#i guess i'll do it tomorrow

[lexumpysfunland]

Happy May 1st :D

It's not much, but in France, we usually give "lily of the valley" on this day, which gives happiness and good fortune. So have Andrew give some to y'all in the hope it'll work for you :)

Of course, he picked some for Stanley too 👀

[classic-blue]

Nature of the Arcane- Positive and Negative Energy

(For reference, Arcane = the series; arcane = the magic) Come help me figure out how the heck the magic system of Arcane works.

What is the anomaly? Why was it born? Why is it that other mages in the series don't seem to cause anomalies, but Hextech does?

I refuse to be content with a magic=good or magic=bad explanation, and Arcane loves to play with nuance. I was trying to sort out my thoughts on why some magic has bad side effects while others don't, and this is where I'm sitting now. My (spit-balled, half-baked, and probably leaking) thesis:

The arcane/using magic has 2 separate outputs: the order you placed (Hextech) and the resulting exhaust (wild runes; the anomaly). Hextech can use runes to control magic, but there's a second output of natural, wild magical energy, that Hextech doesn't account for. Both of these energies can build up, and when they're reunited, they have explosive reactions (see: Mage Viktor's world, the final blip that takes Jayce and Viktor, and possibly various smaller explosions throughout the series).

For example, when positive and negative charges meet, lightning strikes.

Justification below the cut.

Science break! Ever been shocked by static electricity? That's because of a buildup of one charge, say positive, on you, and a buildup of negative charge on another object. Nature loves balance, so when you two touch, the charges discharge in a shock that connects the positive and negative charges and allows them to balance out. Size this idea up big enough, and you get lightning- powerful, fast, and destructive.

More importantly though, you can't just charge positive energy, without also charging negative energy at the same time-  creating one by necessity creates the other, so that there's an overall balance of electricity types (hey look, a metaphor, creating one inevitably leads to the other…).

Let's carry this idea over to the arcane. What if there's a 'positive' magic and a 'negative' magic output?

(Note, I use the electricity words here intentionally- positive/negative do not mean in a cosmic/moral/ethical way, but in a scientific, 'hey we need 2 connected words to separate these concepts' sort of way.)

Positive: Hextech; runes; the intended output. Teleportation, levitation, everything we see it accomplish.

Negative: the wild rune, the anomaly; the unintended output.

And, when the two come together, lightning strikes.

Lightning 1- Viktor vs Ekko's Z-drive. Viktor spends S2 becoming a centralized conduit of 'positive' magic, via the Hexcore and top ups from the crystals under the Hexgates. As the Machine Herald, the claw is continually using runes and doing magic behind him. In short, he's been building up a lot of positive magical energy. When Ekko chucks the Z-drive at him, it's powered by an anomaly, or 'negative' magical energy. Put the two forces together, and let the fireworks happen; a part of the Machine Herald's mask gets struck off in the blast. (But the Z-drive has less negative energy than Viktor's positive, so it doesn't totally wipe him out.)

Lightning 2- Viktor and Jayce's rainbow time. Jayce's acceleration rune might be the negative magical energy in this case (since it travels with him via Mage Viktor's anomaly), paired with the anomaly that Viktor grabbed beneath the Hexgate. That works in opposition to Viktor's compiled positive magical energy via the Hexcore and similar products. With these together, the balance between positive and negative is reached, achieving net neutral magic dispersion, and of course, an implosion that sucks in (or teleports, we can be happy) Jayce and Viktor, ending the conflict.

Perhaps in Mage Viktor's timeline, a similar explosion occurs, resulting in the destruction that we see Jayce traverse in the alternate timeline. But in the main timeline, Jayce and Viktor were able to contain that explosive potential to just themselves, via Jayce's acceleration rune.

"Pass me a tome" Jayce's (quoting Viktor) explanation of the anomaly/wild rune (S2:E3)

Jayce says that Viktor theorized that wild runes are "patterns that would occur naturally where the border between our world and the Arcane is thin." By the theory, wild runes are expressions of magic not quantifiable by traditional runes- natural outputs of magic that are uncontrollable and untamable.

This still works with my positive vs negative theory- it's just that Hextech, and by extension the boys, are only viewing it from the perspective of positive energy (they accessed magic, but really only half of it). From that view, negative charge, which they can't interpret why it's building up or that it even is, might look pretty wild and untamable- however, we see mages control this negative magical energy. Mage Viktor uses the anomaly to send Jayce back to his timeline. The Machine Herald is able to transport it and start to destroy/convert the world.

Because it's still a useable product, so long as you understand what it actually is, I'm not fully content to say that the anomaly is an entirely wild thing, or an unpredictable force. It's possible that Mage Viktor intentionally manipulated it to send Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger to their temporary alternate universes to set in motion events to save the main timeline. I think the anomaly definitely has somewhat volatile characteristics, a bit more chaotic perhaps, but it's still controllable.

(Additionally, Ekko breaks time using both hex shards (assuming they're still in the Z-drive, I'm not sure off the top of my head), and a tiny anomaly. The fact that he's able to control it to a degree also shows that the anomaly is not fully wild and untamable.)

I suppose my overarching feeling is that the anomaly is not necessarily better or worse, or more dangerous, than the 'positive' magic of Hextech- it's just a different, inevitable byproduct of magic use.

Then why don't mages cause anomalies and 'lightning strikes'?

Simple- they know how to account for both positive and negative energy in their spellwork. They know how to equate a balance, so nothing blows up in their faces.

Granted, the only mages we really see in Arcane are Mel, the Black Rose, and Mage Viktor, and the only real discussions we get about magic is from either the Hextech nerds or Heimerdinger, who may not be working with the full picture of how the arcane works. Our sources with regards to actual mage work in Arcane are pretty thin (and I probably need to rewatch Mel's S2 scenes).

But the Black Rose mentions as Mel leaves that (paraphrased) 'it's a dangerous world out there for a solitary mage.' This seems to imply that mages work best in collaboration- perhaps that allows for a balance between positive and negative energies, preventing 'lightning strikes.'

The real point- The Need for Collaboration

While the obvious theme to be drawn from this is the need for balance, another interesting one is the need for collaboration. If mages in Arcane indeed do work together to prevent destructive magical fallout, this again points back to a core element of Arcane's relationships:

Things (magic in particular) work best in collaboration.

That's how the boys crack Hextech

That's how Jinx and Vi start to bring Vander back and reconcile

That's how Viktor and Sky work in the commune

That's how Ekko, Powder, and Heimerdinger crack Hextech again

That's how Caitlyn and Ambessa start to work, and how the lack of honest collaboration exposes Ambessa's selfish gains and weakens Caitlyn emotionally and politically

That's how Mel literally does everything politically (and why her arc narratively suffers when she's on her own against the Black Rose for so long [I still love her tho])

That's how Piltover and Zaun fend off Ambessa's assault

That's how Viktor and Jayce end it- together.

More assorted thoughts on this topic:

This theory somewhat requires that the arcane is not conscious, not retaliating for Hextech using magic improperly, which is debatable. The Black Rose says "the arcane is waking up," which could imply a sentient force, or simply a natural force like how the world 'wakes up' to spring after winter. Ekko also claims that Jayce 'pissed off' the arcane, which Jayce is cutely embarrassed about, which is a possibility, but not one that I'm getting into here- it's entirely possible that Ekko is also wrong! Jayce and Viktor frequently are! (also, the hexcore being sentient does not necessarily mean that the arcane is sentient- Viktor describes it as a learning matrix, so it could very much be a Flubber situation. He done taught the rubix cube science before ethics.)

As Viktor brings Jayce up to the top of the Hexgate, Viktor winds the anomaly in his staff and talks about the balance between order and chaos- maybe positive magic is one and negative the other?

@avelera and @linddzz were throwing around some awesome thoughts similar to this strain, including how it looks like Mage Viktor 'cleans up' the smoke output of the spell in the snowstorm. Their theory is that what I call positive and negative energy is actually constructive vs destructive force in equal output from the Arcane, and that balance between those two types is needed (i.e. if you want magic to do what you want, you also need to let it blow up some stuff) which would also explain what I've called lightning here. Definitely worth a read!

There are so many holes in this theory, but I still wanted to organize my thoughts about the anomaly, Hextech, and how Arcane tells the audience to view magic. In S1, Hextech is all good and great, possibly dangerous, but in S2, Hextech and its byproducts are all infectious, destructive, and never productive. I found the switch a little jarring, and went searching for a deeper meaning.

Also… does this mean that Arcane is actually a big metaphor for the dangers and impacts of technological advancement on natural society and how Mother Nature will come back to bite us all in the butt? Has Arcane been a secret Ghibli film all along???

[hipsternumbertwo]

And Trevor was there too [x]

[alackofghosts]

having some barbie time (drawing outfits)

[brianskangs]

(240324) DAY6 x WELCOME TO THE SHOW *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ENDING FAIRIES

[canisalbus]

I hope you have a lovely day today. ❤️

Thank you! You too! 🧡

[tosteur-gluteal]

Again, gouache painting I made to relax

[cleverusernameh]

Predictions for Buddy's Real Name

Hello Cinderella Boy enjoyers, how are we doing? Sobbing? Suffering? I can only imagine what emotional turmoil the fast passers may be experiencing right now. Well, to get our minds off of the impending Season One finale, I've decided to try and predict what Buddy's "real" name is.

(PS. You don't have to take this too seriously; I just needed some way to cope after the penultimate episode.)

(P.P.S This post is a pretty long read, so just stay with me on this, or continue on with your scrolling :))

First, I took some observations as to how Punko names her protagonists and compiled the following notes:

Punko has yet to name a main character anything starting with a vowel.

Punko's MCs have had names starting with either a stop/plosive or a fricative.

All of these names have had English, Latin, or Greek origins.

I also am taking the following assumptions into consideration when sifting through potential names:

I'm going to assume Punko will keep in line with all previous observations.

I believe Punko takes a bit of consideration of the meaning behind her characters. Deacon is the most obvious example, because he's like a friend and whatever and second in command to Chase. Prunella means "little plum", and yeah, I can see that. She is smol, and her temperament is... tart like a plum? But also sweet, like a plum? (I've never had a plum, I'm assuming this is what they're like).

I think her name choices skew towards a slightly older generation. Chase being an exception, but with names like "Frankie" and "Prunella" more commonly being given to children in the Victorian Era, apparently. Either way, I'll focus on slightly older names, like 90's and back probably.

I will be keeping a heavy focus on names that begin with the letter 'B' because the title of the series is "Cinderella" (Chase) "Boy" (Buddy/B-alternate name) and I personally think that would be cool.

Last thing is I'm gonna add names of Greek and French origin to the roster because I feel insane. My sources for searching mainly boil down to behindthename.com and the 2012 edition of this baby name book of 100,000+ baby names. That being said:

List of Potential Buddy Names

1. Beau

This is my personal favorite, which is why I'm listing it first, but I do have a few valid reasons for adding it here.

It means "handsome" in French

It plays into the "storybook/romance" angle of the series

Begins with the letter 'B'

Has been a relatively popular name since the 70s

2. Theodore

Kind of a weird 2nd pick, maybe, but hear me out.

Comes from Greek meaning "gift of God"

Could reflect that one theory that Buddy is not actually a human, but rather some creation that Ex Libris made

Was popular in 1915 and 2025, which is kind of silly

3. Vincent

Sounds regal enough, lol

Latin origin

Means "to conquor", so maybe he's gotta win something (like his freedom??)

peaked in the mid-60s and 90s

4. Connor

I have a friend named this, so it'd be really funny on Punko's part to name Buddy this

has like two roots meaning "desire" and "wolf"

he desires freedom, and is treated like a dog (they give him ZERO chocolate in Ex Libris)

of Irish origin, but idk, I still like it

5. Hunter

Okay this one has a single thing in it's favor criteria-wise (is of English origin), but this would be very cool considering Chase's name. Chase? and Hunter? Chase the Hunter? Hunt the Chase? Absolute power couple stuff here. Ship name could but C**ter---nevermind that censoring is actually worse

(maybe? comment down what the appropriate ship name for two characters names "Chase" and "Hunter"in case this is actually this poor man's name)

6. Victor

Some goober in the Webtoon comments section, like a year ago claims that Punko said this was gonna be Buddy's name in a Twitch stream, so maybe dawg?

Latin origin; also has to do with winning and victory of his rights or smthn

within the top 250 of baby names for Americans

V sounds like B when you think about it

7. Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson? More like Will Gayson, Will Gayson. /j

another 'hear me out' of the tame degree

means "son of the grey-haired one"

like the "old man" in ex libris???

it's not unlikely *shrug emoji*

8. Sebastian/Bastien

Like that funny little crab man

sounds fancy

Latin/French

means "venerable", like "honored" and "worthy of respect"; i guess he needs some of those

9. bro just has no name

who am I to assume punko created Buddy with a "real name" to be discovered in the first place?

would play into that neglected/dehumanized lighting that he probably experiences in ex libris

would be an *incredibly* emotional scene if Chase asks for Buddy's name in some display of trust or frustration and Buddy has to confess that he's never had one

And yeah, those are all the options I'd be willing to place money on. However, I do have more names compiled from Webtoon's comments, my friends' suggestions and some wild guesses that I am placing below for funsies, with my favorites highlighted:

-benjamin -brayden -oliver -devin -caspian (has already been used in reference to a hot vampire guy from a franchise already; is this foreshadowing or means the name is off the table?) -jordan -kieran would be silly because of my OC :) -owen is another silly choice because of my OC :)) -whitney?? -did punko already name a character charlie? -someone in chat suggested jasper (also didn't get very popular until after 2000s) -"quinctilius asparagus" -beverly? -payton? - bobbie would be the worst way of doing this to me punko - ryder?? - blaine? maybe? - brennan? - casey? - cole - percival/percy sounds cool (historically older name; has literature background with being one of the round knights; just doesn't have a hard meaning i can pin to his character, unless we're deriving it from the knight percy, in which case uhhhhhhhhhh) - trystan would be a personal act against me - garreth (actually not bad with historically coming from the knights of the round table, but idk he seems too cool to have a dumb name like gareth) - "david" (he ain't "beloved" enough by anyone for that) - penguin - not penguin - ryan (suggested by ryan) - edward/eric/eli - demian - nigel - Rumpelstilksin - Aiden - Virgil - "Goth Twink" - Manuel - Two

Well, now that it's taken me about a week to make this create the text for this post, I'm dumping it all onto here roughly 24 hours before tomorrow's episode. Hope you enjoyed the silly fan rant, now if you'll excuse me, I have to copy/paste this into tumblr for realsies now, format everything the way I want them too, and add at least 15 tags. And drink water, that's also probably important.

sleep well young one...

[aelisinsims]

another pinterest inspired build

credit to @crowkeeperthesimmer for the "crowpapers" which allowed me to make the planks look more weathered

[jtl07]

A classic format to account for your (alleged) rustiness: Elphaba in the kitchen with the cake :)

going out of order because it's my birthday and i'mma do what i want :P also: OMG you would send this prompt in, you big meanie. j/k i loved it - loved it so much that i wrote two different variations! i'll share the second tomorrow but here's the first, more comedic variation. thank you for being the most most most wonderful <3

The sound of the front door lock turning nearly makes Elphaba drop the cake. The cake she had spent weeks designing, planning, practicing; the cake Galinda was not supposed to see. She glances wildly at the clock - it's much too early for Galinda to be home but there's no time to question it; focuses instead on the facts: Galinda absolutely, positively, must not see the cake. 

"Elphie?"

"Just a moment!" Elphaba scrambles to put the cake into some kind of container, but there's nothing big enough to cover its size. Frantically - while half-listening to her wife's rambling about her day at work, her voice coming ever closer - Elphaba opens the cabinets, the drawers, the refrigerator - curses the gift of their fullness. She sets the cake on the counter, makes a wall with their appliances and their cookbooks, but oh that's even more conspicuous - 

Hears Galinda footsteps just outside the kitchen. 

As they say: Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Galinda enters and as Elphaba had hoped, she stops, shocked at the sight in front of her: Elphaba standing in the middle of the kitchen, half-naked.

"I - um - spilled something on my shirt," Elphaba says, hastily turning on the faucet and running water over the perfectly fine shirt she'd whipped off just a moment ago. 

That, of course, spurs Galinda into action. "Let me see," she says immediately, stepping towards the sink - towards the counter where the cake sits. 

"It's fine!" Elphaba holds up the shirt, dripping and wrinkled but hopefully covering Galinda's view. "See, I got it out." She starts to corral Galinda back the way she came, using her shirt like a matador's cape. "Tell me more about your day?" 

"Elphaba." Galinda's voice is dangerously steady.

The woman in question swallows. "Yes, dear?" 

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Galinda's eyes narrow, dark and sharp and Elphaba would find it hot if only she wasn't also sweating. (That's a lie: she's definitely finding it very hot.) 

"Notice what?" Elphaba asks, wincing at the squeak in her voice. And oh no, Galinda is now nudging her back into the kitchen, nearly jumps when she feels the cool marble of the counter against her skin. She shivers; tries to look without looking to check the cake in the corner. 

"This." 

Galinda's hands slowly circle Elphaba's wrists and slide upwards, mapping her forearms, her biceps, her shoulders. Galinda leans in close; Elphaba hopes she can't smell her sweat.

"You've been working out." 

Elphaba's brain stumbles. 

"Y-yes, yes I have. Been working out. Do you, ah, like what you see?" Elphaba raises her eyebrows; hopes the message they send is more suave seduction and less sweaty, frantic panic. 

"I do - in fact -" Galinda's voice falters, her gaze having drifted past Elphaba's shoulder to - oh no.

Desperation takes hold once more. 

Elphaba leans down, grabs Galinda by the back of her thighs and lifts - winces at the shriek aimed directly into her ear. "Let me guess: you'd like to feel them, hm?" Elphaba says, mouthing at Galinda's neck the way she knows she likes, that makes Galinda close her eyes and sigh and sink further into Elphaba's arms.

When Elphaba feels Galinda's hands slide into her hair, she knows she's in the clear. But now that she's here - Galinda's tongue dipping between her lips, her hips bucking needily, her nails biting into Elphaba's skin - she might as well take advantage of the situation at hand. 

(Later, sprawled across the couch, a soft "Elphie?" breaks the silence. Elphaba traces her fingers along Galinda's spine in answer - only to freezes at Galinda's next words: "Why is there a penis shaped cake in the kitchen?")

or: the first and last time Elphaba bakes a cake for Fiyero :P

[hithelleth]

New blorbos, new icon, it's a rule. ;)

About two weeks ago one half of one of my favourite author was squeeing on the blue app about 'horny boat doctor' show, so I checked it out and to no surprise it is exactly my cup of tea.

It's got three 'old' favourites in main roles: Philippa Soo (of The Code!), Sean Teale (aka Hector from The Gifted), and Joshua Jackson for nostalgia.

And now I have a new OT3 that was canon for like 5 minutes, but the someone started being a moron.

(Max. Max, Max. *shakes her head* You're kind, compassionate, and funny, and I love you, but you you're a moron. First, completely failing to read the mood and react in a spectacular dissonance with other people. But okay, I get being blind-sided and overcome with emotions. But bothering Avery when she asked for time and space and treating her as a human incubator and unilaterally deciding to be 'all in'... maybe he'll come to his senses when faced with another existential crisis.)

But, I don't mind. I'm all caught up to the latest episode and I'm enjoying it. It's entertaining with some deep/serious threads and there is a lot of potential and possible compelling storylines and intriguing characters to explore (plus more unhinged entertainment, please.) Keeping fingers crossed it gets renewed, because I could watch another five seasons (and a movie :P).

[goldenpinof]

Ranking All the Dan and Phil Apartments (5 April 2023) or "why do we keep mentioning swinging in these videos?"

[residentialsinyomakai]

Yokai to Human Form Tidbit

Ok so there's human designs/ forms for Caspian's yokai friends 1, for fun, and 2, cause there's some situations where it's convenient/just better to have some in human forms (EX: Whisper coming to Caspian's choir concerts and conferences bc his parents are. fairly absent). Everyone has their own opinions on it and stuff and in this post I'ma talk about Baddinyan's!!

So fun little fact he does Not Like being human. This is mostly for body dysphoria adjacent feelings, like all of a sudden he has different hair, no fur, different ear placement, etc. The 'phantom limb' thing tends to happen with his tails, too, which is trippy and kinda uncomfortable. He also hates that a lot of his senses are dulled. smell, hearing, sight (especially in the dark), it makes everything feel kinda hazy and causes him to be a lot more stressed about everything.

Idk maybe I just think it's kinda funny to see a character thrown into a whole new form and reasonably be like. what. the hell this sucks. His easygoing (nice way of me saying his lazy ahh) and usually pretty chill/surprisingly level-headed mood is def worsened when he's constantly feeling skin that doesn't technically belong to him. A form he shouldn't really have.

As a result, he's oftentimes irritable and anxious in this form, with some days being better than others. He typically avoids having to use it unless he needs to though, and refuses to take his glasses off for anything. Has to be bribed with a Chocobar to enma forbid go out in public. He's also less used to it than most due to his extreme aversion to it. He just hates it and everything is physically gross and cloudy and nothing's in the right place and he can't explain why.

Badude, on the other hand, doesn't mind being human! It feels more similar to his body than it does for Baddinyan, and is kind of a fun change of pace every now and then. He's Baddinyan's like. closest friend besides Caspian in this AU, so he's typically who's convincing him to not kill everyone in the room and/or take off the stupid leaf in public lol. Their convos can sometimes go like

"C'mon, it's just until we get outta the store. Don't get your non-existent tails in a twist-"

"Shut up and do nyot remind me right nyeow."

"(Oh it's like. that kind of day whoopsies) Mbmb, we can ditch these nerds and go look at the candy isle or somethin' for a bit..?"

He stinks at comforting people or anything like that but tries. Sometimes. idiots

I'm working on references, but all I have to say about their designs for now is vitiligo Black-Mexican Baddinyan and Mexican-Japanese Badude CANON!!! See you for now! :) Have a radtastical day out there, don't implode or get rocks thrown into your inbox!! (again for some of you...)

[r0semultiverse]

Happy 4/13, here's the Deltritan or Satyr Equivalent to Dragon Ball for their species and civilization.

[anewunknown]

ah. birthday.

[alkeneater]

sharing random details because why not

If you visited my wiki (which is still WIP and i'm kinda sick and busy to update it rn so pls be patient) you've probably seen this on Abe's page

Well you should know that Abe's obsession with living up to his clonefather's name is my roman empire and I just LOVE that, because Abe chose a great role model :) This is why I wanted to bring up this topic way more often in my comic, because this is pure angst material (and also extremely relatable).

SOOOOO about that so-called debate contest...

Of course Abe lacks charisma and attractiveness so nobody listens to him. YES, I MADE ELECTION BLU-GALOO BUT MORE DRAMATIC BECAUSE..... BECAUSE WE LOVE ANGST 😋😋😋 IT'S ENTERTAINING

ALSOOOO not only do other clones not care about Abe, but the shadowy guys as well (which is not surprising cus they don't give a shit about anyone in this place). They literally don't treat him like a human just because he is not as great as the Abraham Lincoln himself. They wanted to raise him to be a leader but they gave him anxiety, low self-esteem and a strange obsession :(

So yeah after some failures he tends to spend a couple of days in his room, crying to his Lincoln posters (fun fact some of them are ai generated) and literally talking to them because..... coping mechanism? 🤷‍♂️

I tried my best to add something but this sketch comic thing basically explains everything so okayyyyyy you got my point :з

I'm thinking about his character development in the comic, I want him to start loving himself, be able to defend himself and just FIND HIMSELF. Because OKAY you can't be THE EXACT clone of your clonefather, it's not the 19th century, but you're still a human, right?? So just be a good human!! :) You're already on the right path since you began to fight for your friends' well-being.

Omg wait i'm already talking to him in second person OKAY YOU GOT ME PLEASE READ EXCLAMATION!2080 THE THIRD PART IS IN PROGRESS BLAH BLAH BLAH BYEEEEE