completely wrong color, which i corrected later on photoshop. i added the little metal forks pulling from her 2021 design, and the idea of little musical forks for atunning to the shape was cool to me. i also corrected her gun after actually learning what the fuck it was supposed to look like. i already knew i wanted her to be standing on the field of canola flowers, and the sky in the background was the last thing i added, also the time when i decided to really make the picture tall.

i liked the final result so much i went back and started working on the first prompt again. had a horrible time drawing the horns in the second image which led to this hell cage for building the perspective. im still not confident on the horns on the side of the head. i wanted to bring the atmosphere of a cold winter or fall morning in the second one, and to make pickman seem tired but relaxed. i overall like the second picture a lot more than the first and was very happy with how it came out.

AND THAT'S HOW THE SAUSAGE IS MADE I GUESS. if you read this whole thing then thank you for your time!

[dragonfly0808]

An Incredibly Long and Wholly Unnecessary Disection of How Fate: The Winx Saga Missed the Mark on What Made the Winx Club Special

So, I decided to make this cause I have way too many feelings on this and I saw someone make something similar about a different franchise and loved it so here goes.

DISCLAIMER: If you’re a fan of the Winx Club and enjoyed Fate, I have nothing against you, these are just my feelings and I 1) am really glad you were able to enjoy it and 2) genuienely sorry a show you loved got canceled cause I know how much that sucks

SPOILERS FOR FATE AND THE FIRST 3 SEASONS OF THE WINX CLUB (AND A BIT OF SEASON 4)

One more thing: I’ve only watched Fate once since I’m not about to make myself rewatch it for this so if I forget any certain scene I apologize.

With that out of the way, the themes I will be discussing in this essay will be divided into 4 categories: The Problems I Have In General. Questions That Will Never Be Answered. Character Deep Dives/Character Rants. And finally, How Fate failed to capture the Essence of Winx Club.

These will be the themes of every category (feel free to skip any that may not interest you).

The Problems I Have In General:

The Abandonment of an Amazing World and Dimension for a Hogwarts Rip-Off.

The Erasure of Good Adoptive Parents

Polyamorous My Ass (Srsly What the Fuck was that?)

Fake Feminism and Pitting Women Against Each Other

The Love Triangle Took Years From My Life and I’m Tired

Why Glitter and Love was Essential to the Feminism of the Winx Club

Questions That Will Never Be Answered

What Makes the Specialist Special?

Where are the Witches?

Why are Riven and Sky friends?

Character Deep Dives/Character Rants

From Naive but Loyal and Heroic to Boring and Annoying (A Bloom Deep Dive)

How Stella Became Everything She Stood Against (A Stella Deep Dive)

Why Musa Kinda Works but Really Doesn’t (A Musa Deep Dive)

Was Terra Necessary? What made her unique? (A Terra Deep Dive)

From Hero to Zero (An Aisha Deep Dive/Rant)

Why Sky Somehow was the Most Interesting One but Still Boring (A Sky Deep Dive)

Why Riven will Always Get the Short End of the Stick (A Riven Deep Dive/Rant)

Bea Could’ve Saved the Show, BUT- (A Beatrix Rant)

Why Flora Mattered (A Flora Deep Dive/Rant)

A Retrospective Look at Soft Boys (A Helia and Timmy Deep Dive/Rant)

The Forgotten Protectors (A Brandon and Nabu Rant)

Why Tecna is Often Discarded and Why She Shouldn’t Be (A Tecna Deep Dive/Rant)

How Fate Failed To Capture the Essence of the Winx Club

How Fate Forgot the Most Important Aspect of the Winx Club: Friendship Amongst Young Women

Now with that out of the way, let’s get to it, cause this is gonna be a long one.

The Problems I Have In General

The Abandonment of an Amazing World and Dimension for a Hogwarts Rip-Off

So. I think we can all agree that the world of Winx Club is one that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also very unique and magical.

We have Magix, where the three schools of magic are, all with very different but equally interesting aesthetics and designs that make sense for what the schools teach. We also have the city of Magix, where we have magical ships and a cool toned color pallet that makes us feel like we’re in a futuristic world, Red Fountain also feels right out of a sci-fi movie, whilst the clothing, stores, Cloud Tower and Alfea remind us of the magical aspects of the world.

Further into the series, we see the girls’s home planets, which are all very different, creative and fit the girls perfectly. We have Solaria with two suns, Lynphea as an ecologists utopia with hollow trees for houses and giant ladybugs for transport, Zenith as a sci-fi dream, Melody with its glittering oceans and singing whales, etc.

Watching Winx Club, just looking at the world adds so much to the feeling of magic, the setting just helps the story so much. Also it’s just fucking gorgeous.

Now compare that to Fate… where we get a dark forest… and an old Mansion, that serves as both Red Fountain and Alfea…

I would just like to say, I’m a sucker for dark academia, I love this aesthetic, for other shows, but this is supposed to be an adaptation of Winx Club, where there already was an amazing world where the story was set in, so why didn’t they even try to use that? I don’t know, but it really bothers me that they didn’t try even one bit.

Especially when the vibrant colors and fantastical environment were such a big part of what made the Winx Club stand out.

The Erasure of Good Adoptive Parents

I remember watching Winx Club for the first time and when it was revealed that Bloom was adopted I literally was like… but… her parents love her…

Yep.

We very rarely get good adoptive parents in stories (it’s getting a bit better but still, at least as a kid this was pretty much the only time I ever saw fictional adoptive parents that actually loved their child).

So, the fact that in Fate we get Vanessa (the sweetest mom ever in the cartoon) be a maniac who takes away Bloom’s privacy and tries to live vicariously through Bloom just really fucking pissed me off.

Like… what was the need for that? You didn’t need Bloom to be pissed for her to lose control of her powers and accidentally burn her parents.

In fact, I think it would’ve been even more traumatic and dramatic if Bloom had a good relationship with her parents (like she did in the cartoon) but still lost control, maybe in her sleep, and burned the people she loves most in the world, that would’ve been so angsty it would’ve been great. 

But no, let’s continue the narrative that adoptive parents can’t be good parents.

Polyamorous My Ass (Srsly What the Fuck was that?)

This just… I’m so tired.

We pretty much never get Polyamorous relationships in shows like this and then we get… whatever the fuck this was.

So… Bea is obvs just using both Riven and Dane (it is Dane right? I don’t care enough to check). Riven, only likes Bea and is very biphobic towards Dane and Dane seems to be in love with Riven and kinda like Bea.

This relationship (if you can even call it that) is weird. Sometimes it’s portrayed as toxic, other times it isn’t and it’s just weird.

This also really fucking pissed me off. Because… why? You could’ve had Dane as a separate character, in the original we already had the Darcy/Riven plotline so why did you have to add Dane?

Honestly, Dane could’ve just had a crush on Riven and become genuienly friends with Terra or smth, he didn’t have to be involved with Riven and Bea, that should’ve been a separate plotline. If you wanted a bi character so badly you could’ve just made one of the girls (Flora- sorry Terra, Musa and Aisha are already largely headcannoned to be bi, they could’ve used that) be bi. You didn’t need to introduce a new character for the sake of diversity, especially if you were going to screw it up that badly.

Cause Riven and Bea are already dramatic enough on their own, we didn’t need this poor, horrible attempt at a polyamorous relationship.

Fake Feminism and Pitting Women Against Each Other

Next up… oh dear…

Where can I even start? Okay, one of the first things we see in the series is Bloom telling Sky he is mansplaining… when he’s very clearly not…

The desire to come across as feminist and be an #womenempowerment show is so obvious it almost hurts. But they never do anything to actually show this.

From the very first conversation between Bloom and Stella in the show, it was very obvious to me that they would be competitors, not best friends like in the show.

Throughout the show, we see the girls berate each other, compete and insult one another, and I don’t see how any of that can be seen as feminism.

Stella literally almost causes Bloom’s death out of jealousy over Sky.

How is this anything like the Winx Club?

The closest bond in the group is probably between Musa and Terra. And even then, a lot of the time I feel like Musa only tolerates Terra, and they feel like roommates, not best friends who would die for each other like they were in the Winx Club.

There is very little support amongst the women of Fate, there are few instances when we aren’t being told to compare them or to see who is best. That is not feminism.

Now, it would’ve worked very well if the girls got off on the wrong foot but we got to see them slowly bond and slowly trust each other and become good friends, but I never felt that. The only time that they join forces is to clean up the mess that they made, and even then it never feels like all 5 of them are on the same page, it’s more like the world (and story) is forcing them together.

This was a tad bit better in season 2 but there were mostly moments between 2 Winx not all of them (the only moments I liked were the sleepover and Terra coming out) in season 2 the strongest bond was clearly that of Stella and Bea.

So yeah, with constant competition, fights and very few moments of actual friendship, almost all of which feel forced, I can say that Fate does not feel like a Feminist show at all.

From the moment I saw they were going to ignore the gem that was Bloom and Stella’s bond in the original I knew they weren’t going to try to actually make the girls friends and support one another.

The Love Triangle Took Years From My Life And I’m Tired

Why? Why? WWHHHHYYYYYYY?!?!??!??

What was the reason? What was the fucking reason?!

There was none.

There was not a single reason why the love triangle between Bloom, Sky and Stella should’ve happened or was needed.

They could’ve easily introduced Diaspro, a character we already know and a character whose only purpose in the cartoon was to create drama and tension between Bloom and Sky.

Love triangles are dead. We all know that. You will never be Jem/Tessa/Will, stop fucking trying.

Okay so, first off, I would’ve honestly been okay if we’d seen Sky and Stella be exes and they like ‘Yeah we tried that was a huge mistake but now we’re friends’ and then Bloom comes in and Sky isn’t sure cause she’s Stella’s bestie but Stella is encouraging, that could’ve been cool. But that is obviously not what we got.

Why do we always pit women against each other over a man? I think we all know the answer to that.

The Love Triangle was bland, boring and useless. Nothing came out of it.

We apparently got Stella and Sky realizing they were codependent and toxic which… duh. But nothing comes from this, we never see them get closer and have a healthy friendship, we get 1 scene in season 2 that is never expanded upon and that’s it.

They threw Stella and Bloom’s friendship to the trash for a Love Triangle that absolutely nobody wanted. And even in season 2, Stella and Bloom? They’re not friends. They’re barely cordial with one another and that pisses me of so fucking much I can’t even describe it.

In the cartoon the girls NEVER fought over a man, if there were moments of jealousy they were passing (I can remember exactly 1 with Aisha and Bloom in season 2. That’s literally it). There could be drama with other girls and even that was very little mostly Diaspro and the messes with Mitzi and Crystal in later seasons but the cartoon almost never relied on that to create drama against the girls because they knew it wasn’t really needed.

This triangle did nothing for any of the characters and the drama was petty and stupid. I just… I honestly don’t think I’m really saying anything of substance here but this particular topic just makes me sooooo mad that I can’t even describe the particulars of how this Love Triangle makes me just so mad cause it was FUCKING USELESS, IT DID NOTHING FOR THE CHARACTERS OR THE STORY IT WASN’T NEEDED, IT WASN’T WANTED AND IT WASN’T…. UUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!

Why Glitter and Love was Essential to the Feminism of the Winx Club

The feminism of the original Winx Club (especially the first 4 seasons) was honestly very simple. It wasn’t in your face or even really ever called out.

To me, the feminism in the original Winx Club was just… the girls themselves.

We had six very different young women, who were all portrayed as strong, funny, beautiful and just awesome.

We have Bloom, who’s a bit of a girl next door. She can be a bit hotheaded, but she’s crazy loyal and incredibly strong. We see her be naive sometimes and be really nervous and attempting to find her place and we also get to see her step up to the occasion when it’s time for blows.

We have Stella, a fashionista who I will talk a lot about in her section cause I am pissed of what they did to her. We see her be a kind person and try to grow and be dedicated to her passions.

We have Flora who is the girliest of girls but still portrayed as strong and smart. Her softness doesn’t erase her strength. And she doesn’t have these big stand up moments of ‘I’m strong and I will prove it to you!’ She just is strong.

We have Musa, who’s a bit of a tomboy and slightly more rough around the edges but who has a lot of emotional depth.

We have Tecna, who can come across as cold but who we see literally almost die for her friends and who has such a big heart.

We have Aisha, who’s very sporty and who has to seek out her place in the group and kinda learn how the whole friend group works and who we see grow in season 2.

We have a hotheaded girl next door, a kind fashionista, a girly girl, a musical tomboy, a tech girl and a sporty girl who are all portrayed as different and unique but are also all portrayed as strong.

Yes, we see them occasionally butting heads (if I remember correctly Musa/Flora and Stella are the ones that butt heads most often) and fight sometimes, but we see that their friendship is stronger than all of that.

We see them support each other in so many different ways and be the definition of ride or die.

Something I really like is that they don’t really make fun of each other’s interests despite having vastly different personalities. And they also don’t compare themselves and understand that they’re all awesome in their own ways.

The girls are united in friendship in such a deep way that they could probably never stop being friends even if they tried.

And… none of that is included in Fate.

Which is a fucking shame.

We don’t really see the girls’ interests in Fate, we just see them all acting like angsty teenagers who are either lashing out at pretty much everybody or being a bit of a doormat. They’re not really portrayed as strong either.

I can’t see the uniqueness that was there in the cartoon. The girls aren’t really… they’re just not interesting. Especially when compared to their cartoon counterparts.

Also, this part is a bit more petty and something personal to me but I think a lot of you can relate so… 

Seeing girls that were fashionable, girly and weren’t afraid to show off their girlie side was awesome. Especially in a world of ‘I’m Not Like Other Girls’ protagoinsts that just hate dresses and only wear them once.

As a girlie girl myself, looking back on the Winx Club, I love that they didn’t try to make the girls more masculine to make them seem stronger. Even Musa, Aisha and Tecna who are arguably the least ‘girly’ show off their more feminine side in a way that feels natural.

So yeah… that last part doesn’t have to do that much with Fate I just wanted to add that.

Questions That Will Never Be Answered 

What Makes the Specialists Special?

First off, I would like to say that I loved that in Fate women could be Specialists and guys could be fairies, I just thought that was really neat. So kudos to you for that Fate. Enjoy it, I won’t give you many.

Now on to the question. What makes the Specialists special?

In the cartoon, the reason I really liked the Specialists was their weapons, they were colorful, creative and straight out of a sci-fi movie. Brandon’s sword, Sky’s boomerang, Riven’s bolas, Timmy’s gun, Helia’s gloves etc.

It always felt like the Winx got magic and fantasy while the Specialists got technology and sci-fi.

And that is, once again, gone in Fate. The Specialists are now generic warrior driving Jeeps and wearing leather.

Where are the capes? The Owls and Wind Riders? Everything that made the Specialists cool even when they didn’t do much in a fight?

Where did that all go?

This one was more of an aesthetic thing but I still feel like it took a lot away from the Specialists and what made them low-key iconic.

Where are the Witches?

Where are they? Seriously I wanna know where my girlies are?

I get that, since they got rid of the transformation and gave us half assed CGI wings it might’ve been hard to differentiate the witches from the fairies but still… you can’t just not have freaking witches!

I like getting to see evil fairies but still. I don’t like this! 

I just feel like it takes away so much not having the witches. Can you imagine getting Lucy and Mirta in Fate?… actually no, they would’ve been screwed over but you know what I mean.

Yet another topic that makes me so mad and petty that I can’t quite describe it.

Why are Riven and Sky friends?

Okay so, this is actually a genuine question.

Most of the boys were excluded from Fate (which I’m lowkey grateful for cause if they’d done my boys Helia and Timmy dirty there would’ve been blood) so they kinda had to smush Riven and Sky into bestie status.

Now, looking at this objectively, we know that in the cartoon, Sky’s bestie is Brandon. And Brandon and Riven have more things in common than you’d expect.

They’re both good fighters and work hard at Red Fountain, they’re kinda ladies men, they can be jokesters from time to time but take their duty seriously. They’re also pretty competitive.

I think Brandon is what Riven would’ve been if he had a normal childhood.

The main difference is that Riven has walls. He shuts people out and can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. The Riven in Fate is a straight up asshole.

So… why is he friends with Sky?

I’ll be honest, I really wanted to see more of these two, I think the dynamic could’ve been really interesting and cool to explore but… we got… pretty much crumbs.

With the like… two moments we have with them I don’t see why they’re friends and it ruins my sense of disbelief just that much more.

Character Deep Dives/Character Rants

From Naive but Loyal and Heroic to Boring and Annoying (A Bloom Deep Dive)

Let’s talk about our favorite hotheaded redhead shall we?

I’ll be honest, Bloom was always my least favorite Winx and I actually grew to dislike her post season 3, but… she didn’t deserve this.

I’m honestly not sure how to describe why the Bloom from Fate is just… so fucking boring… I don’t really feel many emotions coming from her.

In the original (at least the first 3 seasons) Bloom has quite a bit of personality, she’s a bit naive and impulsive but also THE ride or die bestie.

She’s fun to watch even if I would sometimes get frustrated when she acted a bit stupid or when she was impulsive.

Bloom worked as a protagonist partially due to her impulsive habits (since they make her take the lead/initiative in many occasions) but I feel like with Fate Bloom that impulsive nature comes across as more annoying since Fate Bloom isn’t as friendly as OG Bloom and doesn’t really have anyone to bounce her impulsiveness off of like she did in the OG.

I don’t know, I just never really felt any connection with her but overall I think she’s still the one that was done the least dirty. And the one I’m the least furious about.

I think the main problem I have with Fate Bloom is that she’s got that ‘I have to do this alone’ attitude and it never really changed, so she doesn’t really have anyone to bounce off of to make her impulsive and stupid moments less annoying.

How Stella Became Everything She Stood Against (A Stella Deep Dive)

Welp… I am fucking furious now.

I think most of us will be able to agree that one of Stella’s main purposes in the original show was to break the Dumb Blonde/Mean Blonde stereotype that was much more prevalent in the 2010′s.

Stella could come across as a bit full of herself and could be mean since she didn’t really have a brain-to-mouth filter but she was never mean on purpose and always made up for her mistakes.

We see that Stella is at her core a kind person and soft-hearted individual when we see that after knowing Bloom for a whole of one day and Bloom helping her once, Stella is willing to risk getting herself expelled to give Bloom the chance to go to Alfea. 

We also see there’s more to her than just superficial stuff when, after the Sky-Brandon reveal she tells Brandon that she cares more about the face that he lied than the fact that he isn’t a prince. The quote was along the lines of: ‘My parents are the King and Queen of Solaria, didn’t do them much good.’

And of course in season 3 we learn that Stella is actually very insecure and believes people like her just because of her looks and get one of the best moments/episodes of the entire series.

Yes. Stella cares about her appearance and loves fashion, but there is so much more to her character than that. She is a loyal friend, incredibly kind person and willing to do anything for those she loves.

Now let’s look at Fate’s Stella

………..

I am just… Fate turned our Stella into a bitchy mean girl. That is all Stella really is.

Even in season 2 she still acts like a mean girl to the rest of the girls most of the time. I never felt her bond with any of the girls or even Sky for that matter, her best scenes were easily with Bea.

I just don’t understand how they missed the entire fucking point of Stella’s character and made her exactly into the stereotype she was supposed to subvert. How do you fuck up that much?!?!!?!?!

She tried to fucking KILL BLOOM OVER A GUY!!! The original Stella would’ve killed her with her staff for even laying a FINGER on her bestie.

Stella’s character in Fate might just be the one that pisses me off the most because of how much they missed the fucking mark with her.

They made her literally everything she stood against and then acted like they did something when she did the bare minimum for her ‘friends’.

And I cannot bring myself to care about the drama with her mom because of how fucking pissed I am about this.

Okay let’s think about it. This could’ve worked if Stella was only acting like a bitch because her mom expected that but, in the rare instances when she was sure no one was watching and no one would noticed, she revealed her soft side to the girls and they were like ‘Oh, this is the real Stella, bitchy Stella is just a mask’ but it doesn’t go like that.

Even after the reveal of her mom, she’s still a bitch!

Our Stella would never and I hate whoever thought this was a good idea, you sir or ma’am  are stupid and the whole point of Stella’s character flew right over your fucking head! (No hate to the actress or any actors in the series though)

Why Musa Kinda Works But Really Doesn’t (A Musa Deep Dive)

I was wrong before. Musa is actually the one I’m least pissed off about because I actually kinda enjoyed her character in Fate, especially in the second season. (Doesn’t excuse the fucking white washing though).

I think out of the girls Musa would’ve probably been the easiest to adapt into a more ‘mature’ setting cause she is kinda the ‘angstiest’ of the girls due to her mom’s death and being the tomboy of the group. However… the Musa we know can be a little sassy and get annoyed with the girls from time to time but with Fate Musa, it’s a lot more prevalent.

Which makes sense with the change to a mind fairy (which I hate, can you imagine all the cool visuals we could’ve gotten if they’d kept her as the fairy of music? Also they still could’ve had the empath thing with her being able to ‘hear the songs in people’s hearts’ and just cranking that up to eleven).

I actually don’t have that much to say about Musa. I enjoyed her character, especially in the second season, I feel like she’s the only one that’s reasonably lashing out and it makes sense when she’s annoyed and I feel like we got to see her soft side in a few moments and she was involved with all of my favorite moments of Fate.

The only issue is that she’s angstier than the original Musa but again, it actually makes sense this time.

The only thing I am actually pissed off at is that we lost her dynamics with Tecna and Aisha cause there is no Fate Tecna and Fate Musa doesn’t really interact with Aisha and when she does it’s a far cry from their cool original dynamic and her chemistry with Terra isn’t enough to make up for it.

Was Terra Necessary? What Made her Unique? (A Terra Deep Dive)

So, we all know what happened with Terra. They white washed half the cast realized that we would obviously be pissed and tried to save it by changing Flora’s name to Terra and saying she was a new character… nice try.

Also as a latina myself, fuck you. If you’re going to claim you were going for plus-size diversity you do realize you could’ve just gotten a plus-size latina right? Anyways, fuck you.

So Terra… I don’t really care about her and kinda dislike her. I’ll admit that I am very much biased due to Flora being my fave and my latina rage but I just don’t find Terra interesting.

I don’t know what it is about her that makes her rambling annoying instead of endearing or whatever it is they were going for. They didn’t really give her anything interesting to do, she literally just had the ‘I’m fat self-confidence’ arc. I think I might’ve kinda liked Terra if she’d had something interesting to do.

The only scenes I genuienly enjoyed with her were her conversation with Riven (right before the final fight if I remember correctly) and her talk with Musa while Sam is dying... Coincidentally the moments she reminded me more of Flora…

Then in the second season she had a super weird attitude with Flora, I wasn’t sure if she was jealous or angry or what it just made her that much weirder to me, like, what the fuck was going on there? I don’t really think we ever got an answer for her weird behavior with Flora, cause I’m not buying it was just cause of Riven. That was weird.

The only girl she really bounces off of is Musa, and even then it mostly feels like Terra is following Musa around hoping for some love. None of her friendships really feel reciprocal. And her behavior with Stella is also weird as fuck. Like… you like it when she insults you? What?

Yeah she’s just weird and I don’t really like her. I feel like she brings nothing to the table. There is no real reason for her to be there. If they were going to try and replace Flora, they should’ve at least tried to make her cool and iconic.

From Hero to Zero (An Aisha Deep Dive/Rant)

Pffftttttt… okay let me get this straight. You took Aisha. Icon Aisha who climbed a fortress for her pixy friends, was a Princess that was pretty much a runaway and a sports goddess who challenged the boys and easily had the most depth/cool backstory from the Winx.

You took that Aisha… and gave us *checks notes* ‘Oh yeah, I flooded a hall in my school with literal shit once’ as her backstory.

Okay cool, I see how it is.

But seriously though. They made Aisha into an annoying teacher’s pet who kinda felt a little full of herself from time to time but was also constantly ignored as the voice of reason and had no arc of her own, instead acting as a therapist/scapegoat for the other girls.

Why is that? I think we all know the answer to that…

But yeah, I just… I am so tired. They reduced her to… to nothing really. She doesn’t feel interesting or compelling at all. I felt no connection to her and most of the time it felt like the other girls only spoke to her when they needed something from her.

In season 2 we get a little more about how she feels pressured by her parents to be perfect (which kinda alines with the cartoon) and she talks about not being experienced at relationships, which also makes sense with the cartoon, but it honestly still doesn’t feel like enough.

It still doesn’t feel like she’s actual friends with any of the girls.

They took away a lot… most of what made Aisha into one of the most well-developed Winx. She doesn’t feel fun like cartoon Aisha did, she’s uptight which just doesn’t make sense if she’s supposed to be Aisha.

She was just done dirty. Our Aisha was never so much as implied to be a teacher’s pet. She was more into dancing and sports and exploring. 

Winx Aisha was a girl who’d been trapped most of her life, excited to finally get to be a a free soul and explore the world. Fate Aisha is stripped of all of that and we don’t really see why she’s so uptight outside of that one conversation about her parents where we still don’t get any real depth.

My girl deserved so much more and I will die pissed.

Why Sky Somehow was the Most Interesting One but Still Boring (A Sky Deep Dive)

Sky makes me feel conflicted. I think he (along with Musa) was the only one I genuienely liked and enjoyed watching but at the same time he annoys me.

I loved his dynamic with Silva but I just… I don’t even know how to describe what it is exactly that annoys me about him but he’s just not interesting enough. I’ve literally forgotten almost any scene that he is in.

I’m trying to remember right now and the only scenes I can remember are the mansplaining scene, when Bloom drugs him, when he comforts Stella, one or two scenes with Silva… and when he beats Dane’s ass… and that’s literally it.

He’s not that bad, he’s got interesting dynamics and a cool story behind him and with the revelations in the series, he is one of the most affected, so in paper that should get you to be invested but… he’s just not memorable.

Why Riven will Always Get the Short End of the Stick (A Riven Deep Dive/Rant)

One of the things that annoys me the most from the original Winx Club is how Riven is pretty much reset every season to learn the same lesson over and over and over again.

This is because his scene in the Cloud Tower dungeons when he sees himself as a monster and decides to change is one of my fave in the series and probably my fave scene in all of season 1. So having him be reset was just… such a disservice to that awesome scene and to his character as a whole.

I think we can all agree that Riven could’ve been such an amazing and iconic character if he’d been allowed to slowly grow and if we’d seen him mature over the seasons.

So in this aspect… a part of me really likes Fate Riven. He’s an absolute ass and a bit biphobic but I like the possibility of taking this and allowing him to grow after his whole mess with Beatrix (I kinda loved the chaos of their relationship up until they got Dane involved).

The set up is there and we really see him try to move on in season 2 which I love. He still has his moments of being an ass, but through a few conversations with Sky and his bond with Musa we do see him trying to grow.

However, I would’ve loved to see him be more vulnerable. Sometimes it feels like instead of his own character he’s there to bounce off of Bea, Sky or Musa. I don’t know I just feel like he has a lot of potential but for some reason he just doesn’t feel like a complete character to me. Maybe this would’ve been fixed in season 3 but we’ll never know.

All in all he was one of my fave parts of Fate, especially in season 2. Whether he would’ve been allowed to keep his progress unlike his cartoon counterpart, we’ll never know.

I feel like the more mature setting actually kinda fits Riven. Though I’ll be the first to admit that the writers occasionally tried too hard to maintain his ‘bad boy’ image in season 1 and I cringed a few times at his lines.

But he was one of my fave parts of season 2. So overall I’d say that, in a way, Fate actually improved Riven ever so slightly.

Bea Could’ve Saved the Show, BUT- (A Beatrix Rant)

So, I love Bea. She was my fave character in Fate, she’s just a chaotic gremlin and quite frankly she deserved better.

Her dynamics with Riven, Stella and Bloom were excellent. I love how manipulative she is, it makes her vulnerable moments all the better. When she goes to the Winx dorm crying to ask Stella to hang out but gets rejected and she just looks on at the group having fun like an outsider… That scene got me.

It’s a little confusing how she goes from menace in season 1 to kinda a teacher’s pet in season 2 but it kinda makes sense and she does become a menace again so it’s cool.

I both love and hate her ending. I love her constantly switching sides, being unpredictable, turning around last minute and going ‘I just saved the world, feels pretty great to be a fucking hero’, I love that concept but I hate her just being thrown away and killed like she hadn’t been carrying the show.

I don’t think they saw the amount of potential that Bea had, personally I would watch an entire show all about Bea. Them just killing her shows me that she was only really a plot device to the writers, a way to introduce her mysterious sisters. And I hate that.

Bea was the wildcard of Fate, the character plenty of us thought we’d hate but that ended up being a diamond in the rust. She was cunning and had the best of all the Trix, Darcy’s plot line with Riven and her manipulation, Stormy’s powers and chaotic energy, Icy’s ambition, personality and charisma. 

Quite frankly, she’s probably the character with the most depth and motivations. She’s the most interesting. 

And they killed her off for shock value.

I hate that we lost the Trix’s dynamic and different personalities but for me personally Bea was worth it, she was an awesome character who deserved to be in a better series. But yeah… I love Bea but even she wasn’t enough to save this shit show.

Why Flora Mattered (A Flora Deep Dive/Rant)

Disclaimer, I am very much biased here, even more than before cause Flora was always my favorite Winx. Now with that out of the way…

I think one of the reasons that Flora mattered so much is that she was never shamed for being very feminine. Flora was a cottage core, soft hearted, kind, soft spoken young girl who was still allowed to be strong and a badass. She was never made more ‘masculine’ to show her being strong. Her transformations always involved skirts and dresses, bright pinks, long flowy hair, bracelets and necklaces and cute tiaras. 

She was never shamed for her girlieness nor stereotyped as someone overly shy. Flora could have a few shy moments but they were pretty rare in the large scheme of things.

She was shown to be incredibly smart, especially in seasons 1 and 2 with her love of potions. Flora gives the girls a lot of support and a safe place but we also see her be vulnerable and insecure, but she never changes her girliness nor does she feel the need to ‘grow out of her girly traits’ to gain confidence or confront her fears, she also doesn’t feel the need to ‘toughen up’ keeping her soft heart throughout the entire series.

I love this. I loved that Flora was so soft but never shamed or considered ‘weak’ for it. She mattered cause she was there for the more sensitive girls. The more introverted, soft spoken girls.

The girly girls that can still be just as strong and confident as any other woman despite loving pink and flowers and skirts. 

I think that’s a big part of why Flora matters. She’s allowed to be a heroine with a soft heart that is never forced into an angsty personality because of the events that occur around her. She’s a special kind of softness. She’s not the kindness that comes from naivety but the kindness that is forged in steel from tough experiences.

We eventually got Fate Flora but I don’t think she really captured the essence of OG Flora, she just doesn’t feel like the soft, introverted, gentle soul we know. 

She feels a little… full of herself? In a way?

I won’t talk much about Fate Flora cause I can’t truly put my finger on what it is that just throws me off about her.

But I’m pissed that they truly thought they could get away with tossing Flora to the side, cause we all know they only included her in season 2 to try and save their asses.

Because soft, sensitive girls deserve to see themselves represented without the whole ‘break-out-of-your-shell-and-become-more-wild arc’. Because soft girls can be complete and happy without becoming party animals. That was what Flora was to me. That’s why she mattered so much to me personally growing up.

That is why Flora mattered.

Why Helia and Timmy Mattered: A Retrospective Look at Soft Boys (A Helia and Timmy Deep Dive/Rant)

Now, I am honestly glad that Helia and Timmy weren’t included because they would’ve botched it.

So, I always adored Helia but, looking back on him and Timmy now I almost find them surprising that these two were incorporated into the show the way that they were.

Helia was the definition of a soft boy, he was into poetry and art, he wore loose shirts, had long hair, was soft spoken, loved to meditate and was introduced as a pacifist, but he was also a Specialist. Something I really liked was that instead of a sword he had his strings which incorporated his way of being a pacifist into his Specialist gear.

There were never jokes about him being Helia being gay and he was portrayed as attractive, the second Flora meets him she’s already blushing and giggling. Helia is a poet, a sensitive boy in a school filled with soldiers and warriors, but they rarely make fun of him for it, and when they do it clearly is meant to be in a teaseful way amongst friends. And we see the boys go to him for advise.

And then we have Timmy. Timmy is a nerd. He has a laser gun instead of a sword and is more of a pilot and tech guy. He’s shy and socially awkward, lanky, and his portrayl is very dorky.

In season 2 we see him doubt himself as a Specialist when he can’t stop the Trix, the same happens in season 4 when he is chasing Anagan.

But we see that at his core, Timmy is an incredibly courageous person. He goes after Anagan even when he’s doubting himself. The boys may tease him occasionally but they never treat him as an outsider and in fact try to help him, even when it backfires, it’s done from a desire to help their friend.

Timmy may consider himself as the weak one, but he is never portrayed as the weak link in the Specialists. We see that his role is a crutial one. 

In season 3 we see him break down when he thinks that Tecna is dead, but his tears and despair are never considered to be ‘weak’ or ‘exaggerated’.

We see all the boys break down at the end of season 4.

And that is something important. Especially for a cartoon  in the 2010′s.

Seeing soft and dorky boys be portrayed as heroes was a great thing that we shouldn’t forget.

The Winx Club never revolved around the Specialists, they could’ve all been just the generic hero, but we see the small difference between Sky, Riven and Brandon and then we get Timmy and Helia who are completely different and not what you’d first think off when you think ‘heroes in training’.

This is an extension of Flora’s softness and kindness never being something that she is ashamed of or for.

Helia is allowed to be a poet and to love meditating and to be a bit of a pacifist whilst still being strong and a hero in his own right. Saving Flora in his introduction and Sky later in season 2. He is never shamed for being the sensitive one.

Timmy has a lot of self-doubt. But he is allowed to grow, he is allowed to be a nerd and dorky and socially awkward whilst still being a fundamental part of the group. His intelligence is portrayed as an advantage not a freak trait. He may be teased for being the nerdy one from time to time but he is never bullied or shamed for it.

And they are both allowed to have good love stories. Helia and Flora, two gentle souls that find each other and are like Snow on the Beach, falling for each other at the first time.

Then we have Timmy and Tecna, where it seems that Timmy falls first but doesn’t know how to act and Tecna always cares about him but seems to catch feelings a bit later on. That it takes them a long time to officially become something because they are both unconventional in their own way. And when they go on a date and feel stressed they decide ‘Screw doing this the traditional and ‘normal’ way, we’re doing it our own way’.

From what we see in Fate, I can tell they much prefer angsty characters. And Helia and Timmy would never have been allowed to be soft.

We saw 2 kinda soft boys in Fate. Dane who was just… a bit of a train wreck to me. He was an ass to Terra and was just super weird with Bea and Riven and was just willing to go along with whatever Bea said and then we have Sam who I wouldn’t exactly describe as a soft boy and well… he almost killed someone in season 2 so… yeah. He’s just boring and with zero depth to me.

If they’d been in Fate Helia would probably be emo or very angsty and Timmy would probably have been bullied a lot more. So I’m glad they weren’t included at all.

Because soft and sensitive boys shouldn’t be erased. They are important, especially when the stigma against them is still kinda strong. 

We need this in the media, we need to see boys loving poetry and being proud to be a bit dorky and nerdy. We need to see boys crying and breaking down and not being ashamed or shamed for it. We need boys that are absolutely in love and not be teased for it.

Angsty boys can be fun to watch, but soft boys are also important. We need more of them.

The Forgotten Protectors (A Brandon and Nabu Rant)

When I think about it, I think that Brandon as a character, at his core, is a protector. He is Sky’s squire and is willing to trade places to keep him safe. He tries to keep Stella safe, is willing to risk his life to get Sky back in season 3 and well… he’s a Specialist so this is clearly what he loves.

Brandon was always a support character, he’s never really given a lot of backstory or traits outside of being a dedicated Specialist, being charismatic and sometimes flirty and caring deeply about his friends and Stella.

Brandon is a fun character not because of his depth but because he’s just a great guy. He’s charismatic, definitely an optimist and cracks jokes in the middle of a fight. When Timmy struggles over why Tecna is mad at him, Brandon is randomly punching the air and offers him hair product.

I would classify him as a himbo. 

Brandon worked as this protector character, especially since not many of the Specialists had a lot of depth. And I always loved him,

So I’m glad he wasn’t in Fate cause, again, they would have erased his optimism and just, slightly goofy instances for an angstier attitude.

To me, Brandon’s main purpose in the show was to be a protector and a friend. He was the voice of reasons amongst the boys, especially in seasons 1 and 2. He’s there for his friends and would do anything for them.

I think Brandon could have perhaps benefitted from a more mature setting, mainly to get more depth but I think the Fate writers would’ve fucked it up. I don’t think they could handle having a non-angst, let alone an optimistic character.

Then we have Nabu, our second forgotten protector. I call him a protector mainly due to his sacrifice in season 4. All I have to say is… Nabu was a fun character. He was a bit weird in the beginning but we got to see he was calm, had extreme trust in Aisha.

We only had him for a season so I really don’t have much to say about him other than… I cannot see any iteration of Nabu working with Fate Aisha. I just don’t.

I can’t see either of them in Fate not just because they’d be fucked over but also just because I can’t see their characters fitting the ambience.

I don’t know why but to me Brandon and Nabu just emanate happy calm vibes and I can’t see that working with Fate’s desperate need for shitty angst.

Why Tecna is Often Discarded and Why She Shouldn’t Be (A Tecna Deep Dive/Rant)

I think most of us can agree that Tecna is neurodivergent coded. Most consider her to be autistic.

In the OG, Tecna rarely gets to be the center of attention, but when she does, man does she shine. I love Tecna because her arc throughout the seasons isn’t necessarily about changing to fit in, but it’s more about growing into yourself if that makes sense.

Tecna doesn’t change her personality or who she is, she doesn’t try to mask how she is. The only thing she really does is working on expressing her emotions and showing that she cares about her friends, but this doesn’t equal her changing or suppressing her quirks and more neurodivergent tendencies, which I think is just beautiful.

I think that’s a great example on how to write an autistic character growing into themselves (though I myself am not autistic so feel free to correct me on that if you have feelings about Tecna being seen as autistic),

In season 3, we see the way the club literally falls apart when they think she’s dead. We see that they love her and when Tecna reunites with Bloom in Omega, she is crying cause she knew that her friends would find her.

This is the moment that cemented for me that these girls would truly go to the end of the world for each other.

Those episodes in season 3 may be some of the best, and my favorites, in the entire series. 

Tecna is the character that is underrated, and who some may believe doesn’t add much to the story, but when she’s gone it hits you like holy shit, in a way she is the glue of the group.

She may not always be the voice of reason but the girls know to always listen to her cause when she’s determined to figure something out, she will do just that. They know that they can count on her.

She is a pillar in the group, just as much as the other girls, even if the show doesn’t always give her a spotlight, we know that it’s true.

And… Fate just threw her out the window.

The fucking disrespect.

I personally think they just didn’t want to be bother with a complex character like Tecna.

I just… I hate that they couldn’t even be bothered to try while another part of me is glad that they didn’t ruin her with an angsty hacker take on her.

But my girl deserved better.

Anyways, on to the final section…

How Fate Failed To Capture the Essence of the Winx Club

How Fate Forgot the Most Important Aspect of the Winx Club: Friendship Amongst Young Women

The final section is something I’ve already touched on a bit but, in Fate, the girls aren’t friends. They barely feel like decent roommates.

I will never forgive the way they disregarded Stella and Bloom’s beautiful bond. They were each other’s person, they were bonded for life and truly they were just THE besties ya know?

And Fate just made them into competitors. There is not a single moment in the entire two seasons that they felt like friends, let alone besties. I cannot picture OG Bloom and Stella EVER acting like their Fate counterparts. Like my girls would rather die than do each other dirty like that.

Then we have Aisha. In the OG Aisha had 2 amazing bonds, Musa and Flora. We all know how big SonicWave is. Musa and Aisha immediately connected, they went clubbing and got into a bit of trouble together and Musa was the first to really understand Aisha’s backstory, and we see Musa trust Aisha with her boy problems.

Aisha and Flora feel like besties, they’re there for each other and have casual chats in the middle of the night.

With Stella, especially in season 4, Aisha and Stella can but heads from time to time but they know that their friendship will always prevail because all the girls are bonded for life.

None of that is present in Fate. In Fate when they butted heads I couldn’t care less. I just wanted to slap Stella because she was being a bitch and I was annoyed by Aisha. She doesn’t really interact with Musa and Terra isn’t Flora so it doesn’t work. And she and Bloom don’t feel like friends. Not really.

There is no Fate Tecna so we have no chance to get the amazing chemistry between Musa and Tecna, those two were perfect as besties, they just worked so well. 

It’s just… so many amazing bonds and friendships and dynamics all thrown away for the sake of angst, drama and useless conflict. 

The event that sets into motion the entire story of the Winx Club is Bloom running into Stella and choosing to help her. It’s Stella deciding to help this girl she just met get into Alfea because they just immediately bond and that’s who Stella is.

The very first time the girls hang out, when Bloom is attacked, the other girls don’t hesitate to join in on the fight to save Bloom, not necessarily because they’re close at this point but because all these girls would never just stand back when something like this is going on. But as their friendships and bonds grow, we quickly see that they are all ride or die.

They don’t fight over boys, if they tease or take things too far, they apologize. They may but heads and get into fights but they know (and we know) that their friendship will always prevail.

In Fate… they’re not even friends, let alone besties, let alone ride or die besties that would go to the ends of the world for each other.

All of those bonds and friendships are just… nonexistent .

How can Fate claim to be an adaptation of the Winx Club when they throw away the most important aspect of the show?

In the show, friendships always take center stage, romances always felt like sideplots or add ons, not the main drama, or they were rarely the main drama. And when romance was the main drama, there would be an inevitable scene of the girls comforting each other. (Stella comforting Bloom. Tecna, Bloom and Stella comforting Flora about Crystal. Musa letting out her frustrations about Riven with Aisha. The girls helping prepare Tecna for a date, etc.)

Friendship was the bloodline of Winx Club. And Fate somehow… missed that.

I’m too tired and frustrated to make an actual outro and I’ve been working on this for literal weeks so… that… is the end.

[bluesylveon2]

AOT Season 4 The Final Chapters Thoughts:

Crunchyroll won't let me screenshot so I will write out my thoughts instead:

I like how this part of Season 4 is Armin-centric. The first part was dedicated to Eren and then the second part was dedicated to Mikasa

Yall I lowkey forgot Armin gets kidnapped by the okapi titan

The cgi continues to improve for aot. However, you can tell MAPPA's budget went to jjk because of the amount of fanservice they are giving 😂

The Survey Corps vs past titans shifters fight was so good!!! I liked watching it more than reading it because you could see what happens in the action. Also the scene with Pieck running toward the Warhammer titan was hilarious

I like the detail of the gray people and the colored baby. The baby represents the future and it being colored represents the hope of getting through the Rumbling. I like how everything became colored once the titans stopped moving.

Levi finally killing Zeke was satisfying. Now Zeke can be reborn as Toji in jjk because we know stuff is going down there too lol

Can I just say that I love the aruani scenes? Like Annie immediately asks where's Armin but tries to play it off and Mikasa was not buying it! Then there was the other part where Annie saves Armin and AHHHH I loved it!! Her dad better be impressed if Annie got with Armin cause he is so cool

Okay that hallucigenia thing needed to go. We don't even know where it went after Eren died. We assume it died with him because everyone turned back to normal. Also, I guess every titan had a piece of hallucigenia in them, specifically in their spine that connects their CNS and their PNS. It turning others into titans was it's way to "multiply" and keep it alive

The eremika kiss was not as creepy as I remember in the manga. The lighting helped it a lot. I remember reading that part and questioning what was Isayama thinking when he wrote that

I like to think of Eren as Lelouch from Code Geass, except Lelouch lived to see the effects of what he did. Eren had no choice but to die after wiping out 80% of humanity.

On that thought, there was one part where Armin was like "we can't have conflict if we destroy the outside world." Well, we already saw at the beginning of S4 that is not the case. There will always be conflict in the world. We even see it today. Sure, Eren could have killed everyone, but you still have conflict within Paradis. We saw it already with the Jaegerists. Eren helped his friends have a peaceful life but that would end eventually once they passed.

I sobbed at the part with everyone reuniting. It was sweet in the manga, it was sweet now

Historia's daughter is so cute!!!!

I like the ending even if it is slightly different from the manga. Of course you get the 104 + Pieck coming to Paradis (Jean looking great as always lol), Mikasa seeing birb Eren, Onyakopon and Yelena (finally) helping out, Levi with the kids, and Falco/Gabi planting a tree to signify new beginnings

Now...my only complaint about this episode was the credits. WHY DID THEY MAKE IT SMALL??? i WANTED TO KNOW WHO MIKASA MARRIED!!!! I liked the detail with the other kid tho. The boy sees the tree with a hole and walks in. I think this is Isayama's way of showing that titans can return and Eren would be the new Ymir. I'm not too certain, but it would suck for Eren because he would not be free. Maybe the kid could be the new Ymir? Who knows? My question would be how would titans survive modern day. Obviously they would evolve, but can they survive modern technology. We may not use swords much anymore but there is nuclear technology.

(Edit: it is possible Mikasa married Jean based on what we see in the anime/manga. I feel like that's not a good ending for either one of them because a) Mikasa's heart belongs to Eren. It's like Rose from the Titanic. Basically, Mikasa won't love Jean or whoever she married fully. b) Jean seems to be busy conducting the peace talks with the others. Idk if he would have time for Mikasa unless they were both cool with it. c) I think it's just not a good ending for either of them. I felt bad for Mikasa throughout the whole episode and that as her ending is...idk...I would feel even bad for her)

I know Isayama is done with the series but i have questions I want answered!!! 😭 Still, I got into this fandom back in 2013 and it has been a good 10 years. I met a lot of great people from the fandom who I still talk to today. Aot is my favorite anime and I plan on rewatching the anime or buy the manga in the future. Now it is time for me to go to the next fandom aka twst lol

[zanysmurf]

notes on secret of the village well

i forgot editor smurf existed and then disappeared forever

hefty walks away from greedy's window with the muffin so slow. move faster

rip morning muffins you existed one (1) time

brainy ranting about clumsy to everyone on the bridge. i love how they're all just hanging out there they're so cute. also comparing my old screenshot to the remaster for colors

I LOVE THEM ALL FEELING ENTITLED IT'S SO FUNNY. clumsy won't tell me something personal i'm VERY upset papa smurf. stop him. meanwhile hefty is so normal about it

oh my god the dining hall. it's all coming back to me it changes like every time it's shown

papa's library is available to every smurf! i feel like this is the only time it's directly brought up like that but i could be misremembering hardcore

i love azrael stalking the mouse from across the room he's animated so cute

i really like when they do those parallels where it cuts to gargamel doing/saying basically the same thing as the smurfs. here it's brainy and gargamel

"well, a penny is a human coin" "ouheumm"

THE GROUP LAUGH SFX STOP IT

another ep where i enjoy how hefty is written overall even when he actually like doesn't say all that much. he's just an ok dude here

hefty also knows what a penny is/that they're used by humans

the size difference between smurfs and pennies is troubling to me but it probably shouldn't be

something something zodiac zenith mars over smurf village. Ok sure

"who's there?" "it's us!" hefty i love you. i know he was in the same group earlier but that is ridiculously unhelpful. what if clumsy opened the door and literally every smurf was there

100% with papa here gargamel's usually poor as dirt. i keep saying "you guys suck"

the production order thing with hefty and heights i'm still not sure what happened there. they get so worried about him aww

"he's always messing around out there"

FUN GARGAMEL INTERROGATION TACTIC: WATERBOARDING

jokey does so little of substance before the gift box scene. he did not need to be here but i love him dearly

i love that they throw the muffins at clumsy but they all start giggling a second or so later

[starsurface]

Really enjoyed the Pt 2 of the Kano CG Regressor Kabal Hcs!!! Deffo would love a part 3 like you suggested :D Thankyou once again!- ✨

Of course!! These two are so fun to write!!

 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

CG Kano w/ Regressor Kabal Hcs pt 3

⚔️ Rewatched MK9 yesterday, and you know what I noticed?

🫁 Kabal has pigtails on

⚔️ You know who gave him pigtails? Kano 👀 (It was to get his respirator on, but still)

🫁 Little Kabal wearing pigtails (Whether it’s to help out with the mask, or because he wants his hair up)

⚔️ But also, Kabal making Kano’s hair all pretty <3

🫁 How? Very simple, Kano has kinda short hair . . . But bows and hairclips can be put on anyone >:)

⚔️ Does Kano like it? Eh, not his style, but it makes Kabal happy so he’ll suck it up

🫁 Off-topic, Bald Kano would get one of ‘Get ready with me’ headbands

⚔️ Which dives into my next topic: Skincare little days!!

🫁 Kabal’s much willing to do them while small, so Kano tries to do them somewhat often

⚔️ Rubbing (safe) lotion on his sensitive skin, a bunch of cuddles and snacks

🫁 Maybe face masks? I don’t know if that’s safe for Kabal, but he’ll definitely laugh his butt off at Kano wearing one

⚔️ I feel like Kano would learn how to renact scenes, but like, funny evil villain scenes

🫁 . . . Like the Grinch with his whole outfit changing (it makes Kabal snort because of how silly he’s being)

⚔️ I can’t believe that I never brought this up before but Kano’s tattoos, right, they’re pretty filled and colored

🫁 But you know what’d make them even more colorful and pretty? Filling in any small gaps or adding onto them 😁

⚔️ Kabal probably has to take some sort of medicine for his condition

🫁 Big Kabal’s pretty chill with this, but little Kabal . . . is very very less keen about the idea

⚔️ Pills are too big for him, liquid medicine taste yucky, and he knows that any type of gummy is just a lie >:(

🫁 Kano’s very good at getting him to take them still! Whether it’s crushing the pill and putting it into Kabal’s juice, or mixing the gummy with other gummies, or somehow tricking Kabal into taking it

⚔️ Kano is more than willing to bribe him too, with something like candy or a new toy

🫁 Referencing Kabal’s friendship, i think he has a baby version of the instrument (I forgot the name)

⚔️ And it drives Kano CRAZY

🫁 He’s always waking it (Or him) at the worst time! The amount of times Kano’s woken up to Kabal making pretty music at five in the morning is too many to count

⚔️ Of course he loves his baby, and agrees that his music is beautiful, Kano also really likes his nice sleep

🫁 Putting a time schedule would work . . . If little Kabal could read a clock (He mostly can, but little little Kabal struggles, or just straight up ignores the time and plays)

⚔️ Really easy solution, put it up high in the closet (of course he takes it down for playtime, he won’t just straight up take the toy from him)

🫁 And he does make sure some more quieter toys are in reach incase Kabal does wake up small

⚔️ That does not stop Kabal by waking Kano up with a rattle to the face <3 (Semi on accident, he just meant to bonk him 😬) 

🫁 . . . Maybe with puppy eyes he could get out of a timeout? :D (probably, actually)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I find the pigtails on Kabal really cute (and a bit funny).

[highladyluck]

Season 2, Episode 5 Liveblog

“Finished pouting?” Never. Suroth has never finished pouting in her life

Egwene says “These colors don’t run!”

I’m sorry but I laughed at Lanfear’s outfit

Grolm time! I love the Seanchan theme it’s so creepy

We have handtalk!

Ahahahahahaha damn they are really going for the Whitecloak and Rand parallels (uniting everyone under our banner to fight the shadow)

Interesting scarification(?) on Turak’s bald head- are they coding him as imperial family? I forgot what his canonical relationship to the throne was

It's manicure time for Suroth's coke nails

Oh hai, it’s our buddy Fain

I forgot that Turak knew the box code (as did book!Lanfear) and that reports of him having the Horn would have gone back to Seanchan

True Power is very useful here

Oh my god you have horse girl Moiraine killing horses (like that’ll stop Lanfear)

I like how she vaporized his head

Omg I love Lanfear’s utter disdain

Perrin is very mad right now, love to see it

“You can’t run from what you are” but the boys are all sure as hell are going to try lmao

Moiraine like ‘it’s time for very bad news, are you keeping moving? good good’

‘If they’re all released we’re doomed’ (Look I’m gonna tell you a secret, they kinda suck, you guys will probably do ok)

Hopper is like ‘I’m on babysitting duty, I have no choice’

I hope we get Gaul but I will take… holy shit that is a smoking hot Aviendha

Omg omg is that Dain Bornhald? ill-met by moonlight

Perrin’s like ‘I do not understand and I am now officially in jailbreak mode, please leave any friendly warnings with my wolf’

It’s not a coincidence that there are Aiel and Seanchan, it’s the plot lmao (also the apocalypse)

I love Lanfear talking to herself so so much! Eat that scenery, Lanfear! Eat it for the woman and the man who no longer can eat things because you sewed their mouth shut and popped their head like a pimple, respectively

Browns Browns Browns

In the Ways again…

Liandrin, are you gonna try to recruit Nyneave? Let me rephrase that. Do you think you will SUCCEED in recruiting Nyneave?

Huh, tying the oaths to Artur Hawkwing, I kinda like that

Nihilism, baby!!! Oh I love Nyneave so much

Suroth is not having a good day

“Finished pouting?” Never. Suroth has never finished pouting in her life

“And plunge the Empire into civil war?” 👀👀👀 It’s fine they have spares

Lmao Suroth in a power struggle with Ishy is very fun

If you keep calling the last battle early, no one is going to believe you when it really is the last battle, Ishy

“People shouldn’t be in cages” that’s a book line!

She is so hot help

Ooooh I love the Aiel theme

The music this season is so good!!!

Dain with his big axe and Perrin with his hammer

The camera on the battle scenes is characteristic by now- feels very ‘in it’

Lanfear like ‘ah my Tel'Aran'Rhiod propaganda is working’

Congrats Moiraine now everyone in your family thinks Rand is your boytoy

Queen Galldrian and baby boy Barthanes!

Verin is like ‘oh hi! Did you know you have massive problems? :D’

It’s important to cross-check

Verin introducing Compulsion

Liandrin I think you don’t have a ton of leg to stand on criticizing the system when you’re about to feed these girls into it

Awww look she gave Nyneave a fighting chance

Egwene says “These colors don’t run!”

Avi like ‘wow you don’t even know what toh is, hoo boy’

I like their carpet mantles

Lmao Elayne’s priorities “They’re occupiers!” vs Nyneave “who cares, we need to get the fuck out of here” al’Meara

Verin is Columboing her way through the usual suspects

Omg Moiraine is actually being honest as well as truthful

And her sister is honest back

Rand needs protection! And he needs you because you’re his magic mom who gives him complexes

UM [this is Ishy cuddling up to Rand]

Subtlety thy name is not Lanfear

HUH (re Moiraine desperation)

Because you’re King Nihilist

MOGGY MENTION

TITS OUT FOR GRAENDAL

“The Boys” I disagree with Lanfear’s assessment of the girls (insane & vain/stupid) but she’s right about the boys, and it does set up the 'everyone in this office hates everyone else' vibes

See I told you, he’s King Nihilist

Booooooooooooo Mat’s not yours

Oh you have not seen anything yet re: breaking Rand

Oooooooooh Ishy prompted the omens for the Return?

Court of the Nine Moons mention! It's interesting having this be the first time we hear about it. Won't change things that much narratively unless certain other characters hear about it prior to the next season or so, though.

YES WE HAVE YELLOW AJAH I love it

Oh man this is going to hurt

Collars and leashes confirmed

Moiraine is correct that Lanfear probably won’t hurt him physically. However, she can absolutely hurt him emotionally so I don't think he's gonna be, uh, safe

Hmmmmm I don’t think I like the lack of mystery about why Lanfear turned, but otoh no living Aes Sedai is a reliable narrator about the Age of Legends, so I’m filing this under ‘reasonable but there might be a more interesting story later’

Staking Rand out like sexy sexy bait

Oooooh it’s symbolism time

I’m sorry but I laughed at Lanfear’s outfit

Oh episode 6 is going to be very hard to watch

[vypridae]

HOPE YOUR HEAD FEELS BETYER!! HEADACHES SUCK

anywayys requesting mori or tecchou or fyodor for the character thing [or bc you don’t need to do all of them pick and choose <3]

DOING ALL OF THEM i cant do the doodles i dont have the motivation for art rn i lied about that BUT ILL DO ALL THREE OF THEM

under a cut because these got LONG

MORI

first impression

honestly i think when i first met mori in the anime i was like oh hes sweet i like him . then it was the whole "woah port mafia boss!!!!" thing and i was like oh hes sweet and deadly i like him .

impression now

i love him soo much did you know. hes so fun hes just a silly guy . silly !!!

favorite moment

honestly the moment (from the manga specifically) thats stuck with me the most was the frame that he like, put tachihara's hd hat on his head and was like "you dropped something" it just STUCK with me

outside of canon manga stuff tho i love the little intersection in wan ep 11 that hes like "WHAT DID YOU SEND ME DAZAI ... THESE ARE ... SCARY!!!!!" like hes just so silly i love him

idea for a story

genuinely i do not think about story ideas enough to have a solid one for him but if it counts i often think about him accidentally stealing one of fukuzawa's scarves from That Era i forgot how old he was at the time . and then just keeping it . and fukuzawa finds out somehow . i love them shut up

unpopular opinion

uhhh liking mori in general FSJKHASJKHASFJKG like have you seen this fandom . 99% of the people here fucking hate mori with a passion . and just liking him is super controversial . aside from that though ive seen analyses (tending to be like "mori and pedophilia" or something along those lines) and honestly they make me feel like hes just being really uuuh whats the word. really abstract with how he says things i guess? like one in particular i remember was a word in the original manga (jap) and he said a word that means both "wife" and "thing by my side" or something like that, when theres so many different words he could have used if he wanted to be Creepy specifically. idk theres my mori opinion its so controversial i know block me if u'd like but i love him

favorite relationship

HAHA zskk . easily . love those dumbass gayasses

favorite headcanon

uuuuuh . probably trans mori honestly FJKHASDFGHADFG maybe im biased (trans) but like ... idk i am very biased about this

TECCHOU

first impression

genuinely when i first met all of the hunting dogs i forgot all of their names immediately . as chapters went on though i think the two main things i remember thinking "hes adorable" and "hes in love with jouno 100%"

impression now

i . love him . so much . he is the silliest little guy ever and hes also me . also hes still in love with jouno btw

favorite moment

every one of them /j no but fr in specific i love the ant scene (it was one of the only ones i remembered from the manga after i read that chapter i think), the justice speech / kenji fight (GOD hes so cool) and when he gets hit by the car (that was THE FUNNIEST ever)

idea for a story

oh my god okay so imagine jouno is sick and tecchou is taking care of him . that is all

unpopular opinion

i dont actually think i have an unpopular opinion for tecchou . at least not one that i can think of???? like with tecchou i think most of my hcs line up with how a lot of the fandom talks about him

favorite relationship

EASILY WITHOUT A DOUBT ITS SUEGIKU OH MY GOD

favorite headcanon

he can cook !!!!! he can cook really well and i like to imagine even though he refuses to eat anything thats not the same color he likes cooking stuf he knows jouno likes and doesnt force him to eat any of his "weird" food combos because he knows jouno doesnt really like stuff like that so he cooks how jouno likes for jouno and how he likes for himself . UAHUAUAHGUA

FYODOR

first impression

i think i initially went "oh my god" when i saw fyodor . fell for him IMMEDIATELY and also initially hated fyolai???

impression now

still falling . now love fyolai . improvements !!!

favorite moment

YES. /j

in all seriousness, some of my favorite moments with fyodor are uuh

the dead apple scene where hes on the rooftop and goes "this is too much fun :)" because i think honestly that scene made me fall SO HARD . also he just looks really pretty there dont question me

time for happy group counseling hour !!!!!! hmm? hi everybody im your host fyodor dostevsky- okay hold up stop right there. whats the problem? exactly, what? exactly what what? ooooooooh . life counseling . < that whole scene

ALSO THE THE THE the tHE . WHERE HE KICKS NIKOLAI'S BOOMBOX IN THE MANGA. HSE SO MEAN I LOVE HIM

idea for a story

oh my god. ok so basically . connected oneshots but one member of fyosiglai is individually insecure for some reason and the other two are like FUCK NO YOU ARENT and love them and cherish and praise them until theyre like oguhgug

unpopular opinion

hes pretty i LOVE HIM hes SO PRETTY ive seen HUNDREDS of people say hes UGLY hes SO NOT UGLY i LOVE HI

(in all seriousness, ive seen a lot of people say he'd be like, an abusive manipulative awful husband / boyfriend / whatever, and i literally just cannot see that happening . like, i feel like he'd want the perfect world FOR his s/o, he fell for them for a reason sort of thing . idk maybe i just love him but hgjkahfjkahdfjk)

favorite relationship

fyosiglai. or fyodor and me /j (/hj)

favorite headcanon

UUUUUH UH UH UH UH UH OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MANY HCS ABOUT HIM I LOVE HIM hes a cat person thats one of my favorites . if there is a cat on his lap he will not move

i also love the idea that he cannot for the life of him play horror games because he gets jumpscared and screams and he HATES that bc "vulnerability bad" (nikolai likes when he plays horror games anyway he thinks its funny when he gets jumpscared and screams really loud)

actually scratch that . fyodor is just bad at video games because i love that idea . hes good at logic games but when it just comes down to "survive!!!" or "do this objective" or something i love the idea that hes just Dog Ass at it

[kadavernagh]

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Just Couches PARTIES: Regan and Jade SUMMARY: What comes first, the couch or the home? Jade says couch! So she and Regan are off to find the perfect one, which will be without a single weird feature.

The Kavanaghs had a couch. It was covered in dark brown leather, the kind that sucked your skin in when you sat on it wearing shorts. Regan used to like the feel of it against her arms and legs, though in hindsight, maybe there was a little death there, too. Sometimes she plopped herself across the whole couch when Al came into the living room, forcing him onto the armrest if he wanted to sit at all. She watched late-night unpermitted horror movies with Liam that her dad would have hated, had he known. Reilly once sat her down there to discuss how their parents had started sniping at each other more frequently (a rough patch that was mended, but had all four of them wondering about a particular d-word for a few months; Al said authoritatively that it was her fault). Couches see a lot. And they had a couch. 

Then Regan had a couch. She couldn’t remember the color and material. She couldn’t even remember where she purchased it. Only that… well, she must have, right? In that old Baltimore apartment she also barely recalled, all of it awash in medical text memorization and memories of her hands inside of cadavers – though most of that was gone, too. It would have traveled back to Augusta, that theoretical couch, in that moving truck she must have rented, that had been filled with possessions she must have kept. Regan must have had a couch. And then she forgot what they were for about eight years, because comfort, her grandmother often reminded her, could not taint her capabilities. An instrument sliced through fabric; to be disarmed by such distraction as comfort would cost control; Cliodhna’s hanging rabbits spilled their coiled innards on the floor.

“I don’t trust it.” Regan said, appraising a bright orange couch coated in velvet, one of far too many options crammed into a claustrophobic store. Her grandmother’s similarly-colored wings flashed a warning in her mind. She walked around it in a half-circle like it was a crime scene, not even considering sitting. She had warmed up to the idea of being a couch owner, but primarily for Jade’s benefit, because they had a yet-to-be-determined house that would “require” furnishing. (And maybe they should have reassessed that order of business, but it wouldn’t be Jade’s beautiful but non-euclidean mind to do that, and Regan was… distracted.) She did not have to like the couches. That would be asking too much. “Velvet is difficult to clean, don’t you think? And the color… I cannot even think of a fluid found in the human body that’s comparable in hue. It won’t do. It is not even fit for Emilio.” She had bought a better couch for him. Jade needed something one hundred times better than that.

Regan finished circling around the couch and ended up right next to Jade again, where the thought of couches didn’t bother her quite as much. She tapped Jade’s hand lightly before stealing it for herself. “Come on, there has to be something here you would rather sit on. Where is the stone section? Or… I will compromise. I am famously good at that. We could get something wooden. Cats like wood, right? For scratching?”

—

Truth be told, Jade had never put that much thought into couches before (a true shocker there, right?). So like, as long as they were comfy, that was it, she was set. And sometimes not even that! Who was she kidding? Cause Jade had spent a decent amount of time on Emilio’s couch, so her standards could mean anything, actually. Couch used to be whatever. But the past didn’t matter, anyway. The present mattered. As did the future. Her future, their future. Cause she was so excited to pick her very first couch. Like a real true adult. Nah, a real true adult in a committed relationship. It was a lot, which was probably the reason why her entire body seemed to be buzzing like she’d drank five shots of espresso. Or well, she imagined that’s what it felt like. (She never needed caffeine to be that energized, people envied her). Seeing the Just Couches logo as they entered the store filled her with an extra dose of warm and fuzzy feelings. This chain had kinda become a staple in their relationship, right? Cause she would always remember her first date with Regan at Just Coffee. (And the mint julep she had after in the place next door, Just Cocktails). And now their first couch would be Just too. 

They hadn’t walked around for two minutes when Regan found their first option. Sorta. They just stumbled upon it, so it was time to judge it. And judge they did. “Oh? How come, baby?” Jade prompted after the initial assessment on the bright orange sofa. Regan inspected the thing like she was choosing her torture device instead of the sweet spot where they would have their most entertaining movie nights. But knowing the why behind that stiff gait and those shifty eyes meant Jade didn’t treat it as an obstacle. It might look silly to outsiders, but she knew this was important. It was a bit of a milestone for Regan too. And she would not stand (or well, sit) for any couch that Regan couldn’t at least relate to some type of bodily fluid. That was just, pft… entry level. So Jade would totally commiserate with her on this. “Was it mean mugging you? I swear, I totally saw it do that when we came in. I like the color, but it needs a better attitude.” Regan was right though, velvet was difficult to clean, and they both knew she was a little sloppy with her food sometimes. So, that was like, just inviting mess. And not the fun kind. She followed Regan without a rebuttal when she decided to move on, cause they were on the same page. (Or, well, the endgame was the same… despite their different ways of looking at it, so, same thing).  

Jade squeezed Regan’s hand as she grabbed it, the action tugging a smug smile on her lips. One that turned into something sweet as she beamed at the other couple making the rounds. They looked like their names would be Doris and Bob. Yup, Doris and Bob. And they were a few years into retirement, looking for a couch for their third house on the beach so their grandkids could stain it with chocolate ice cream when they came over. Doris and Bob probably wouldn’t have it any other way. Daydreaming about a similar future, Jade played with Regan’s fingers, pushing on the pads lightly, like they were the keys to her sister’s old Casio keyboard, the one she’d lock away so Jade couldn't get her sticky hands on it. (Joke’s on her, cause Jasper knew where she hid it). 

And, did Regan really just ask her about what she’d rather sit on? She quickly glanced down at her shoes, biting down the dozens of dirty jokes rushing to come out. She cleared her throat. “Oh, there is,” said softly, cause Bob and Doris did not need to hear about Jade’s sitting preferences. She could spare them. Cause even if the innuendo flew right over Regan’s head, she’d show her later anyway. “Yup, I love it when you compromise…” Where was Regan going with this? Oh. Nowhere bad, actually. “The frame can be wood or stone, that sounds super cute. Except you were so not thinking about the frame though, were you?” she gave Regan a skeptical look. The cats were something Jade was taking into account for sure, though. “Back in the apartment, we put scratching posts and pads everywhere so they wouldn’t care about the couch. It mostly worked.. but maybe we can get some covers too?” Cause, she loved her children like the most devoted mother would (at least she thought that was what mothers did), but this was obviously like, an investment for the future, she didn’t want it to be ruined in the first week. She didn’t want Regan to think that she wasn’t two hundred percent invested in this.  

“I really like…” she drew the L shape in the air, then nodded to the sectional couch they were approaching. She leaned in and pressed her cheek against Regan’s shoulder, closing her eyes when she felt her scent drifting. She was a little weak in the knees. Regan’s neck was truly a menace to society, no wonder she kept it covered a lot of the time. “It just feels like the prime snuggling couch, don’t you think? For purposeful holding only. All the extra space. And the nice armrest,” she sighed, staring at the gray… what was it, linen? The color was kinda eh. Or like, really eh. Which reminded her, she should probably let her non-negotiables be known. “I insist on soft fluffy cushions, think of the glutes, babe. I can compromise on material and color and shape, but like… what kinda bisexuals are we if we don’t pick a green one?” 

—

“There was no mugging,” Regan reassured Jade, though she didn’t really understand the question, “couches are not known for committing crimes, but the… leisurely attitude they encourage could be considered an unofficial one.” Jade’s voice had jabbed her with playful concern, and it was sinking in that it had been a joke of some kind. It still eluded Regan. She chalked it up as a Jade-ism she would need to conduct further research on so she could add it to her ongoing dictionary. “Well… I guess spare change ends up between the cushions, doesn’t it? Mugging.” Maybe that was what Jade meant. But probably not. Her bone partner seemed to have her eyes elsewhere as she teased her fingers (which was unheard of, actually, her looking at anyone else, so it must have been important). Regan followed Jade’s line of sight to an older couple. She made a mental note to keep her distance in case one or both of them were close to death. When her eyes flicked back to Jade, she still seemed caught up in her thoughts. Something light bubbled in Regan’s chest (indigestion?) as she guessed what was going on. And Jade was right for thinking it: that lady did look a little like the dead squirrel from the night they met over ulcers, stiff and grey. “I know,” Regan said quietly but fondly, Jade’s attention re-tangling itself up in her veins and arteries. “I see it, too.”

Regan was not superstitious; for most of her life, she couldn’t have been any further from it. She always thought that way of thinking was for the weak-minded humans, even though she had come to doubt that anyone had true autonomy – it was better to simply call it Fate and accept that it did not show its cards in the shapes of clouds or constellations at night. But Regan did listen to death. And if that older woman reminded her of the most important dead squirrel in their relationship, then it meant something. It was a reminder of how far they had come, wasn’t it? So Regan tried to keep her mind partially open, which wasn’t nearly as interesting as having an open brain. 

“The frame? No, I wasn’t talking about that. I meant instead of extraneous cushions. It would be nice and cool, wouldn’t it? You like that. Oh, and better for your posture than some… sack of feathers. Besides, how often would you be directly on the couch, anyway?” She might have known the answer to her earlier question about places to sit. Jade didn’t seem swayed. “I am attempting to compromise. We are getting a couch in the first place.” Her hardened expression didn’t last long, washed away by a simple raised brow and the soggy tide of Jade’s eyes. Of course there were things Jade wouldn’t budge on, either. And the sand always shifted under Regan’s feet when Jade asked something impossible of her (strange how it became less impossible when she slid enough to gain a new perspective).

The couch Jade seemed to like was oversized and she could imagine the pillows expelling down. Soft, fluffy cushions. Despite her best efforts, the thought put a scowl on Regan’s lips. She was trying to be human, and humans indisputably liked comfort (too much of it). But it was still hard to come face to face with such a deviation, to ask for it. Somehow different than ending up on Jade’s couch that she already owned, or purchasing one for Emilio that was far more self-indulgent than she would have ever allowed hersel– than she would have ever been allowed. But, again, a couch wasn’t only about her. And Jade’s gluteus maximus (and medius and minimus) deserved the world. “I do know your glutes… but… I mean, the cushions, if they aren’t made of stone, what if they’re too… and we should be disciplined, shouldn’t we? We’ll grow idle.” She hesitated. “I like green.” Her attempt to say she wasn’t so sure about this ended up being a rare mumble. 

When Jade made up her mind, she made up her mind. And… when Jade made up her mind, Regan did, too, now. [insert whipped vanilla pic]

When she exhaled what remained of her willpower, Jade’s face felt heavy against her shoulder. Trading one for the other hadn’t left her with regrets so far. [insert whipped vanilla pic again]

“There is a lot of space there.” Regan glanced down at her shoulder, where Jade’s bright eyes looked up at her. They said this was important to her. How did she do that, speak so loudly with a look? Even when neither of them said a word, Jade was never silent. Regan exhaled again, and it became an obvious sigh. Her hand slid around Jade’s waist, and she tugged her closer in some vaguely hug-like gesture that obviously wasn’t a hug, because she didn’t do that (her ‘last night on earth’ hug at the hotel didn’t count). “Okay. We can find a sectional like that. But the cushions must be removable. That’s… practical, anyway.” 

The store was a maze of couches, and while Jade might have been content bouncing from option to option, Regan needed a more organized approach. She scoped out the couch to the immediate right of the too-big one Jade had pointed out. A body could sink between the cushions and be preserved like it had been sucked inside a bog. They were huge and plush, so it met Jade’s specifications in that regard. It was also green – a muted pastel, not nearly saturated enough to be comparable to undigested bile. Remarkably, it might have fit the bill. For Jade, anyway. Which meant it fit Regan’s, too. She made an uneasy circle around this one as well, not trusting it. Her skin prickled like it was a familiar threat. “If only it were more cramped,” Regan mused, wondering if that was a concession Jade was willing to make when she thought about the end result of being cramped. Sometimes not being comfortable was better.

She alighted on the next couch. It was small, drab like a dead field mouse with only patches of its coat remaining, and it had a huge tag hanging off it (weirdly, it said the price was FREE?). Regan studied the whole couch first as if it could snap over her like a trap, and when she deemed it safe enough, she waved Jade over and checked out the tag. “Look, Jade, look at the tag. It lists the features. This one comes in a ‘suffocation’ model with an iron maiden mode.”

—

“Mmm. Phew! We don’t have to worry about the couches then,” Jade quipped after Regan explained that couches couldn’t be criminals. Her smile grew fond, smitten cause… why did she have the cutest girlfriend (er...bone partner, her bad) in the world? She won so hard, it was still like, wild to believe it. Their story grew more epic with time. Jade had lost her, then she came back, then they decided there was no point in being apart. And now they were buying a couch. Pacing around the store just like Bob and Doris (just in a sexier way). They were ready for the movie! (She didn’t think there were many options available to play her though). Anyway, it made her feel super validated to know she was right about them from the start. (The biggest kind of satisfaction). And like, sure a couch wasn’t much, but it was symbolic. It made the relationship feel serious. Which, obviously, it wasn't how she liked things to be. But when it came to Regan? She’d be the most serious person in the world. And to go back to the second cutest couple in Just Couches, Regan had also taken interest in them. Was she also thinking about the future? Did she envision buying more furniture with her? Did she think about all the fun they could have painting the walls baby blue? Or like, all the friends they were gonna host? It would be like, so many pounds of banana bread to feed the guests! 

Regan’s eyes were sparkly as she spoke, and Jade thought all those cliches about getting lost in blue eyes like they were the ocean kinda came up short when Regan had that dreamy haze about her. I know. Her stomach fluttered, cause Regan said she saw it too, and… look, considering the recent mishaps in communication, there was a fair chance they were on like, totally different wavelengths. It could mean anything. But Regan’s gaze didn’t lie (it literally couldn’t since the moment they met), there was love swimming in it. And Jade drowned for a moment, not caring about whatever words were being exchanged. She squeezed Regan’s hand, resisting the urge to go full on PDA, cause… well, she didn’t care they were in public technically (and neither did Regan if her past record was any indication) (Like, the cemetery, really?), but maybe if they behaved now, they could misbehave later, in like, a more ideal situation.   

And see, look at how serious she was taking couch buying! Cause there was going to be so much negotiation involved in getting the perfect one. And Jade wanted the perfect one, the 8.2/8 on the Bloodworth scale. If Just Couches wasn’t the one to provide it, then they’d go elsewhere. (She really hoped it didn’t come to that, though. The Just brand had never failed her before). Regan talked about frames and extraneous (?) cushions, while Jade looked up at her, batting her eyelashes. It was innocent, but she did like seeing Regan try to dictate her terms only for her convection to deflate by the virtue of some consistent eye contact. She finally broke it, letting Regan muster up some new resolve. In the meantime, she pressed a kiss to her shoulder. (Clothed, sadly. But a good shoulder either way). 

Had she not thanked Regan enough for fighting against herself just to please her? Welp, that had to change. “Thank you for doing this, babe. I so appreciate it, you know. I'll show you how much when we get home, maybe... You could even get to choose the how?” Another flutter of her eyelashes, this time less innocent. Watching the rise and fall of Regan’s chest pick up just a bit was totally worth it. It meant she was in the mood to be persuaded. “What if a couch’s purpose is literally to allow for idleness? We’re allowing it to fulfill it. We’re so responsible.” And who knew more than the two of them about the struggle to carry out one’s purpose? But this was always gonna be a fun game of thumb wrestling. At least Regan wasn’t opposed to the color of their couch being green. “Yup, I know you do, babe” the amount of green in Regan’s closet had totally skyrocketed since they got together. She was such a sap. The dampest of them all. (And she’d chosen to share her dampness with Jade. Which, again… felt like winning the lottery).  

But even if she liked green, Regan looked a little lukewarm about the particular couch they were judging. A little whelmed. Cause even if this one was the right color (so a total plus), it seemed to be too big according to Regan, which sounded like a bad thing. Jade let her go to examine the couch for other flaws, knowing soon enough Regan would need her pressed up against her again. And yup, sure enough, two beats later she felt Regan’s hand tugging her closer, reeling her in. Right. Too much space was a bad thing, how dare she forget. (She couldn’t question Regan’s methods here). 

Jade met Regan’s gaze again, checking in with her. She’d learned by now, what those eyes revealed about Regan. When she was asking for help, or when she was done listening for the time being. She knew when they hit a roadblock, when Regan was done expanding, when it was time to relent. Or when, despite everything, a last minute push was needed. It used to be a push and pull, but it was more of an ebb and flow these days. Right now, her eyes read open. Hesitant, but open. So a little more encouragement could still go a long way. "A sectional then. And we can totally get removable cushions. That’s like super smart, anyway. But smaller, yeah? Cause you'd miss me too much, hm?” she quirked an eyebrow, then shook her head, pretending to be offended. “You just want me on top of you," and there was nothing wrong with, like, a cozier couch, that was true. Maybe she was focusing too much on choosing something to show off, instead of finding something for them. 

Regan was fine with a sectional, which was a step closer to finding the one, even if it wasn’t the pastel green they were in front of. Jade didn’t like this shade of green, anyway, she could admit that, cause it wasn’t pastel-y enough to remind her of mint. So to recap, no velvet, not too spacious. And no fixed cushions. That didn’t sound too restrictive at all. 

And oooh! It seemed Regan had found the one, judging by her voice. Her eyes darted from the green couch they were leaving behind to the new contender and… huh. It sure was a couch. Or was it a giant mouse cosplaying as a couch? Hard to tell. It was exactly the type of couch white people would fall for in a movie, and then they’d be haunted forever. But like, the FREE tag was tempting, totes. Why exactly was Regan in favor of this? Oh… as if reading her mind, Regan read the couch’s attributes. Of course it had a suffocation model. Not exactly what Jade looked for in a couch. (But like, she made a mental note of stopping by a different store when they were done looking at couches, maybe Regan could find something that would suit her taste there). 

She rolled her eyes, an affectionate laughter bubbling softly. “Stop it.  I love you,” she whispered, light and easy. Four months ago she wouldn't have dared to say those words, even as she was choking on it. But now it was as easy as breathing. And she was tired of sideway glancing stuff, so she shifted until she was facing Regan. She rubbed along her bicep, loosening Regan some more. “I want you to have comfort, I want your back and your thighs to touch the softest surfaces. I want you to feel like you’re literally sitting on a cloud,” Regan’s right eyebrow twitched, and Jade was so charmed. “Figuratively, babe. I know we can’t sit on clouds and it would probably not be a super great experience. And hear this: You could still sit on the frame for a few days. Test it out,” her eyes twinkled playfully which should’ve warned Regan she was about to rile her up. “I get the vibe you’ll cave in a few hours… Once you realize what’s on the other, superior side, anyway,” she wiggled her eyebrows, reaching for Regan’s hand to coax her away from the weird mouse couch, trying not to look back in case she had that wistful look in her eyes or that pout on her lips that made Jade agree to silly things.  

A deep burgundy couch came next, which kinda remind her of wine. She liked wine! Plus she kinda liked the color too, even if it wasn’t bisexual green. “I have nothing to hate her for, actually. She’s innocent. But it’s not… it doesn’t feel like it, how about you?" Before Regan could share her take, Jade glanced to the side, to a striped black and white model. Ooooh, like a piano, obviously. Nothing else. It was weird that the tag advertised it as the ‘quietest couch in the world’, though. What did it mean? Why would a piano couch be quiet? Was it that the base didn’t squeak or screech if dragged across the floor? Actually… that might not be too bad of an idea for them. The concept was very confusing though, so she tugged on Regan. “She’s giving me mixed signals, which is only hot when you do it.” Skip! 

—

The longer they were there, and the more they “compromised” (Regan was persuaded), the more obvious it was that Jade’s heart swelled at the thought of the perfect couch. Regan’s fingers trailed up to Jade’s wrist, capturing some of her pulse for herself; she wished she could borrow some of Jade’s certainty, too. She thought, at least, that they understood each other in this. The couch was meaningful to Jade because it was the first staple in the weepy incision that was their future together (it was a good incision; a surgical one, a healing one, and it wept profusely). Couches were meaningful to humans, to families, to couples – like that squirrely pair now approaching the first overly-bloated couch she rejected. 

Regan saw understanding in Jade’s patience, too. Maybe she realized more about Regan’s trepidation than Regan even did. That often seemed to be the case. Did she know that when she’d kissed Regan’s shoulder, hours of tension drained out of it? (And went lower, actually.) For someone who was new to planning, Jade’s actions sure had some suspiciously desirable consequences at times. Could Regan counterstrike without getting the two of them banned from Just Couches? Probably not. Did she care at the moment? …Not enough, but her law-abiding sensibilities gave her just enough pause to think better of removing any clothes. They could stop by a cemetery after this. If they did, would they be able to write the couch off as a ‘business expense’ due to Jade’s slayer credentials? Okay, that was a stretch.

Even the word stretch had become problematic. And the thank you? The tantalizing form of said thank you? …In a couch store. “Why are you like this?” Regan breathed, one of those stupid, almost human smiles on her face. The most beautiful eyes beamed back at her. How could she not fall into them like the deepest of bogs? Jade’s whole face glowed with love and… couch. Right. This was improper conduct at a Just store. She gave Jade’s arm a small tug then released her hand, because she needed both of them to be able to focus again– this was a particularly laborious mission, wasn’t it? 

In any case, it sounds like they more or less agreed: a sectional with removable cushions. So Regan could remove the ones under her own butt, and Jade could slide it under hers to double up and feel taller. If they could stay off of each other, which they couldn’t. Fearg an chinniúint, it wasn’t even worth asking herself how this had happened, because she had her answer every time her eyes landed on Jade. I love you came so easily to Jade now, didn’t it? It did to Regan, too, even if it stumbled at her mouth or keyboard sometimes (a work in progress along with all other expressions of emotion). And so much for behaving, because Jade had a lock on her, straight into her eyes. They could have been in a store called Just Jade, for all Regan noticed.

She also couldn’t really argue against Jade wanting something for her. Regan huffed once, then twice as the cloud comment was clarified. They both knew this was a losing battle (for Regan, as always). “They already do touch the softest surface on a daily basis. I don’t need to be on a couch for that to happen. Siobhan wouldn’t sit on a couch.” Actually… “Or maybe she would, because she no longer has a need to avoid such things. But it’s a slippery slope. If I’m comfortable on a couch, what’s next? A mattress pad? Cashmere sweaters?” She was, unfortunately, completely serious. Persuasive as always, Jade was. Regan groaned at the word test, because Jade knew she had this by making it experimental. “Credit me with more than a few hours. My mind is not so easily changed unless in the face of compelling evidence.” She reached for Jade’s arm and leaned toward her, because she appreciated the sentiment she argued against. “I’ll last at least four just to be right. Have you ever tried not sitting on a cushion, hm?” They both knew the answer to that. “Hey. This isn’t a bog or a cemetery.” Regan breathed a shaky sigh, like that ever helped her release any tension. “I think we’re supposed to sit on the couches to try them out. Not what we’re both thinking. Mostly you. I behave.” 

If Jade had been trying to lead Regan to another option without having her think twice about the patchy mouse hair couch in the rearview, she succeeded. She noticed the new contender. The color was okay, though she found it wanting for more brown. Then it might evoke dried blood a little more. It was a dead ringer for zinfandel though, wasn’t it? Maybe that’s why Jade seemed to be admiring it (when not looking at her), despite it not being the green they had discussed. Also, were couches gendered now, or was this similar to when Jade spoke of other inanimate objects as being female? “It looks like an ordinary couch to me. How can you tell when one is it? Are there any actual criteria, or are you going to tell me it’s more of an intestinal feeling?” Regan considered her own question and glanced at the red couch again. No. Her intestines did nothing other than obediently digest lunch. “When I bought Emilio a new couch, I asked them to select it. I didn’t care. My goal was getting rid of the old one. They could pick for us, don’t you think? I expect only couch experts to work here.” 

Jade had spoken, though. Not this couch. Onto the next. Which was larger, with deep cushions that were almost dizzying to look at due to the black and white vertical striping. “I like the color, if not for the stripes.” So solid black, or white. “More of a flesh color would be better, actually. Solid. Maybe in leather?” Out of the corner of her eye… had the couch moved? It almost seemed to shrink away when she spoke. Regan shot a harsh glance at the couch, the very same kind Jade thought she might have been receiving from the couches earlier. Had Jade seen it? Or was this one of those things that only she was gifted to see? What did it have to do with death? Regan’s face scrunched up when she noticed the description on the tag. Quietest couch? Absolutely not. “I would sooner buy a screaming couch than an exceptionally quiet one.” Neither of them were good at silence, and Regan held disdain for it, seeing it as an insult. The idea of a screaming couch perked her up though. “Do you think there is a screaming couch here?” She motioned toward the next in the row, ever hopeful. 

Regan lifted a brow at Jade’s assessment. “My signals should inspire the utmost certainty. Like right now, you can tell you’re able to walk all over me. Not literally.” She twisted her lips. “That, too, though.” And… the couch? This one was completely flat. No cushions at all, other than outlined suggestions in chalk. It was more of a drawing of a couch on the ground than a real couch. Because that’s what it was. “This one! What do you think?” Once more, ever hopeful.

—

Her laugh returned as she watched in real time how easily Regan folded with a few suggestive words. Really! It was just called having manners, nothing more. Why wouldn’t Jade thank her all the time? (And well, especially if she got that reaction). Anyway, her laugh grew in volume, but not enough to sound like a hyena. Cause she didn’t wanna disturb the older couple. She squeezed Regan’s fingers, but the urge to draw closer and bury her face on the crook of her neck just to hold each other for a prolonged time (also known in some circles as hugging) was like, a true test. Why are you like this? Jade could barely think when she spotted the soft smile stretching on Regan’s face. If making her smile had been a duty, Jade would’ve been the GOAT, no doubt. (And she would’ve never ever questioned if she wanted to continue doing it) (Not that… anyway). “Mmm, I hear no complaints.” But Jade did use to wonder why she was like this. And not like her siblings. Or like her parents (cause if she were, then maybe they would’ve loved—) And actually, that same question had been making a real comeback recently. But when Regan said it, it felt like… it could maybe be a good thing. Being… Just Jade. 

Regan’s apprehension didn’t simply melt away, but Jade could see the small progress she made beat by beat, with a healthy mix of sound logic and shameful flirting. (And wasn’t that the most fun way to get through Regan anyway?) Plus, adding the removable cushions meant she didn’t have to fully embrace all of the softness just yet. Only until Regan realized that there was a superior side to the couch. (She was a smart cookie, she would get it eventually). “Siobhan totally sits on a couch, I’ve been to her place like, once or twice” her comment wasn’t needed, as Regan herself realized the flaw in her argument. And look, Jade was understanding of her concern about a slippery slope. (She’d been thinking about slippery slopes a lot recently) “You don’t have to be comfy in any of those things yet, just a couch, for now.” Did she… hear a ‘Ta-da!’ ding as she finished her sentence? The Just chains were amazing, weren’t they? She hoped one day she’d get to meet Mr. Just (Or Mrs. This had all the makings of a woman’s idea). “I can’t believe you want me to act like you wouldn’t look hot with a Cashmere sweater,” she sighed dramatically, eyes twinkling as they flickered back to Regan. If she could pretend it was for her benefit, she could probably get Regan to buy one, right? 

It was pretty cute, the way Regan believed she’d last for hours away from her. Adorable. She wasn’t gonna burst that bubble yet. More gloating for later. “I am compelling evidence, though,” and by the way Regan leaned forward, Jade was inclined to think she agreed too. Yup. And maybe she did let her eyes wander to Regan’s lips, but in a totally chill way. Cause they were in Just Couches, looking for couches. A gal knew about time and place. (Wasn’t it nice that nobody could contradict the blatant lies she told herself?) Regan did look like she had a cemetery or a bog in her mind though, and sure enough. Focus. Just Couches! Another laugh bubbled, cause Regan was openly joking with her. And something about that dryness in her tone and the quick wit, made Jade feel a little funny. “Wow, I can’t believe you’d lie about behaving while looking at me like that in a couch store,” she tutted, letting herself be pulled along before either of them could misbehave. “We’ll sit when we think we have one. It feels a little rude to sit on every single one.” Cause if someone truly desired that mouse looking couch, they should be allowed to test their cold, fluffy cushions in full glory.  

In front of the burgundy couch, Regan popped the most important question yet. (Nope, not that one) (She was pretty sure they were past that one already. But she should like, confirm some day, shouldn’t she?). How could they tell when they had the right couch? Jade didn’t ponder on it long at all, it was super obvious to her. She glanced at Regan, eyes soft but certain, “the same way I knew you were it. And how you knew I was it. The vibes, not vibrations, will come to you,” it was how she also knew that this burgundy couch was sexy, but there was a better one waiting for them. “Some would say it’s an intestinal feeling, yup. Like butterflies. Not the real kind. Like the ones we talked about at the cemetery,” the ones she felt that same night, looking across the ground to find Regan picking up a floral arrangement. 

It went without saying that Jade was letting no ‘couch experts’ decide where she and Regan would rest their beautiful behinds for the next few years. So the only acknowledgement she gave to that idea was a head shake, then moved onto the striped couch. Which, Regan wasn’t sold on it either, but like… not exactly for the same reasons. She wasn’t sure how she felt about a flesh colored leather couch, even if the leather bit of it kinda sounded sexy. She wouldn’t hate a leather couch, but she did worry a little about the cats. And… hadn’t they already discussed what the plan was to keep them away from it as much as possible? So, yup. She was warming up to a leather couch for realsies. And wait, Regan wanted a screaming couch? How was she not supposed to crack a joke about that? She nibbled on her bottom lip, sensing Bob and Doris strolling somewhere behind them. Nope, she couldn’t make any kind of jokes. Behave, she reminded herself. 

Thankfully, Regan was dutifully guiding them around the store, and if she could sense Jade was about to lose it, she didn’t even show it. When she was finally able to get back in the conversation, Regan had some thoughts on her signals, it seemed. “Oh, they do inspire certainty now. During the snail saga? Not as much.” But honestly? Who was she kidding? Then too. Jade always liked Regan’s signals, even when they pissed her off a little bit. Why else would Jade have been so persistent that there was something beautiful to explore between them?

Not as beautiful as the growth in their relationship, was the model Regan was pointing at. It was a drawing on the floor of where a couch should’ve been. And ugh, the way Regan pointed at it, hope sparkling in her blue eyes. It was unfair, okay? How dare she be the most endearing person in the world? And now she felt horrible, that she had to let her down. But she wasn’t gonna make fun of it. Even if she sometimes suspected Regan did this sorta thing to see how much she could push. Classic baby sibling behavior. Jade took it seriously. She rubbed her chin, pretending to consider it. “Well it is sectional, which we agreed to… But it’s missing my side of the cushions, isn’t it?” She raised a pointed eyebrow, like she was making the most logical argument in the world. (Cause she was). “I don’t wanna have to buy them separately,” yup. That was it. That was the reason. 

She tugged on Regan’s hand, distracting her from her dream couch, and stood on her tiptoes, doing a quick sweep of the store. There were like, so many couches. (Of course there were, they were Just Couches), but she focused on spotting the green ones. “Come on, there’s one there!” And sure, when Jade picked up pace and brought Regan along with her it meant they were bypassing a bunch of (probably) decent models in the process. And they weren’t really following any kinda order but, green couch! She speedwalked, giggling all the way to their next destination. A second (or third?) green couch. The cushions were so, so big on this one. Her feet would probably dangle if she sat. But it wasn’t huge to the sides, so Regan could still snuggle as much as she wanted. Jade was obsessed. She could probably hide like, several blades underneath. For defense reasons. She looked back at Regan, who was too far away from her liking. She needed more of her, so she got it, pulling her to her side. Hazel eyes greeted her first, and then she spoke. “I like it.”

—

Regan was a little unclear on how picking a couch was similar to falling in love, but she admittedly wasn’t an expert on either (she hadn’t done so terribly with the latter though, right?). Vibrations she knew; vibes, not so much. That was all Jade. Was she about to say this couch’s vibes were bad? Regan’s stomach tightened, because she wanted to defend this choice but logic was no counter to Jade’s decisions, sometimes. But when Jade spoke, it wasn’t about feelings that had no rational origin – instead, her concern was practical and cushion-related. “Would it be so bad to buy them separately? It means you could choose the color.” Currently, the couch – a simple outline – was the color of the floor itself, which was grey cement. It reminded Regan of headstones. Tasteful. A true classic. “You could get green ones. Or baby blue. Or maybe a nice pattern, like herring bones.” Regan looked at the couch again, a little more critically this time. “I suppose it is a little low to the ground.” Closer to the buried dead, she thought, optimistically. She knew when things became a losing battle, though, and Jade’s glutes needed to be as comfortable as Regan’s were sore. 

Jade was on a mission, and Regan barely kept pace as Jade surged through the store with more grace than any human ought to have. Every once in a while she’d pause, do a quick scan as if she had something in mind but didn’t see it, and then take off into a dash again. It was usually Regan herself doing this, in hot pursuit of death she was trying to pinpoint. The role reversal brought a small smile to her lips even as she was being pulled along. Regan chose not to interrupt such a delicate process. It didn’t take Jade long to find what she had in mind, anyway – like an osprey diving for a fish, she careened them toward a luxurious – and green – couch. If Regan had to describe the exact color, it would probably be, well, jade.

It looked far too inviting. This was a couch that would destroy one’s posture, reduce the firmness of the buttocks, and, who knows, maybe murder your family. It looked like the kind of couch Regan might have needed to leverage up to rescue a flattened decedent who had died underneath. The kind of couch with pillows ideal for committing a homicide via obstructive asphyxiation. Regan didn’t trust it, even if the color did remind her of the precious ring on her finger and the woman next to her. Curiosity compelled her to check the tag, which showed a reasonable price and, like the other couches, listed some of its features. Regan raised a brow as she read them off. “One hundred knife storage pockets, a cup holder – singular, I don’t know where, vibration mode, night mode, couch mode, disco mode, flotation mode, and includes one year of membership into the Just Club.” At least the membership was nice. And Jade would appreciate all the knife pockets. Regan wasn’t yet convinced.

But when she looked into Jade’s eyes – okay, the comparison to love started to make sense. Jade might have simply said she liked the couch, but Regan recognized what want looked like on her face. Jade was probably picturing the couch in all kinds of homes, thinking up decorations, carpets (Regan was also opposed to carpets), a fireplace. And, what Regan was most certain about: she was thinking about both of them on it. Suddenly all of her distrust hardly registered. Just like Regan had come around to soggy fries and chocolate so bitter it made her mouth pucker for hours, she would also come around to this. Probably. Maybe.

“What have you done to me?” Regan said under her breath, unsure if it had been in English or Irish, but with some amusement either way. Regan leaned against Jade, her head rolling to the side to rest on Jade’s shoulder. “You can’t go around telling everyone that I never say no to you, even if it’s true, okay? But I think I could absorb the look on your face right now forever, like decompositional fluid on a white shirt. So if this couch makes it stick – again, like decompositional fluid on a white shirt – then we will get the couch.” And even if seeing that beautiful shine of desire on Jade’s face forever was unrealistic, Regan would keep it there for however long the two of them would have together. And then even after, could she conjure it back up if she brushed her fingers over Jade’s maxilla and mandible, hundreds of years from now?

“Not so fast, though. Can we get both?” Regan tilted her head, making sure the depressing fluorescent lighting of the store hit her eyes now. “This one, and the flat one. A couple of cushions and you wouldn’t mind, right?” Plus it seemed compact enough that both couches could fit both in a storage unit, should they choose to reside there. “I don’t know how you expect me to stay awake during an entire movie on this thing. Which, come to think of it, we should ask if there’s a matching mattress that comes with the other couch, just as firm.” Jade’s eyes were quick to call her out. “Fine. An ottoman?”

—

Jade was totally sure she didn’t want to buy separate cushions. Like, almost as sure as she was of the ring on her finger and the meaning behind it. (Almost. The idea of baby blue cushions did give her a small pause). Nope, no cushions for the imaginary couch. In the meantime, Regan had found another con, and Jade latched onto it. “Mmmm, it's so low. If I wanted to be that low I would get one of those puffy beanbag chairs…” She trailed off, cause actually! Her eyes lit up at the idea. Weren’t beanbag chairs so comfy and cute? The best part is that they wouldn’t be able to get up after, they would be stuck there till the end of times. Kinda like her bog. As much as she was vibrating in excitement, she decided to spare Regan of her new genius idea, though. On the account of her mourning her dream couch. This way, they both lost something, didn’t they? It was a super fair exchange.

Plus, they had found a real contender now in the green couch, so beanbags were forgotten. It was promising that Regan was examining this one without the same stiffness she had the others. Maybe she had been exposed to so many comfy couches already that she had warmed up to them. They weren’t just torture devices anymore. Jade got her hopes up, for real. And oh! She hadn’t even read the tag yet. “Knife pockets!?” Wasn’t that like, so convenient and perfect? How did Just Couches know? That was probably why the Just chains were so popular. They catered to every interest. But, forget about knives (you heard that right), what was that about different modes? She moved closer to read the tag too. (And to get a better look at that sexy eyebrow Regan was rising) (Mmm, the right one). Yup. Disco mode? Vibration mode? They had to try all of them. Her excitement skyrocketed. And at this point, she was bracing for like, major disappointment if Regan decided to pull the plug for any reason. “Do you think this is couch mode?” she mused. Maybe it was store mode. She dragged her eyes lower, finding out about the Just Club membership at the same time as Regan. “I wanna go there, we are gonna go there,” she let out a dreamy sigh.

Her hand found Regan’s waist, pulling her closer. Sparkling eyes darted between her dream couch and her dream woman. (Wasn’t it weird, to be so freaking blissful at a couch store?) She didn’t have to say it, Regan could read the pretty please all over her face. And she got to see in real time how Regan melted to her mushiest version. Ugh, adorable. She snickered and not satisfied with a head on her shoulder, she nudged Regan so they could see each other. “Never. It’ll be our little secret,” she whispered, face inching closer just cause being in Regan’s orbit did that to her. She wasn’t gonna bring up the fact that a lot of people could probably already tell anyway. Cause there was nothing wrong with a small dose of delusion. Regan said yes to the couch, and Jade gifted her one of those smiles the other loved so much. It was a fair deal. In fact, she wanted to make it an even better one. Cause Regan was setting aside her own doubts and fighting her demons to find a comfy couch for her. It meant like, so much. She leaned in, for the faintest brush of their lips. And when Regan needed a little more than that, she gave in too. Cause Jade aimed to please, always. But she kept it sweet and gentle, okay? So nobody could come and yell at them to ‘get a room’ (which, knowing them, would've been more of an encouragement than anything else).

Parting was always the worst part, but she stayed close, enjoying the softness of Regan’s skin against the tip of her nose. No one ever warned Jade about how addicting that softness would be, but she had zero complaints. “You’re gonna love it too, I just know,” and when had she ever been wrong when it came to Regan? Reluctantly, she put more distance between them, cause they had a store clerk to call and like, sort out the purchase. She reached for Regan’s hand when her words stopped her. “Hm?” Both… what? Oh. Nope, actually, she was back to blanking on what Regan was trying to communicate, her two brain cells short-circuiting a little bit when she saw the fluorescent light reflect on Regan’s eyes. She could stare at her all day, and that was not a hyperbole. She had to restrain herself from going for another kiss. And shoot, right, Regan was talking. “I don’t see why not,” and maybe, that was her gayness talking, what about it? She knew Regan would ditch the outlined couch the second she saw Jade sprawled on their fancy green couch, ready to be snuggled (those back examinations were gonna hit so hard). She let out a cackle. “A matching mattress?” so, like… made of air? Those were a real thing. Except Regan probably meant another rectangle taped on the ground. Her eyebrows pinched together, and Regan came in hot with a correction. She laughed again, feeling extremely waterlogged. Regan was so sure it was her who never said no to Jade’s whims, but did she know how hard it was for her to not go along with every silly idea that popped into Regan’s head? Especially when there was a smile that reached her eyes? Hardest thing she’d ever done. Forget about hunter training. “Yup. We can get you an outlined ottoman, baby.” So really, why say no? Her hand reached down, giving her a love pat. “Come on, let’s find someone, before we end up agreeing on the free mouse couch too”.

[petty-crush]

“Barbie” (2023)

-a big budget, pop art, visually interesting film with a vibrant personality. I love it!

-also, easily the best use of Ryan Gosling since “Drive”

-I’m truly impressed with what Greta Gerwig got away with here.

+she crammed this with energy and made me hearty laugh the whole time

-the story is Barbie discovering sadness, the real world, clashing with the patriarchy, and just the wonderment of being a woman

-there’s a couple small details I want to highlight before the big stuff

-Kate McKinnon’s look is almost certainly inspired by the awesome cult film “Liquid Sky”, another tone poem of a film

-the small, tender scene of Barbie telling the old woman (at the bus stop) she’s beautiful, and said woman saying “I know” with a vicious smirk is magical

+it says just as much as the soon to be famous “being a woman is impossible” monologue in its own beautiful warmth

-the opening riff on “2001: A Space Odyssey” is the film personified; irreverent, playing with greatness, funny, colorful, and just a blast

-(after a man notes he is not part of the board) “I’m a guy with no power...does that make me a woman?

-I like how there are two matrix tributes; picking between two choices/shoes (original) and the at first mysterious Ruth being the Oracle (“Reloaded”)

-“after I found out the patriarchy didn’t include horses, I honestly lost interest”

-alright then, onto the big pillars

-here is a film saying, with all earnestness and actual thought, that we should approach our hearts with collectivism, bond over our shared yearns and desires and messiness

-(only a scold could say this film excludes love, a scold who didn’t actually watch the film and just wants any kind of attention)

-Margot Robbie nails every bit, from first thinking about dying, to discovering tears, to making Barbie’s naïveté to growth a journey of substance

-this film is unapologetic about being feminist (which shocked the fuck out of me) and does so with actual insight, not checking off a list (which is rad)

-note too, cause grumps will try to bury this, it asks men to not define themselves by conquering others, or stepping on necks, but by creating worth on their own goals and just being present in the moment. It asks them to free themselves from their own shackles

-there is a certain richness to male characters when female directors (and writers, etc) take over; new colors are displayed in the rainbow

-it is so immensely satisfying to see actual sets (practical, on camera) and vivid primary colors (after years of blurred muted-ness)

+its value in the aesthetic form and character of the film is immeasurable

-there isn’t a single false note in the “impossible to be a woman” speech, aptly delivered by America Ferrara. It simply presents itself with the courage of its convictions

-said being truly sucks and absolutely rules; the sheer inconsistency is its beauty and power. Neatness does not contain growth

-I like how the film emphasizes the under seen will truly change and save the world

-oh, I almost forgot to mention; I just about rolled out of my chair at the ribbing of zealots for the Synder cut of Justice League

-this is an artificiality to this film that is staggeringly authentic

-this is truly one of the best examples of just being the world and subverting the world in the 2020’s (and frankly all time); this will be studied and admired for years

-also also, the battle at the beach and the dance street fight among Ken’s is an all timer of a scene (it uses the past to power the present)

-I have a sneaking suspicion this may be the “Iron Man”(2008) to the upcoming Mattel cinematic universe; the vast number of following films will largely be less interesting, less full of the personality of its creators (with some exceptions)

-but this film is worth it; it is alive and joyful. It cannot be accountable for the world(s) that comes after it, only how it exists during its run time.

-and, truly, Gerwig has made something special here. It’s just going to make the lives of everyone who accepts it for what it is (love and color of form) many times better. It is a triumph

[marzules]

the strangest thing I've ever seen

oh my cod.

this took so long.

I started this back in October so I would have something nice to look at when I checked in for Nanowrimo... obviously I did not finish it by November lol but it was still fun to do!!!

here's some process photossss:

(I drew a terrifying amount of thumbnail sketches. It was in my head so clearly but it was so difficult to get)

I think this photo makes me look like a very skilled artist. also I think it's pretty. Look at that lighting yes it is wonderful to work in

chaos (I worked so hard on that toilet and that lamp and both of them are covered dude. For the sake of not making this any longer than it already is I won't include more photos but imagine perspective lines everywhere. Every color. Red (Red Rose) Blue(-da-ba-dee) green yellow cyan orange okay I don't think I got that far but it was bad so many layers I kept drawing on the wrong layer it was soo bad

this is the first version of the piece I finished in... December... for an art assignment. I don't know how I forgot to put a soap bottle on the sink when Sophie washes their hands in this scene... like it's the whole main focus....

Also the colors are different because my laptop colors absolutely suck and make everything more blue and desaturated. I asked like 10 different people and it is definitely a problem with my computer so I adjusted the colors in the top image... started doing that at 7:09 pm today thinking it would only take 20 minutes and it is uh. 10:40 pm. sobs

the colors are very accurate to what I am seeing on my screen though I promise you

anyways one more yapping section THE LORE!!! so basically REDSHIFT is a thing I've been working for a couple of years now, started as a book in like journal entry format and now it's flip flopping between a very small animated series or a very small movie I don't know which one. anyways

[i changed the lore. sorry guys. give me a bit]

Anyways back to where this thing even happens it's a dystopian sci-fi story!!! which means. It takes place in a dystopia. And it is sciency. Their planet is really nice you know they've been the most environmentally friendly planet for the past 117 years in a row!! Did you know that they contribute to the largest space arsenal in the universe and they have some of the best technology??? WOw good for. them. okay im tired man I want to be done writing this it's late lol. Also there's Steve I didn't mention Steve because he's kind of irrelevant big happenings wise only character development wise but he's very cool and I think u guys will Love Him he becomes Sophie's friend :))

anyways one more thing about half of the population here are kind of just... voids. Like space voids. Like you look at them and they're just a silhouette of a person and you just see space through them. It's a bit inconvenient at times yeah you can't tell people apart unless they're wearing clothes yeah there are other planets with only humans and only spacey peoples and other planets have other species entirely but they're all pretty much in their own bubble and this one's got flesh humans and space humans. They've got quite a history I think you will find. Very big on science... experimentation innovation whatever... personal improvement. just want to make their world a bit better you know...

okay that is all. goodnight

[triptychgardener]

Since you do a lot of text color formatting for Early June(though I guess I'm assuming that you don't have someone else help with that), I was wondering if you could give some tips on making that more bearable?

I'm doing a similar thing, and it takes me a really long time to format everything, especially in scenes that function like pesterlogs where characters talk back and forth and require a whole span class statement with each new line. Is it just one of those things where it's like "yeah it sucks but you kinda just have to deal with it," or do you have ways to make it easier?

Oh totally! I do all the formatting myself in AO3, and at this point I've honed my technique to the point where I can get formatting done fairly quickly.

First things first: Find and Replace is your friend always. I use this extension for Firefox which allows me to save favorite replacement settings, and it's very reliable.

Basically, after you're done writing what you want to write in another program, go to the HTML section in AO3 and paste your writing there.

After that, I always recommend previewing the plain text before further editing. I find that editing without previewing can eliminate things like paragraph breaks which will be a nightmare.

Dialogue tags are pretty much universally the same in Homestuck, making them an ideal vector for Find and Replace, so after you write, say:

ROSE: This is an example sentence.

You can just go into your Find and Replace tool, replace all instances of

ROSE:

with

<span class="rose">ROSE:

And then you've just tagged every line of dialogue by Rose! Repeat for all the other characters you have in the chapter. And if you save each replacement setting, upon opening a new chapter you can get a character's dialogue colored in seconds.

Now, be warned: AO3 does you the kindness of placing all the </span>s at the end of the paragraph. The upside to this is that you don't need to actually end your span classes as long as the entire paragraph is properly formatted dialogue, though it will look ugly as hell in the back end and may glitch out. But this DOES make it harder to catch when/if you forgot a character or misspelled their name, so I'd always recommend proofreading a couple times, though to be fair that goes for all writing.

For narration paragraphs I just manually copy and paste the p class.

There's also lots of little quirks and complications that make it difficult, and sometimes you're just gonna have to do it manually. Davepeta's two-toned text combined with a variable quirk in the B33 and the B;33 and the B33c sense means you just gotta do it by hand, but this should help with the vast majority of formatting issues.

I know there are also some external tools for this sort of thing that do the work for you, I'm sure someone will link them in the comments, but this is just how I do things. Hope this helps!

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Ok Unicorn Overlord will get its own post at some point now that I'm finally done with it (spoilers: it's pretty great but not perfect, and I still like Engage more for SRPGs I've played semi-recently, but it's definitely one of my favorite things I've played so far this year), but here's some other stuff that's accumulated while I've been busy playing that or otherwise not posting on here.

I finally got around to playing Night in the Woods, or at least some of it. I get why people like it so much, but I think it's just not really my thing. The characters and the world are fun and everything, but when I'm a few hours in and have zero idea how far I am in the game because there's been zero actual plot so far, just random slice of life stuff, I'm probably going to get distracted and go do something else.

I tried to keep going because so many people I know really love it, but then I ran into the problem that it's possibly the only game I have on the Switch that's literally unplayable for me when the sun is up unless I go hide in a dark closet or something. I'm not turning up the brightness for the dark scenes with an average color of #010002 just to get my retinas seared off as soon as it switches to daytime again, especially when I don't have to do that in any other game. I have the fun combo of being noticeably more light sensitive than average but also having moderately bad and somewhat uncorrectable vision, and that just doesn't mesh well with trying to play this game at any time other than the middle of the night.

Death end re;Quest 2 was going to get its own post, but I just can't work up the effort to write it. I actually completely forgot I'd even played it a few days after finishing, that's how little of an impression it left on me. It was such a letdown after how interesting the first one was (despite all the problems I also had with it). I have no idea why they dropped the focus on most stuff that made the first one stand out as unique and went with much more generic horror this time around.

I could complain about the gameplay being less fun this time around for some reason (even though I never used the genre shift mechanics in the original, so it's not like it was because that was missing) or how predictable the story was or how much wasted potential the characters had (please let them have more than one personality trait), but I think I'll settle for complaining about fanservice and call it a day.

I appreciate that they dialed back on the visual side of the fanservice stuff from the first game, even if they probably only did it because so many of the characters are underage this time around, but they made up for it with their characterization instead. Look, if you have the right to write potentially interesting but ultimately relatively shallow characters and fill them with your own fetishes, I have the right to not like it and complain about it. Let Rottie have a personality trait other than "is gay", please. And just because you don't have her running around half naked because she's only 13 doesn't mean you're not still a weird creep for making her Extremely Normal about smelling Mai all the time or for making both DerQ games each have young girls talking about wetting their pants more than every other game I've played in my life combined (with the notable exception of Sahad Ys8, who somehow manages to do it twice as much as these games do combined while still being a pretty likable guy).

Maybe the story finally goes somewhere if you do the NG+ stuff, but I don't have the fortitude to drag myself through that, especially since you apparently need to do all the side quests to unlock all the dialogues, and the side quests suck and are just filler/padding. I didn't mind doing NG+ in the first one because I was actually invested in the story, but I just don't care enough this time. I'm not feeling optimistic about future games in the series, but if they're closer to what the first one was like I could be persuaded to try another if it's on sale cheap enough.

And I guess to end on a positive note, Vampire Survivors is still great. I originally played it on my computer before any of the DLC existed, and I did a bunch of what was in the game at the time but got distracted before finishing everything. I always meant to go back to it and do more and try the DLC, but I haven't been using my computer as much in the time between then and now because seeing is hard.

So I grabbed it and all the DLC on my Switch instead because it's practically free anyway, and I replayed everything I already did before plus all the new stuff, and I regret nothing. The first couple DLCs (Legacy of the Moonspell and Tides of the Foscari) were a bit underwhelming, even if some of the new characters and weapons were kind of fun, but the Amogus and Contra ones were actually surprisingly great. I was expecting crossover stuff to be worse and just a cash grab, but they actually did some really neat stuff with them and they were a lot of fun. I think I would've liked Foscari more if it had a proper adventure mode like the others to introduce you to the new stuff instead of just blasting through it with all your existing upgrades intact, but they haven't gone back and redone that one yet to add that. I suspect it'll be good when they do though, considering everything they've learned from making the more recent ones.