#i cannot express how fun it was to change the background and my character's outfit xD

[djsadbean]

And it begins!! (the screenshot is just a placeholder ^^)

[lunex-the-cat]

🌟Background Sentries🌟

God I cannot believe I got this far. Even if for design fun, 12 whole characters. I'm happy to present them all together in this height chart!

Do you have a favorite of them? I'd love to know!

Marking this as sorta like a checkpoint, I wanted to ramble write down some of my thought processes from when I was designing the characters. What I was going for, what little personality I imagined for them as I went along the way and my self critiques after the fact. You can read all that below the read more.

⬇ ⬇ ⬇ The references ⬇ ⬇ ⬇

Arson:

Arson's reference made me think of 2 things when I saw it. It surprisingly gave me cowboy vibes and I knew immediately this guy is fuckboy bastard. A complete and utter jerk. And he is. He is a demon and loves to make people angry or get in fights.

I love Arson so damn much, but being the first one I designed out of the bunch, he's the one I'd want to give the most revisions to. Mainly 2 big things. First is the colors with the eyes. The values with the sockets and the eye lights are too similar and that makes it a lot tougher to make out his eye lights. I think I wish I'd gone with a brighter shade of yellow.

The second is that I wish I had made him a lot wider, buffer. It's the image I had in mind from the start, but unfortunately, I hadn't figured out how to do that yet at the time of drawing him. So, while if I draw him again in the future, he'll be bigger. For this reference, he shall remain a string bean.

Also, as a last little nit pick, I shouldn't have accidentally hid one of the buttons on his vest with his arm lmao.

Pax:

Pax's name means peace and given the green color of his magic, I think inevitably, he's some kinda healer type. With the bright pastels of his body, it would've been real easy to go the small and cute route. Which I do like, but isn't what I felt with Pax.

Instead, I wanted to take a cute pastel look on the body and a maybe softer personality and build up the opposite around that to contrast. Big, tall, and intimidating and luckily by the time I did Pax, I actually kinda knew how to do a broader body type, so of course I jumped on that. No idea if I actually pulled off what I wanted there.

I wasn't really sure where I was going with the outfit aside from that I was gonna color it dark. Warrior-ish I guess. Kinda gives a ninja vibe to me now if I'm honest. His outfits had so many different tries in the sketching stage. There is one other thing that was intentionally planned with the clothes. I tried a reoccurring shape theme with rectangles in his outfit. Being of the newest batch and still pretty fresh in my mind. I'm not really sure about any changes I'd want to make yet.

Hecate:

There isn't a ton I'm going to comment on despite Hecate being one of my favorites. Going by the reference, I wanted Hecate to be a little creepy, little mysterious. Her robes and such I did wing pretty heavily, but I think I did well enough with Hecate in the idea I wanted.

Their name is that of the greek goddess of magic and I think that also lends well to the sort of eldritch deer vibe he has going. Even though Hecate is creepy, I don't think they actually want to hurt anyone. Doesn't mean they don't unnerve everyone with their near unchanging expression, though.

Zanna:

2 big thoughts I had with Zanna. I wanted a sorta water or mother goddess vibe for Zanna and she had to have the blank but striking, brightly color sockets. Admittedly, it wasn't Zanna who had to have that detail, but I wanted a character with that look real bad. I'd wanted to figure out how to incorporate the makings on the body from the reference but couldn't figure it out. In the end, I suppose having her be a bit more simple is better.

Zanna's name means lily. Sorta a life goddess feel, watering plants and such. I think she actually was a goddess in her AU, being in the Pocket Void now though, she no longer holds such power or doman. She accepts this and doesn't try to use the sway she no longer has.

Vini:

I like what I ended up with Vini but I didn't have much of an image for her going in. If I where to change anything, maybe I'd mess around with the clothes and see about more details for them because they feel a bit simple.

For personality Vini is really sweet but a bit of a gossip. She has trouble keeping secrets and likes to know everything that's going on socially. She never wants to hurt anyone but with her loose words she may end up doing it on accident sometimes.

Aromel:

Aromel's name is a type of strawberry but they aren't sweet. They're pretty but bitter. Blunt and not trying to be social with many. Aromel might've been an angel, or something holy in his AU.

Change wise I'd probably wanna mess around with the clothes colors a little more, cause the singluar bit of green on the chest draws away a bit to much from the eyes.

Verdin:

Verdin's name was so close to being Tanager but a few friends liked Verdin more. I swear I'm gonna use that name at some point. In anyway a verdin is a bird with yellow on it, so that's really all the explanation needed for the name.

Kinda wish I'd given him a bird's tail like I imagined but aside from that I don't think I'd wanna change much about him. God ribs are hard though.

Knew from the beginning Verdin's an action and adventure type. Kind and sociable but also a little bit mean in his bluntness.

Fun note Verdin has the smallest color palette.

Delta:

Delta's name is in reference to the symbol in math which is also displayed on the letterman jacket she wears. I wanted school jock vibe for Delta. Sorta a sporty look I tried to do but I think she's also very smart academically.

While being a very talented and smart person, Delta gets into trouble all the hecking time. It's not on purpose but she has a temper and when someone makes her angry, she has a penchant to make others angry too.

The hair was very fun to color and it being fiery is some simple symbolism towards he being easy to make mad. She's probably one of Arson's favorite targets to tease.

Ryder:

I saw Ryder's reference and knew basic features wise, that reads girl. IE, pink and purple, blush and eyelashes. So of course I decided, yeah I'm going to make this a man. Along the way also gaining a biker aesthetic. Underneath that leather jacket the sleeves of the t-shirt he wears where totally ripped off to make that bow he has on his head.

Even though he's pretty obviously an underfell monster I think Ryder's actually pretty dang friendly. Might have something to do with the perseverance purple eyelight he has.

Cho:

With Cho and their reference, I really liked the feeling of a sorta broken butterfly. Damaged but still beautiful. He's definitely a survivor of some horrortale variant. Horrorswap? Idk. He's quiet kind and I think they like gardening.

I had done some pretty light googling with Cho's name. From what I had found it means butterfly in Japanese and beautiful in Korean. I really do not know how accurate that is but even if it's not I just like the way Cho sounds when said.

In any way the wings I think are definitely the strong point of the design and the clothes the weakest. I wasn't fully sure what I was doing with the clothes and even now not fully sure what I'd change about them. Probably the colors.

Tyrian:

Tyrian's name is in reference to royal purple/tyrian purple because of the prominent purple in their reference/palette. I actually looked up the color tyrian purple and used the specific hue for the color their magic in the palette. Which bouncing off from there I wanted to give Tyrian a very rich, royal look. He could maybe use more jewelry in some way but I did get the look I imagined in the end.

I also tried a reoccurring shape theme with him, using lots of little diamond shapes and trying to make the eye shapes on his wings a little more diamond shaped too.

Floss:

Floss I was trying to experiment with pushing bodily proportions and am so happy I did. I love his massive hands so so much. I gave him such a massive fluffy coat cause I wanted to push on the fact that his body is actually really tiny.

His name comes from the term fairy floss, which is another thing cotton candy is called. This is in reference to his pink and blue, cotton candy color palette.

Floss is a little gremlin type of guy. Enjoying climbing on people like jungle gyms, poking, other weird but generally harmless fun. Even though he's quite the chaos type, he doesn't actually speak most of the time. Usually using his massive hands for sign language. Possibly selectively mute? He does like to hum and make noises a lot though.

If you happened to read all my ramblings, thank you so much!💚

[discoclubofvenus]

Morning Haze

Morning Headcanons w/Hinawa, Victor, & Maki

Warnings: None~

Genre: Fluffier than cloud 9

Attributes: gn reader

Type: Request

A/N: This was such a cute little request omg, but I finally got around to making some banners! I’ll make more as I write for different characters

He is getting up at the ass crack of dawn to be productive and no you cannot get him out of this routine

Sometimes he’ll just be reading a by the window and watching the sun come up or he’s cleaning  or cooking breakfast

Mans said “I will be up to have a peaceful moment before dealing with those damn hooligans” 🗿

He mainly gets up early due to it being a habit from his military days 😗

He always gives you a smooch before leaving for work

(I swear he stay havin a shit load of paperwork)

On his days off..he would definitely sleep in

He would still wake up pretty early (like 8-9am) but not at the ass crack of dawn

He would be the type that’s completely awake after 2 minutes of being awake

Weird af but it’s that military trainin in him hun

However you can easily convince him to stay in bed by giving him a massage

If you wake up before him you should 100% get/make some breakfast so you two can have breakfast in bed

He would appreciate it sm

Also hinawa without his glasses is so hot??? But when he put them glasses on?? Phew chile..this man a snack

HE HAS A REALLY DEEP AND SEXY VOICE IN THE MORNING

YOU KNOW THE ONE

If he wakes up before you he’s most definitely staring at your sleeping form

He’d snort at you for drooling too but never make fun of you

He looks at the way the your expression is just so serene

100% will lightly joke about your snoring

He’d definitely make you breakfast in bed

Hinawa makes his way to your shared room in careful but hurried footsteps. In his hands sat a tray  that carried plates full of food. He already put the glass of (f/d) stop of your nightstand, so all he had to do was deliver the food. Which he did, successfully. He placed the tray on his side of the bed and gently ran his knuckles along your face. Hinawa could barely focus on anything but you. His love, his pillar, his ribbon. The scene in front of him was one he’d commit to his memory forever. Alas, you needed to wake up before the food got cold. So, with little to no hesitation Hinawa gently shook you awake along with a peck to your nose. “Good morning my darling”

If you’re still sleepy he’ll pet your head and let you rest on his chest while he reads

Hell he’ll even kiss your forehead sometimes

You guys would take a shower together with jazz or soft piano playing in background

Give this a man a massage while he’s contemplating whether he wants to get out of bed

He’d most definitely appreciate it and give you a token of his appreciation in kisses

You two will either wake up at the same time or you’ll wake up before her

Baby gorl will stay asleep till the cusp of noon (11am-12)

Her sleeping face is so adorable, kiss her cheek for me wouldja?

She wont have an iron grip around you if you try getting up, however, she will slowly start to wake up if you’re not beside her anymore

She’ll get pouty if you don’t come back soon

Give her around 10 minutes or so to adjust coming to reality

I recommend running your hands through her hair

She has such a tiny voice in the morning aodlfuebwuweb

Will appreciate you sosososososo much if you give/make her breakfast in bed

She would love to help with making breakfast! That’s one quick way to completely wake her up

Doing yoga in the morning together (if you both wake up early enough and this is another way to get her completely up lol)

Once she’s fully awake tho??

Homegirl is definitely finding excuses to stay in bed and skip the day

“Why don’t we stay in bed for a few more minutes? It’s not everyday we have such a peaceful awakening.” Maki states as she takes a sip of her steaming green tea. You give her an incredulous look as she closes her eyes--whether to ignore the stare she knows you’re giving her, or she’s savoring the moment within her whole being. You’re not sure, but if the serene smile on her face is anything to go by you would say the latter..if she weren’t adamantly trying to stifle her laughter. You sighed, with a small smile stretching across your face and a shake of your head you made your way to the closet. “You know Hinawa would kill the both of us if we skipped out on our duties--mostly me because he thinks I persuade you to stay in bed.”

You both help the other choose their outfit and you also have a little routine when it comes to your individual morning routines

While you’re in the shower, she would be doing a face mask and washing her teeth. While she’s in the shower, you’re washing your face and outside the bathroom doing your hair.

Please sing with her if you’re in the bathroom at the same time she’s in the shower

Before you guys leave your room for the day, she’ll give you a kiss and 1 reason as to why she loves you

He does not want to get out of bed, he dont so he won't

Simple

He will LITERALLY whine if you try getting him out of bed

He likes getting up around afternoon when he has days off because he will spend all night researching

Has you tangled all up in his limbs

RIP if you gotta get up to do anything cuz if he feels you move he’ll grip tighter

Will definitely tease you if he wakes up before you (just as a way to cover up how gorgeous he finds you in the morning)

“Eeewewew your morning breath is awful (n/n)”

“Oops looks like your bonnet/scarf travelled on a journey without you last night”

Someone beat his ass

That doesn’t stop him from giving you a nice gentle and slow smooch

Will drag you out of bed and get you up and ready

“I’m not going through this whole day without my stress reliever”

You guys brushing your teeth together

You wiping his face and him giving you kisses as appreciation

I’m soft

All of that only happens if you guys have a productive day ahead of you

ON A LAZY DAY??

He ain’t gettin up you can hang it up (and if he ain’t gettin up NEITHER ARE YOU)

You are gonna be the one to get up first because this man will sleep the whole day away if you let him

It’ll be the only way that his brain ACTUALLY takes a break

Unless he dreams about his research….

He prolly does if we’re being honest

Petting his hair while he sleeps (this man has an afro, therefore he has curls, which entails that this is a MAN WITH MELANIN. I’m not sorry, I made this rule and I’m gonna follow it)

Your dream slowly started to shift away to uncover spots of light trying to gain your attention. Soon your eyelids peeled open and your face was dotted with the sun’s rays. Looking to your side you spotted the curtains having a slight opening, wasn’t it time that you changed that? Black out curtains were made to block out the sun from waking you up after all. At a leisurely pace you attempted to get up and close the nuisance--YOINK. Letting out a squeal you were pulled back into the arms of your lover, Viktor Licht. When he got such strength to pull you back like that, you couldn’t find an immediate answer. Which pegged another question….how is he still asleep after such a stunt. Hearing the brunet groan beside you answered your question..he was only half-awake.

In bed you guys will talk about any and everything, your voices won’t be above a certain level to keep the atmosphere around you peaceful 

He would definitely tickle you to break that unspoken rule 

The only way you could get this man to get out of bed is if you’re making food 

Or have it delivered bc he’s not leaving the crib on his day off

[calocera]

SPOILERS FOR CATS 2019, here’s my hot takes and opinions

be warned, THIS IS LOOOONG

First off my overall opinion, i LITERALLY cannot say whether it was good or bad, like lots of critics say it just...is beyond that. It’s VERY fun and that’s all I can bring myself to say, I have LOTS of problems with it but I can’t even say that they make the movie bad. It is definitely worth watching

OPINIONS ON CHARACTERS:

Victoria: she’s good! I appreciate that they kinda left her personality blank other than her innocence since that’s pretty much how she always was, still not super thrilled with her as a main character but franchesca did the best she could

Munkustrap: I loved him! he was more of a main character than I would have expected, but they STILL cut all the charm from his lines... why do I love him then? Robbie fairchild did AMAZING background acting, whenever he was in frame he was always doing something SUPER munkustrap-y and making cute dad faces. he was dealt bad lines but he worked around it best he could. Also his legs were normal so...epic fail

Mistoffelees: 😒😒😒😒😒🤢🤢🤮 disappointed but not at all surprised...he was just a Woobie, a softboy uwu nice guy. I felt like I was seeing fanon 2013 loki in cat form. THEY MADE HIS SONG A SADBOY PITY PARTY SONG...WHY WOULD YOU MAKE THE 11 O’CLOCK NUMBER SLOW AND SAD???? Where is the smug little shit who’s vague and aloof yet confident and joyous? He was murdered by his evil homophobic shadow clone. I’m not even gunna indulge the fact that him and Victoria were a thing, I’ll go over that later. He also just constantly looked like the crying cat meme his eyes were so red and watery it was horrifying, yet somehow he wasn’t the worst character , that leads us too.....

tugger: what.the.fuck.did.you.do.to.this.boy. HE GOT THE TREATMENT I EXPECTED FOR MUNKUSTRAP! HE WAS DEMOTED TO BACKGROUND CHARACTER! not only did he not sing mr. mistoffelees, he literally did nothing other than his song, he never interacted with ANY characters besides jenny in 1 scene. I know cats has no set main characters but he’s undoubtedly one of the most important characters and he’s like...the least important named character in the movie. ALSO Jason Derulo was not sexy at all. There was NO hip thrusting NO sexy meowing NO glamrock, he was just an asshole and if I hadn’t already seen the original I would have either completely forgotten about his character or though he was the worst character. I’m so fucking angy I cannot express.

Girzzabella: ngl I expected better. Her acting was great but with the horrible effects I couldnt get invested but I’ll touch on the effects later. Her singing was good, but I expected it to carry the movie and it wasn’t at all the best song in the movie, I’d say she’s about as good as I expected she’d be but the movie itself was more enjoyable than I expected so she was less significant

Old d: she was fine, she LOOKED the part definitely, she didn’t have as large a presence as ken page but I wouldnt expect that of her. Her singing wasn’t the greatest though, her voice is fine by it’s just NOT suited to old d’s songs. I would have preferred she play a female gus bc her voice is very sweet and frail, not at all built for belting like her songs required.

Macavity: he’s just...eh. He’s basically a comic relief villain which sucks. He does practically nothing besides kidnap people, say a cheesy line, and act like a caricature of a 90s cartoon villain (and not one of the fun ones) like theres a scene where he poofs away and when he does it he goes, MACAvityyyyyyy and fades away its so unintentionally funny but it just makes him so lame as a villain. not to mention he doesnt even die at the end or get any satisfying conclusion he just gets stuck on top of a statue and his powers suddenly stop working (for some reason??)

Bombalurina: fuck that, I am simultaneously glad she only was in the macavity number bc fuck off Taylor Swift but also disappointed bc she deserved so much better.

Bustopher: 😟 never in my darkest nightmares did I think I’d see bustopher Jones deepthroat multiple crayfish but here we are. Somehow THIS was the most sexual song, I cannot begin to name the fetishes checked off by this performance bc itd hit word limit. Let me just say that I said multiple times out loud, “damn bustopher kinda a freak with it 😏😏” like I CANNOT stress how weirdly sexual it gets. And ofc its all otherwise just haha funney fat guy eat food and burp and fall down. He also breaks the fourth wall a few times which like, fuck you

Jenny: exactly what was shown in the trailer. Unfunny fat jokes and slapstick humor. Also they focused WAY too many shots on her cat pussy and I wish I was making that up. Also of note is that the cgi on the rats and cockroaches are drastically worse than the rest of the movie, like not just bad designs the effects are BAD. also they translated they whole gumbie cat fur-shedding as her wearing fake skin over her outfit which would be fine but UHH the fake fur is skin tight??? so it literally looks like shes ripping off her skin and she does it multiple times its fucking terrifying

Mungojerrie and rumpelteazer: meh, they are fine as characters, not quite as energetic as I would have liked but they didn’t massively fuck anything up? The song was horrible, they went against the beat for...some reason? Like it’s a song with a very distinct rhythm and they split up the lyrics so weirdly. I liked that they followed through with the lore of them working for macavity

Skimbleshanks: YES YESSSSSSSSSS HOLY FUCKING SHIT 💗💕💖💞💜😳😳😳😳😳😳😳💜💛🧡💚💖❤️💗 i absolutely CANNOT express how good skimbleshanks made me feel. He looks like a leather daddy with his chains and suspenders and hat and stache, I hate that I’m saying this but uh...mr skimbleshanks sir😳 we were actually screaming it was so fucking good. Watching this movie was worth it just for skimble. Unironically. I’m listening to the song as we speak. It was kinda weird that they moved the tap dancing to this song but that’s more of a detractor from Jennie’s and a plus side to skimbles since it’s good tap

Gus: good! Ian did a good job of course, no one doubted that he would.

Growltiger and griddlebone: not racist but still absolutely horrifying. One of the worst parts of the movie, I actually got squeamish looking at griddlebone a few times that’s how bad she looks

Everyone else: not that good. I couldn’t tell who was who, all their personalities were annoying, I’m on imdb as we speak trying to figure out who even was supposed to be who. Demeter is completely butchered and jemima just isn’t there, doesn’t sing her part, it all sucked man.

Tech talk:

CGI: okay so here’s the thing, the effects are good. GREAT even, the issue is how fucking horrible the designs are. The lack of cat nose, mouth, and hairy cheeks makes them all look disgusting. Also the feet. Holy fuck why do they have feet. THERES A FUCKING SCENE WHERE TUGGER GRABS VICTORIAS FOOT AND SNIFFS IT. IT LASTS LIKE 5 SECONDS. Old Deuteronomy, Gus, and Cassandra (bc she was already bald) are the only characters I’d say look anywhere close to decent, grizabella looks okay in profile but head on it’s all horrible again. its really such a shame bc the sets are gorgeous! i really hope this movie gets some form of recognition for its sets.

the editing and directing was DOGSHITTTTTTT there are SO many scenes where characters just teleport or parts where people are singing and no ones mouths are moving its really distracting

Other things:

it’s OBVIOUS that the critics calling this movie horny have never seen the original. I’d definitely say the movie is LESS HORNY than the play. It IS however waaaaaaay more uncomfortable with its hornieness, so I’d say in that regard YES, the horny stuff is much more gratuitous and off putting despite there being an overall smaller amount than the play. ie everything bustopher jones does

They changed a BUNCH of lyrics for some reason?? Like they cut verses which I understand but there are like a handful of lyrics in almost every song they just...change. like...okay? All changing lyrics is gunna do is make people who knew the songs frustrated when they can’t sing along

the dancing was incredible! shame the cg just fucking invalidates all of it bc your mind doesnt register it as real people doing real moves

OKAY THE FUCKING CATNIP SCENE so when taylor swift showers everyone in catnip they all just fucking start moaning and go FULL HORNY its TOO MUCH like misto full on does an o face like eyes rolled back mouth open  and munkustrap is like ass up panting i still havent processed it im fucking terrified to encounter it again. they cut the orgy? yet added THIS??? k

WHY did they take 2 of the most iconic characters who FREQUENTLY interact and just

a. Never even have them make eye contact

b. Make 1 a background character

c. Completely change the personality of the other one

On the topic of Victoria/misto: I am just still at a loss as to why they thought it’d be a good idea? They completely removed Plato and for what? This? Pathetic. It’s worth noting the weirdly munkustrap has WAYYY more chemistry with both Victoria AND mistoffelees then they did with each other (there’s a part where it looks like misto and munk are about to kiss for some reason?? munk ALSO gets all touchy feely with skimbleshanks???) anyways munkustrap king moments

tldr; its worth watching, the best parts were the sets, the dancing, skimbleshanks, and munkustrp fucking CARRIES the weight of the world with his face acting. the worst things were a big fat tie between bustopher, tugger,misto,jenny,growltiger and griddlebone, and the godawful design choices

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Visual Novel Review – The Expression Amrilato

I adore any work that tries to do something different with yuri, and visual novels are perhaps the medium pushing boundaries most when it comes to traditional yuri storytelling. I recently played such a visual novel, Mangagamer’s English adaptation of SukeraSparo’s The Expression Amrilato. The Expression Amrilato is an educational yuri game, focusing on teaching the player the international language of Esperanto, or Juliamo as it is known in the game’s world. The game was developed in collaboration with The Japanese Esperanto Institute and I was thoroughly excited to not only experience a cute yuri adventure but to learn something new!

The story begins when the protagonist, Rin, is transported to a mysterious parallel world. It is almost identical to her own with the only obvious differences being the language spoken and the eternally pink sky. Lost and scared, Rin frantically tries to figure out what is going on to no avail. Fortunately, she is saved by a younger girl, Ruka, who speaks a smattering of the Japanese familiar to Rin.

Soon Rin is registered as a vizitanto (the Esperanto term for visitor), a person who traveled to the world from another. Ruka, who again, is three years her junior, is established as her guardian, a dynamic Rin is somewhat embarrassed by. The two girls begin living together in Ruka’s apartment as Rin learns the basics of Juliamo. She is assisted in this endeavor by Ruka and the helpful, if somewhat mischievous, librarian, Rei.

These three women, Rin, Ruka, and Rei, are the main cast of the visual novel. By focusing on such a small cast SukeraSparo was able to give each of them a distinct personality, complexity, and intricate relationships with each other. As previously mentioned, Rei is mischievous and often pokes fun at Rin and Ruka. However, she is incredibly protective of both of them, giving advice and acting as a sort of parent to the two younger girls. This dichotomy of character works surprisingly well, especially later in the game as she reveals more about the world and her past.

Rei is excellent but the highlight of the game is Ruka and Rin. Rin is a superb protagonist. She often thinks and narrates inwardly, giving us insight into her feelings. She describes herself as pretty unremarkable but is determined to be good at one thing, learning Juliamo. She also constantly ponders and overthinks her relationship with Ruka, an incredibly complicated topic. Ruka, however, is much more quietly confident and reserve (as well as adorable). Although the younger girl is prone to pouting and frustration at Rin’s occasional stupidity. But, their relationship is the real highlight of the game. 

Rin is “freeloading” off Ruka, and as Ruka is her guardian and teacher she is subservient. However, these tables are turned at times as Rin helps to teach Ruka more Japanese. Rin is also attracted to Ruka but she often blunders attempts to navigate or explain her feelings. The main boundary here is their language difference, which compels both Rin and the player to do their best learning Juliamo.

Rei acts as Rin’s primary resource for learning about the world she has wandered into. There is a surprising amount and world-building in The Expression Amrilato, particularly around the mechanics of how vizitanto come to the world and how governments support them. The established systems for how these vizitanto exist and assimilate, or not, into the world are fascinating and incredibly well thought out. This detailed setting creates an excellent framework for both the game’s education aspects and the core romance.

Overall, the romantic plot between Rin and Ruka is nothing new, it is the same “girl meets girl, girls likes girl, they get together” plot that has been told and retold countless times in the genre. This is not to say the romance is not enjoyable. Rin’s embarrassment and fumbling attempts to control her feelings for Ruka are simultaneously adorable and hilarious. The game has some fun with cliche moments like Rin falling into Ruka and them ending in a compromised position but also has some excellent human moments between the two, such as Ruka sleeping next to Rin to comfort her. The visual novel is decently tame with a little bit of suggestive description and one non-nude bathing scene early on. The lack of service feels appropriate and the characters are still able to hold their own romantic and sexual identities, a welcome accomplishment in the yuri genre which often spends too much time focusing on girls freaking out that they like other girls.

Choices exist in the game, primarily around using the Juliamo language. However, the romance and Rin’s fate ends in one of three ways, good, neutral, or bad, according to late game choices. I strongly disliked the choices as, for the most part, they have no clear indicator of where they are going, turning the story into guesswork, which was indeed my process to find all three endings, replaying the last section over and over again. Furthermore, on some routes, the choices that most players will want to make can lock them out of the best ending. I also was baffled by the choice to not have the player’s aptitude with Juliamo factor into the ending, as you can fail every quiz and get every dialogue option wrong and this will not affect the endings at all. Fortunately, the choices that do affect the ending are late in the game, so backtracking to find your desired outcome is possible. 

The character designs and artwork are by Naruse Chisato, and she does a fantastic job. Each of the major characters looks are distinctive, with differing heights, body types, fashion sense, and proportions. I particularly enjoyed the varying outfits on Ruka and her facial expressions (especially when pouting). However, the characters often have a stiff cardboard feel to them, as they have very few poses and clash somewhat against the depth of the backgrounds. Additionally, some of the expressions, particularly on Rei, appear warped and unnatural.

The backgrounds and CG artwork, the latter of which are plentiful, are wonderful. They have a soft pastel look without ever being washed out, and the characters here appear much more at home in their environments and more animated, with cutouts frequently appearing in CGs to show action. Different art assets used in the educational scenes such as flashcards or writing on a chalkboard are excellent editions. Unfortunately, as the story takes place primarily in Ruka’s apartment and the library, the player will quickly become bored by these backgrounds and long for a change of scenery.

The voice talent matches the artwork in its high quality. This is particularly important in this game, as listening to language pronunciation is vital. The actresses easily switch between Esperanto and Japanese in a natural-sounding way. Great praise must be given to voice actresses for Rin and Ruka, Nagatsuma Juri and Uchida Shuu respectively, who convincingly stuttering and struggling over the languages their characters are learning while still being comprehensible.

Sadly, I found the soundtrack to be severely lacking. The game opens with an intro song, accompanied by animation, which was nice for a listen or two but I quickly grew tired of it. This is the most praise I have to offer the music. Most of the tracks are boring at best and at worst grate on the ears with discordant and irritating sounds. If I had not been playing the game to review it I would have disabled music after the first hour.

Finally, I cannot conclude my review of The Expression Amrilato without talking about the educational aspects and value of the game. For those of you who may not have known or have forgotten, when I am not writting about gay anime I am a teacher and spend a great deal of time studying pedagogy. Educational software can be an amazing tool for teaching, as it offers three key benefits, feedback, increased engagement, and interactivity. Using these criteria and just some of the knowledge I have gained from spending my entire life in school, although not always as a student, I examined how The Expression Amrilato teaches Esperanto.

The language is primarily taught through quiz-based learning. There are seven lessons which build on each other and the player then answers questions on. I was surprised by the variety in these quizzes, as they are not always just spouting the vocabulary word to name an object but can involve sentence and grammatical construction as well. Some of them are quite creative, such as when learning the parts of the body the player clicks on Ruka to identify the word she gives. These quizzes can be accessed independently after playing through them via the main menu and there is a Juliamo dictionary, although this is unlocked much later in the game than I would have liked.

Outside of the quizzes, new vocabulary and grammatical rules are often given and old ones reviewed, which appear as little pop-in at the side of the screen that gives pronunciation and spelling. Some gameplay sections of the visual novel have Rin complete actions that review previous lessons, such as going out shopping and needing to name the foods she buys. I enjoyed these sections in particular, as they felt more compelling to me than the quizzes ever did.

Given the criteria for education software, The Expression Amrilato does an okay but not amazing job. It does offer instant feedback, telling the player if they got a question wrong and giving them the correct answer, and has limited interactivity. However, on this front, I cannot help but wonder if the medium is holding the game back. The player never has many complicated choices or questions, and cannot write in answers or construct sentences. Instead, the quizzes and story sections are limited almost exclusively to multiple-choice selection. Engagement is probably where the game shines most, as it has a deep story and amazing art to compliment the learning.

The Expression Amrilato is a unique and enjoyable experience. The story has surprising depth, although it did little to break out of genre tropes. The game’s artwork is stupendous, giving both quality designs and backgrounds and a plethora of great CGs. The yuri romance is reliably cute and serves as a fun framework for learning Esperanto. While not pedagogically perfect, you will get out of the game what you put into it and, with a bit of work, you should walk away with some basics of the language and a big smile from those animated lesbians. 

Ratings: Story – 7 Characters – 8 Art – 9 Voice – 7 Music – 2 Education – 5 LGBTQ – 5 Lewdness – 2 Final – 7

Review copy provided by MangaGamer

You can purchase The Expression Amrilato from Steam, Mangagamer’s website, and other digital storefronts.

Mangagamer is offering free review copies to any and all educational institutes that endorse Esperanto learning.

[eorzeasntm]

ENTM Tumblr Cycle 11

Round Six: Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and Legends from Around the World

Whew, that title is a mouthful, but we wanted to ensure that everyone had a chance to pick a story that had meaning to them.  We had a tale from Japan, legends from England and Nicaragua, and a whole passel of Grimm’s tales to bring us full circle.    The judges and the community all agreed that this week’s best fairy tale cosplay was:

Ni’ko Shae for Puss in Boots

The decision to go with a vertical shot showed off those long kitty legs to perfection, and the choice of an action shot in a dungeon (since this round was free style) let the story fully come to life.  Congratulations!

Our guest judge this week was Momoko, the co-host of ENTM Instagram Cycle 2.  Thanks Momoko!  We did a full on judge swap so you can also check out my critiques for IG Cycle 2, Round Two on our Discord channel!

For the Tumblr models, your critiques for this week are below if you keep on reading.

Judge Momoko

Kota:  I love your glam for this!! It really feels like a Hollywood take on what Little Red Riding hood would wear. It’s also very very easy to tell which fairy tale you’re showcasing, so big props to you!! The apples in the opposite corner to you help to add a couple more pops of red to the overall pic and help balance it.

Yomu: I hadn’t heard of this legend before, so first off, I wanna say thank you for teaching me something!! I thought your use of the Nanamo minion was so incredibly cute and creative!! I think the lighting was just a hair harsh on her, though, and we sort of lost all of the cute pink colors on her, but I also thought how you framed the upper half of the pic with bamboo was both a clever way to stay true to the legend and keep it from having too much empty space!!(It might take me a bit to send them all out today, ‘cause I’m at work, but I promise they’ll be sent today

Haila:  This was such a fun entry!! I’d never heard of La Mocuana and had to read about it, but I loooooove monster girls and creepy folklore in general, so I’m so happy you went with it!! After reading about it, I think you fit the story to a T!! I love the expression and how it’s half-hidden, and the colors/filter really tell that you’re by yourself in a dark cave. I will say that your hair blended in a little too well with the background, but other than that, yours was so creative and fun!!

Peaceful:  How creative!! I never would of thought of doing King Arthur, but you really nailed it!! It’s extremely easy to tell which legend you’re replicating. Your picture’s colors are a little dull and faded, which halfway lends to it, but it also makes it a little muddy. However, I think you adding that soft back lighting over your shoulders easily draws the viewer’s attention back to you, which was really clever!!

Adam:  I think your choice in legend was really interesting!! There’s all sorts of aquatic-based stories, and I feel like Sinbad would be a little more difficult to convey, so props to you for choosing something challenging!! I wish I could’ve seen a more dynamic pose/more of the boat you’re standing on, but the soft muted colors in the background are such a nice combination with the yellow pop of your glam!!

Bria:  Beauty and the Beast is my favorite story!! I really liked your glams and how the colors complimented each other. However, it is a little difficult to tell exactly which fairy tale you’re emulating without the title, and it’s hard to see who the specific model in the picture is. But I also thought that your garden courtyard background was a cute way to imply that you’re at a fairy tale castle!!

Luma: Your choice for your story was way too cute!! I never would’ve thought of doing Jack and the Beanstalk, but I’m so glad that you did!! I think that your choice of environment was super cute, creative, and resourceful!! My biggest thing was that I couldn’t see your face, and your glam colors blended a little too well with your background, but I also liked how unbalanced your picture was; it really helped showcase how giant that beanstalk was!!

Ni’ko- Yours was my most favorite picture!! Your glam was so cute (going for that monotone look to match your hair and tail was a really clever way to make yourself look like a cute tabby), and the boots!! THE BOOTS!! The way that you zoomed out the camera to help elongate your legs was such a clever way to bring focus to the main part of your legend in an almost cartoony way, which I’m a big fan of. I think that your weapon choice and overall color palette is extremely well-done, too!!

Judge Ona

Haila: I learned about this folktale when I took Spanish in High School. Our teacher was pretty twisted, but that’s why everyone loved Senora. I was super excited when Kat told the judges that you did this tale, and genuinely LOVE how you captured it! She hides her face and wanders the forests driven mad by betrayal. If you aren’t the vision of mad, I don’t know what is!

I love the color palette here. Sticking with blues, and only a hint of pinks, you create an eerie vibe. With the filter appearing almost translucent over you, it creates an illusion that you are actually the translucent one.  The glamour choice is phenomenal. In the story it says she is dressed in silks, and this is extraordinarily flowy.

My only real critique is that I cannot see your entire body, and although the filter gives a spooky feel, I wish you could have found a cave entrance or a body of water or something to add to the background. Regardless of this, this shot totally encapsulates La Mocuana, and I am so glad you picked something from Nicaraguan culture.

Ni’ko: If you keep changing Ni’ko’s color I will never know who I am looking at.

However, Ni’ko, I love the choice here! I love how you did a non-human fairytale, where your race could be used to your advantage. I love how you are being showy with your pose, as Puss and Boots most definitely was. Sword up, foot pointed forward toward the front of the image and back hand outstretched as if you’re saying “is that all?”. I also LOVE that your glam looks like the humanoid version of the character we all know; it was an excellent choice to do a big jumpsuit instead of flashy armor.

The lighting is well placed, bringing the viewers eye to your face and the rapier, and the decision to battle such a big enemy was an excellent choice so as its size does not compete with you, because much of it lies just off screen from you.

My only real critique here, is that I wish you maybe had a smirk on your face instead of the blank expression here. A smirk would have conveyed that you are about to kick this monster’s behind, and you are a feline, not a knight. I still love this image and genuinely believe it is one of your strongest yet.

Peaceful: I love your choice of story. Sword in the stone, King Arthur before he was king! It’s a well-known tale, and it’s a strong story to try and cosplay. Unfortunately, you took a big chance and it didn’t quite pan out how maybe you envisioned. However, this image has many strong characteristics, and I would like to go over those for you.

First, your use of this emote or action, shows movement in your character. Bracing yourself to pull the impossible sword from solid stone. You have determination on your face and are focused on the sword. The choice of location lends to the story and is the perfect choice. I would try to avoid the large amount of deadspace in the upper right corner. I know you wanted to get Merlin in the shot, but I think you could have done without him, and closed further in on yourself.

Try next time to place a light on your face instead of the rock in the front, make sure to avoid dead space in the image, change the angle of the image so that its not an upskirt shot which often makes the physics of the clothes act funny, and be mindful of the background (that weird little purple light is very out of place. I think you have some very strong elements, and some weaker ones that you can work on for next week! Remember, you can ask Kat for advice and feedback before submitting.

Yomu: Yomu finds a tiny human in a tree and immediately believes that he may have had too much to drink.

The facial expression had me in tears. You are genuinely freaked out by what you have just found. Your emote here shows excellent action and I can feel the same startling feeling that this woodcutter is feeling! I am pretty sure anyone would feel immediate concern and confusion if they were in this situation.

I love the glamour here, as the story is Japanese in origin, the use of a Japanese style robe helps to place the story’s origin. I am a little concerned about the physics of the robe, however, as it falls slightly unnaturally. The spotlight on your minion is perfect, as the story talks of a shining girl 3 inches tall. Also, excellent choice of filter with particle. I do wish, however, there was a bit more blur to the minion, as this close of a shot lends to distortion and pixelization.

Overall this is a strong image and you do a wonderful job telling the story of the woodcutter. I would loved to have seen more of this story. Try to take into account depth of field, and physics next week. Thank you for also thinking outside of the box and giving us a story from Japan!

Judge Wulf

Bria, you and your costar’s outfits are very well color coordinated! Your location choice is also very appropriate, I feel, since that area of Idylshire gives off a very regal and proper feel. I am a bit concerned that you hair blocks your face! You’re the star of this photo, so make sure you’re the one we see the most of! Always remember: when working with a costar, make sure that they are there to support you and make you look good! That being said, I adore the chemistry between the two of you. Can’t wait to see next week’s shot!

Luma, I admire the lighting in this shot. I am a major fan of bright colors, and you’ve really made the greens, browns, and yellows all come together in this forest scene to make it look both awesome and welcoming all at once. Going with a vertical shot was also a very good choice, I believe, because it makes the “beanstalk” look much more large and imposing, and by contrast you come across much smaller! My main note is this: Since you’re kneeling down and facing away from the camera, you do kind of look a little cloaked in darkness upon first glance. This is a simple fix, though! Just make sure to light up your character a bit more! Once again, I’m really impressed by your concept this week!

Ni’ko, the story of Puss in Boots is one of those that I read over and over again as a kid, and I think you’ve captured a very nice look using the equipment and colors in game! The monster looming over you is also an amazing touch, as it makes you look small, and even more true to the tale! I’m very impressed with your shot this week, but if I had to nitpick, I’d say that it’s only a little off that you aren’t looking at the boss’s face, instead looking through them. Like I said, that’s only a small note though! Very good job this week!

 Peaceful, I instantly knew this was the story of King Arthur! Using iconic imagery to give out key details of what you’re cosplaying in a very important part of any cosplay picture, and I’m glad you’re doing that here! The picture is...very dark though. It may be just my computer monitor, but I find it pretty difficult to see your face or other details about the picture. Could this be an issue with the filter? I’ll tell you where all the darkness does work, though: in the forest behind you. The darkness gives the forest a very spooky vibe, and I’m honestly a little unnerved! For the next week, make sure your character is well lit and visible. Good luck! 

Judge Terrini

Adam: I feel underwhelmed by this shot. You're glamour does nicely call to an Arabic pirate, and there's the boat and water and distant shore but it doesn't really draw on the charm of the Legend of Sinbad. He was one of the early Swashbuckling archetypes and you seem very mellow in this pose. A more dynamic pose and angle would have been nice to see here, something swinging your sword or at least looking away from the camera would have been better to capture the sense of something more. This is a myth, a legend, so you want to capture people's imaginations like the story you're drawing from. Also watch your background composition when you go for something scenic like this. The weather condition colors everything to be rather samey and the sea and sky are both similarly rippled and plain so they come across as uninteresting to the eye. Play with angles and don't be afraid to drop things from your concept for the sake of better composition. Play with it.

Bria: This shot is very playful, and I do like the use of colors (love them blues and purples) as well as the fountain backdrop, but as a depiction of Beauty and the Beast it comes across as a reskin mashup of the Disney movie. It might have been nice if you had your guy wearing an ifrit mask or lion mask or something to up the beast factor, or perhaps went for a different scene from the story. When a competition is fierce, you've gotta push creativity to the limit and really be memorable. 

Haila: I'm not familiar with the fairy tale you're spinning here, but still, I'm entranced. The effects and colors you've chosen with this pose tug at my heart, like you're despairing inside a storm of magic, struggling and pushing onwards. This must certainly have been a moving fable, and your depiction here makes me want to know more. 

Kota: I love the colors captured in this shot, and your glamour is so cute! It's really spot on! Taking the picture by the Apple Trees in North Shroud was great to bring that touch of red into your background as well. The angle of the ground is a bit off-putting and it might be nice to have something more to the image on the ground to enhance the theme with more of a "path". There are some fences in that area too that you might have made use of to that effect. Overall, still a lovely shot.

Judge Nadede

Kota Tumet: This is a pretty good image from you this week. I knew right off the bat that you were Red Riding Hood without looking at the caption, so glamour and your setting did it’s job. I like the lighting that you have and very nice use of depth of field that you have going on there. Your composition I felt was nicely put together as well. I do find myself kinda wishing you were able to incorporate the wolf somewhere within your image as it seems like the only thing missing to make this feel truly complete. So far though, to me, this is your strongest image so far. Keep up the good work.

Yomu Kazul:  I have to admit, yours was one of two stories I actually had to look up and read. After reading “Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” I felt that you did a good job portraying the scene of the little girl popping out from the bamboo. The composition is nicely done and having the “little girl” looking at you helped at least guide my eye up to you and then back to her with you looking right at her. I thought it was a nice touch using Nanamo minion for the little girl instead of a lala as, if I remember reading right, the little girl was just a few inches or so tall when she pops out of the bamboo. So I applaud attention to detail there. My qualm however is when zooming out to get an overall view of the image, your foreground is a bit on the bright side and going back to where your face is in the image, it’s a bit on the dark side. I would suggest try to make the light to where it is a bit brighter towards you and not so bright closer to the audience. Overall, nice work.

Luma Lee:  Luma, while I like the composition of your shot this week, the bottom part where you are at was hard for me to make out. I wouldn’t have thought Jack and the Beanstalk at all just from looking at your image because it was a bit muddled. After reading the description that you had chosen “Jack and the Beanstalk,” it made a bit more sense as to why there is an emphasis on the tree. What I’m having a problem with is that your lighting could use work, especially around your character. With you in the shadows and your outfit is the same color as your background, you blend in a bit too much. I also think a different filter would have worked in your favor as well. So far this is your best shot compositionally for me, just work on the lighting a bit more. Good job.

Adam Evershot:   While this is a nice shot for you Adam, I felt like you could have done more with the story of Sinbad. I find myself wishing that perhaps you could’ve brought in extras to help you with a “crew” of some sort or brought some part of the story to life. I do find the atmospheric lighting of your image nice, I do wish that you could have done a bit more with the lighting on your character to bring you out just a bit more. Just remember when doing a cosplay type shot to find a way to bring out the story of that character more. Overall good work.

[afraschatz]

Leverage - The Nigerian Job

It’s been a while since I watched “The Nigerian Job” and wow, what a joy to do that again. Because there are so many things I love about it. Here are just a few: I love...

... the introduction of Nate - so much exposition is needed and that’s always difficult to deliver without it seeming clunky and, well, like exposition, but Rubinek and Hutton just DELIVER.

... Dubenic. One of my favourite villains of them all. So fucking ruthless, he makes NATE seem like a choir boy in comparison, and that’s saying something.

... Nate’s reaction to “Steal them back”. Yes, he’s interested because of the money and because of wanting to stick it to his old boss, but that look? Yeah, Nate, keep kidding yourself. You WANT to be a thief ;)

... ‘No, but Parker is in-sane.’ And Nate’s look to accompany that, hahaha. Where is the lie.

... the music of this show. The intro music but also the signature “the game is on” music. I have it as my ringtone and my alarm and really, it’s just so awesome. Because right here at the start, a very dark and gritty start, the music sets the tone and tells us: This is gonna be a clever show and a fun show and KEEP WATCHING <3

... Hardison’s first words on the show being “No. No, no, no, no, hell no.”

... Hardison calling Nate ‘Brah’ and talking back at him right from the start

... “This is not the room you’re looking for.” - Also, I know that Hardison can’t possibly actually TELL this story to Nate and the others at this point, but we all know that he will eventually. And I LOVE that this is his mind’s go to story for being the ultimate hustler. Oh, Hardison, how I love you and your geeky priorities.

... “You can hear everything.” - “Not as useless as you look.” - Instant love. Also: HI ELIOT. And hi Eliot’s glasses. What happens to you later on? And seriously, Eliot, why did you decide to wear them for this job? I mean you clearly don’t need them, so is this a fashion choice? Where you reading while you were waiting for the others to set up?

...No but seriously, I LOVE the outfit choice for Eliot here and in the flashback. He looks like he just got up from a coffee with Sartre and Camus and I cannot stress enough how I LOVE how that (aside of course from being funny) already sets up how he is NOT just the muscle <3

...Eliot not even putting down his mug. Yes, he is that badass

...the baseball card

... “You can have the whole box” (Flirty!Hardison - and yes, of course he is fascinated and turned on by Parker instantly, but I think what I love most is how this is different to how he sees her later; he is overall more aggressive, edgy, pushy pre-team)

... “Age of the Geek, baby. We run the world.” - “Hm. You keep telling yourself that.”

... Thief.

... Parker’s flashback being so fucking DARK, even in comparison to Eliot’s who just put down 10 thugs

... the tell-tale ages of their flashback selves - Hardison the teenager, Eliot the adult, Parker the kid. Talk about what shaped you / who you are

...Eliot and Nate being professionals vs. Parker and Hardison being the brats <3

... Parker taking such obvious pleasure in her work

... Nate’s background images being the cold blue schematics

... Hardison being SO TURNED ON by Eliot’s speed / his efficiency / his dislike of guns (love the emptying of the magazine) / his smile

... that shared smile when the door opens. STOP IT, YOU GUYS

... Nate’s I-am-in-command-here voice. Later on he uses that to play generals and higher ups - his favoured role aside from ‘the annoying one’ - but here it’s no game, no play acting. This IS Nate right now

... technically that would be Plan G

...the OT3 working so perfectly together during the burn-scam sequence

...the almost-morning-at-the-end-of-an-obviously-fucking-cold-night atmosphere when they split. Talk about symbolism here. And lovely light

... Dubenic. Seriously. He dupes us, the viewers, fair enough. But he also does this with Nate, Parker, Eliot, AND Hardison. And can we just take a moment and appreciate that because we know how insanely smart they are. - And there is just that HINT of Dubenic playing them in the way he picks up his cup and sips, like he has no care in the world

... the way Hardison holds his gun

 ... the fact that Eliot hasn’t taken it away from hm yet. Because sure, he could. But he actually WANTS Hardison to BELIEVE him, doesn’t he

...Hardison and Parker having brought guns. Which makes sense. Eliot not bothering. Which also makes sense. But Nate? He just doesn’t give a fuck at this point, does he? Dangerous man, he who has nothing left to lose. And that maniac’s laughter when he figures it out? Holy shit, there is something very, very wrong with him

... Eliot helping Hardison up (already the protector <3)

... the reason why Hardison fell in the first place - looking back to check where Eliot is <3<3

...the reflection of the fireblast on Nate’s face. The whole explosion. Damn, that is some fine pyro work there.

...Parker switching so effortlessly between razor-sharp logic and crazy aloofness

...the ever changing dynamic during that conversation in Hardison’s flat. Like, Hardison keeping Eliot from finally losing it and taking it on with Nate and all the other little shifts and changes. Like, Nate already knowing Eliot’s and Parker’s different priorities (Payback and Money / Money and Payback); Parker and Hardison being hooked straight away, Eliot being the cautious one

...Eliot’s FACE during Sophie’s acting

...Nate being so FASCINATED by Sophie

... that flashback - Nate, like the OT, has a very... interesting way of remembering things

...Parker’s super aggressive popcorn reading

... Eliot’s continued ‘Parker is crazy. CRAZY. Am I the only one seeing that?!’ Possibly, yes, Eliot

...Nigerians. I mean, not only is that THE con. But it’s also the con that works because it targets people too stupid to not know better. The fact that Nate uses that on Dubenic. Because they were double-crossed and now HE gets double-crossed with a con that he SHOULD have seen coming because no one in their right mind would buy Nate Ford trying to pull of the ACTUAL Nigerian Scam

...Sophie just walking out on Dubenic

...Eliot’s outfit as an IT expert. That is so offensive, Eliot, even BEFORE the Klingon. I love you. Also? I love the reaction of the secretary as he walks in. Like, damn, he’s fine. She’s not wrong

... the bridge in the background of Sophie’s and Dubenic’s scene outside. God, that is SUCH a perfect metaphor and so pretty

... “I take it to Pierson.” - Sophie is not just a great actress, this little decision here already shows how she will have no problem taking over from Nate when he is in prison

... the Eliot/Nate conversation at the pool table. Easily my favourite scene of the whole episode. I wrote about how I love all the characters’ relationships in an earlier entry (http://afraschatz.tumblr.com/post/175521619189/afraschatz-i-think-the-reason-why-i-love), but Eliot’s and Nate’s is one of my favourites. And this scene breaks my fucking heart EVERY time. I want to be angry at Nate for being so harsh to Eliot reaching out and I want to weep for him at the same time. And Eliot. Oh, Eliot. All of the others so wrapped up in the current con (and Nate in his pain) that they can’t see what he can already sense and what he already sees and understands. Why else would the hitter, the “I work alone” man, Moreau’s former right hand man reach out like that? This isn’t the hitter checking whether the insurance man might turn on him /them; this isn’t even the man set out for revenge trying to make sure that the mastermind behind the plan can focus properly. This already is Eliot caring. And Nate being unable to accept that at this point. Ah, I love them so much

... the hospital flashback. Oh Tim Hutton <3...

... Sophie and the earpiece. Sure, Sophie, you need help. Sure.

... locked up comedy frame. Hardison hahahaha. Love that chair-roll

... Dubenic’s smug expression in the elevator

... “I can take your underpants”

... “This particular project has a different revenue stream” - Ah, eloquent!smug!Nate

...Sophie’s reaction to the HUGE cheque. Like, WHAT?!

...Hardison starting to explain what he did - I kinda wanted him to continue explaining that to me because a. maybe he could actually shed some light on some stock stuff that I really don’t get and b. competence porn

...Eliot wanting to kiss Hardison :)

...the slow round-and-round of the camera during the team’s talk outside. I need to write a separate LONG post about how great the camera work on this show is

... Eliot looking at Hardison while Hardison waits for Nate to suggest that they should do that again, then, when Nate doesn’t, immediately trying to get his defences back up and his hopes down. Oh, Eliot <3

... Black king, white knight. Aside from me being very much in love with Sophie’s SHAMELESS flirting (and Nate’s reaction to that), this is such a pretty description and fits him so well

... that last scene and the way they stand / sit. I mean, man, thank you, Sophie, for being kind to the victims while the rest of your team plays a very weird mashup of Reservoir Dogs and Godfather in the background

... NATE, YOU ARE SO CREEPY, I LOVE YOU.

[moonlight-breeze-44]

Could you do Malec number 14 for the pride prompt thing?

Hi, anon! First of all, I’m very sorry it took me so long to write your prompt - I am cutting it very close for all of my Pride fics, oops. I really hope you enjoy the fic and it makes up for the poor response time. Thank you so much for your prompt!

14. Best friends

~ ~ ~

Storage Closet Confessions

Read on AO3

Alec tried to fade into the background as much as he could, but it was hard to do when his best friend happened to be the play’s lead. Magnus wasn’t just a great actor; he was a great singer, a great performer, a great everything. And somehow, instead of watching and cheering from the stands like every other year, Magnus had convinced Alec to participate in the play with him for their senior year of high school, insisting that it would be special and fun for the both of them.

Alec had been onstage for two minutes, and he already regretted it.

He’d managed to get himself cast as a tree, thankfully, so it wasn’t like he had any lines of importance. However, Magnus kept trying to involve Alec in the play and encourage him to take a more active role in the drama club. While he appreciated the effort, Alec was no social butterfly, and right now he just wanted to be alone.

The reason for that, however, perhaps had a little less to do with the play and more to do with the lead actress, Camille.

Alec’s lips turned down into a grimace as Camille swept Magnus into her arms again, shooting him a dazzling smile. He tried to remind himself that it was just a play, that Magnus and Camille weren’t really together, but it was hard when the blonde woman was so clearly attracted to Magnus. 

She certainly hadn’t been shy about that.

It made him want to throw up.

“You might be a tree, but I don’t think you’re supposed to look like you have a stick up your ass,” Alec’s little sister, Isabelle, commented cheerfully from beside him. He turned to her and gave her his best glare.

“I do not,” he defended himself pointlessly.

“You do, too,” Izzy countered. “What’s wrong, big brother?” She bent forward to brush a few of the fake leaves they were required to wear on their costumes to the ground, and Alec gave her a pointed look, to which she rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Alec groused. His eyes inadvertently found Magnus and Camille again. They were engaged in a scene set in the forest where Magnus had to hold her hand and lead her to a clearing to taste some sort of magical water. He tried to ignore the white-hot stab of jealousy that shot through him at the sight of Magnus’s hand in hers. 

“Sure,” Isabelle replied skeptically, turning a critical eye to the scene that Alec was watching. Her expression softened and her eyes flashed with pity that made Alec want to growl. “It’s them, isn’t it?” she said, her tone dripping with sadness. “Being all couple-y like that.”

Alec chose not to answer that.

“Why don’t you just ask Magnus out?” Izzy complained. “He’s clearly into you; what’s stopping you?”

“He is not into me,” Alec shot back, ignoring the way his heart clenched at those painful words. 

“Mmhm,” Izzy replied in a disbelieving manner. “Because normal best friends hold each other’s hands when they go places, know each other’s sexual preferences far too well, and stare at each other’s lips an insane amount.”

Alec sputtered indignantly. “We do not do that.”

Isabelle raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, we do not stare at each other’s lips all the time,” Alec amended. “You’re seeing things.”

Izzy scoffed. “Okay, big brother. Whatever gets you through the night.”

With that, she turned on her heel and walked away. Alec startled as he realised that their scene had come to an end. He hadn’t even heard the change music. He followed Isabelle into the changing rooms and stripped out of the uncomfortable tree costume, pulling on his jeans and plain black sweater instead. 

When he was finished, Alec made his way to the seat usually occupied by the person who manned the curtains on opening night. They were gone that afternoon, leaving the curtain operation to whoever happened to be closest. Alec usually hated doing curtains, but it gave him an opportunity to peek out from behind them and watch Magnus in action. 

The scene had changed to one in the main character’s house, and both Camille and Magnus were in this scene. He grit his teeth and tried to ignore the blonde girl in favour of watching Magnus in his element. 

Magnus’s outfit was that of a prince; he was covered from head to toe in glitter and sparkles, and he was dressed in blue pants, a black button-up, and a patterned grey suit jacket. Alec had to remind himself consciously not to drool. 

“I’m afraid I cannot disobey my parents,” Magnus was saying, gesturing theatrically as he explained to Camille the prince’s reasons for not seeing her character any longer. 

“I understand,” Camille said. She nodded her head and looked a little sad. As much as Alec hated to admit it, the girl was a damn good actress. She was definitely the best fit for the female lead. 

“But what if they don’t find out?” Camille had moved closer to Magnus, taking his hand and staring into his eyes with adoration. Alec tried not to let himself feel jealous, knew that it was irrational, knew that Magnus would have said something to him by now if he had any feelings for the blonde. Still, he couldn’t help the spike of animosity he felt towards Camille for going beyond what the play called for in terms of romantic interest. 

“What do you mean?” Magnus asked breathlessly, his eyes locked onto Camille’s. “How could we keep it from them?” Alec felt a small smile stretch across his face at Magnus’s prowess. Right now, he was not Magnus Bane. He was Aeros Nightshade, the main protagonist of the play. 

“I may have a solution,” Camille said ominously. Alec let out a breath, as he recognised the lines from their script and knew that their scene would be coming to a close soon. His death-grip on the curtain rod lessened just slightly, and he allowed himself to feel the relief that he would get to see and touch his best friend soon, ensure that he wasn’t interested in Camille in the slightest. 

Then Camille took Magnus’s face in her hands and kissed him hard on the mouth. 

Alec’s head swam with irrational rage and jealousy; his eyes glassed over with tears and he stumbled off of the seat and ran for the back of the stage. He heard the directors’ voices, chastising Camille for her action; kissing Magnus wasn’t scripted. 

He had almost made it to the tiny storage closet, secluded from everyone else and hidden by darkness, when he felt a firm grip on his arm. He looked down and saw Izzy, her big brown eyes full of concern for him. 

“Alec?” she asked, worried. “What is it? Where are you going?”

“Nowhere,” Alec grit out between clenched teeth, struggling to keep his voice from shaking. “Everything’s fine, Izzy.”

He shook her off and retreated inside the storage closet, locking the door behind him. 

There, in the safety of isolation and under the cover of darkness, Alec brought his face to his hands and began to cry. Internally, he knew that Magnus didn’t like Camille that way, and he knew that he hadn’t wanted to be kissed by her any more than Alec had wanted him to be. He knew the kiss didn’t mean anything, but he couldn’t control his reaction to it, because it brought the cold, harsh truth to the forefront of his mind.

Magnus may not want Camille, but there would be someone else that he would want. 

And that someone wouldn’t be Alec.

To his horror, Alec couldn’t hold back his tears at that thought, and he began to cry into his knees; great big, ugly sobs that wrenched their way out of his throat unbidden. His hands fisted the material of his jeans and he hoped to God that no one would hear the noise coming from the closet and investigate. 

He couldn’t be seen like this.

Alec had cried maybe three times before in his entire life; twice, he had cried alone in his bedroom, and once he had allowed himself to shed a few tears on Magnus’s shoulder when his dog died. 

Despite their closeness, neither Magnus nor Izzy had ever seen him in such a state. 

Voices sounded from outside the storage closet, and Alec bit his lip hard, trying to keep the volume of his cries down as much as he could. When they drifted closer, to his surprise, Alec recognised the two voices: it was Izzy and Jace, his younger brother. 

“I don’t know where he went,” Isabelle said testily, and Alec had a feeling Jace was being impatient with her again. 

“Well, he couldn’t have just disappeared!” Jace said, clearly exasperated. He heard a huff on the other side of the door and knew Izzy was giving Jace one of her patented bitchfaces. 

“Look, just text me if you find him,” Jace said, cutting off their argument sharply. “I have to study with Clary tonight, and I swear, if Alec makes me late - ”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re in such a hurry,” Izzy teased. 

“What do you mean?” Jace said defensively. 

“Please, like we all can’t see what’s going on between the two of you...” Izzy’s voice trailed off as she and Jace walked away, and Alec breathed a sigh of relief at their departure. 

Alec brought a shaky hand to his face and tried to wipe at the tear tracks staining his cheeks, but he was still crying, so that didn’t help much. He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together. Play practice was clearly over, and Alec needed to drive his siblings home. 

As the oldest of the three of them, he had responsibilities. He couldn’t just spend his afternoon crying in a storage closet because his best friend didn’t love him back. It was pathetic.

Another sob tore its way out of Alec’s throat, and he cursed himself for his inability to cry quietly. At this rate, he’d attract someone to the storage closet in no time. 

Almost as if on cue, a knock on the door to the storage closet sounded and Alec held his breath, waiting to see if whoever it was would go away when they found the door locked. 

The doorknob jiggled once, twice, and then fell still. Alec breathed a sigh of relief. The intruder would probably give up and find somewhere else to store their costume or whatever it was they needed to store now. 

However, to his horror, Alec heard a small snick as the person on the other side of the door ran a debit card down the crack and unlocked the door with practiced ease. Alec started to panic and he tried to get up and act as if he, too, was in there for a purpose other than having a breakdown, but they entered the room and flipped on the light switch before he could move. 

Alec closed his eyes, feeling his cheeks flame red with embarrassment. He hoped, prayed, that whoever it was would leave him alone to his misery and shut up about what they’d seen; the eldest Lightwood with tear stains on his cheeks, huddled up in a ball on the floor of a fucking storage closet. 

Whatever Alec had expected the mystery person to do, it wasn’t what happened.

Alec heard movement and suddenly the person was in front of him, presumably on their knees, as well, and a warm hand caught hold of Alec’s cheek and began to wipe away the tears there. Alec tried to pull away, but the person pulled him even closer and he caught a whiff of very, very familiar cologne. 

Alec’s eyes flew open and he made a sound that was something in between a shout and a cry. Magnus was kneeling before him, his chocolate-brown eyes confused and concerned. He wasn’t in the costume he’d worn for the play anymore; instead, he’d changed into black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt that showed off his ab muscles. This fact only made Alec feel even worse.

“Alec?” Magnus murmured, stroking his thumb over Alec’s cheek tenderly. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Alec shook his head, a blush rising to his cheeks once again. 

“Oh, please don’t be embarrassed,” Magnus said, drawing Alec close and reaching up to stroke his fingers through his ebony hair. “You’ve seen me cry plenty of times.”

Alec managed a choked, watery laugh at that, and Magnus squeezed him tightly in response. 

“It’s nothing,” Alec said, his voice cracked and shaky. “J-Just leave me here, Mags.”

Magnus looked offended by that notion. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said firmly, reaching to pull Alec into a tight hug. “I’m right here, Alexander.”

Alec tucked his head into the crook of Magnus’s neck and took a deep breath. “I have to get back, anyway,” he mumbled. “I need to drive Izzy and Jace home.”

“Isabelle and Mr. Body Builder can wait,” Magnus countered, and Alec smiled a little at his best friend’s nickname for Jace. 

“Seriously, Magnus, I’m fine,” Alec said, pulling away from the circle of Magnus’s arms and scrubbing furiously at his eyes. “You don’t have to stay.”

“Yes, I do,” Magnus said, reaching out to grab Alec’s hand before he could get too far away. He cupped Alec’s cheek in his palm and pressed his forehead to Alec’s. “My best friend is hurting,” he said tremulously. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

More tears spilled over at that, and Alec found himself in the unfamiliar position of being comforted by Magnus. He wasn’t complaining, though, when Magnus began to rub soothing circles into his back and run his hands through Alec’s hair. 

After a few minutes, Alec had calmed down enough for Magnus to release him, and Magnus asked, “What was that about?”

Alec froze, looking up at Magnus in horror. He hadn’t even thought about what he would say to Magnus when he asked that question. He hadn’t had time to prepare an excuse, and now he was trapped, looking at Magnus like a deer caught in the headlights. 

Magnus frowned and squeezed the hand that was still in his reassuringly. “There’s nothing you could say that would make me judge you, or love you any less,” he promised Alec.

Alec had to hold back a derisive snort at that. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he would absolutely ruin his friendship with Magnus if the other boy found out about the secret feelings he was harboring for him. 

“I’m serious,” Magnus said when he caught Alec’s expression of disbelief. He wrapped an arm around Alec’s shoulders and brought him in for another hug. “I promise, Alexander.”

Alec shuddered and pressed his face to Magnus’s neck, exhaling shakily. He usually hated being called by his full first name and not his nickname, but Magnus was different. It sounded beautiful when Magnus said it. 

“Please tell me what’s wrong,” Magnus said, burying his face in Alec’s hair. “I’m here for you, Alexander, you know that.”

Alec huffed wetly against Magnus’s neck. “Yeah, I do.”

Magnus’s arms tightened around Alec. “Then let me help you.”

When Alec didn’t respond, Magnus sighed and pushed him back just enough so he could peer into Alec’s cerulean eyes. “Fine,” he huffed. “If you won’t tell me, I guess I’ll just have to figure it out myself.” Alec’s lips twitched with the beginnings of a smile, and Magnus beamed at him. “Feel free to jump in any time, darling.”

Alec’s stomach turned over at Magnus’s use of the pet name, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it for long. 

“Well, nothing noteworthy happened in class today,” Magnus mused, stroking his fingers through Alec’s hair absentmindedly. “We don’t have any big tests or presentations coming up. Izzy and Jace are both fine, so it’s nothing to do with them. Hmm, maybe something that happened at play practice?”

Alec’s heart seized and he unconsciously bit his lip, hard. 

This action, of course, did not go unnoticed by Magnus, who grinned at him, looking like a cat that’d got the cream. “So it was something that happened at play practice!” Magnus exclaimed triumphantly. “Hmm, okay.” With that, he began to list everything that had happened from the start of the practice to the end, two hours’ worth of events. 

“And then I did my scene with Camille,” Magnus said thoughtfully, and Alec tried hard to remain impassive. “And she kissed me.” Alec couldn’t stop the sharp breath that escaped him, and Magnus pumped his fist in triumph, squeezing Alec’s hand that much tighter. 

“So it was the kiss that bothered you,” Magnus said. He sounded confused, and Alec didn’t blame him. He looked down at Alec, sweeping a few locks of black hair off of his forehead so he could look into Alec’s ice-blue eyes. “But why?”

Alec didn’t answer, keeping his gaze firmly trained on the floor. His heart was pounding so hard that he wasn’t sure Magnus couldn’t hear it. 

“I don’t even like Camille,” Magnus continued, and Alec tried not to feel too guilty about the spike of relief that shot through him at Magnus’s words. 

“She kissed me,” Magnus said, sounding affronted. “It wasn’t even scripted.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t have any respect for people, I swear.”

“But why would that bother you?” Magnus thought out loud, peering down to look at Alec once more. “Why would her kissing me bother you this much?” He was quiet for a few seconds, mulling this over, before a glint of understanding flashed in his eyes. “Unless...”

“Please,” Alec spoke for the first time since Magnus had embarked on his mission to figure out what was upsetting Alec, “Please, this doesn’t have to change anything. Please, Magnus. We can just forget about this.”

“Unless you like me,” Magnus finished his sentence from earlier, a note of awe in his voice. He grabbed Alec’s chin and forced the other boy to meet his eyes, which Alec did fearfully, afraid of what he’d find there. “You like me?” Magnus asked Alec, his voice dripping with disbelief. “Like, like me like me?”

Alec didn’t figure there was any point in lying now. “Yes, Magnus,” he mumbled. “You bloody idiot. I’ve been in love with you since ninth grade.”

Magnus let go of Alec’s chin and rocked back on his heels, trying to process this new information. “I - really?”

Alec didn’t say anything back, knowing that Magnus wasn’t really looking for a response to his question. 

A spike of panic shot through him as Magnus tried to come to terms with what he’d just learned. Alec could deal with a lot; homophobic parents, pressures and expectations to always be the best, no matter what, even having an adopted brother that’d landed himself in jail one too many times. One thing he couldn’t deal with was losing Magnus.

“This doesn’t have to change anything,” Alec repeated his words from earlier. “Please, Magnus. I swear I won’t mention it. We can just forget about this. Please. I can’t lose my best friend, Magnus.”

“Who said anything about losing me?” Magnus said gruffly, reaching to pull Alec into a bone-crushing hug. “Sorry, Lightwood, you’re stuck with me.”

Alec huffed out a laugh against Magnus’s collarbone, allowing a few tears of relief to slip down his cheeks. 

“But,” Magnus said, and Alec’s heart sank, “We do have to talk about this.” He pushed back just enough so he could face Alec properly and said, “Do you really want to forget this ever happened?”

“I - Yes? You don’t feel the same way, so...”

Magnus cut him off by grabbing Alec by the face and kissing him, hard. Alec barely had time to respond before Magnus pulled away, grinning from ear to ear. 

“I don’t believe I ever said I didn’t return your feelings,” Magnus said simply in response to Alec’s look of complete and utter confusion. 

“I - I - you - what?”

Magnus snickered. “Very eloquent, darling.”

“Shut up,” Alec grumbled. He met Magnus’s soft brown eyes with an incredulous stare. “Seriously? You - You really feel the same way?”

“Yes,” Magnus said, rolling his eyes. “Didn’t I make that obvious?”

Alec felt his mouth stretching into a wide grin and he tackled Magnus in a hug, crying tears of relief into the other’s shoulder. Magnus laughed, deep and heartwarming, and tugged Alec impossibly closer to him.

“I’ve always loved you,” Magnus confessed. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one for me.”

“You cheesy prick,” Alec muttered. “When did you actually start liking me?”

Magnus laughed again and said, “About two years ago.” He squeezed Alec tighter and moved to whisper in his ear. “I’ve loved you for six months.”

Alec swallowed hard. “Seems like I’ve got a few years on you there.”

Magnus swatted the back of his head gently. “At least I finally figured it out. Who knows how long you would have pined over me without doing anything about it.”

Alec groaned and it was his turn to hit Magnus in the back of the head. “I didn’t see you doing anything about it, either.”

“Fair point,” Magnus conceded. He pulled Alec on top of his lap and put everything he had into the embrace. It was the hardest Alec could ever remember being hugged. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, content to simply be with each other, but all too soon, the silence was shattered by the sharp sound of Alec’s phone ringing over and over again. 

“You’d better go,” Magnus said, laughing. “Before Jace finds you and eviscerates you.”

“Yeah,” Alec agreed regretfully. “But c-could we, uh...” he trailed off, embarrassment creeping into his voice. 

“Could we, uh, what?” Magnus teased him, but when Alec didn’t reply, he gave the other boy a firm squeeze and said, “Of course. Does Friday at eight sound like a good time to have our first date?”

Alec grinned and nodded. “Yes, that sounds perfect.”

“Great,” Magnus chirped happily. “I’ll pick you up.”

Alec smiled and placed a tentative kiss on Magnus’s cheek. “Great.”

Magnus beamed at him and moved to stand, reaching a hand out to help Alec up. 

Then, together, their hands still linked and hanging easily between them, Alec and Magnus left the storage closet in search of Alec’s siblings. And when they found the two of them, Izzy could swear that the expression on Alec’s face was the happiest one she had ever seen him wear.

~ ~ ~

So...I did not intend this to be this long at all. Oops. I had a lot of fun writing this, though! I really hope you like it. Thank you so much for the prompt!

send me a number and I’ll write you a pride fic

Thank you for the ask!

[alphabees-writes]

Glee - S1 E2 (Showmance)

Mama Mia, here I go again!

Please don’t tell me this GROWN MAN had his license plate changed to “GLEE” to reflect the high school club he runs. PLEASE.

Rachel brings a whole-ass SUITCASE to school? I know she’s extra by nature but PLEASE.

Finn just Doesn’t Know What Things Are! I adore him. 

You’re really just going to walk by Kurt hanging out by the dumpster with a bunch of dudes who harass him in the hallways? AGAIN? Nice one.

“One day, you will all work for me” I doubt these guys are going to be working up the ranks at Vogue.com, Kurt, but I rate the energy.

Emma you’re better than this dude. Run. Run as fast as your hollow bird pelvis will let you.

SANTANA’S FIRST LINE!!! You’re right, they should get a room. 

For all the creepy obsessing Will’s done so far over the glee kids, you’d think HE would be the one to notice how they don’t have enough members to qualify

Sue points out a bunch of special ed classes, and yet I’m pretty sure she says McKinley has no real support available for special needs students later on? They must be whack classes

These people are really acting like all Will does is coach the glee kids even though he’s literally a Spanish teacher

Early Quinn may be incredibly mean, but like, I’d say thanks if she killed me 

Rachel really has a whole spare outfit ready to change in to post-slushying? I guess that makes sense if it happens that regularly

Cory Monteith REALLY couldn’t dance and we love him for it

Disco didn’t suck until Mr Schue got his grubby little mitts on it

I almost forgot about Kurt’s selection of hats. What is this one? A fez? It’s fez shaped

Why is Kurt so sure they’ll throw fruit specifically? Is that McKinley asshole custom?

Terri’s actress, once again nailing the act of making me want to throttle her

Kendra also nails that.

A “used” house oh my god

THIS ARGUMENT BETWEEN KURT AND MERCEDES IS GOLDEN. “You need to call me before you dress yourself. You loo like a technicolor zebra.” They REALLY match. God I hope they ad-libbed that.

It’s the first rap of the show, folks. 

I hate Mr Schue doing Kanye, I really do, but imagine Finn doing it instead like he planned. Better? Worse? I can’t even tell anymore. 

The LOOK Kurt gives Mercedes when she starts belting out the Jamie Foxx part... Don’t be jealous hon you’ll get your bars. For real though his face is hilarious, he looks like he’s worried she’s about to burst a blood vessel with all that TALENT

Sign #5 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Get your hands OFF of Kurt Will Schuester he doesn’t want to dance! Tbh though I love season 1 Kurt during the group numbers because he just always looks SO done.

Mr Schue’s also wearing a T-shirt that says “DITCH PLANS” on it. Please DITCH the state instead?

KEVIN MCHALE IS THE UNSUNG VOCAL HERO OF THIS WHOLE SHOW AND I WILL NEVER LET ANYBODY FORGET IT

Watching them all sing in a goofy, candid way is honestly healing. 

KURT’S DOING THE SINGLE LADIES RING-HAND MOVE IN THE BACKGROUND THIS BOY REALLY LOVES HIS BEY. Me too Kurt me too

They straight up gave Rachel no gag reflex and had her guidance counsellor make a joke about it? Ok RIB

“Have you ever liked somebody so much you just want to lock yourself in your room, turn on sad music and cry?” Same girl, same

AAAaaaAAALllLlLLLLLlll BYYYYY MYYY SEEEEeeeEEEEEEEELFFFF.........bY mYsEeElF i’M bY mYsElF

Ok I like Emma but she sometimes kinda sucks at her job

“He doesn’t even notice me” Rachel, hon, he’s probably already warned his neighbours about you

“Gay parents encourage rebellion” PICK A SIDE, SUE! I really can’t keep up with the convenient flip-flopping of her bigotry. And with Jean, you’d think she’d go off on Rachel for calling people “chromosonally-challenged”

Finn, of course you know who Justin Timberlake is... That’s Mr Schue’s hotter, less evil twin!

I love how they have to label Robin Thicke on the poster - you know, because of how awful and irrelevant he was even then?

Half the janitors are just gone. How has this school not been closed down already?

Sign #6 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Mr Schue: I want to build a club where people can express themselves musically Literally every single member: Hello Mr Schue, I’m here to express how much I dislike the music you’re making us perform. Mr Schue: Never talk to me or my fake-unborn-son ever again

Humble, modest Finn going d’aww shucks and telling Rachel to stop complimenting him is adorable. I love him!!!

How could I forget the celibacy club... I almost feel bad for Quinn, he’ like the only person there who genuinely cares about being celibate. I don’t buy that anybody’s convinced that Puck’s a virgin...

The fact that Finn thought joining the celibacy club would get him laid is just... Yeah. It suits him. 

Jacob Ben Israel you will die by my hand you slimy, unforgivable bastard. NOBODY IS OBLIGATED TO GET YOUR DINGER WET, SCUMBAG! Short skirts are not an entitlement!!!

I still don’t know what Puck means when he says “Those skirts are crunchy toast” and I don’t think I want to know.

OH GOD T H E M A I L M A N . . .

Finn Hudson has canonically nearly killed a man and I don’t think anybody talks about that enough.

I beg all of you to look up this scene and listen to the way Finn goes “Ahahaha... Driving’s fun...” Like it just brings me so much joy. What a doofus. 

Carole’s first instinct is to yell “OH MY GOD YOU’VE KILLED HIM WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!” Calm down queen he’s gon be fine

Quinn really hates contraception, huh!

I know your wife is a shit, Mr Schue, but it’s fucking reprehensible to lead on another woman. It’s clearly intentional at this point I’m sorry, you don’t put chalk dust on somebody’s nose like that platonically!

Rachel: We’re going to give them what they want! Kurt: Blood? God I love him

I do love the running gag of Figgins wildly overestimating the excitement for the assemblies tbh

This school doesn’t have working toilets but, hey, on the bright side, all you have to do to get expelled is shit yourself!

“Yay, Glee! Glee kids hooray!” Emma just warms my cockles

Will referring to the glee club and saying “We’re on our way back” like no, old man, you’re not getting clout for this. Then again, neither are any of the students until they’ve graduated...

AHH, PUSH IT! KURT’S HIPS. LOOK AT THEM GO. HE’S SO INTO IT.

I WANT THE FACE SUE MAKES WHEN SHE SEES FIGGINS TAPPING HIS FOOT TATTOOED ON MY HEART

Finn’s face as he gets ready to start his part... He’s so nervous. Bless him...

THE PERFECT TIMING OF KURT SLAPPING HIS ASS. And then the zoom on that fucking fanny pack going crazy this scene is so fucking iconic. That fanny pack has been burned into my retinas forever. 

AND THE WAY HE WOBBLES HIS HEAD AROUND AS HE STEPS BACK. KURT! FUCKING! HUMMEL!

Oh god, now he’s crawling across the floor to Mercedes. I can’t tear my eyes away he’s GOING for it!

They really had Finn and Rachel go that hard? Honestly up until that point, the routine isn’t too overtly sexual, but now I understand why they get in trouble 

I DON’T GET HOW THEY’RE STILL LOOKED DOWN ON AFTER THIS PERFORMANCE! Nearly everybody applauds! RIB just had to have that cake and eat it too. 

I demand Will’s resignation too, Sue

Ah, the approved songs list... That they will proceed to ignore for the rest of the season post the Unholy Trinity’s audition

Sign #7 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: He has NO PLACE to be mad at Rachel here. You didn’t listen to any of your students, you wouldn’t compromise, and now they’re going on a sex riot. You did this!

Ken Tanaka you cannot undermine a woman’s self esteem and convince her to settle for you as a second choice, and then complain about feeling like a second choice... WHY do they ever act like he’s a victim here?!

Finn saw that whole-ass picnic set up and didn’t think to ask about it? King. I love one (1) himbo. The way he says “You’re cool, Rachel” just fucks me up every time...

She pours him the TINIEST drink in the world? Girl the cups not even a tenth full and he’s a big boy...

The real OTP is Finn x Airplane Cups

Why does Rachel lie down for the kiss... Is it solely so Finn can have his little overflow at the mayo factory or???

THE MAILMAN SCENE HAPPENS EVERY TIME HE KA-BLAMOS OH MY GOD HOW DID I FORGET...

Look, Rachel, I get that it sucks that he ran away, but he literally has a girlfriend? You couldn’t have expected things to go that well...

THE UNHOLY TRINITY FORMS... I’M QUAKING

Throwback to how blatantly obvious it was that Santana and Quinn weren’t singing at all. How did they think they’d get away with that...

Brittany’s original sideswept bangs? Ugh. Giving me LIFE.

Dianna’s voice turned me gay. I’m genuinely convinced my sexuality is Quinn Fabray’s fault and I’m not even mad?

By this point we know next to nothing about Santana’s character, but the second Sue suggests sabotage, her face fucking lights up. She’s living for it already 10/10

Will you can’t make Emma tag along to all your janitorial shifts I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re married. And a jackass. 

I know Rachel went behind his back, but there’s no real reason to give Quinn the Don’t Stop Believing solo? She’s talented and incredible and I love her, sure, but it doesn’t suit her voice at all my guy, if you didn’t have biscuits for ears you’d know that...

Is this the only instance where Will takes actual responsibility for the glee club’s actions rather than blaming it all on the kids? Wow... A rare gem.

The way he says “I should never have pushed disco so hard...” All serious like... Get a fucking grip

I can believe that Rachel’s neighbours would sue her for singing all the god damn time

Rachel singing “Take A Bow” is more fitting than I realised. At first I was like, “that’s dumb, Finn doesn’t really realise what he did anyway” but it fits her character to use a song and spin it so she feels empowered by it in the end. Or at least, tries to feel that way.

So there’s episode 2! What a hot mess. We love our hot mess.

[eyemediastudios-blog]

What to wear for corporate headshots

  Are you thinking about which outfits to bring for your corporate headshots shoot?

I am frequently asked; What should I wear for my Corporate Headshots photo shoot?. Fairly straightforward, you imagine. Wear what makes you feel good, what's ideal for your field of work and what looks good. There are a couple of things though that you may not know or have thought about. 

  Avoid pinstripes or small patterns

Small patterns or pinstripes can cause what's called moiré, in which computer screens display wavy patterns because the design of the fabric is small and condensed. It may be kind of distracting. It is isn't an issue for print, but it is better to be avoided if the pictures are to be used online.

  Avoid patterns with team shots

This is strike two against small patterns. I do think patterns can look good on their own if they're not too small. But imagine you are getting a shot with your entire team, and one individual has a leopard print top, and she's standing next to someone in a plaid shirt. Plus they are next to someone in a floral shirt. You get the idea. It is simply better to say no to patterns in group shots. I find that everybody has and looks good in blue and grey. 

  Know the background

This is very important in choosing a shade or colour for your outfits. I tend to think grey looks good on just about everybody, but I wouldn't recommend grey when shooting on a grey background. Similarly, a lighter colour like cream would only wash off against a white background. In case you are going to have a wide range of backgrounds and won't be changing often, think about something which would compliment them all. If you cannot find that one thing, then add a scarf or a jacket which you can take off quickly for additional looks. If you're considering to choose a background for your company, a solid coloured background will give a clean, consistent look for you and your staff. 

Additionally having a wide range of backgrounds gives you a lot more choices for utilising the images for a wide range of promotional material like publications, social network and blog posts. If you and your team are creating a lot of online content, it's more important to have a couple of alternate pictures to choose from. This way, you are not utilising the same images over and over again. 

  Think about the branding colours

You wish to wear outfits which are going to match your web site and advertising material. This is especially important if your an entrepreneur like myself, who is very conscious about my brand and imagery.

  Black and white vs colour

  If the pictures are in black and white, you should also think about contrast. You do not need everything to be in the same shade when in black and white pictures, every colour looks similar. A dark suit with a white shirt and dark tie will provide enough contrast in black and white pictures. 

  Portrait Headshots vs Full Body Shots

The majority of the time, a corporate headshot is from waist up, but there are times when I have needed to take a full-body shot. It is better to plan for that than to put on something that is only intended for upper body headshots. 

There are several other considerations which may apply to your business. Let's say you a nonprofit organisation which helps people living in poverty? In that case, you might want to ask your team not to wear something bling or bring or wear any jewellery which would call attention and imply wealth. 

Maybe you run an international company, then you need to be very sensitive to other cultures? These are all considerations to talk about with your photographer. The photographer should work with you or your team to capture the best pictures that represent your business. I hope advice can help you in choosing outfits for your company Photos or Corporate Headshots! 

The good news is that corporate headshots are not what they used to be. It is no longer a college photo style shoot where you run in, get told how to stand, how to look, what angle to tilt your head, and when to smile. It is more natural these days. It is fun, it is friendly, and it accomplishes photos that look like YOU. These pictures provide you or your company with character and approachability. 

Also, business prospecting has shifted. Customers now need to know who they're dealing with. I need to supply you with headshots which can convert clients for you. I need to make sure your photography experience is a relaxing one. And my clients always tell me that I am good at making them relaxed - it comes easily. If you are still worried, here are:

   Five suggestions to make your brand new company headshots effective and relaxed

  Bring more clothes

I know how it works - the morning of you headshots you're at home with five different outfits on the bed wondering is this better or if a combination of these would be better. Why not take them all with you to your shoot! 

As your photographer, I am thinking about more than just what looks best on you and if you cannot decide which looks best overall. I can help you decide on which outfit works with which background.

  Stretch 

It is not a good workout, but if you do some light stretching before your shoot, you'll look less rigid. Stretching also has the same impact as working out and releases endorphins to assist you to feel more happy and relaxed. 

  Be yourself on your corporate headshots shoot

What does that mean, right? It means you do not think about it. The more you think about your expressions, the less your expressions look real. Place your mind at ease, have a chat with me, laugh at my stupid jokes and trust me to get the best expressions out of you.

  Be on time

There is nothing more stressful than being late, which will show in your photos. Come to your photo session ten minutes early, have a cup of coffee or tea and strut into your photo shoot more relaxed and confident.

  Don't Be Too Hard On Yourself

Obviously, all of us have things about ourselves we don't like. Whether it is a feature, body shape, or that thing our mouth does whenever we smile. And because we do not spend all day smiling at ourselves in front of the mirror. It can be intimidating when we see our pictures in high resolution with our flaws on display. Rest assured that nobody else will see these imperfections. It is always better to feel and look confident than attempting to hide them. 

I promise to make you feel comfortable and deliver the sort of photographs you need, not the kind you have had before. 

  What type of headshots are you looking for?  

  Environmental Portrait/ Head Shot

Environmental Portrait Headshots is more for business people or CEO's who prefer to be shown in their work environments. This is a style frequently used for business or magazine advertisements. 

  Traditional Business Headshot 

A Traditional Business Headshot Style is ideal for almost everything. We use a backdrop that is darker, with a rather subtle look to improve your professional headshots.

If you are interested in booking a corporate headshots session for you and your team, then please get in touch. We would be more than happy to discuss your requirements.

[maximilian-alexander]

Why do u think ultra moon and sun were a bad idea? (Curious cause i was thinking of getting one)

Sorry that this was (probably) such a late reply! I’ve been mega stressed, especially considering that my apartment building had the police department over to check the fire alarms for… practically the whole day. (I had to take my Guinea Pig outside aaahhhh it’s so loud.)

This got long so I put everything under the cut.

In any case, I have to say that Sun&Moon, while having a great theme and some interesting turns, was not… fun. Personally, I was bored more often than not playing the game, and once finishing Moon, I had absolutely no desire to finish Sun. Furthermore there were a lot of mechanics in the game that I was expecting and ended up just… Not being there. 

In X&Y, I actually really loved the rollerblades, and being able to actually sit down in a chair. Plus being able to do all those cool moves and stuff. It’s the little things, but I genuinely don’t understand why they just had to take out that. They were fun and without it, moving around was kind of boring. The game also sort of rushes to the conclusion. There was not much build up and the Aesther Foundation being the main villains was sort of… Out of nowhere, which usually I would like if it weren’t for the fact that there was generally no hints whatsoever. It’s different when there’s a bunch of hints that the player overlooks and then “oh wow! Everything makes sense, now!” But that… didn’t happen. Hell, half of the employees didn’t even know about what was going on, which is so??? Dumb??? It’s virtually impossible to build up a huge foundation like that and keeping some of your employees totally in the dark. People ask questions. I wish there was a moment where an employee talks to the player and says something like “hey, some of the Pokémon we rescued went missing…” or “For some reason I’m not allowed to enter the bottom floor, but my buddy is allowed and we’re the same rank! That sucks.”

There WERE some good parts to Sun&Moon. You can take your hat off, for one, which was a huge FINALLY moment for me, and I could finally put on glasses on my player… And dying clothes seemed fun and interesting! And the fact that you no longer need to teach your Pokémon HM moves was also a big plus, although I wished they had went about that in a different way, and that you didn’t need to wear that ridiculous outfit every time you did… (Truthfully, I wish we could just teach our Pokémon HM moves without it taking up a space, or hell, just having a select amount of Pokémon being automatically able to use the move, but only allowed to after defeating a certain milestone in your Island Challenge.) 

I’m still kind of bitter that there aren’t many civilian buildings despite there being a lot of people walking around the islands, and that a lot of places that SEEM to be accessible weren’t accessible at all. A lot of space was just used up with chairs that you couldn’t even sit in, and sometimes characters and Pokémon were placed around very inconveniently. The running mechanics were not really smooth, and GOD, do I even have to mention how utterly horrible it was that the player’s expression didn’t change AT ALL during super important parts in the story?! Like wtf, how lazy can you get?!

Like... Considering the fact that Sun&Moon didn’t, overall, capture my interest, I have NO desire for another game solely based off of it. If anything that was just the worst news you could give me. If they really want to sell me on this idea, they need to change A LOT. And sadly, I just... don’t see Nintendo actually doing that. I don’t see them adding rollerblades or bicycles, I don’t see them brushing up on the running mechanics, I don’t see them honestly taking the time and effort to make this game truly spectacular. 

There’s a few other things, too... Like firstly, they’re basically reusing a key idea in Black&White2, which is, obviously, completely unoriginal. I’m not interested in Colress screwing up legendary Pokémon again. I’m just... not. Secondly, they need to seriously let the players explore the surrounding ocean, because there is a LOT of it, and I think it would be super fun and exciting to travel from island to island the long way. Sure, the option to take a boat should still be there, but generally it isn’t interesting. (God my thoughts keeps scrambling every time the stupid fire alarm goes off someone kill me.) Thirdly, from what I’ve seen... I’m not happy with the fact that they’re taking characters we’ve grown to love and completely reshaping them into another person. They have the same designs, but different personalities. I guess that may be compelling in the long run, but it’s going to be entirely unsettling for me after having gotten to know the characters in the last game.

Ok I’m ending this right now because I just... cannot focus with the fire alarm going on and off in the background, I’m sorry. This would have probably ben a lot more coherent and expansive if it weren’t for the stupid fire alarm. 

[osakaso5]

Nagi Rokuya King Pudding Rabbit Chat Part 2: The Many Faces Of Rain

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Nagi: Good work, Tsumugi. 

Nagi: I will be sending you several pictures I took at the costume fitting today. 

Tsumugi: Nagi-san, good work! The patterns and colors of your costume are very pop and cute this time..! 

Tsumugi: I'm excited to see what sort of pictures you'll be sending me! 

Nagi: The first one is Yamato posing in front of a mirror, looking embarrassed and worried about his horns. 

Tsumugi: !? 

Tsumugi: T-this..! When did you manage to take it!? 

Nagi: For me, taking candid pictures of my target is a piece of pie >:-)))

Tsumugi: I think you mean 'piece of cake'! lol

Nagi: And this one is Mitsuki struggling to put on his earrings. 

Tsumugi: If you're not used to wearing them, they're surprisingly difficult to put on..! And if you place them wrong, it seems to be painful...

Nagi: It is a very cute shot. By the way, after this, he noticed me preparing my camera and hit me... :-P

Tsumugi: Keep it in moderation, please >< lol

Tsumugi: Are there no pictures of you?

Nagi: Of course there are. I will send you the best selfie I took.

Tsumugi: You look cute, even when you make a duck face (1)..! The way you can sort of see Tamaki-san and Riku-san in the background brings a nice flavor to it, too! lol

Nagi: They were pretending to be delinquents.

Although judging from their yells of "Transform!", it turned into a tokusatsu (2) show midway. What in the world do they think delinquents are? 

Tsumugi: That does sound like something they'd do, lol

Choices/outcomes:

1. What's your favorite part of the costume?

Nagi: It would have to be the umbrella. There is a well-known scene in one of Japan's greatest animes where the character keeps standing up and sitting down while holding an umbrella, and doing that myself is so much fun that I cannot help myself X-D

2. Who do you think looked best in their outfit?

Nagi: Perhaps Iori. Japanese clothing looks good with his black hair and pale skin. 

3. Was there another costume you'd like to try?

Nagi: Riku's costume, maybe. I think his Tanabata (3) and Milky Way-themed outfit is lovely. 

Nagi: Tsumugi, do you like rain? 

Tsumugi: When it's humid, I have an even harder time controlling my hair than usual, so it's complicated. But I do find the sound of falling rain nice. 

Nagi: It depends on your emotions, does it not. Rain is often used to express human pain and sorrow, but depending on the situation, it can also be relaxing. 

Nagi: This is a bit off topic, but there are also beautiful words like "raindrop", "sleet", "drizzle", and "shower" that are associated with rain. 

Nagi: At least in Japan, where there are four seasons. 

Tsumugi: Your views on rain can change so much if you look at it from a different angle..! Talking to you makes me realize how narrow-minded I am, and how beautiful Japan is... 

Nagi: I would not go that far X-D Where I come from, you rarely get a chance to use an umbrella even when it rains, so just wearing this rainy season-themed June outfit is an honor. 

Tsumugi: I'm glad to hear you say that..! This project is meant for the Ichiban Kuji, but I hope you get to teach the beauty of the rain to everyone, like you just did to me. 

Nagi: Indeed. I would like for the people of Japan to be more interested in the beauty of their country :-)

Translator’s notes..? 

1) yes, アヒル口 means esentially the same thing as the english ‘duck face’, lol

2) ‘tokusatsu’ is more of a general term for shows/movies that use lots of special effects, but here it stands for the kamen rider-type super hero shows

3) tanabata is a festival celebrated around the 7th of july

[thewadapan]

I made a full 13-episode animated web series with Plotagon.

Creator’s Commentary

I was just messing around and then this happened.

I stumbled upon Plotagon via Aris Martinian’s Worm Abridged series, itself a derivative work based on Wildbow’s epic web serial Worm. Impressed by the software’s results, I downloaded it on a whim. The editor soon draws you into its fast and intuitive user interface and before long I had a draft of what would become “I Hate You”.

Having seen Aris Martinian’s work on Worm Abridged and Satan’s Threads, I really wasn’t expecting to produce anything on that level of quality. Instead I saw it more as an outlet - and indeed, the themes of Are You Happy are representative of the kind of headspace I’ve been in. Most literally, a recent falling out inspired the rough outline of episode one.

I’ve gone on a bit of a kick lately in terms of using restrictive programs to tell stories. Plotagon’s plot editor is almost the antithesis of Marvel: Create Your Own (an online comic editor I used to create “Everything Is Red Now”) in that using it doesn’t feel like deliberate self-harm. Making stuff with Plotagon is actually a lot of fun.

The “movie script” aspect of the editor is inspired and you can hit play at any point to see what you’ve got so far. Sure, there are restrictions - you can only have two characters in a scene, you often have next to no control over camera angles, there aren’t really enough actions (and, to a lesser extent, expressions) to choose from, strange intonation can often ruin the delivery of lines, and most of the program’s assets must be purchased via microtransactions. It’s far from a perfect experience, and yet at the same time I can’t get mad at Plotagon. There’s an infectious, self-aware excitement to be found throughout the developers’ promotional videos, and you can’t help but share that excitement at times.

Plotagon includes its own video-sharing service, which seems to mostly be used by middle-schoolers as a strange kind of social network. I left that aspect of the program alone, choosing instead to render my videos directly to mp4 and thumbnails as animated GIFs (features which feels almost too convenient for this program, but I’m not complaining).

I also chose to ignore the “record your own dialogue” feature and the optional subtitles. A theme I was going for was that these characters struggle to communicate, and the stilted auto-generated dialogue played into that. However, that same awkward delivery ended up making a fair few jokes fall flat. In hindsight I probably should’ve just changed the jokes.

Plotagon gives you a few characters to start off - four teenagers and two adults in an even gender split, plus Santa. The two adults are Ms. Green, who I forgot to utilise, and Mr. Hernandez. The teenagers are Jessica, Samir, Lizzie, and Scott (the guy Mr. Hernandez picks a fight with in episode two). It also provides “Chris the custom character” as the only editable example.

I messed around in the character editor and created Katia and Philippe, and later made Detective Raymond and the devil (who I dubbed “Literally The Devil”) as the plot demanded. It’s only now that I realise I gave Philippe the same t-shirt and footwear as Chris - oh well. I’m also not really sure why I gave Katia red eyes like LTD.

I’d planned to give Raymond some kind of uniform, but everything good was locked. His strange outfit ended up informing his character.

Literally The Devil was male at first, basically by default. I soon decided to avoid the traditional slick-hair-and-a-suit look in favour of a fiery haircut and casual clothing. Their t-shirt, which reads “Speak up against bullying!” was chosen on sight. Trying to find a combination of lower-body clothing that worked with this t-shirt proved difficult, and the decision to make LTD female was cemented when I realised that the red skirt looked far better than the other options (although how this turned out at the bus stop was unfortunate). Lizzie clearly had problems with authority, and I liked the idea that she identified with the devil on some level. I guess LTD’s design is just a manifestation of that.

The decision to do thirteen episodes (the typical length of a “run” of TV) including a three-part finale was made at some point after episode seven, with the death of Mr. Hernandez death serving as a springboard for the rest of the story. Indeed, it isn’t until episode four that we get some kind of explicit continuity. The title of the finale, “The Agenda”, and its inconsistent numbering are a reference to the three-part Season 2 finale of Beast Wars: Transformers of all things.

Three episodes of the series end with the line “bye Felicia(s)”, and another three end with “well shit”. There’s a parallel where Lizzie expresses disappointment in an authority figure using the latter phrase in her first and last episodes - Jessica’s use of the phrase in episode six is less disappointed and more surprised.

“White-Hat Hacking” is, incidentally, my least favourite episode of the series. Most background music is available under the editor’s “music” category, but some falls under “sound” for some reason. Once a sound is played, it cannot be stopped manually - this means that the “pirate ditty” I wanted to use for Jessica needed to play for a set length of time and I needed to stall in order to get Raymond’s entrance right. This basically resulted in a bunch of low-effort jokes existing purely to support another low-effort joke - someone getting arrested for piracy.

Other episodes I rate poorly include episode three, “What Are We Learning Today?”, and episode nine, “Ever Get Tired Of Movies?”. Episode three is barely thirty seconds long and consists of maybe two jokes, and the “well shit” line doesn’t really work in the moment.

Episode nine, on the other hand, is the third-longest. With Jessica and Lizzie both under arrest I knew I was planning a breakout, so I grabbed two random characters I’d thrown together in the editor and sat them down on a sofa. I guess I find the idea of people watching a movie together occasionally weird, because it’s a kind of social interaction without social interaction (I suppose that’s why it’s such a popular choice for first dates), so I decided to use that as the basis of Katia’s insecurities. I’m not really happy with how her relationship with Philippe came across, and I think that’s mostly down to eccentricities in intonation and animation. The first draft of “Ever Get Tired of Movies?” was even less funny than the final draft, which says a lot. Still, it provides an interesting change of pace - the fact that Katia and Philippe’s flaws aren’t as blatant as those of the rest of the cast helps cement them as worthwhile additions in my opinion.

I’m probably happiest with how episode seven, “The Faculty Bathroom”, turned out. Jessica’s monologue in episode six opened the door for a single-character episode, and something about the idea of showing Mr. Hernandez on his forty-five minute smoke break appealed to me. Only one bathroom is available freely, one which clearly belongs in a house, but most people often perceive their teachers as living in their schools and I like the idea that, on some level, Mr. Hernandez lives in this bathroom.

We’ve all had teachers who are nice enough people but who are terrible at their jobs, and Mr. Hernandez falls squarely into that category. We don’t even know he’s a teacher until his second appearance, because in his first he’s too busy getting advice from a man dressed as Santa.

A friend of mine suggested that Santa should quote Genghis Khan in “What is the Meaning of Life?”, and this quote ended up informing his behaviour in the rest of the series. I knew from the start that this man wasn’t really Santa, and I like the juxtaposition between who he is and how he presents himself.

I didn’t set out to have a particular “protagonist” in this series, but Lizzie settled into that role and I ran with it as best as I could. The final episode, in my opinion, struck a good balance between humour and offbeat drama. I’d kept the weirdness firmly rooted in reality until that point, which makes LTD’s introduction all the more surprising. Incidentally, the sound effects used for the transitions to and from the green room were: “death beam”, “arrow hit”, “bone crack”, “fart”, “crash”, “soda can opening” and “swoosh”.

Several people commented on the abruptness of the ending, saying that it lacked closure. Does LTD actually exist? Does hell? I’d say no, but it doesn’t really matter either way. I see the finale as being about Lizzie recognising that her life isn’t going in a direction she likes and deciding to change that, and I guess that was enough for me.

I picked the title Are You Happy mostly on a whim - LTD asks Lizzie this question in the finale, and I think almost everyone in the show is unhappy about something or other. Bo Burnham has a song under the same title, but that wasn’t an intentional link. If I had to pick an overall theme for the series, I’d probably choose Precious Kid’s “Jaded”, not least because it includes the question “are you happy” in its lyrics.

Plotagon remains on my taskbar for now, unopened. People have asked if I plan to make any more. Probably not, but you never know.

[geekysweetie]

CocoPPa Play Star Girl Fashion Revised Review Updated for 2018

I had previously reviewed CocoPPa Play Star Girl Fashion here. It is a cute anime dressup game for IOS and Android Devices. Many of my complaints were about lack of free gacha and how long it took to earn free gacha plays. – That has since changed. Now almost every gacha gives you one free play, just like in Dream Girlfriend, Fairy Doll, Animal Boyfriend, Moe Can Change, and Dream Boyfriend. The first time I reviewed CocoPPa Play, that was not the case, and while nearly every other dressup game I have played let you take at least 1 free spin on each gacha, it turned me off a great deal to CocoPPa Play in my first review.

CocoPPa Play deserves a new review, because now, with the frequent free gacha plays (new gachas are added almost daily) and there’s always constantly an event going on, so it’s honestly the game I spend the most time playing on my mobile phone, and I love it lol. Also I may have not understood how the events work, and new events have also been added since my old review, and it’s not as difficult as I thought to earn even further free gacha spins. In my old review I say the gacha tickets cost 20,000 points. They now cost 10,000. I don’t know if it was an error on my part before, or if the price has been lowered, but it is nice much easier to get free gacha tickets.

My show in #cocoppaplay #kawaii #anime #dressupgame #cute #mobilegame

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Sep 16, 2017 at 9:56am PDT

I have a ton of pics of CocoPPa Play on my instagram. I will sprinkle a few throughout this review. Unlike my previous review, I now have a lot of pics of my own models (as well as using some screenshots from the official app store pages).

So let’s take a 2nd look at CocoPPa Play below (Please note parts of this review have been repurposed from my previous review, while other info has been added, edited, or in same cases removed):

Title: CocoPPaPlay (the Android version is called Star Girl Fashion but it is the same game).

Genre: Dressup Game

Platform: Mobile (IOS / Android)

Grab it on IOS: https://itunes.apple.com…

Or Here for Android: (For some reason, it’s called “Star Girl Fashion” here, but same game, even same icon that the Itunes version uses) You can pick it up here: https://play.google.com/…

Geeky: 1/5 

Sweetie: 5/5 

Overall: 70 / 100 70% C- Good Game for Girls

Concept: 10/10 The concept of CocoPPaPlay is simple – play “gacha” machines or enter monthly events to win new outfits. Outfits consist of different layers, such as eyes(facial expression), hair, clothes, shoes, hand accessories (purses, stuffed toys, swords, etc), hats, glasses, pets, backgrounds, and other items – This allows you to really fine-tune and make unique avatars. Similar to games like Pokemini (which I reviewed here) or Line Play.

Gameplay: 9/10 I covered the basics above: There are a number of “lottery” style games (gacha machines) where you’re awarded an item for your outfit by paying or using a gacha ticket.

There are also numerous events to win exclusive outfits. It seems the events change every week or two and that never a day goes by without some type of event going on. Events fall into one of a few different catagories:

In all events you can earn “Lucky Tickets”: These items you can earn for free by cheering for other players shows or completing quest objectives. The lucky tickets can be used to try to play the lucky event gacha to win items/energy drinks, and/or used to raise your charm level for the event – I recommend trying to max your charm first. (similar to the events in Dream Girlfriend (which I reviewed here) Having high charm lets you get event points and rewards much quicker! Therefore its best to max it out asap. If you rank high based on your total event points at the end of the events, you get rare limited items.

Catch Requests: In a catch event, after cheering for other players’ shows, a creature will appear on your screen with a few different catching options above it’s head and showing a percentage of how likely you are to capture them. You can “chain” successful catches to get bonus points, but once you miss a catch, that bonus is reset. If you chain enough catches you’ll go to a special bonus round after your 11th catch, where you see three creatures. In this bonus round, catching at least 2 out of the 3 will take you to yet another bonus round with a super rare creature to catch for massive amounts of points. I like to save my double point and guaranteed accuracy catching glove items for these two rounds.

Fetch Requests: In a Fetch Event (as I have called it), there will be multiple “quest givers” who request items from you in exchange for event points. Go cheer for other players shows and complete quests to earn the requested items, then return to the events page to turn in your items for event points.

Beam Requests: In a beam quest you find characters again by cheering for other shows. Some characters are more rare than others. Once you find a character, you use a beam to “zap” them to transform them somehow. After transforming, they award you points, more points for more rare characters. You can request help, or help your friends take down difficult characters and get lots of points. This event is fun because it goes very fast with large groups of friends.

My entry for #CocoPPaPlay #snapcontest #fashion #dressupgame #anime #kawaii #cute #freegame #mobilegame

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Nov 23, 2017 at 10:51am PST

Fashion Snap: Dress up your avatar to suit a theme, and vote on “who wore it better”. You can earn a lot of gacha tickets in these events. They’re also the most fun in my opinion. New themes come very quickly – every day I believe. Fashion Snap often times requires you to use at least 1 item from the associated event gacha.

Fashion Labo: Fashion Labo (which I’m guessing stands for Fashion Laboratory) is very much like the Fashion Snap events – also Fashion Labo will be going on along side any one of the other events above. Fashion Labo is different from Fashion Snap in 2 ways: The frequency of the theme changing is much slower, and length of the entry periods for each theme are much, much, much longer in Fashion Labo (spanning several days or even a week or so per each theme). Like Fashion Snap, you dress up to match the theme, and judge other people’s entries. The other big difference is you earn blue and gold hearts that can be exchanged in a special shop for more rare items in addition to those available via the rank and leader boards and as quest rewards etc. Be sure to spend your hearts, because they do not roll over to future Fashion Labo events.

My #fashionlabo #fashionlaboratory #anime #kawaii #cute #dressupgame #character in #CocoPPaPlay #pleasevoteforme

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Dec 21, 2017 at 5:53pm PST

Overall, it cycles through these event styles, in a scheduled and precise way, so that you can anticipate what the next event type will be and plan when you want to play the game. I don’t know the schedule off hand (I don’t really pay that much attention to it) But let’s say it goes something like (this is not correct, just made up to illustrate my point:) If the cycle went like:

Fetch

Fashion Snap

Beam

Catch

then it would start again with Fetch and work in the same order again down that list.

And it would coincide at times with Fashion Labo.

NOTE: Fashion Labo is easy to miss. I missed a few of the themes this month. Because the icon for Fashion Labo is pretty much ALWAYS on your screen – Even when Fashion Labo ends, it lets players check their scores, view the contest winners, and etc by clicking the icon. So if you aren’t paying SUPER CLOSE attention, and notice that the icon has new artwork – thus indicating a new round of Fashion Labo, it’s easy to miss. I’m just going to get in the habit of checking that page daily. I recommend you do the same.

That’s about it for events. One of my favorite things about this game is that there is ALWAYS an event of some type, and thus ALWAYS rare time limited release items. So many items. Between these events and limited time gachas.

There’s also a club feature. You can at any level, any time, and for free, create (or join) a club. You can get bonuses in the events above by having club members where certain items or do certain tasks so clubs are really useful, you can also use them to chat and make friends which gives the game a nice social touch.

You also can take on quests from NPCs within the game, which when you complete, will add new items to their shops, and unlock new cities to explore, and grant you some free outfits. When a city “levels up” they have a sale with half priced items – but I never buy them – because I’m hoarding all my Smile Points to use in the gachas.

As a “bonus”, there’s another app by the makers of CocoPPaPlay, where you can customize your cellphone, with new icons, background images, wallpapers, lock screens, etc. This other app works best on android – because sadly, apple has a lot of bloatware that you cannot delete or modify – for example, the camera, you can’t change the icon for it on apple, the only work around is to download a 3rd party camera app, and hide your other icon in a folder somewhere. Email is another example, for example, you have to download Gmail, and hide the default mail app. You also can’t change the phone or text icons at all on the apple iphone. But it still makes your phone about 90% cuter – though it also makes your phone a little slower, as it adds an extra step whenever you click on one of the new icons it is only a shortcut to the actual program so you get prompted if you want to open the “page” with the following application. (At least on Iphone.) This other app also acts as a social media site, and if you link up your CocoPPa account to your CocoPPa Play account your avatar is carried over to both apps and appears on your social media wall – you earn some free items in both apps for linking, and can more easily login/retrieve your account by having both apps active.

That about covers it for gameplay.

#mobile #games games pictured include: #pokemon #pokemongo #lovenikki #nikki #dressupqueen #cocoppaplay #lineplay #shallwedate #wizardessheart #wethegirls #pokemonduel #zookeeperbattle #romancediary #romanticdiary

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Nov 1, 2017 at 5:49pm PDT

Customization – 10/10 – The number of items available is incredible, and many items have already retired, rising the demand and you get “bragging rights” if you have a super rare/old/obscure item equipped and well, I see this game being around 2-3 years from now, so even if you start playing today, in 2-3 years you too will have those rare items everyone else wants and be admired. I like games like this where they retire items fairly quickly. Pokemini is another example of really time sensitive items. That to me really increases my drive to play these games. So while others may not like this feature, to me it’s a huge plus.

Story: 2/10 – There’s really not much, if any, story – I think there was some type of story presented at the beginning, but it’s so bare bones I forgot it quickly. It’s mostly fetch quests and cheering and there’s also quite a few typos or improper grammar and awkward sentences thrown about in the game. Each event has a story, but it’s so similar to every other event story. Just replace X with Y. “X escaped, lets go catch them” where X could be a dog, cat, fairy, some other creature depending on the event. or “My X is broken, let’s zap it with our beams to make it work again” Where X could be spaceship, magic wand, or hotspring or any other number of things. But yeah really, this is not a game you play for story.

Characters: 6/10 – Characters get high marks for cuteness – but really have no purpose or substance, other than serving as mascots because the game lacks a strong story.

Graphics: 10/10 This game is super cute, the mascot girl who guides you through the story and quests is adorable, and the sheep mascot is also cute and he helps run your club. Your avatar and the items are very nicely drawn and large. a Good variety of items and different poses, and the ability to layer many items to create your avatar make this game very very appealing for anyone who loves cute things.

Music: 5/10 – Music is standard mobile type music. It’s cute and catchy, but ultimately only consists of 3 or 4 different tracks which means the more you play it, the more it starts to annoy the heck out of you lol.

Cuteness – 10/10 – to balance out all the negative things I have to say about this game, added this lil bonus in here –  the main reason to play this game is because it’s so cute.

Replay Value: 10/10 – It gets repetitive, is super time consuming, and annoyingly “expensive” if you want VIP items – but in the end, the lure of those time sensitive items keeps you wanting to press on to replay and get new items. It’s a very item-centric game. But that’s not a bad thing.

Overall: 78 / 100 78% C+ Good Game for Girls

CocoPPa Play Star Girl Fashion Revised Review Updated for 2018 was originally published on GeekySweetie.com - Geeky & Kawaii Anime, Tech, Toys, & Game Reviews & News

[sweetdazeheart-blog]

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