#gimp has my WHOLE heart

[friedno]

okay i haven't drawn cloutchase in a bit so forgive me if this looks funky. and i can almost guarantee someone else has thought of this. but as SOON as i saw the twitter X rebrand this is the FIRST thing I thought of LMAO (with the original next to it for reference)

[crossbackpoke-check]

Hello, im wehaveagathering from my main blog, im kind of obsessed with your hockey poetry edits and I think your blog is great! I guess I kind of have a dumb question, where do you find the images you use for your edits? Did you say Getty in your tags?? I’ve gotten into making icons recently (and i have ideas for poetry edits hrrrghhh) but it’s hard to find high res images. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a nice day :)

first of all thank you so much 🥹 and second that’s absolutely not a dumb question!! i do pull a lot of images from getty and i’ll also download pictures from sports articles (i got a lot of the hugheses pictures from online access articles, for example), or sometimes from instagram/facebook/twitter if an account is public. freely admitting that i am not technologically advanced? inclined? in the slightest here, but the image editing software that you use and how you import/export photos with it makes a difference in the quality of them as well!

if you haven’t seen them yet, i would also recommend checking out @simmyfrobby @national-hockey-lesbian @hauntedppgpaints @tapedsleeves @starscelly and @captainbradmarchand’s blogs just off the top of my head!!! they might know more places to get high res images and also i love their work 💕🫶

[shapelytimber]

Wanted to paint some of my favorite characters, nothing more nothing less

[COMMISSIONS]

Way too much yapping like an embarrassing amount, the individual portraits and the template I used below vvv

I shouldn't be allowed to talk about my favorite characters- especially to people who (presumably) don't know them xjfkdk apart from the very popular ones ofc

ILLYA KURYAKIN (The man from U.N.C.L.E)

gay ass little Russian spy I love him he is so *dramatic* and a huge nerd and a Beatles fan and into fashion design- perfect pocket size blorbo ;w; also seeing a Russian character being given a positive leading role in an American tvshow from the 60s ?? Yes he lives in New York and works for UNCLE America.... But he is still a communist ?? Incredible ! Also I really like the fact he isn't given the cliché personality traits often given to Russian characters i e anger issues drinks a lot violent ect (looking at you shitty(imo) modern remake... What did you do to my little guy ;;). In a close contest with Spock for the "gayest man from tvshow" of the 60s..... And in my heart he is winning djdkd for me the gay subtext of muncle hits so much more because it's not a scifi show- it's closer to home, Napoleon and Illya were *like that* in the present day of the 60s, they were both human, and no alien fuckery made them go to the village more than once or play house in the suburbs or get attached ass up to get pegged on a regular basis... Truly a show that feels written by an old queen and a guy with the biggest fem dom fetish jkvjjkb (don't get me wrong tho I adore star trek tos and spirk too <3)

KUROO HAZAMA and PINOKO (Black Jack)

sometimes I rewatch some of the oavs from the 90s when I'm sad :) I had a huge phase a couple years back when I read nearly all the manga (should really finish it... Or reread the whole thing frankly), watched *all* the shows (bar young black jack, hated that shit) and idk I just love this venal bitch so much- him and his daughter and his conflicted feelings for his tboy ex that he still loves kfkfkf btw I'm dying for a modern take on this like please please please I'd love to see Kei Kisaragi's story rewritten a bit (trans character in the 70s sure was progressive but oh boy-), because him and black jack's relationship makes me so *weak*.... And maybe see him a bit more than in one story- anyway ! When it comes to his daughter Pinoko, it's very hit or miss- when the writers lean on the cute father adoptive daughter relationship it's great, when they lean more on the whole "she has a crush on him" (very much like a child in most case, and he *never* reciprocate thank god) and bring up the fact she is technically 18 a lot (she was an evil tumor trapped in her sister before he created a body for her- black jack shit dw), and she gets jealous of other women.... Well it's terrible and I'm uncomfy :(

EVA KANT (Diabolik)

Look.... You just can't show me danger diabolik 1968 and not expect me to become insane djdkdkdk she is so cool ;; !!! Her and her devious eel of a man (here as a panther, because even tho I haven't read the comic yet, I'm taking an educated guess that all the panther imagery is here to represent him, the lethal twunk always in the all black gimp suit... And if it's not then fuck my entire life ig fjfkkd), the cuntiest het couple you've ever seen, such freaks I love them ! Partners in crime that will blow up the tax offices of the whole country if you try to put a bounty on them <3 they are in the guilty faves category only because I'm this invested in these characters after 1 (one) movie fkfkf watched the first two remakes and was hmmm let's say underwhelmed, could have been worse but going after the 60s one ie peak cinema was hard... I went in fully invested in these heterosexuals and they still fucked up their romance and relationship ;; (don't spoil me the third one btw haven't seen it yet ! I know it's the yaoi one- which doesn't give me much hope for Eva tbh...) I'll soon start reading the comics tho ! Managed to find all twelve volumes of "Il grande Diabolik" in french for pretty cheap so I'm excited for that :D (might scan them and upload them online because omg I tried finding scans in *any* language and only found a dubious website that sold digital copies for 7€ a volume ??? What is this)

UTA (The Void / Тургор / Turgor / Tension)

Apathy girlyyyyy she just like me for real for real nfkfk what absolutely charmed me about her is yes her design, but more importantly her chamber's design (if you've never played the void, a sister's chamber is a space that represent her. You get a sense of who she is by exploring her chamber before finding her and talking to her soul it's great). The lonely island out at sea, her laying down on a suspended steel boat in a grotto, looking passively at the moon by a crack on the ceiling.... And the moon is looking back. Incredible ! I love this game so much

KIM KITSURAGI (Disco Elysium)

Do I really have to explain this one ? When I played the game with quiji I remember I kept saying "when Kim talks, we *listen*" djkdk we did get a good grade in Kim Kitsuragi and got him to dance in the church <3 this fucking centrist cop wormed it's way into my heart and many others because of course he did. The only Kim K in my eyes. Also funny anecdote : before I played Disco Elysium, I had one concept art masterclass where a kinda famous concept artist came to give advice, make us really stressed then give us a shitty grade.... And when I tell you this man looked so much like Kim ??? Same haircut, glasses, face with a scar *exactly* where Kim's portrait has a stark shadow on his cheek and he was dressed in an orange top- truly uncanny. Anyway, Kim is so fucking cool how does he do it

DARK VADOR (La guerre des étoiles)

*sight* not surprising if you know me... and to be clear when I say Vader I don't mean Anakin Skywalker, post barbecue only zouz here. I refuse to yap about this man djdkdk I already do that way to much in ao3 comment sections

And here is the template I used ! Don't know who made it tho sorry...

PS : all these where made in 2-3 hours each :D wanted to challenge myself by painting quickly, and I mostly (looking at the Eva Kant one that gave me trouble) succeeded !

[nikibogwater]

Everybody sit down and strap in, 'cause I have a doozy of a tale to share.

I've had anxiety for literally as long as I can remember. I've had periods of my life where it was so intense it became legitimately life-threatening (don't worry I promise this is going somewhere funny). And this was really bizarre because I have zero childhood trauma. Like, my family life is so idyllic it's almost comical. Therapists would do abuse screenings on me and look utterly baffled when I told them everything was fine at home. They'd interrogate my parents just to make sure I wasn't lying. I have one friend who I'm fairly sure believed I was just severely gaslighting myself when I said my family was great, school wasn't too stressful, and I've never lived in a dangerous neighborhood or experienced poverty.

Anyways, despite no one being able to figure out where my disorder was coming from, my doctors were able to help me manage the symptoms so that I would like, not die, and actually be able to finish high school. Which was awesome. Now fast forward to late 2021. My big sister (who has also had intense anxiety her whole life which no one could figure out why) is finishing up her doctorate and getting her physical therapist's license. Somehow, during all her studying and schooling, she finds out about this thing called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which explains literally everything that was going on with us. EDS is a connective tissue disorder that kinda fudges up your body in a whole bunch of little ways, including dysautonomia (episodes of very fast heart-rate that kick your body into fight-or-flight mode), and hypermobility (unusual flexibility). It's a spectrum disorder, so the severity of symptoms vary from person to person, but we definitely checked almost every box on the diagnostic list. My sister went to see a specialist, and yep, she was diagnosed EDS positive. She immediately calls my mom and goes "I know what's wrong with Niki" (thanks, sis, that's real encouraging lol). Initially we're like "okay Katie, that's nice" because honestly this kind of sounds like jumping at shadows, but I go in to see the specialist anyways just to make sure.

One consultation and diagnosis later, and suddenly my entire life makes perfect sense.

Now we get to the funny part. See, the diagnosis stuff happened in early 2022. So by the time late 2023 comes around and we're looking for a new dog (I promise this is relevant), we've been riding that chronic illness diagnosis for a while. Once again, my sister, ever the proactive one, decides she's going to help us get a new dog. She scours the adoption website, sends us photos of the cutest dogs available, and helps us make a decision. This is how we got Beverly, who has been an unstoppable force of chaos in our lives ever since we signed the papers (but she's also really cute so she can get away with it). Now on top of being a very excitable and anxious pupper, Beverly's got a weird little gimp in her hindquarters, which makes her sit all splayed-out and funny-looking, and while it doesn't seem to be causing her pain, we take her to a vet to get it checked out. Vet finds absolutely nothing. X-rays are taken and examined. Still nothing. At this point, they go "well, we could try a CT scan of her brain, which would run about $5,000, and maybe we could find something--" but my parents are already packing this dog into the car like "well that is a HARD nope." So we decide, look, Beverly seems happy and healthy, and those gimpy legs don't seem to bother her, so we'll just leave it be until it becomes clearer what's wrong with her because we do NOT have a cool $5,000 to throw around here.

Readers more astute than my family and I will likely have already figured out where this is going.

This morning, my mom is looking at Beverly sitting in her funny sprawled-out way, and something in her brain goes "wait...weird physical symptoms with no tracible cause that vets can see..." She does a bit of googling. Can dogs have EDS/Hypermobility? Yes. Yes they can. And the listed symptoms describe Beverly to a T.

So not only is my sister the one to finally figure out what's wrong with me, she also unknowingly got us a dog who has the exact same chronic condition as us. Meanwhile my poor dad, who is the only Normal Person in our house, is coming to terms with the fact that he is apparently just fated to always love chronically ill people and animals, and there's absolutely nothing he can do about it.

[ihatetaxes99]

I'll say it: I love the MLA, but they probably shouldn't have existed. Not in their canon state, at least.

Everything about their presence after their introductory arc only really serves to make everything to do with storytelling harder for Horikoshi. Let's remove the League from the equation for the moment. The MLA has Geten and Re-Destro, implied to be two of the more powerful characters in the series (and neither of whom were actually defeated during the MVA arc, with the latter only standing down due to losing his own faith in the battle), and that's without getting into the 100k+ foot soldiers they've got kicking around. Curious and Skeptic are fairly useless in regards to combat proficiency, but Hanabata provides another strong support pillar of the army. Even before you add in Shigaraki, Twice and Dabi, the MLA is overpowered.

And what did this lead to? A massively tangled operation where half of its members had to be unsatisfyingly knocked out off-screen because Horikoshi had accidentally made them too powerful to be conceivably beaten. And to be fair, it's a trap I fell into myself the last time I wrote them. The Liberation Army are very difficult to make threatening, because you have to gimp them in order for the heroes to not get immediately blown to pieces like a small child throwing a rock at the Berlin Wall. As it stands, they're too good.

So, in all this smug retrospect, what would I have done? Well, it's something I'm toying with for something I'm working on, but my main idea would be to cut the MLA down. Make them a real underground faction of extremists. They still have their primary figureheads, but that aside, give them a couple of hundred loyalists spread throughout the country, not a couple of hundred thousand. They're powerful, but they're low in number, with many of their forces consisting of people like Yotsubashi's private security team and Hanabata's party subordinates. Much like the IRB at the turn of the twentieth century prior to the Easter Rising, they're basically an old boys' club, sitting around and reminiscing on when the group had power. Their schemes have to be more subtle, more focused on the - ahem - hearts and minds of the public. Things like Detnerat's products and commercials, Curious' articles, Hanabata's proposed policies, they all subtly push a pro-Liberation message. They warm the general population up to the idea, they take advantage of the Commission's failures, they engineer public crises from behind the scenes to weaken people's belief in the current system. What if, for example, it had been the MLA who had secretly encouraged Overhaul's production of a Quirk-erasing drug, in the hopes that it would cause further unrest and fear that they could manipulate to turn public sentiment against the current government? What if they had provided funding to the League post-All for One's arrest in order to stir up more trouble, instead of getting in a big fight and losing half their men to Shigaraki? What if the UA traitor had been acting on orders from the MLA, who then relayed the information to the League for the purpose of essentially using them as their pawns to attack UA on their behalf? A secret society pulling the strings, and using the League as their unwitting patsies, behind the scenes to sow distrust in the Commission and set them up for their eventual failure. The final arc could have been less about whatever the hell it was about and more about the League finally realising what was going on and having a massive three-way battle between the heroes, the villains and the MLA who finally take to the streets after spending pretty much the whole story scheming and manipulating and building up their forces.

It's all fanfic stuff, and it's so easy to point and gape and go "I would do that so much better!" but I honestly think the secret society working to undermine the government angle would have been more interesting and made for a more threatening faction than a massive revolutionary army which gets immediately crumpled during their first major battle with the heroes.

[super-paper]

Manga spoilers!

I wanna give the benefit of the doubt to hori bc i know this isn't the last chapter and he could always continue and mend stuff in upcoming chapters. With that said, this chapter does feel rushed and off. And i'm not talking about action wise as most fans on twt think, but i'm refering to the conclusion(?) of shigarakis character arc. Regarding the whole afo/yoichi talk, hori could get away with it a bit, but as for shigaraki.... that's another conversation. There were moments in this chapter that i loved, i really liked izuku understanding of afo deep down, and the little ,although rushed, talk between the brothers. I loved that scene of the ofa users (minus toshinori i think, why????? He deserved to be there lol) and shigaraki punching afo, i love the idea of shigaraki also being a part of that and i find that panel of his and izukus fists connected beautiful in all ways. But then at the same time it's so rushed! I heard some fans think izukus character got ruined by ending the series quirkless, (....?.....) but what bothers me is actually izukus lack of reaction. It's valid and understandable for izuku to not forgive and be upset at shigaraki, but for the same kid that was so set in saving that crying boy for multiple arcs and through this one, and all the compassion izuku felt for tenko, for izuku to not react shigaraki crumbling into dust and disappearing feels so weird and out of character for him. Can one even count that as him saving that crying little boy?? Now, i do expect hori to bring back tomura/tenko somehow, but if not.... well then that's disappointing and i have to wonder what happened with his character arc??

Like, I'm really trying to be optimistic but 😭

Like you said it was extremely rushed and jammed what should have been 2-3 chapters worth of content into a single chapter-- it makes everything seem unfocused and flat. Like, whatever happened between Tenko and Nana getting offscreened completely neutered the emotional impact and "triumph" of Tenko's "return". AFO getting psychologically dressed down by Izuku, confronted by Yoichi and the vestiges + Tenko, and ultimately "exorcised" deserved its own focus chapter rather than being forced to share breathing room with the (equally gimped) exits of two other characters. Tenko and AFO's relationship gets zero focus/introspection-- Instead we have Tenko literally getting lumped in with the rest of the vestiges instead of getting any sort of unique dialog/interaction with AFO even though his dynamic with AFO (and their melding/untangling from one another) has been a MAJOR part of the series. Honestly, if I think about Tenko/Tomura and his treatment any more I'll probably make myself sick-- other people have already said enough on why this would be a terrible ending for him/MHA as a whole if it sticks.

It's just, such an incomprehensibly bad and cowardly chapter lmao.

(heavy criticism re: Izuku's writing under the read more)

I think my main issue is that even if it is a big fakeout, there's just.... no salvaging Izuku's character for me after this chapter. His entire arc and what was supposed to distinguish him from other heroes hinged on this. Like, you can't have your "intrinsically compassionate sees-the-heart-in-everyone" MC smash through the dying remains of a character who is literally begging for Tenko's life and expect ppl to still root for him??? Shiragiri sacrifices himself to plead on Tenko's behalf and remind everyone there that Tenko is a human who has people waiting for him-- but tonally, him getting utterly steamrolled still gets treated like a hype/heroic moment by Bkg's inexplicable arrival on the scene. It's incomprehensibly tone deaf and makes Izuku's almost complete nonreaction to pretty much everything that has happened to both Tenko and himself stand out all the worse.

As a Izuku fan it boggles my mind that other Izuku fans seem to think this was a good conclusion to his character arc. Like. There's literally no way to backtrack or put any kind of positive spin on how Izuku behaved during this fight evn if Tenko does survive, and it kills me. There's no way to spin it that doesn't boil down to Izuku thinking that Tenko was an acceptable loss if it meant erasing AFO from the world.

There was not even a smidge of internal conflict or hesitation or even a single thought spared for Tenko. Zero introspection from Izuku and zero grappling with the weight of the life he's about to take (because from his perspective, even if Tenko *does* miraculously survive, Izuku had no way of knowing he would and still made the decision to whale away on his body as it crumbled!). Like. Zero reflection on the reveal that Tenko was manipulated from birth, zero attempt to reach him or even speak to him again to see if he was still "in there." Zero attempt to minimize the damage to Tenko's body, zero attempt to engage w/ the sole other character invested in trying to save him (💀💀💀) Zero communication with his fellow heroes about Tenko's situation and his desire to save him so THEY could all make an informed choice, zero hesitation in repeatedly whaling away at Tenko's dying body, zero attempt to "go beyond" and change the ending/future. like. Everything abt Izuku's writing in this chapter is utterly ghoulish.

But hey, Izuku's final punch made the rain stop or whatever. Ugh. 🙄

[thisismycorneroftheinternet]

Two panels from Chapter 2 of my comic

This has been 3 years ago at this point, but I'm still so proud of mainly the court scene on that chapter. There's so much detail that has to do with worldbuilding. The luminous floor tiles and pillars that are meant to have pulses of light are all fed by the power grid of the Universal Empire's central castle-planet, which in turn is fed by the pulsating jet of a luminous, massive active galactic nucleus (a black hole with an accretion disk that generates massive amounts of light and expels so much matter and photons as jets due to the interactions of the forces near the event horizon, that it shines brighter than the galaxy that it inhabits) which the planet orbits. This same power grid feeds an extensive portal system connected to the outer doors of the castle, which are indicated with intricate murals of the locations those portals lead to, and the servants of the Universal Empire can access and use to take shortcuts and travel to and from the Empire's heart planet to even its edges.

The parts of the flooring and the throne the Empress sits on is all carved from a dead star's black diamond core, which is a thing that can happen, stars that die as white dwarfs and eventually cool down have so much carbon in high pressure that it forms a diamond, which would be black because of the presence of all other elements. The different aliens that I show on the scene are all from different subjugated civilizations under the Universal Empire, some who are also Warriors under the other carriers of elemental talismans. The yellow owl-like alien present here is Lady Aeolus, the Air Messenger, a shape-shifting space harpy who can travel through the vacuum of space, who comes from a planet called Pteria that has a highly tiered cast society based on their size and diet, and has heavy parallels to not only greco-roman aesthetic but a lot of its values, but mixed with avian instinct turned culture.

Also that's the Sorceress, on the right, as portrayed in the Empire's fearful prediction if she keeps on taking down the Talisman carriers and ends up acquiring a power equal to the power of the Empress, a world-destroying, spacetime shifting power. She was part of the Earth King's court and species (the Earth King being literally a sentient planet with a whole civilization of cervid-like bipedal aliens who serve him) until she fell under the influence of chaotic demons and now wants to seek the destruction of it all.

IDK, there's so much more that I still want to write about on my comic, but yeah, those little scenes and snippets have so much that I've been thinking about for years.

drawn on GIMP. All the characters in this comic series are mine. If you're seeking commissions from me, here's my page. Also, support me on Ko-fi here! Lastly, check out my Neocities website to see more of my work.

[faint-kitten]

Okay. Okay. Okay.

So. This needs a lot of explanation for this rabbit hole, but all of you need to suffer this with me. If you watch my stream and don't want me to idk ruin the "magic" of my little shark don't read this.

But to anyone who PNG's it's pretty common knowledge I think.

So I stream, right? I have no money right? I have no talent for drawing right? So i have to hand make everything I have from whatever I can via 1) Create for myself with MS paint and Gimp

2) Steal from a corporation without feeling bad for it.

So I'm sitting there thinking about how my PNG model has a santa hat for the holiday streams. But the santa hat vanishes when i do different emotes because I didn't photoshop it onto the other faces.

When you don't have a vtube studio model/rig and you use veadotube mini, you're drawing/editing 4 images every time you want to add something. For instance: I spent too long creating shadow heart's hair for my model today. Then had to apply it to every face I have (Standard, clown, blushing). That's 12 times I have to photoshop and save the addition to the original image, and 12 times I have to load a file for every face for consistancy. Not complaining. I fucking love the program and am absolutely chuffed my broke ass could get it for free.

But I didn't do that for the santa hat. The Santa hat is just on my nuetral expression.

I recently added a "zoom" for close ups (a standard streaming trick for emphasizing moments, a lot of streamers do this with a close up of their model or a close up on thier camera.) In order to do this "trick" I had to tell my stream deck to hide my normal veado source and show the "zoom" source. Every expression works big there. But I only have so many keys, I can't map the switch back to the santa hat or santa would just trigger big mode, so I just mapped "hide big mode" to the default face which runs several stream deck commands to nuke any changes I'd made to my look (vanishing clown hair, googly eyes etc.)

I'd have to go "big mode" then small mode which resets everything to default size, and then tap santa mode.

But I kept forgetting to re-apply santa mode after swapping back from big mode. So I'd go huge, shrink down and the hat would be "gone" .

So chat kept making a joke that my hat "fell off again." And I started doing a whole bit where I'd slide my png like it was "walking down the stairs" out of sight, re-apply it and come back up with my hat on again.

Then it occured to me, what if, as a bit, I could do that, and down switch to another scene: One where I'm under like a dinner table. Like I'd ducked under the cloth and was just hanging out down there. I could break the fourth wall and pretend I was taking a break from the audience. Pretend to talk about the show under my breath like they couldn't hear me, you know? As a bit.

So I googled "under the table" to start getting reference photos. Not realizing most of it is either going to be "getting paid under the table" or dudes and dudettes playing with each other under the table.

As I was looking at these I spotted the words "pawjob under the table." It was at this point, I learned what a Pawjob was, and what Pawing off is (I approve and have questions).

So I'm sitting here staring at memes from Genshin impact and just pictures and pictures and pictures of Max beating off sam with his feet and other furries with dicks on their feet and out of the corner of my eye I spot a very serious, very familiar face…

Jordan Fucking Peele. The director of Get out, Nope, etc.

I'm thinking it can't be. Someone had to use it as a joke or meme, right? But this photo looks OFFICIAL. So I HAVE to know. I click on it and it fucking takes me to his production company or something. There's Jordan standing in a room full of very serious people in black. It's a company page, and he's listed as CEO.

What the fuck does this have to do with paw jobs? So I'm looking around and I notice the fucking company name is "Monkey's Paw"…and there's a careers section for applying for a JOB.

So in case anyone is curious: Jordan Peel is offering paw jobs.

[importantkidspyfarm]

The Next 365 Days (2022)

This series has been a rollercoaster. And this final installment has been a series of those slanting turns that feel like they will turn into loops but never do. That said I will miss this.

This is no real order. Just my brain processing what I'm watching.

Spoilers. Duh!

Massimo be threatening anybody.

So how long do you stay after the decree is handed down? Until either party can't handle the awkwardness?

Massimo won't bang her because she got shot, but had no problem banging her for hours when she had a heart condition.

Plot, actual plot!

Not shoes on the bed. oh no no no no!

Laura is dedicated to these Fiacchi drawers.

Shower in the same space as the master suite seems sexy, until Aunt Irma comes to visit and you've got a clot coming out.

What's the NDA like for house staff?

Be quiet? Sir they were behind a thin curtin in a metal tube, 20,000 feet in the air, listening to you get a very aggressive blow job from a random flight attendant. Trust and believe sex with your wife is the most normal thing they could hear.

Also there is an employee orgy in this movie.

I love the intimacy of Laura and Olga's friendship.

Once again, every pair of sunglasses is fire.

The music is better.

The Torricelli's are in the business of Drugs, clubs(dance, strip, & both), restaurants, gambling, blackmail, and wine. Diversify.

Labels restaurant bad, proceeds to show delicious looking food, attentive service and nice atmosphere.

No Domenico sexiness? Really no Domenico. Instead we get a bunch more Tommy. Who the fuck even is that? It's bull shit.

We should've seen Laura and Massimo dance together.

We never see them happy and domestic together.

That whispered "My fault". Whew.

Him carrying her to bed. Aww.

Smart houses. Bad idea. When the wifi goes out the house is done for.

Him in them low sitting black track pants go straight the vagina every time.

Mass: Leave.

Laura: Stay.

Me as the stripper:

Should've done a handy at the club. Also the song is good.

Not her happy and smiling in the Nacho fantasy. Uh oh.

Wake up head. The best.

No marmalade for you.

Who is Giuseppe and how is he still alive if he keeps fucking up?

Massimo in the shower. Give me more.

He tossed that band and them glasses down like a toddler.

What man thought having business meeting in strip clubs was cool? He needs to be on a list. That's weirdo behavior.

Someone get Olga a brush. Three movies and not once have they combed her hair.

They really said let's make Laura and her new business partner look exactly alike. I was so confused.

So much Domenico and Olga wedding planning only to see no wedding.

This was very light on the ho antics.

Why is Domenico not the guy at the tennis court. Tommy is a little too fresh with Massimo for me.

Since when did Olga start calling her Lari? 2 whole movies not once all of a sudden she never says Laura. Same for Olo.

Not this heffa shoulder checking my man. He has the right to be upset. He didn't cheat on you and you ran off with another man.

What the fuck is this coked up sex orgy? Are you all not coworkers. What's Monday like? *avoiding eyes because you're sure watching your colleague get his ass are made your dick just a little harder*

Blowhole tits gimp.

Tommy left so quick. He said, "I have a wife and a new born at home. Y'all be easy."

I love Massimo resisting temptation as he has flashbacks to the night at the club with Laura.

I'll hide you with my body. Proceeds to scream and draw attention to self.

Olga is not they type of friend you take everywhere.

I thought the designer was banging Nacho.

He was cute.

Why is Olga getting the fashion expo invitation. Why not the designer and why is she not going? What is Laura's position here?

The designer hates Laura. Why did she sell a portion of the business if she wasn't interested? Was it blackmail? Was she desperate for the money?

I'm genuinely upset that she cheated. On the verge of tears. I need to go touch grass

Thought that was Laura and Mass having make up sex. Very disappointed it was not.

The state of this hotel room. Clean it up.

Marcello! I thought his name was Ignacio hence Nacho. Maybe it's his middle name.

That's not his sister! They were necking.

I thought Domenico was going to show up with a sexy surprise for Olga. At least catch her flirting with other guys and fuck it out of her.

Three indecipherable accents. Polish, Italian, and Spanish.

Dream Nacho be putting it down.

That white dress was so boring.

The fashion show clothes were good.

Weren't they in Lagos for a business meeting?

Shadow of a man. He spent two weeks with her.

Finds out "brother" kidnapped and plotted to kill woman. Not speaking for a week is punishment enough.

Nacho keep him a job. Gardener, now cabbie.

Pacing! The lack of it is irritating.

They made Olga very annoying this movie.

Since when was Laura a motorcycle chick.

Her parents house is nice.

I'm not the only one who thought she was going to get in the fountain at Nachos house, right?

Real Nacho put it down.

This beach scene is giving the boat scene a run for its money.

"I'm not like him, I won't force you to do something". You got him there Nacho. Get your girl.

Did Mass see them fucking at the beach?

Ooh, mad Mass is kinda hot.

How is she mad at him? Not only did he not cheat on you, he also found out you were pregnant and lost the baby. Then finds out you're falling in love with someone else and he killed his twin brother. He is going through a lot. And still not once has she asked him how he's doing.

For a mafia dons wife she loves having him not know where she is. Idk about you but after two kidnappings and two murder attempts I'd want my husband to be able to find me.

That hotel stationery was nice.

Her crying after he leaves is a really good moment.

Where is the heart problem!?!?

Nacho describing how he fell in love with her. I'm crying.

Nacho risking all out war for this broad just to get that heart broke. Suck his dick from the back.

Why can't she have both? Let this woman live!

If you think your friends husband is going to kill her why are you letting her go back to the house?

Nacho is finna drive them off a cliff!

Not him getting out the cab. Oh he messy

I need Nacho to have a love interest outside of Laura and his sister.

Have the mom make pierogi. A callback.

They really cut the brat x daddy kink out after the first one. Which is weird because that��s what draws people to the series. Sure it’s not my thing (Laura get out the fountain, you’re an adult) but I’ll risk the kink occasionally. And sneaking out to go to dinners doesn’t count .

Mom is right, women should be a little selfish in relationships.

Are they about to kiss? OMG OMG OMG! Laura, you selfish bitch! Go back to sleep.

I for sure thought she was about to get kidnapped at lunch with her dad. By the nosy nuns.

Is Laura famous in Poland? Them nuns was staring hard. I know that one was Blanka.

Did Laura tell her parents the whole story or did she leave out both kidnappings? And the murders.

I know that's not how this ends. Where is their final sex scene?

I know the credits not about to roll.

Not with a bang but with an, "Are you back, Baby Girl?".

Massimo and Laura only have sex twice! And one fake out. That's bull shit. I didn't need to see the nameless designer bang fake Nacho.

When does that English translation of the third book come out because, baby, I need these plot holes filled.

I'm going to miss this series so much. Thank the gods for rewatching.

[xicarcalii]

2194 Kripke Lane

Chapter II: Proud Mary

Summary: Can one man change the rest of the reader's whole day? A friendship maybe or even more. After the reader's car has a leak she pulls into Singer's car service and repair. Meeting a very handsome green-eyed mechanic named Dean.

Series Warnings: Angst, language, fluffy stuff yall, slow-burn...ish I guess? Awkward! Dean but he's still a cutie, drinking, mentions of sex, more angst, ex-boyfriend dick bags, hospital situations, mentions of domestic violence, death? I think that's it but if not ill just sneak more warnings in there.

Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x Waitress!Reader (eventually)

Other Characters: Reader x OFC (eventually), Mary Winchester, Jaxson Kenner (OFC), Dr. Alex Castillo (OFC), Charlie Bradbury

It had been a few long agonizing weeks since the accident, and you were counting down the day’s until you’d be able to go home. But for right now, you’d watch people come and go as they pleased, while you stayed put. The only sound in the room was the clock, the slow tick of time passing, and you are staring at the black tv screen doing absolutely nothing. A small amount of time had passed since you had officially met Dean. And within the weeks you’ve been in the hospital, he had become a very close friend. An unlikely scenario if not for the fact that Dean had stepped up, proposing instead of Mary watching Jax at the house, he would instead. Jax added to that request, that it  would also, be best to have some guy time with uncle D, which was what he’d been calling him as of late. Dean didn't mind it. He thought it was endearing that a kid, in general thought he was pretty cool; cool enough to call him his uncle. The Winchester was a lot of things; impassive was not one of them. Sure, his plans would be compromised, but after learning more about you; getting closer to Jax, he really didn't have a choice after that. The two of you made his boring life a little more exciting. He’d wake up every morning, knowing he’d see you and Jax. “Knock, Knock!” An ecstatic Charlie called out, as she eased herself into the room. A small, genuine smile fell on your lips. “You got me flowers?” You said, placing a hand on your heart, you relished at the thought. “Oh these?” She asked, holding up the dusty pink and white roses that sat in a glass vase. She tittered a laugh, “no, these aren’t from me. The nurse at the front asked if I could bring these in for you.” Guess not. “Then who are they from?” She shrugged, pursing her lips. “Beats me.” She placed the flowers on the bed side table and hopped on the bed beside you. “Lemme see,” you reached your hands out, waiting for her to pass them over to you. You flipped the card over to see an unfamiliar name signed on the back. Charlie shot you a quizzical look, when seeing your eyebrows knit together. “Well?”

“They’re from a Dr. Alex Castillo?”

“Looks like someone has a secret admirer.” She teased, bumping you playfully on the shoulder. Your gaze slid away. “At least you know," Charlie added, trying to add some light to the situation. “You have something to distract yourself with until you leave.” You didn’t know how to respond to that. Normally, you would be flattered by this Dr.’s nice gesture, but right now, you could care less. You weren’t thinking about secret admirers or crushes. The only thing you wanted was to be home. "Sorry," you said. You shifted back and rested your head up against the wall, exhaling a breath. "I know I’m being a downer.”

"Eh, it’s okay. You get a pass this time, considering….” Charlie trailed, gesturing her hand up and down, acknowledging you were basically a gimp for the next month. “So, where’s my one and only nephew?”

“He should be here soon. Dean’s picking him up from baseball practice.” Charlie gave you a playful, side-eyed glance. “Hmm, I still never met this mystery mechanic.” You shrugged nonchalantly when grabbing the remote; oblivious to the tone she had in her voice. “Well, you will soon.”

“Is he cute?” You squinted at her, “I’m not answering that.”

“You don’t need to; I have my answer.”

Dean would look up at Jax every so often. He was conflicted, as to how to go about confronting him, about the fight he had with his teammates. It all happened so fast. One minute Dean was introducing himself to the baseball coach, and in the blink of an eye; all hell broke loose. “You wanna tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know? Not really.”

“Are you sure?” Jax sat quietly for a moment, lazily holding his spoon, playing with a few sprinkles that were on top of his sundae. “Jax?” Dean pressed. The little boy sighed and soon spoke up. “Two-faced Luca was making fun of me today.” Jax had always been considered odd, by the other kids at school, and no matter how hard he tried, that never seemed to change. That was the main reason why he would end up in the principal's office, or found with Jodi, for the rest of the afternoon. You couldn’t put all the blame on him. He was younger than the other kids in his class, and baseball team, so he was an easy target for them to pick on. Of course, this wasn’t an excuse, but that’s how he’d stick up for himself; lash out and cause fights. You knew that was his way of defending himself but you never condoned him for the way he’d handle it. Dean flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror. “What’d he say?”

“Whatcha guys talking about?” The two boys eyed Jax from head to toe as he stood next to them. Confused why he was joining in to their conversation as if the three of them were friends. “Just talking about what our dads are bringing for the cookout.” Larry smacked the boy on his shoulder, beginning to snicker. “Luca, why are you telling him? He can’t even go.” Jax looked between the two, stammering a bit with his answer. “But – but coach Rouse said I could go.” Luca stepped close to Jax with his hands on his hips. “And who would you bring?” He shrugged, one person on his mind. "My mama?” Luca scoffed, “It's called a dad and son cookout for a reason, genius.” Both boys mused at what Larry said. They thought it was funny, which just ticked Jax off. “If you have a problem with me, write the problem on a piece of paper, fold it, and shove it up your ass.” Jax spat. “Jackie, it’s not my fault you don’t have a dad.”  And within a blink of an eye, Jax tackled Luca and punched him dead in the face. “Jax don’t listen to them, okay?” Dean paused, taking a bite of his ice cream. “They’re just mad because you’re getting all the chicks. Don’t waste your time on those two daffodils.” Jax smiled up at Dean through his eyelashes. “But I gotta say, and don’t tell your mom I said this, but, nice right hook.” Dean held up his fist, waiting for Jax to finish the fist bump.

“Aunt CeCe!” Jax came sprinting towards the redhead, with his arms wide open. “Jack-Jack!” Charlie exclaimed, kneeling down to his level to embrace him for a long-overdue hug. Dean stood there a bit awkwardly, flicking his eyes from you to Charlie. She peered up at Dean with a genuine smile.  “And I’m assuming this is the mystery mechanic, I've heard so much about!” Dean’s arms fell to his sides, chuckling to himself. “The one and only.” She held out a hand, waiting for him to shake it. “Charlie Bradbury, the best friend.” He shook it with a firm grip; however, not as firm as Charlie’s. “Dean Winchester, the mystery mechanic.”

“How did practice go?” You asked. Jax frowned with a small shrug. “It - It, ya know, it went...” you squinting at your son with superstition. The redhead cleared her throat. She could tell Dean liked you, that wasn’t up for argument. You, not so much. Sometimes you were too difficult to read; to get through to. She thought if she left you two alone, he might ask you out. She wasn’t even into guys but she thought Dean was…well hot. She also needed some dirt on him from her nephew, if he was going to be around a lot more.

“Jax! How about we go and see a movie!”

“The best thing I’ve heard all day!” Charlie smirked at you, grabbing ahold of Jax’s hand. You flipped the red-head off as she blew you a kiss, saying goodbye in a singing tone. Groaning with annoyance, you placed your face in your hands from embarrassment. “She can be infuriating sometimes.” Dean chuckled, rubbing his arm.

“Nah it’s fine. I like her.” There was a silence between you two for a minute. He tried to think of something to talk about. He’s already talked about literally, anything and everything so, what else could he talk about. He looked around the room and soon noticed the bouquet of flowers.

Dean cleared his throat. “Those from Charlie?”

You gave the flowers on the table, one quick glance over.

“Nope, I got them from a “secret admirer,” that I’ve never even met before.”

“Oh yeah?”

“So they’re not from you? Or they are, and you’re using a fake name because you’re too shy?” A coy smile grew on his face. “Oh please, sweetheart, I wouldn’t send you flowers, I’d straight up ask you out for dinner.” You hold each other's gaze for a long moment before he abruptly shakes his head and ambled his way over to the chair that sat beside your bed. What he just said, left a fluttering feeling in your stomach. You wondered if what he was implying, was that he wanted to maybe go on a date with you. Or you were getting too ahead of yourself, and he was just letting you know what he would do in general. Clearing his throat, he sat down and pointed to the bedside table. “You like roses?” You hummed in response when nodding your head. When he saw the little card that was attached to the vase; curiosity got the best of him. Flipping the card over made his heart skip a beat for a second.

Dr. Alex Castillo

The shock was evident on his face, you immediately took notice.

“You, okay?” It was just a coincidence, Dean thought to himself. After all, he was your son's doctor at the time of the accident. He might've just sent you these; his way of saying get better.  It was still a little odd to him because when he first met Alex, he felt tension between them but didn’t acknowledge it at the time, especially since Jax was standing between the two men. Dean had an uneasy feeling about him. It wasn’t how he was treating Jax, or with you even. It was how he looked at Dean. He saw hatred and disgust in the Dr.’s eyes. But, the thought of him sending you flowers, but not checking up on you in person, made Dean feel uneasy. “Uh – uh yeah, yeah I’m fine.” You nodded with a small smile, “okay just checkin.” A comfortable silence fell in the room. “Do you wanna hang out and watch ER with me? Charlie and I normally watch it together but...” you trailed off. It didn’t hurt to ask, him. A part of you will always be lost, tied down to the past that will possibly haunt you forever. But overall, when you were around him, an ache formed in your stomach. It was a particular type of ache; you’d come to realize. You felt light and free, and It felt like all your issues are gone and everything was great. It was horrible yet exciting by the way he made you feel. But after getting closer to him, you kept one thing in the back of your mind. The one that you still needed to remind yourself of. When it came to people who seemed too good to be true, it most likely meant they weren't.

Leo gave Alex a hearty pat on the back, standing next to him in the hallway outside your room. “Sup man.”

“Hey,” Alex said, his eyes not leaving you and Dean.

Leo scoffed and gave his friend a concerning look, slapping him on the arm. “Dude.”

“What?”

“She obviously has a boyfriend.” He let out a frustrating sigh, shaking his head in disbelief. “You don’t know that.” Jealousy is hard-wired into all of us, it for sure had no cloak of invisibility when it came to the doctor. There were a lot of emotions Alex hid on a daily basis but he could always control them If he was elated, sad, tired. Alex could try and try, but the two emotions he could never hide were when he was angry or jealous. “Really? He’s in there with her all the time, you can’t tell me I’m wrong.” Were you two just friends? Distant family maybe? Or was it the unlikely scenario where you two were actually, legitimately, together? “Stop obsessing over her, it’s one chick man, let it go.” Alex remained silent at the suggestion. He didn’t want to, he couldn’t. He wanted to fix things and do right by you and Jax. He wanted to apologize but he didn’t know how to. Leo cleared his throat at the awkward silence. 

“Okay, good talk. See ya at lunch, Robert John Bardo.”

By the time Dean had pulled up into your driveway, he noticed Jax. An ecstatic little boy whose face was planted up against the window; leaving smudges from his fingerprints to his hot breath when pressing up against the glass. Charlie turned the porch light on, and the front door swung open. The five-year-old ran out onto the porch, jumping up and down. “Uncle D I have to show you, my room!” Jax practically hollered. The green-eyed mechanic, slowly made his way up the steps, only for the little boy to pull on his hand. He couldn’t help but chuckle when picking up his pace, into the house, just a little to appease the fiver-year-old. Entering the house, his eyes were greeted by a family photograph in a large frame. Obviously taken way before you had Jax. You had three older brothers. You and your mom; who you were a spitting image of. A gentle face, warm smile, beautiful big bright eyes, and lastly your dad, who wore a Naval uniform with a stern look. Charlie threw her coat on and walked over to the living room, only to come back with a key, dangling it in Dean’s face. “Here’s the spare key.” Charlie gave Dean a rundown of Jax’s night routine, he tried his best to keep up with her, but she was talking way too fast. She informed him, what time he needed to get ready for bed; what time he should be in bed as well. if he ate his dinner, with veggies included, he’d get four scoops of ice cream instead of two. Since it was a Thursday, that meant a movie before bed. It was always The Jungle Book. “Jax, let’s show uncle D how we take  our medicine!” Dean’s face scrunched up. “Medicine?”

Charlie plopped Jax onto the counter and opened a cabinet above the sink. “So – so, uh, what are these pills for?” Dean asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

“I have epsilepsy.”

“Epilepsy.” Jax huffed in frustration and shook his head. Charlie ignored him when taking out the pill. “Okay, ready?”

“Deep breath, in and out.” Charlie handed him a small cup of Apple juice. He took a big sip of the juice and hesitated for a moment when she handed him the pill. Keep in mind, that was the size of a grape. “It’s now or never bud, can you do it?”

“No…” She pondered for a moment; hands running through her hair. She clapped and jumped a bit in place. “Okay let’s try some apple sauce!”

“Regular or green apple?”

“Green.” She put the pill on top of a spoon full of apple sauce. “Let’s do a countdown!”

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....Without thinking, Jax shoved the spoon into his mouth, gripping onto the cup in one hand, and squeezing Charlie's hand in the other. “Lemme see.” She asked. He opened his mouth and lifted his tongue. “High five!” Charlie looked over her shoulder at Dean, who had a tight smile on his face. “We do a count down.” The little boy���s arms flayed all over the place, “like a rocket going to space!”

Long after Charlie had left, the two boys hung out. They ate a whole pizza with Jax eating more slices than Dean did; he was in complete shock when Jax asked for ice cream. He told stories and Dean listened; actually, amazed by his vocabulary for only being five, and skipping preschool. The little boy showed his uncle his room, along with all his favorite toys, books, and movies. They even raced cars with his hot wheels set, before getting ready for bed. By 8:30, he could no longer hide how tired and sleepy he was. And by the time Jax had gotten into his pajamas and brushed his teeth, with The Jungle Book already playing, he curled up into Dean’s side and started to nod off. He was asleep and floppy by the time the movie finished. Dean scooped up the five-year-old into his arms and carried Jax up the stairs and down the hall, into his bedroom. The five-year-old's little arms hung loosely over Dean’s broad shoulders. He lowered Jax into the bed gently, when the little boy reached around to tuck his teddy bear under his arm, cooing slightly as he pulled it straight into his chest protectively. Soon, Jax’s breathing evened out as he fell into a dreamless sleep. Dean checked on him every now and again just to make sure he was okay. Maybe a little more often than he should've been, but who the hell cared. Maybe it was the paranoia about the seizures. Or he just started to care too damn much. To his surprise, Dean thought he would've hated being around an annoying snotty, little five-year-old. But to him, Jax wasn’t that at all. He was the opposite, really. And to be honest, Jax hated being around the annoying snotty kids his own age. The little boy was independent, but he also was a little boy, who was too smart for Dean to keep up with.

In between then, he stayed up watching a football game, drinking one more beer before going to sleep. He stood up from the couch when his phone lit up and began vibrating, during the fourth quarter. Turning his phone over, it was a message from his mom.

“Sweetheart, I didn’t have time to call you earlier, too busy with grading papers. It’s late anyway and I never know if you’re awake or not, so I decided to just send a text instead. But I wanted you to know, that what you're doing for (Y/N) and for Jax, means a lot.”

Dean plopped back down onto the couch not so graciously, with his beer still in hand, as he continued to read the text message.

"All this is overwhelming. Her adapting to new people, a new situation. Trust is hard for her, and it always has been.”

He sighed, long and heavy because he wasn't Sam. He never thought about family; wife, and kids. He would’ve never thought he’d end up in this situation. A gruff mechanic, who had become quite devoted to a woman who wasn’t with him, and to a child that wasn’t his. He quickly found himself warming up to the additional role of being in your life. Dean didn’t feel obligated to help out and he wasn’t doing it for praise. Loving others and acting on it was normal. He didn't need or want a special label for that.

"I think she may have let you in more than she’s realized. I’m proud of you Dean, for being there for them. And you should be proud of yourself too. I love you.”

tag list: @deanwinchestersupremacy @thatonecurlygirl @dumpsterfirefuck @justkending @iris-nicara @dumpsterfirefuck @superdeangirllove @lizwinchester16 @shraddha-b @comebackswift @thepurpleaccount @formulafun @alexxavicry @kobe-mitchell @jiniiekim @velv-ety @loeymlee @gleefulleve

[crusherthedoctor]

Can you list anything you unironically like in the games (and cartoons and comics) that you don't like?

I won't bother mentioning music, since that goes without saying and is to be expected for a Sonic game... unless you're Chronicles.

Sonic Adventure 2 (mixed gameplay-wise, annoying story-wise) - While I prefer Sonic's SA1 levels for a number of reasons, I still think his and Shadow's gameplay in SA2 is fun on its own merit. I also don't mind the treasure hunting gameplay returning or how big the levels are this time around, since Knuckles and Rouge are still fast and not '06 levels of slow. It's mainly the gimped radar that creates the unfortunate domino effect of making them a problem.

- Introduced Rouge, one of my favourite characters for how playful she is and how she's a lot more nuanced and intelligent than you'd expect.

- Some genuinely good scenes, like Eggman's trap on the A.R.K and Sonic escaping from the G.U.N. helicopter.

- Had some good ideas going for it, like the Pyramid Base and the Biolizard as a scientific monster instead of an ancient one.

- Despite my thoughts on the backstory itself (or rather, its execution), Shadow has enough depth and subtle qualities and occasional unintended hilarity to stand out from the typical dark rival characters you see in media.

- The Last Scene's music in particular is one of my favourite cutscene tracks in the series.

Sonic Heroes (mixed gameplay-wise, loathed story-wise) - The gameplay is fun when you're not being screwed over by repetitive combat, overly long levels and/or ice physics.

- Boasts some of the most consistently Genesis-worthy environments in the 3D games, up there with SA1's and Colours'.

- The in-game dialogue that isn't the same tutorial drivel repeated ad nauseam can be interesting, funny, etc.

- Reintroduced the Chaotix, which provided me with another character I quite like in the form of Vector.

- Bringing Metal Sonic back in full force and front and center in the plot after a long absence (not counting cameos and the like) is a perfectly fine idea. Just... not like this.

Sonic Battle (decent yet repetitive gameplay, mixed story-wise) - Emerl's arc is compelling, and it earns the emotional weight of having to put him down at the end.

- While some characters are iffy (read: Amy), other characters are extremely well-handled. Shadow is probably the prime example.

- Gamma's belly dance healing animation is fucking hilarious.

- When I was young, and the game was first announced, I was really excited about being able to play as Chaos. This proved to be my downfall when it turned out he was arguably one of the worst characters in the game due to being slower than me during the writing process, but I still recall that excitement fondly.

Shadow the Hedgehog (comedy classic) - The sheer amount of legendary stupidity this game has going for it makes it practically impossible to actually hate. It helps that it's not quite as white-knighted on the same level as '06... usually. You know you're in for a unique experience when you hear a gunshot every time you click something in the menu.

- By extension, Black Doom never gained an unironic fanbase like Mephiles/Scourge/Eggman Nega did, which means I'm a lot more willing to take Doom's dumbass brand of villainy in stride. He even has a unique design... a terrible one that rips off Wizeman granted, but alas, even that is a step-up from Fridge Shadow and Bumblebee Eggman.

- Despite being... well, Shadow the Hedgehog, some of the environments would fit right in with any other Sonic game, like with Circus Park, Lava Shelter, and Digital Circuit. Even the Black Comet levels look pretty cool.

- This game understands amnesia better than IDW does.

Sonic '06 (what do you think?) - The obvious one: Shadow's character was handled pretty well, even if it came at the cost of everyone else being a dummy and being forced to interact with Mephiles.

- Like SA2, there are some good moments, like the Last Story ending sequence with Sonic and Elise.

- In the greatest form of irony ever, I like Solaris as a concept and design(s), and its backstory has potential to serve as a parallel with Chaos without being a complete ripoff. Iblis sucks, Mephiles sucks, but I'm fine with Solaris.

- Introduced legendary characters like Sonic Man, Pele the Beloved Dog, Hatsun the Pigeon, and Pacha from The Emperor's New Groove.

The Rivals duology (apathetic outside of Nega-related grumbling) - There were some cool zone ideas in both games that were sadly let down by the restrictive and limiting gameplay. I particularly like Colosseum Highway for thus far being the only full-on Roman level in the series instead of merely having a couple minor hints of Roman, and Meteor Base for the unique scenario of the space station being built into an asteroid. These level concepts and others deserve a second chance IMO. (At least Frontier Canyon got a second chance in the form of Mirage Saloon, amirite?)

- Ifrit has a better design than Iblis. Not saying it's amazing, but the Firebird motif it has going on is a lot more interesting for a fire monster than the Not-Chaos schtick they had with Iblis.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (a very frustrating gaming experience) - Erazor Djinn, A.K.A. Qui-Gon Djinn, A.K.A. Dr. N. Djinn, A.K.A. I'll Take It On The Djinn, A.K.A. Not From The Hairs On My Djinny Djinn Djinn, is one of the best villains not associated with Eggman in the series. He's a Mephiles-type character done right, and there's actual weight and reason to his actions, however sinister or petty.

- I don't have strong opinions either way on Shahra as a character, but the Sonic/Shahra friendship is sweet and well-handled.

- The ending is one of Sonic's greatest moments. The sheer contrast between how ruthlessly he deals with Erazor and how comforting he is towards Shahra speaks volumes... Still gonna make fun of the mountain of handkerchiefs though. (Before anyone lectures me, I understand the significance of it and can even appreciate it from that angle... doesn't mean I'm not allowed to poke fun at it. :P)

- Another game with some redeeming environments. I love the aesthetic of Night Palace, and Sand Oasis looks gorgeous too.

Sonic Chronicles (my personal least favourite game in the series) - Uh...

- Um...

- Er...

- I like Shade's design?

Sonic Unleashed (overrated game and story IMO) - The obvious two: the opening sequence and the Egg Dragoon fight deserve all the praise they get.

- Seeing Eggmanland come to life was an impressive moment to be sure. While part of me does feel it didn't quite measure up to what I had in mind (ironically, the Interstellar Amusement Park ended up being closer to what I had in mind), it still looks badass and works well for what it is. I also don't mind the idea of it being a one-level gauntlet... key word being idea.

- Obviously, the game looks great. Not a fan of the real world focus (real world inspiration is fine, but copy-pasting the real world and shoving loops in it is just unimaginative), but it can't be denied that the environments look good.

- This game pulled off dialogue options a lot better than Chronicles did, since they didn't rely on making Sonic OoC.

Sonic and the Black Knight (just kind of boring all around) - Despite my gripes with the story (Merlina wasn't nearly as fleshed out as her unique anti-villain status deserved, which ends up severely undermining the ambition of the plot in more ways than one, and the other characters go from being useless yes men for King Arthur to being useless yes men for Sonic), I will admit it provides interesting insight into Sonic's character.

- Like '06 and Secret Rings, the ending is very nice... well, aside from Amy being an unreasonable bitch ala Sonic X at the very end.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (apathetic) - The admittedly few new concepts sprinkled within had promise. They may not have been as fleshed out as they could have been, but level concepts like Sylvania Castle and White Park, bosses like Egg Serpentleaf and the Egg Heart, and story beats like the Death Egg mk.II being powered by Little Planet, all could have been brilliant had they been better executed.

SatAM (apathetic outside of SatAM Robotnik-related grumbling) - I'm not a fan of the environments on the whole due to them looking too bland or samey, but there are some exceptions that look pleasant or interesting, like the Void.

Sonic Underground (apathetic) - The character designs make me feel better about myself.

- Does "large quantities of unintentional meme material" count as a positive?

Sonic X (mostly apathetic outside of Eggman's handling) - Helen was a better human character and audience surrogate in her one focus episode than Chris was throughout his entire runtime.

- Actually, most of the human characters not named Chris were legitimately likable. Including everyone in Chris' own family not named Chris. Hilarious.

- Despite arguably having the most Chris in it, I actually don't mind the first season that much, partly due to slight nostalgia from seeing it on TV when it was new, but mostly because Eggman actually acted like a villain for the most part, and certain other characters weren't quite as flanderized yet. It's season 2 and onwards where things started going off the rails IMO. (Incidentally, Helen's episode was part of season 1...)

The Boom franchise (apathetic) - Along with Chronicles, the games provide yet more proof that just because someone isn't SEGA/Sonic Team, that doesn't mean they're automatically more qualified to handle the series.

- The show had some good episodes here and there, and Tails' characterization was probably the most consistently on-point out of the cast.

- Despite not exactly being favourite portrayals for either character, even I'll admit that many of Knuckles and Eggman's lines in the show on their own were genuinely funny.

Archie Sonic (pre-reboot is mostly terrible, post-reboot is mostly... bland) - Whenever I doubt myself as a writer, I think back to Ken Penders, and suddenly I'm filled with a lot more confidence.

Sonic the Comic (apathetic) - Fleetway isn't a comic I tend to recall much of aside from how much of a loathesome cunt Sonic is, but IIRC, Robotnik's portrayal is pretty good. Different, but good.

IDW Sonic (stop pissing me off, comic) - Putting their handling aside (and being too obviously "inspired" by MGS in the latter's case), Tangle and Whisper are good characters IMO.

- Same goes for Starline, before he was killed off-screen and replaced with Toothpaste Snively.

- Execution aside (noticing a pattern?), the zombot virus was a fine concept on its own and an interesting new scheme for Eggman.

- I get to remind myself that I've never drawn scat edits and posted them publicly on Twitter.

[allou-a]

Varia headcanons, because they're far less likely to get lost here than in my thousand of pages of notes!

General headcanons:

The Varia have an incredibly complicated organisation system that includes people reporting back to Officers who then report to Xanxus. The Officers are traditionally the strongest of each Flame type, but since Xanxus is a Sky most Officers are his Guardians.

There is a non-Flame division. They mostly rule themselves, but report back to Xanxus. They take on most of the jobs that require little-to-no use of Flames, or deal with non-Flame society.

Coming back to that complicated organisations system- there’s two types of members of the Varia- Named or Nameless. A member acquires a Name when they complete their first job. From there, they can choose to work as a solo or duo under their Flame type, or in a squad under the leaders Flame type. (Squads have themed Names and a member is expected to change their Name is they join a squad)

There aren’t meant to be women in the Varia. It wasn't a rule put in place to be sexist, but rather to deter heiresses for joining, so that the Varia didn't have to deal with Dons wanting their daughters back to play alliance bride once they were Named. There isn’t an ‘official’ work around for this rule, but there is an unofficial ‘see something, say nothing’ rule in place in regards to gender. (There's also an unofficial rule about not mentioning that someone left at the same time an heiress returned to a Family to get married, only for the happy couple to die right before the Varia member gets back from ‘vacation’)

Character-specific headcanons

Squalo is a Cloudy Rain. He has a habit of taking off and vanishing from sight when he feels like it. Pre-Varia, he would hide in Xanxus’ rooms, or find some obscure hiding place. It’s why people weren’t too worried when he took off on a world tour that ended with him losing a hand and gaining control of the Varia. (When Xanxus is in the ice, Squalo sits by him. He falls asleep to the sight of Xanxus, frozen mid-snarl, more times than he can count)

Lussuria is actually ace! The whole necrophilia thing happened because the guy they were set to kill as their ‘entry-level job’ ended up in a kink club, unguarded and alone, and they took the shot. Still, to take a Name there has to be proof that the job was completed. So they bought the body back with them to Varia HQ, still clad in only a gimp mask and leather thong- how were they to know that the head or heart of the guy was sufficient proof? (Their original Name was something more obvious, and a reference to the assumptions people made when the bought the body back. When they harmonised with Xanxus, they figured they should keep with the ongoing themes- Sins (for Xanxus’ set) and odd sexual tastes(from their own Name). So they took the name Lussuria, meaning ‘Lust’)(They let the assumption continue because they get far less people acting interested in them if everyone thinks they have eccentric tastes)

Up until the ice, Xanxus had grey eyes. Zero point ice (first edition, at least) is fuelled by the Flames of whoever is trapped inside the ice, which means that for eight years, Xanxus was constantly putting out Flames. It became second nature, and he can’t exactly stop it. His eyes glow red because of this constant output.

Talking of Xanxus, the name Xanxus is Aztec, meaning ‘protector of god’. However, looking at the etymology of the name, it could also be derived from the Greek name Xanthos, meaning ‘golden-haired’, or just ‘gold’. It’s also said that Xanthos was used as an alternate name for the god Apollo. (I find it ironic that the leader of a group of people named for the seven deadly sins has a name meaning ‘protector of god’)

[fairefolked]

so @okelli​ said they wanted a more in depth tortilla so ya gorl is here to deliver. here you go. click this link. that's it. that's the tutorial.

ok i'm done trying to be funny. i've chucked this in here under a cut, but please keep in mind, this is not a professional tutorial. i am in no way an artist/professional/the be all and end all/guru/god; this is just my editing process. so you don't need to follow it exactly to the t. you're more than welcome to change any processes and do your own thing. i know there are some more technical and frankly better tutorials out there by other simblrs that go really into details and what have you which are really helpful (and i do encourage everyone to go check them out), but please keep criticisms close to your heart bc i reiterate; i have no fucking clue what i'm doing. but let's get started bc this bitch gon be long.

what you're going to need:

photoshop or some other editing program. i personally use ps cc 2019, however gimp will probably also work

reshade; however whatever version you use is up to you. again, i use 4.6.1.

google is your best friend and mine

a screenshot of your choosing w some slick lighting

a lot of patience

for images where the resolution isn’t clear, click here for full size.

step one:

open up your screenshot in your editing program of choice. i have picked this screenshot for the purpose of the tutorial bc of the spicy lighting. also did i spend an hour building this for the purpose of this tutorial? i cannot confirm or deny these suspicions, but we're usin it ok. for this picture i used @intramoon​‘s alethiology reshade preset bc it’s my fav atm. you can find it here.

step two:

apply your colourgrade. i used the sonder actions by again @intramoon​ bc this tutorial is sponsored by asia. i’m not going to go too in depth here, bc this differs from screenshot to screenshot. i’m only mentioning it bc it’s fairly important to the next step. adding the colourgrade turned my screenshot from what you see above to this.

as you can see, the colours are now slightly more muted and there’s more of a green hue to it. 

step three:

depending on the colour scheme you’re going for with the screenshot, you’re going to want to pick a colour that compliments it. since my screenshot is still quite warm toned, i chose #fff4d8 which is a pale yellow. you’re going to want to take this onto a soft brush (they come with photoshop so if you’re new to using ps, it’s a default, you don’t need to download anything). i’ll include a screenshot of what it looks like. 

before painting anything, what you’re going to want to do is create a NEW layer. you can do this by either pressing shift + ctrl + n or by clicking layer in the menu bar up top, selecting new, and then new layer.

on your new layer, with the colour and brush selected, what you’re going to do is paint over the areas that are already highlited by ea lighting. for example, my screenshot ended up looking like this.

looks pretty messy, but that’s ok bc we’re going to change the blending mode to overlay as seen below. obviously this made the lighting look slightly too intense. dw this is not how we leave it.

i also change the opacity to suit the image. i set my opacity to 50% and this is what it ended up looking like.

i added in an extra step that i only use occasionally for this tutorial, and basically that extra step is going in with a soft WHITE brush and taking it to the areas that look extra glowy - i.e. the typewriter, the pie and the counter handle. this is what mine looked like. this needs to be again done on a new layer, so make sure you ctrl + shift + n or select a new layer in the menu bar.

again changing the layer to overlay, and changing the opacity. this is what my settings looked like. 

again, please refer to the full size image folder, however for those lazy like me; opacity is at 65%

step four:

on your main layer of lighting overlay (if you didn’t add more like i did it should be your only one), you will want to add a layer mask. this can be done by clicking this little button here 

once you’ve done that, it should add a white box on your layer and look like this 

because the colour has lightened some of our shadows, and depending on how deep you want your shadows to be, you’re going to want to click onto the white layer mask and with a soft brush set to the colour black, you’re going to want to draw over the shadowed areas that you want to deepen again.

for reference these are the areas that i went over. and my layer mask now looks like this 

step five: 

creaTE A NEW LAYER!!!!!! this time we’re going in with shadows. pick a dark grey colour (or black, your choice. i prefer dark grey), i used #1c1a18 and paint over the areas where you want to deepen the shadows further again.

this is what mine looked like 

set that to soft light and change your opacity (don’t use overlay this time, it’s too harsh on the picture). 

my picture now looks like this:

subtle changes make a world of difference.

step six:

FIND A LIGHT RAY!!!! i mentioned in the ask i published that i particularly like using this one i found on google, and i did use it for the purpose of this tutorial as well.

pop her on your picture and change the positioning. positioning can be changed by pressing ctrl + t and either flipping/rotating (which can be done by right clicking on the texture and selecting flip horizontal etc) and dragging the corners. if you’re dragging the corners to make the texture smaller, maKE SURE YOU’RE HOLDING SHIFT DOWN WHEN YOU’RE DRAGGING SO THE DIMENSIONS STAY THE SAME. with the positioning, make sure you’re putting the light areas of your texture where the light source is coming from. it’s really important to have a basic understanding of light and shadows. i flipped mine horizontally and made the texture smaller as well as rotated a little. 

set her to screen and change you’re opacity.

boy i’m sounding like a broken record lmao, but my picture now looks like this.

starting to look kinda nice right? 

step seven:

download this video. open it up in photoshop and make sure you have your timeline window on. if you don’t and don’t know how to change it, up the top, select WINDOW and make sure there is a tick next to timeline which is near the bottom of the drop down. once you’ve done that, click ANYWHERE along the little timeline that has shown up and it gives you a frame for the dust texture. it should look something like this. (the red is bc that little blue and red guy is important)

press ctrl + a on your keyboard to select all and copy that motherfucker. past her on your screenshot, set her to screen and play with her opacity again.

if you’re unhappy and feel like it’s too busy, you can go back and add a layer mask and using that same soft black brush, erase problematic areas the same way we did in step four. mine ended up looking like this.

NOW THIS PART IS OPTIONAL!!!!!

using the colour fill or paint bucket tool, i went in on another new layer with another pale yellow (#e4dcb1) and filled in the whole image. i set that to COLOUR and put it on a clipping mask RIGHT ABOVE the dust texture. you can add a clipping mask by right clicking and selecting set clipping mask. it now only applies to the layer directly below, which is our dust layer. i only did this because the white was too harsh (lol) and i wanted the dust to blend a little better with the surroundings.

finally step eight:

again optional, but if you like the vintage look like i do, select the layer with your screenshot and using the noise v2 action by @intramoon​ (hi again asia) in this set, add some noise. it creates a duplicate layer, which you can then play with the opacity of to set to your desired strength.

once you’ve done that, you’re basically done!!! this is what my screenshot ended up looking like by the very end. 

that concludes our spicy lighting tutorial. i hope you were able to do better than i do on a good day. enjoy!!!!!! if there are any parts that you need clarification on, please feel free to yell at me and i’ll see if i can help lol

[puttyandexpoxy]

Behind the Neurodiversity Infinity Hearts Favor & Stationary Line Design

As a neurodivergent Zazzle designer - no, TUMBLRIONAIRE-TO-BE - I use the GIMP Photo Editor A LOT. And I used it to GREAT effect on my product lines, Neurodiversity Infinity Hearts.

So why hearts clustered into infinity symbols as opposed to puzzle pieces (Disclaimer: I respect, acknowledge, and pray for those who make merch featuring them.), you ask? There are many forms of neurological disabilities such as ADHD and autism (which I have), and they are different on everybody.

“It is also considered a response to the puzzle piece symbol, which many autistic people consider highly offensive,” a 2019 article on the Nova Scotia Advocate explained.

“Long thought of as the main symbol of autism, it has often been associated with the idea that autistic people are missing pieces or puzzles to be solved, so that they can become whole people. In this context, the puzzle piece symbol, as well as the puzzle piece ribbon, are considered by autistic people to contribute to stigma through negative associations.”

Plus, the hearts in each infinity symbol obviously symbolize acceptance. 

To make those symbols, I first downloaded the above clipart from my go-to pub-domain image site, Pixabay. Next, I opened it onto GIMP, then right-clicked the layer to select “Alpha to Selection.” Next, I added a new layer above it and filled the selection with a gradient of choice. I expanded the canvas’s height and tacked on the TFB logo.

To make the pattern, I merged the layers containing the infinity symbol and the TFB logo and expanded the canvas. I added a blank layer under that layer and adjusted the layer boundaries to better fit the top one.

I aligned it to center using the Alignment tool. I merged the layers and clicked on Layer>Transform>Offset. I selected the “By Width/2, Height/2″ option. I clicked on Filters>Map>Tile, and adjusted the size of the image. I HIGHLY prefer using the maintenance of aspect ratio and expanding the width to at least 4000px (I used 4500px as the width), especially when incorporating such images on blankets, wrapping paper, and the ilk.

Once saved as .png with a transparent background, I then incorporated it on a POD design with a complementary, contrasting background color. For instance, I set the pattern of the infinity symbols colored in Bright Tropical Spectrum against a dark blue background (not because I partake in the blue-light autism awareness initiatives) for visibility in the design of this gift bag. 

I also made that design, seen here in this roll of wrapping paper, using the Golden Brass gradient - logo and symbol. I set it against a black background. It’s not only great for those New Year’s Eve or other very special occasions, but I designed it for those who prefer gold infinity symbols to blue jigsaw puzzle pieces. 

“Gold as a color for today is preferred as it is based on the chemical symbol for gold being ‘Au,’ the first two letters of autism,” edpsy.org.uk explained, “but also because throughout history gold has been something that is strived for and of immense value – often missing from the lives of autistic people.”

“Autistic people are often empathic, sensitive, caring people, but dominant narratives would suggest otherwise; and because of that we can spend our lives not being accepted and often not being valued for who we are.”

On royalties earned through items with the Infinity Hearts designs? A portion of them will go to neurodiversity acceptance charities.

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 3--Hunted.

 Most of you lovelies already realize this, but my thoughts tend to zig and zag quite a bit, lol.  So.  To save some of you the headache and spare you from seeing spoilers you’d rather not see yet, I’m again placing them behind a cut.  

First things first.  I have totally turned into Yvette Nicole Brown with her TWD notebooks, lol, and I’m not even sorry.  I just felt like it would be fun to go back when the final episode is in the books and see how well my thoughts from these early episodes line up with what I’m feeling when we say our (not-so) final goodbyes.  

But that’s enough about that. Let’s get to this thing.  

It really is insane how very much I love Melissa McBride.  Just hearing her doing the previously on TWD recap voiceover makes me ridiculously happy.  

Cole!  Dude!  We hardly knew ya.  

Not gonna lie.  That first shot of Maggie in all the chaos reminded of a shirt I’ve seen.  It says--”Well, well, well.  If it isn’t the consequences of my actions.”  

I have to hand it to Angela and the rest of her team.  These opening scenes--on all 3 episodes--have been BOMB so far.  They really hook you in right away.  At least IMHO.  

I realize I’m behind the game on this little tidbit, but how much do I adore the fact that Dog is now in the opening credits?  

Okay.  Alexandria might look like it’s been on some kind of post-apocalyptic bender but all our girls are looking beautiful as ever.  Maybe it’s Maybelline, lol.  

I love to see Kelly and Carol still gravitating toward each other.  It really speaks to each woman’s heart.  Carol wants to make amends so badly and Kelly just has the most lovely, warm, forgiving heart.  

Carol’s point about Alexandria still needing the horses to help with the heavy lifting and pointing out the walls and rebuilding won’t matter quite as much if they’re limited by their  hunger and what they can physically lift on their own isn’t wrong.  But I’m sure the same viewers that were okay with Daryl and Co. going out on Maggie’s suicide mission (using the same reasoning) and saying it made sense for the bigger picture will pretend not to recognize that the same element is there in Carol’s desire to go out there and look for the horses.  You know.  Because it was Carol’s idea and not that of their fave(s).  

Aaron, Man.  Or maybe I should say Angela.   You just had to put a pit of dread in my belly mentioning Buttons like that.  RIP, Buttons.  You deserved better.  I’m still traumatized.  

Look at all the babies bonding.  Look at RJ getting to sit at the big kid table.  

“My mom always comes back.”  She damn well better.  Those babies need her.  Until she does, though, Uncle Daryl and Aunt Carol (and Aunt Rosita and everybody else) are going to be there.  

Anyway.  Poor RJ.  He barely ever gets any lines, lol.  

Hershel and Judith are obviously the mini-adults in this group and baby Rhee is already more cynical and jaded than his sweet daddy was until they reached Alexandria and the wheels started to come off.  

So.  Does Maggie just think everybody’s already dead here or what?  Hmm.  

You know.  Any building can be creepy AF when the lights are off and it’s dark, lol.  Any building.  

So much darkness so far this season.  I’m going to have to invest in some blackout curtains.  I just know it.  

Where are all those stairs leading?  Why am I thinking of Hitchcock?  Am I mixing up my scary, suspenseful movies?  Probably.  

Of fucking course, Maggie dropped her flashlight.  Thank goodness she had that lighter at the ready just before Ghost Face Reaper took a swipe at her.  

Is that Father G with a screwdriver impaled in his thigh?  Listen.  These people deserve a Mega Bottle of pain killers and a week just vegging out in a soft, luxurious bed.  

All these horror movie tropes.  Some of them are cheesy, yes.  But I’m totally here for it.  

LMAO.  That’s it, Maggie.  A good old punch in the nuts works every time.  

Alden really is having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  

Negan is still Negan.  Self-serving and looking out for number one.  But I believe the man really does feel the group is his group too.  He’s like that long lost, sketchy uncle nobody wants to acknowledge much less invite to the dinner table, but that bond?  However thin?  Is there.  

I am both hating that Maggie is being forced to work with the man that murdered her husband (my baby Glenn) and finding it fascinating the lengths she’s willing to go to survive.  This your plan, Angela?  

Rosita and Carol!  How sad is it that the last really significant scene I can remember the two of these women sharing was way back?  Before Rick and Co. attacked Negan’s outpost and Maggie and Carol were subsequently taken?  If only the show had done more of these kind of scenes.  

How much do I love all the girls working together?  Gimps would never.  They’d all be stuck back at Alexandria minding the kids and the community.  

Shallow aside--Rosita is so pretty in this scene.  

Rosita being worried about Carol honestly makes my heart hurt, because it’s about damn time more of them actually did.  Her saying Abraham is trying to tell her something in her dreams is interesting.  Angela sure loves her dreams, doesn’t she?  

Where are Daryl’s dreams, hmm?  No.  Seriously.  I guess they want to give some viewers plausible deniability until the bitter end.  

“Really?  We’re just gonna go toward the screaming?  Cool.”  Hahaha.  You know.  Even the smart people in horror movies sometimes bite it, Negan.  Just saying.  Maggie really does need to “stop running up the staircase” when she could just run out the front door though, lol.  

Poor Duncan.  I think you could have been another Tyreese, Jerry type for me.  

WTF does this show have against horses?  Those poor creatures.  

Kelly is totally me right now.  I’d be freaking inconsolable.  

Carol needed that hug.  Thank you, Magna.  From the bottom of this tired fangirl’s heart, thank you.  

Why give us that beautiful, golden shot with the horses when you’re planning to stab us through the heart later and twist the knife.  Oh.  Yeah.  That’s exactly why.  

Oh snap!  Father G’s delivery when he tells that Reaper “I’m not.  God isn’t here anymore.”  Cold as ice.  

Judas.  That the Reapers’ work.  Or.  Damn.  Either way, that’s harsh.  

Back to what Alden was saying.  All these oprhaned children.  Who’s going to take on Adam if he dies?  That poor kid has had a rough go of it.  Knowing that, makes you wonder what Alden was thinking volunteering for the suicide mission.  

Omigosh.  There went Agatha.  Terrible way to go.  Right, Beatrice?  

I’m sobbing.  Carol with the horse.  That hurt my baby so much but she hurt herself for her family the same way she has been doing since the Prison.  Melissa Mcbride?  When she cries, I cry.  Every effin’ time.  Aaron being there just made it hurt more.  But at least someone was there to see how and really take in how she continues to break pieces of herself off to keep her family as whole and safe and happy as she can.  

Rewinding a minute--that Magna and Carol conversation.  I get Magna’s reasoning too.  I do.  But Angela is just making everything so dire right now so that the sun when Connie is ultimate found shines a ltitle brighter.  

Those babies know they’re eating horse.  I could never.  

That’s got to be a different Coco.  She’s even smaller.  But she’s gorgeous.  

Fucking finally.  Angela having the other characters notice after an eternity of being blind to it, just how much Carol sacrifices of herself for them.  It’s so long overdue and I imagine Rosita’s even more worried for Carol now.  It’s a shame it’s taken 11 seasons.  My baby’s had blood on her hands trying to keep her family safe and whole and happy and fed for a long damn time.  So heartbreaking watching her try to scrub the blood away.  

Sweet, sweet hug that Kelly gave Magna.  She’s such a sweetheart kid sis to all of them, isn’t she?  

Interesting place of refuge.  A gutted church.  A visual symbol, Angela, of where Maggie and the rest of our people are now perhaps?  

“It’s easy for you, isn’t it?  Being reckless with sombody’s life...”  Maggie.  Maggie.  Those words would have hit so much harder if we hadn’t spent the majority of the last 2.5 episodes watching you ignore sound advice just because it came out of the mouth of somebody you (justifiably) hate.  

But will Alden be there when Maggie and Negan get back?  That is the question.  Or will he eventually Lucille himself?  

That little bit of lineup Negan music to remind the audience of Negan lovers and sympathizers that he once took great pleasure in murderously swinging a bag at people’s heads was a nice, subtle touch there.  Like agree with her or not, Maggie  is literally left to rely  on the hope, however small it is, that Negan has changed just enough that he won’t try to finish a job he taken on years before--killing what’s left of her.  

Oh lawd.  Next episode sees the return of a character literally nobody asked for.  How excited am I not?  

Dog better not be harmed or so help me.  

Now for Angela’s weekly explanations of WTF she/there were thinking because they been doing this plausible deniability thing so long some people out there watching with biased, muddy stan glasses can no longer separate head canon from canon.  

Is Maggie worried at all about Daryl or does she just assume his superhero powers are in full effect in this episode?  

“You can’t really say it wasn’t going to happen anyway.”  Not Angela pointing out that simply laying the blame for literally everything bad that ever happens at Carol’s feet isn’t the answer.  Say it louder for those in the back.  Alpha was going to do what Alpha wanted to do.  

“There is love there.  There is respect there.  However, there’s also frustration...”  You damn skippy.  Friendships and human relationships are complex AF.  Like Carol. She’s honestly one of the most complicated characters on this show and any show, IMHO.  That’s what makes her so memorable and such a lightning rod for discussion.  

I know I might be in a minority, but I really feel like they need more of those little scenes between the kids to keep things real.  

Kang saying she always feels like she’s going to get murdered in a staircase or parking lot is relatable, funny, and sad all at the same time.  It’s a girl thing.  

Why is Carol’s story giving me Dark Knight vibes?  Like I feel like she’ll gladly shoulder the burden of their distrust, their hate, or their judgment as long as the hard choices she makes keeps them safe.  And she’s still ultimately going to come back to save their asses even when they forsake her.  Just like Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Am I reaching too far, lol?  Because sometimes I do that.  

Anyway.  This is the third episode of the season and the third episode in a row that I mostly enjoyed.  I don’t know if I’m just so relieved and happy to have all the characters and my show back or what, but overall?  I’ve been pleased with the episodes and found something to love in all of them.  

There’s a much stronger horror vibe woven throughout Season 11 so far.  I feel like it’s a return to the roots of the show and I like that.  Literally none of the characters are making perfect choices and this viewer is here for it.  My only complaint so far is there hasn’t been enough Carol but what we’ve been given has felt like a gift and significant in a way that Gimps’ version was not.  Also?  I really hope the trend of the ladies working together and supporting each other continues because they rule the TWD world, lol.  

Hope you enjoyed at least some of my TWD word vomit.  

Until next episode.  

[haircoveredwriter]

Okay before anyone asks, yes I've seen the summaries of the 6 extra eps. Yes I'm excited about them, and hell yes I'm still zen and think Caryl is coming.

Let me regail you with an unsolicited word vomit about how I see things panning out. Feel free to scroll past this now if you don't wanna know or don't care. No hard feelings.

(Putting it underneath a break since it got longer than I meant it to be. And I can't figure it out of the app so here's my makeshift one)

--------------------------------------------------

We good? Good.

So Kang really has put together the same formula we've been getting with Caryl for God know how long, except this time it looks like they are actually gonna hash some of their shit out. No more dancing around it or doing the Gimps special of just forget about it and it'll blow over with sunshine and rainbows. Actual talking. (Let's pick our jaws off the floor and continue.)

'Home Sweet Home' has them in their usual awkward place of not being able to deal with anything because they're dealing with Neg@n/M@ggie/Elijah (magic ninja)/the kids/did we just fucking destroy the whisperers??/does anyone have any snacks stuff??...the usual and instead of letting them heal they have become the group's caretakers. It's just a bunch of whoopie 😶 although we've seen clips where Daryl is already up to defend Carol's choices regardless of how mentally and physically exhausted he is. True love at its finest. Plus we know they talk a bit on some level and it leads us to them going off together in 'Find Me'.

Caryl. Alone. In a tiny cabin. Daryl opening up and talking about his past. Yes please. (I'll give y'all a min to laugh at Caryl having a cabin episode 😏😏)

Now the way it's worded sounds to me like Daryl has callbacks/flashbacks to a variety of things; 1- his childhood and dick bag daddy 2- his time locked in the cell at The Sanctuary which plays into Neg@n and can also link to things from the first one, and 3- how he had to just get away after R!ck "died" and Carol was in Kingdom land since it was too painful to be home. The last one I see him relating feelings more towards Carol, fearing she's gonna run since it's all over, deciding to open up about his other stuff in hopes he can delay what he sees as inevitably heart wrenching and soul destroying. Why is this important besides making him have sad puppy eyes? Because Carol learns some truths she didn't before (mostly about the whole Neg@n situation) and in true broken ZA queen style we've come to expect, she puts this issue and the self imposed guilt on her shoulders to fix they into way she thinks she can, what Daryl deserves to be distant from her and Carol is the one who decides in 'Diverged' that it's a super cool, fun idea they go different ways for reasons I can't pinpoint yet. She wants to go het something before going home....he should make sure everyone is okay while she looks for berries...she's gonna go find throw a couple rocks at the collapsed cave since she can't pour one out for Con©on...take your pick.

Any way you slice it, it leads to Caryl trying to function separately and failing like a couple of fleshing birds flipping out of the nest to waddle across the grounds, landing face first every 3 steps. Tptb ain't even trying anymore with that 'will this break Caryl forever and they'll despise the other for eternity?" Yeah, cus we all go on potentially one way road trips with a person we can't stand to be around. Come on guys. Put SOME kind of effort in.

Yes there is gonna be angst but I see it resolved by the end of the ep and Caryl fixing whatever never there crack the writer's pretended was there.

By 'Here's Negan' we have Carol "taking Neg@n on a journey to diffuse issues at home". I don't for a second see this as her leaving with him, her choosing to spend time with him, or them bonding over anything except for Carol laying down the law of how things are gonna be going forward if he gets to sticky around. If not then he has the choice to hit the road make his own way again. I hope she brings up some kind of hint as to how pissed she is about what she learned from Daryl and he's lucky she didn't know about it beforehand or he'd be walked bait by now. Give me some take no shit Carol all day y'all but Neh@n is gonna have his use in reliving his past life (Lucille) and give Carol a pep talk on not letting great things right in front her nose slip through her fingers before it's too late. He's gonna push her the same.way he made the girlfriend comments to Daryl until the light bulb goes off and her penny drops in the bucket, making her see what IDIOTS she and Daryl are being.

Basically, the ship is still sailing. Kang is aimed straight at canon Caryl and she's never waivered in her destination so we good fam. Settle in for the angsty goodness because it's gonna lead to the biggest release we've been waiting 10 damn years for. Get your popcorn and tea ready.

Caryl on.