#i was originally going to make this more meme like and shorter

[jgnico]

Is someone gonna talk about the use of signage in yesterday's episode? Do I have to be the one to talk about the use of signage in yesterday's episode?

I know we all saw the billboard beside Choso displaying the abilities of his technique in tandem with the narrator, but there were so many more great uses of the signs in the background to convey information.

The first sign (and also one of the first shots) that we see in the episode is a Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign overlaid by the sound of Yuuji running, followed by Yuuji's shadow itself taking up the position of the pedestrian on the sign. You can read this as the sign telling Yuuji not to proceed to where he's going or as an indication of how the upcoming fight will end for the viewer.

The next sign that we get is one telling us to Go Left, which doesn't really seem important, but I promise you, it is. We'll see a lot of arrows pointing left throughout the episode and every single one of them is pointing away from danger. Go Left to avoid danger, essentially.

These two signs are arguably the most important in the episode, but they aren't the coolest use of visual symbolism that we got, so lets keep going.

The third sign that we see focused on in the episode is a No Running sign that Yuuji passes that says "Do Not Rush. It Is Dangerous." Yuuji, of course, runs past it on his way toward the escalators that lead (for him) to Gojo and (for the viewer) to Choso.

Once he does get to the bottom of the escalators, Yuuji is attacked by Choso immediately and Choso's opening move (Convergence), once Yuuji moves his arms up and away from his face, slices up through the subway cieling and the road above to cut the Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign that we saw at the beginning of the episode in half.

We also get out first big Left Arrow, placed immediately in the foreground of the shot and pointing toward the aforementioned sign that's been cut in half (this will be important later), but in a another view, it also points away from station itself. Again, go left to avoid danger.

Our next Left Arrow is on the ceiling between Yuuji, indicating that he should go away from Choso. Interestingly enough, it also points toward the bathrooms that Yuuji will go into later once his fight with Choso in the hallway becomes too dangerous.

That same arrow falls to the floor between them once Choso gets mad after Yuuji tells him about Eso and Kechizu crying, this time pointing directly away from Choso.

Another Left Arrow, this time in a more urgent red. We see this once Yuuji realizes that he's in serious danger, that he'll loose if he continues to fight Choso in the hallway. It's also pointing away from the bathrooms and toward the escalators from Yuuji's point of view beside the bathrooms, indicating that he needs to leave the area entirely.

The previous arrow pointing toward the bathrooms as a safe option has been destroyed and Yuuji has taken some serious damage by the time he moves toward them. The bathrooms are no longer safe. Yuuji needs to leave.

This is followed up by the only Right Arrows that we see focused on in the epsiode, but unlike the Left Arrows, they aren't used to convey how to get away from danger, but rather what is dangerous. Not only do these arrows all point toward Choso outside of the shot, they also have each of his techniques displayed below them.

Once the bathroom fight is over and Yuuji is on death's door, we get a zoomed out shot of his body framed by (two) people cut in half. This sign is shown right before Sukuna makes his only appearance in the episode, where we hear the sound of electricity flickering.

We heard this exact sound earlier from the Left Arrow telling Yuuji to get away from Choso at the beginning of the fight, but I like to interpret it as an audio indicator of Yuuji's life and/or control of Sukuna flickering in and out, becoming weaker.

Side Note: In the previous shot of Yuuji that we get before this one, we see a blade of light cutting Yuuji in half, the same way Convergence cut the Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign in half earlier in the episode. This will come into play later in the post, but keep it in mind.

The next time we see these bisected bathroom signs is when Mimiko and Nanako approach Yuuji to awaken Sukuna. Two people framing Yuuji/Sukuna that have been cut, while those same signs are whole in the hallway to the left. Go left to avoid danger applies to the girls here as well.

Our next important set of signs are actually the same sign, a large green arrow in the foreground that points away from where Yuuji's body is. While Choso stumbles away from it (away from Yuuji/Sukuna) the girls walk toward it.

This is also the first Left Arrow that we see point toward Choso, unlike the one pointing away from him at the beginning of his and Yuuji's fight. Choso, at this moment and onward, is no longer a source of danger to Yuuji or to us, the viewer.

And finally, the final shot of the entire episode, our old friend, the Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign. Yuuji has lost to Choso, the girls have found him to awaken Sukuna, and we get a focus shot of the Pedestrian that previously represented Yuuji cut in half and covered in blood.

I mentioned earlier that we get another shot of Yuuji cut in half by a ray of light in the bathroom.

Here is that shot, and the way that I interpret it is as a reminder that Yuuji shares his body. Yuuji's control of his body has been cut off in the same way that the Pedestrian representing Yuuji has had part of it cut away. What's left is the part that Yuuji can't control, the Pedestrian covered in blood.

Additionally, repeated use of a sign showing pedestrians cut in half and bloody can also represent the civilians in Shibuya, especially now that Yuuji no longer has control of his body.

[verysium]

PLEASE DO BLUE LOCK ICKS IM BEGGING🙏😭🌹

😏 coming right up anon. gonna channel my inner critic and not hold back on any of these.

RIN

brother complex. not much else to say except that he needs to get a life. not everything is about metaphorically crushing your older brother's dreams and brooding in the dark hate of retribution.

competitive but only because he is a desperate whore for external validation. ignores everyone but craves the attention of a sole person named sae itoshi. was defeated by isagi once and has never let go of it since. has a one-track mind that is impossible to derail. stubborn when he wants to be.

probably a virgin and will continue to be one until his late 30s.

has not known a single day of peace ever since sae ditched him for the popular girlies. as a result, he has developed a very concerning case of social awkwardness. his idea of a conversation involves a brick wall and thirty minutes of you staring at his resting bitch face. constantly looks like that one grumpy cat meme. judges you for your poor decisions but then gets aggressively defensive when you point out his own mistakes.

reeks of so much teen angst that even metallica can't save him. the problem is that he has nothing to back up his emo persona. his insults lack creativity and, unfortunately for him, phrases like "lukewarm" and "half-baked" and "hell" do not make his words carry more weight. uses the f-word but in the most embarrassing context that it makes you facepalm and internally cringe.

SAE

zero social awareness. this boy's head is empty. the lights are not on up there. there are no picture frames or furniture. the curtains are drawn, and there is not a sliver of clouds or sunshine. cannot read body language and does not know what a filter is.

the source of all of rin's stress. he is the original trauma projector, creator of generational cycles. not even subtle about it. "turns out i was wrong. i thought japan was incapable of ever giving birth to decent forwards." sir....with the way you worded that, you knew exactly what you were doing when you gave rin false hope.

swears but it's even worse than his brother. literally called his elders a "fatso and bob cut duo" and "insect turd." i mean....there is a line between what is considered a legitimate burn and what is a first grader making up insults in his coloring book.

has a horrible haircut and no fashion taste. i already talked about this previously, but it was so bad it deserved a second mention.

a freak but tries to justify it rationally. like what do you mean you can tell a person's athletic ability from their buttock size? just admit you have a kinky fetish already.

somewhat of a coward but i'm gonna give him some leniency due to his tragic child genius backstory. tbh he's just an eighteen-year-old boy who needs a goddamn break.

KAISER

alexa please play clown music. this man sets himself for failure and then wallows in self-pity when he actually fails. like what did you expect? you knew what was going to happen the moment you challenged isagi like that. it was most definitely your fault you got violently humbled.

has a borderline god complex (currently calls himself an emperor but has not evolved into a deity yet.) unfortunately, he does not stand on business. cue the dramatic meltdowns when he realizes there is an actual gap between his ability and his reputation. if you're going to lie, at least make it believable.

insecure and mentally unstable. he probably cuts and re-dyes his hair every single time shit happens. no wonder his locks get shorter every time.

lazy when it comes to anything that is not football and expects others to do it for him. demands princess treatment wherever he goes. unfortunately, not all of us have servants with no self-respect like ness.

"it is not enough that i should succeed, others should fail" type of person.

does not wear shoes and even if he does, it's sandals. put them grippers away.

NAGI

a literal sloth who has so much potential but uses none of it. has no intrinsic motivation of his own, so if he's going to do anything, it has to be you behind the wheel, making sure he gets put to work.

does not have a close relationship with his parents, and so he has no sense of community, holidays, or traditions. no fun at all if you want him to do things like christmas shopping or birthday celebrations.

rots in bed all day and then has to nerve to ask you to carry him around. your back better be strong because his 190 cm body is not going to be light.

not loyal (need i say more.)

REO

second male lead syndrome. also known as that one popular guy who's always picked last.

acts like a victim but then when you realistically tell him to how to change his situation he refuses to do so. you cannot ask for advice and then take none of it to heart. no wonder you're still not over your ex.

"i can fix him" mentality. no, you can't. you are a seventeen-year-old child, not a licensed therapist and nagi isn't even all that.

NESS

touch-starved to the point he will stay in a toxic and abusive relationship in order to gain some scrap of affection. just because you were the black sheep of your family does not mean you can lose all sense of personal dignity.

probably stalks all the people he hates. has a burn book like regina george from mean girls. cuts out and glues little pictures of kaiser all over his bedroom. doodles hearts all over it with glittery gel pen. isagi's face and name are scratched out of every team photo.

delusional and prone to mood swings. medicated but at this point, he is beyond saving.

ISAGI

a home wrecker. has ruined more relationships than he can count on ten fingers yet still manages to smile like he's some angelic saint.

solves jigsaw puzzles for a living (not very cool if you ask me.)

has some unresolved anger management issues. probably repressed all his negative feelings when he was younger, so it all comes out when he's on the field. unfortunately, his twilight-sparkle-friendship-is-magic agenda is not going to work if he keeps cussing out his teammates like that. but then again, he is the main character, so i guess his plot armor makes up for his pitfalls.

says that he's a good guy but then holds personal vendettas against rivals he doesn't like. boy was so ready to throw hands when #kaisagi was trending on the internet. but when you actually think about, he's similar to kaiser in more ways than he'd like to admit.

BAROU

has the worst case of high and mighty "holier-than-thou" attitude. isagi put his ego in check, but it still peeks out from time to time.

he was the ugliest baby when he was born. i am not going to hold back on the child barou slander because it is true. no, he was not a cute and lovable bundle of joy. he looked like a demonic gremlin.

he needs to take more risks in life and try cross-dressing. simply imagining him in a maid uniform will not suffice. it needs to be made into a reality.

with how nit-picky he is, i doubt people can realistically stay within a 1-meter radius around him. unless you are a clean freak yourself, his constant complaints will start to get annoying after a time. even if he does have good intentions, he needs to let people have a little breathing room sometimes. a messy room is not going to kill you.

BACHIRA

this boy's brain is smooth. no folds. no gray matter. no intelligence either. his pencil and eraser have been left untouched since day one. if he wasn't crazily good at football, he would be unemployed and homeless in the future. not even a mcdonald's wants him.

one of those people who will do the literal opposite of whatever you say. you want him to stop talking? well, now he's never going to shut up. you tell him not to step on a pile of dog shit? well, now he's going to walk right into it. you want him to quit running around and act normal? well, now it's his life's mission to make you as annoyed as possible. please pray for your hair follicles because at the end of the day, you're not going to have many left with how much he makes you want to tear your hair out.

has the cerebral capacity of a toddler. if he thinks monsters are real, he's going to think anything is real. super gullible when it comes to any form of scam, ploy, or trickery. the only way he would not be fooled is if he's also played the same prank before.

SHIDOU

a brazen pervert. says the most out-of-pocket things and refuses to apologize for them. sometimes it comes out a little too sleazy for your liking.

"to me a goal is fertilization! a shot is the seed and the goal is the egg!! and the birth of that joy i call an explosion!! my genes are gonna knock you up!" let us give ourselves a moment of silence to digest this quote. only shidou ryusei would come up with a sperm and egg metaphor to describe football. (i guess protection means nothing to him.)

has no empathy. if you dislike him or cannot keep up with him, you're a literal nobody in his books. no sportsmanship. no compassion. no self-awareness.

you cannot say "balls" to him in a serious tone without him misinterpreting it as something dirty. that alone should tell you enough. stay the hell away from him.

where do men get the audacity? right here. from this little bastard. he invented the term "shameless slut." boy was getting off during the u-20 arc and on live TV too. no wonder sae said he was disgusting.

and finally, he comes from a long line of cockroaches. he's even got the antennae to prove it.

i think this might have been a little excessive, but i have no regrets about it. you're welcome anon ♡

[romana-after-dark]

Dead Dove December

Hello everyone! This December I’m hosting an event for the Oscar Isaac and Pedro Pascal fandom that I’m calling, Dead Dove December! From 12/01/2023 - 12/31/2023 I’m encouraging others to create something that expresses their deepest and (most importantly) darkest desires. I will be reblogging all pieces of art or fanfiction, and will post a masterlist in January. 

Details below the cut…

What is Dead Dove Do Not Eat?

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, or DDDNE has its origins in one of my comfort shows!

The phrase comes from a meme referencing the 2003 Arrested Development episode "Top Banana", in which Michael Bluth opens a paper bag labeled "DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT" and, upon discovering that there is a dead dove inside the bag, says, deadpan, "I don't know what I expected." - fanlore.org

In short, what you see in the tags is what you should expect to see in the fic. This can apply for any type of fic, including the fluffy ones, but it’s usually associated with darker themes. That being said, this is your warning that this is a DARK THEMED EVENT. If you aren’t comfortable with darker topics like non-con, excessive violence, blood/gore, death, toxic relationships, 18+ age gaps, and more, then I encourage you not to participate in this event.

How to Participate

For the month of December, post your Dead Dove fanfiction or fan art on your blog. Use the tag #deaddovedecemeber2023 and tag me. You can also send a link via ask or DM if you like! I will not be posting anything for you, just reblogging and linking. At the end of December I will post a masterlist with links to everyone’s works! Side Note - Since Tumblr doesn’t really allow for NSFW art, you can post your work on Twitter or any other site that allows it and just send me that link so I can add it to the masterlist.

Rules

You MUST be 18+ to participate. I will be checking your blog/social media to be sure. Please make sure your age is easy to find. If I find that you’re a minor or if your age isn’t readily present I will be blocking you and you will be unable to participate. You can just add that you are over 18 if you don’t want your age out on the internet. As the creator and promotor of this event, I need to know I’m not interacting with minors given the nature of this event.

The work MUST be dark in some way. There’s no limit to how dark your work needs to be or can be, but it needs to contain some sort of dark theme in order to qualify. If non con isn’t your thing, dub con via stockholm syndrome or brainwash can let you write a more comfortable scene while still remaining dark. Fics and art do not necessarily need to be NSFW.

Do NOT post anything before 12/01/2023. I will not count submissions prior to that date or after 12/31/2023. Masterlsit will be posted in January.

Your work MUST contain the proper tags. I won’t police how detailed your tags should be, but, for instance, if your work contains non-con, and you didn’t tag non-con then your work will not qualify. Please be inclusive in your writing where you can.

You may submit no more than two (2) pieces. This can include a fanfic and fanart, two fanfics or two fanarts. This is to allow someone to write a piece and make a work of art to accompany it.

I’m not going to yuck someone’s yum, but there are some things I’m just personally not comfortable with and since I’ll be reading/viewing all of these, I have a few things not allowed in the event. The list of what’s NOT allowed is shorter than the list of what IS allowed so here’s a list of the things that will NOT be tolerated in this event:

No underage/aged up minor content - To clarify, this includes things popular ships like - TLOU 1 or Show Ellie x Joel or Miguel O’Hara X Gwen Stacy. No "ageing up" minors for the purpose of a fic.

No Bestiality - To clarify, monsterfucking does NOT count as bestiality (at least to me). For example, werewolves, venom, Khonshu, e.t.c. are all allowed.

No incest - To clarify, step-sibling/step-parent relationships are permitted as long as everyone is 18+. Selfcest relationships are also allowed (like Moon Knight or Miguel with his alternate self, e.t.c.).

If you’re unsure if something is allowed or not, you can send me a DM or an ask for clarification prior to posting.

You can use any prompts you want or none, you aren’t tied to any one idea but here are some to get the ideas flowing if you need them!

Also, you can absolutely use a fic to inspire your art, or art to inspire a fic! Your inspiration piece, whether yours or someone else’s does not have to be from December, but you MUST obtain permission from the original creator before I promote your work. Most creators are happy when their work inspires others, and all my fics are open to being used for inspiration, but please reach out to the creator first.

I’m very excited! I’ve never done anything like this before so things may be updated as I go so bear with me! Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Dividers and header made by the amazing @melodygatesauthor

Please consider reblogging to spread the word!

[the-s1lly-corner]

TADC cast x short and fluffy reader? (Maybe the reader has an extra fluffy tail)

TADC cast x short and fluffy!reader !

Ooo I wanna make brioche, but I also wanna make macarons... but I also wanna make scones... OOOOOO but I also wanna make butterscotch haystacks (having a crisis) (this is totally unrelated to the ask I just be yappin)

CAINE:

Now to be fair, you didnt specify how short you are so to Caine you're probably just normal sized/j .. absolutely loves your fluff, probably runs his hands through it every chance he gets, regardless of if its hair, feathers, or fur! Since you're on the smaller side he can pro comfortably hold you in his arms while flying around! Loves showing you how the grounds look from above, I think!

No thoughts only Caine taking you up to fly over the grounds while its nighttime and you see all the lights down below and everything looks so pretty!!

He wont drop you I promise

POMNI:

You're normal sized in her eyes/j

Keeps her hands to herself but if you offer to let her pet your tail! Good stress relief, I think! Pomni never really initiates it before you offer, though, since she doesnt really want to invade your personal bubble

Please communicate with her that it's fine and it's not something you mind!

RAGATHA:

Occasional pets! She kind of lies somewhere between pomni and jax in terms of how much shes going to pet you without any prompting! More so a head pats person than a tail.. stuff?? Trust me the "tail stuff" makes more sense when you read jax's part..! Doesnt make fun of you for your height, i just cant see ragatha doing that. I was originally gonna say she would make petnames for you based on it, but I'm not actually sure she would.. has probably made bows and stuff for your tail!

JAX:

(Bumping my fists on the table) jax fidget hc jax fidget hc !!!!! Messes with your tail when its within reach; usually just messing with the fur or lightly bapping it around and watching it instinctively move around in response! He would already tease you for being shorter than him... but if you're actually below the average height (or at least, the average within the digital world) then hes gonna lean really into it! Makes a show of getting something down for you, probably overstretches himself and gets on his tip tops to sell the point (he, of course, not needing to do any of thst thanks to his height)

KINGER:

The "how to talk to short people" meme but hes on the incorrect side by crouching down to your height/j he doesnt mean anything rude by it..! Sometimes likes to mess with your tail by petting the fur when you guys cuddle inside the pillow fort! Honestly I can see him with a fidgeting habit, too, like jax! But I think his is less intense and he has a little more restraint.. that said once you give him the go ahead hes gonna be constantly petting your tail if it's long enough

ZOOBLE:

(Watches your tail swish around) "oh... cool.."

Zooble doesn't exactly feel this way or that about your tail, however I will say you extra fluff makes cuddling with them more enjoyable since they look like they're made of hard plastic (Zooble I'm sorry I love you)

Probably lightly teases you for your height; not to the extent jax does it but they probably let out a flat "haah.. short.." when you briefly struggle with something non important

GANGLE:

Short person x person who can (physically and emotionally) be knocked down easily; you guys both have your own struggles/j

Would never ever in a million years make any mean comments on your height, and this includes teasing and nicknames; she doesn't have the heart to even lightly poke fun at you

Petting can be a little weird, since gangle doesnt exactly.. have hands.. I mean she does, but they're like the ends of ribbon; she doesnt have palms or fingers, nor can she put the most force behind her touches (at least that's my personal hc, she doesnt strike me as someone who's. Strong... or even proportionally strengthed? Idk shes ribbon)

Very silly she loves it when your tail starts swishing around when you see her!!

[gotafewtricks]

Thinking of a Dog!reader, they have dog ears and a tail, and they act exactly like the type of dog they are. Like a golden retriever is happy or how a Saint Bernard is lazy, you know? Just thought it'd be funny with genji having someone like that 😭

★ Bark bark (... literally)

I personally love these silly requests like this, because they have me think more creatively :3 I may not do it aboslute justice, but gosh... I love dogs <3

With you having these dog-like traits, Genji, in general, would note a mental comment on your appearance; but woukd not push not pressure you about it. You were still a person, and no matter how you had such cute ears and a fluffy tail, the ninja was in no place to judge. He would have some strange (yet, somewhat valid) questions about your anatomy—are you colourblind? Do you eat dog food? Can you bark?

No matter how you responded to him, he would be sitting with you; nodding his head affirmatively with each of your statements. Please tell Genji that he's merely being curious, and to also set boundaries with him, if a topic is too much for you. Making you uncomfortable was something he'd hate to ever hear. He would do his very best to help you accommodate towards things as well, if you do need the assistance.

Along with different dog breeds, I'd like to imagine he'd have the most fun with... maybe a Shiba Inu, Chihuahua, or a golden retriever?

The Shiba Inu is a rather iconic pick, plus, fitting for Genji—considering its place of origin. At first, judging by the looks of your animalistic features, he would try to guess what breed you were at first—then, ultimately settled on you being a Shiba, as he saw your personality unfurl. Plus, that curled up tail gave it all away. Your confident yet more reserved, cat-like demeanor amused the ninja; as he was then excited ro see what you'll do next.

With being friends together, Genji would like the refreshing change of pace that was brought by your attitude—loyal and compassionate, whilst still being individually independent. You'd often hang out with him whenever he is practicing his blade, considering that's what he often-time does in his free hours, anyways. You'd give him a pleasant surprise if you showed off your escape artist skills; able to somehow contort yourself around various, high-scalling nooks and crannies. Genji would joke that you were a better ninja than he was!

If the two of you were to ever be in a relationship, Genji would love to feel his hands around the softness of your ears; smiling to himself, seeing how lovable you were. Even though you had so much energy, he knew keeping up such a big personality to-boot had to be exhuasting; he'd note. Based off of memes, he'd go get you random items—like, y'know that one meme where it's a Shiba, and its wearing a piece of bread? He would have very loving pet (haha get the joke haha get it) names, such as Doge. He'd apologize for how terrible he was at these types of things.

For a Chihuahua, he'd have fun with that one. Stereotyped for their small frame but big temper, he would make jokes about your height; comparing you to different objects, and ask if you could even reach them. Genji would open doors for you, since he'd "worry" that you were too short. Everytime you were to snap back at him, you could tell that he'd roll his eyes—adding that reaction as more ammunition that he could use against you, so that he could tease you further in the future.

He understands to take you seriously, and just because you happen to have a canine appearance, he knew you were still a person at heart; even if you acted like a little shit sometimes towards him. Genji is pretty used to being either around the same height as others, or relatively shorter, so he'd like to think of that as a win for him. If you were to challenge him to a fight, he'll say that you with your ankle-biting tactics may be the formidable enemy against his blade.

He knows how exhausting it must be to have such an attitude like that, and to be so cute, so, if you're uncomfortable with his teasing, please do tell him! He wants to know if he is ever pushing boundaries, and would rather you tell him if he is, rather than for him to accidentally upset and hurt you any further, if he has. Genji knows when to lay off if needed, and he will have more creative jokes, rather than just teasing you about your stature or supposed high ego—as he knows that there is far, far more to you than that.

With a golden retriever, he'd be pretty pleasantly surprised! I feel like Genji's a dog person (self-projection), and he has a soft spot for retrievers and labs! With how contagious your smile and energy was, he couldn't help but love the change of pace that he was getting, since often times, he would talk to people who would only have a sour, pessimistic view. Of which he understood, as he once fell into that hole too. Jealous of how people could be so easily idealistic about the world, he would've shunned those feelings, and felt uncomfortable with sharing. With his newfound enlightenment, he understood that peoples' intentions were not to be idealistic—but to put a positive spin on a rather harsh, sinking reality.

It might take him a minute to try and keep up with your pace, but know that if he were to ever get overwhelmed, he will tell you! He found it interesting that your tail would be swishing back and forth constantly, worried at first that you were trying to communicate something—as dogs communicate with all kinds of gestures, and a wagging tail does not equate to a happy puppy. Once he realized that you were just affectionate and loving naturally, he really understood!

Genji was one to not deny someone of their creative expression, and that is also their love language! Wether that maybe platonic or romantic, he will not take it the "wrong" way, as he has difficulties at times with processing his emotions. Don't be affaid to be all excited; he enjoys seeing you happy, and those ears of yours perk up—too!

... also have this 😭

[samantha-and-nellie]

i finally read “the lilac tunnel: my journey with samantha” (shoutout to @cannon-memely for letting me know that i should actually take the time to check it out!) and i have Thoughts. full reactions from reading it under the cut

to preface this (since there is going to be a tiny bit of snark and general silliness), i did overall have a good time reading this book! i have some qualms with the storylines they chose to put in there, but i do think that the journey books are one of the smarter moves they made during the beforever era. i remember really loving the “you choose” history books as a kid, and i think the interactive component is appealing and generally a great way to keep children engaged. i could absolutely ramble on more about historical fiction for children, but let’s just jump into my (semi-chaotic) thoughts about “the lilac tunnel.”

first of all, FASCINATING that samantha apparently has a swing at grandmary’s house, since i’m pretty sure that it’s never mentioned in the original books. do we think it was lydia and gard’s, or do we think gard (or even hawkins) put it up for sam?

samantha’s got ORPHAN SYNDROME and she’s got it bad

okay. this is probably my main gripe with this book, but having this book set pre-nellie (and thereby having on option to essentially be nellie but under grandmary’s employment???) is bizarre af

on the flip side, the fact that nellie isn’t around really highlights how lonely samantha is, and i think we all know that I’m SOOOO normal when it comes to themes of grief and loneliness in samantha’s stories

WHY TF DOES EDDIE HAVE SUCH A LARGE ROLE IN THIS STORY. DEAR GOD PUT HIM BACK WHERE HE CAME FROM

elsa??? having a prominent role in a samantha story??? what sorcery is this???

yeah, super duper excited to have it reinforced that samantha is ready to accuse servants of stealing so long as they aren’t the servants that she likes

i think we’ve all had nightmares in which eddie ryland appears

samantha having an understanding of the fact that she’s transgressing by being friendly with a servant girl when this book is set prior to her relationship with nellie makes me wonder how much child workers she has tried to befriend /hj

saint louis fair mention for the movie girlies:)

i wonder if the description of grandmary’s outfit on page 30 is meant to be a reference to this dan andreason illustration of her?

the magic lantern show is really cute:) (might be thinking about writing fanfic of this but with nellie…)

samantha being shorter than the protagonist of this story after being the tall one with nellie is honestly pretty funny. smol bean samantha

awwwww gard and cornelia

HEY HEY HEY 

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

BEFOREVER I’M ABOUT TO THROW HANDS

anyways, apparently we need to re-traumatize samantha with near-drownings at every chance we get:) this is not messed up at all:)

guess we better pretend like that never freaking happened

… okay the locket origin story is pretty cute

this book has such insane emotional whiplash. what do you MEAN one piney point storyline is about nearly drowning and the other is about a moonlight swim with cornelia?!?

someone should really draw fanart of samantha wearing the protagonist’s capris (big bow and all)

tbh, kinda confused by the bike plot line in this story, cause didn’t they incorporate the bicycle short story into the main beforever books?

new career path dropped for samantha, folks! (medical field)

mmm the fear about illness is getting a little too relatable here

i love how much dress up there is in this book:) literally would’ve rocked my world as a child

not the ENTIRE RYLAND CLAN coming over for dinner. a formal dinner with eddie actually sounds so horrific

… guess that’s the note we’re ending on for me. thanks for reading my rambles, and feel free to let me know if there’s other journey books i should check out in the future!

[onebraincell-itmiebcraft]

Okay time for the liveblogging of real life in order (liveblogging life SMP call that lifeblogging) I have never done this b4 be easy on me

Grian

I've already watched his perspective at like 5 in the morning but heyyyyy nothing wrong with rewatching with added non sleep deprived commentary but also not really memories of what I originally thought watching this too :^))

I remember being so stunned they called it real life and the anatomically correct heart 🫀tickled my funny bone heeheehoo hahaha

Thought when grian said replay 3rd life I thought they'd reenact it 😭

We live in a society taxes man (I could ramble about it)

GRIAN IRL FACE!!!

has anyone fell over btw?

No lie that B can BIG

Reminds me of slimecicle jshitt and traves VR Minecraft where Travis got progressively shorter what a laugh

Does Scott ever see his scream

Is it take the Mick or take the nick love that idiom

RENDOG!

Scar looks like a child doing that thing

Awww hug

ABUSE

scar take the headset off dzuh 🫀🫀🫀

Grian literally me balance issues

Yugioh????

I called it, scar would say he's American 😎

I'm eating dinner while watching this at the same time what fun w

Giran called solidaritygaming jimmy no way + he died first fr this time + loud "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Perfectly timed his mic peaking is iconic

Ha haa!

He ear him bread

Really putting the mine in craft for Minecraft

reminds me of secret life EP 4 and scar is sweaty

*scar noises*

How did scar drop his phone???

Check your wrist? More like check your a- (tom cardy référence)

I love the way VR makes you hit stuff goofy

Can you run in game if you irl

(watch him die)

Haha he died

Why Jim is he sabotaging him

Jim Jim Jim gym gym

Doesn't Jim die here oh LMFAO he does

Jimmy you are famous to me

(scout voice) Chicken

How did scar die???

I love how vr makes them expressive Jim pointing to village house is so funny

There's only one bed

Wtf is happening in top right corner in 9min 30 sec

Ayyyyy there's grian the maniac love the casual position of the arms

Last life you can join me moment

Egg

Grian gaslighting

Jimmy you wanna dance quote of the year

PvP is so silly

Skizz is fighting a losing battle Jim killed him icon

I love how grian and Jim's yells overlap there's probably something music theory there idk

Awww scar he's so funny

Go pick him up from daycare haha

Facing away from the camera we live in a society

OHHHHH impulse big smart man Jimmy's arm movements are so smooth it's solly

Jimmy immediately leaving for fish cocomelon brain I agree

Love the arm movements

Lol they actually like down

It's okay grian scuffed is worth celebrating

Has anyone layed on their side

Friend just texted me about my monologue what am I doing man I have an audition tomorrow

Anyway Minecraft vr

The lying down model inventory so goofy

Rewatching the bread scene no wonder tumblr loves it looks like Jim jam actually has a mouth 👄

Impulsesv guess the build sheep flashbacks

Best sleepover

Polyamorous tony (died)

Sleepover reminds me of crazy Christmas w/gem and pearl

Grown men learn how to close doors

Minecraft fatshaming grian smh my head

Man thought it was more than Joel there + o2 max(xing) scar love it (i use maxxing ironically) (it's such a stupid suffix to me linguistically funny) (I hate incels) (don't cancel me tumblr) (I love all genders)

Two steps: die, and die

Jimmy isn't on fire??

Casual "it burns so much!" Love it

Wait right Jim still has a wooden sword

Joel Joel Joel Joel you know that one part in waiting for Godot where they just go back and forth in saying aideu yeah

So silly

Jim saying get in British people man

"noffing" - joel is it a British thing

Love Joel screaming he's so malding

Just remembered how scary heights are in VR because I thought for a second "why don't they jump down? are they stupid?" (Meme Reference) (Didn't actually think that) ("Stupid" is kinda stupid but I digress)

Hole

Boob stroke

Does scar enjoy the swimming

Why *does* swimming cause motion sickness anyway

Why bucket scar (this is a bucket)

Brain eating amoeba

GOON SQUAD!!!

Love Grian's arm movements I really did thonk Jim was gonna win for the funnies

He says come here weirdly

The joy of killing

Is Jim punching

It's okay hiking simulation

Go Jim go what a gamer boy

I remember the triple dog door dugout is like... Gem's? Joel's? Uhhhh I fotgor

Concussion era

Fresh meat

I just love their dynamics

JIM STOP SOUNDING LIKE THAT it's like his eyes are 🥺 and his mouth is boowomp spongebob like he's got tears in eyes scrimblo sounding ass

Ohhh there's my favourite theatre kids

'orrible

Joel saying boys make me happy

Wait that can misinterpreted

Joel saying "boys" sounds pleasant to my ears

I remember watching this part and going GRIAN FIRST OUT HUH???

awww the funnies

Love the way gem says "we're the last Grians. Grians? Greens!" It's like... Spunky

Grian falling reminds me of my scuffed keyboard when it registers a button press as a hold and then I like never stop walking right *sigh*

The downward spiral by nine inch nials

Ascending is TRUE watcher lore

Oh the music is so cute

Bye scar! Bye Joel!

Okay never let me liveblog cook again i kinda listened to the vid instead of watching reading this does not make sense to anyone but me reference hell half formulated thoughts RIP BOZO HAHA

Maybe I'll like do it in 5 mins chunks for JJJJJJoel and the next ones onward I spent like an hour on this wayyyyy too long for incomplete sentences

End

[maroonangels]

~ my heartbreak high season 2 opinions ~

tdlr; these are MY opinions and I am in no way saying I’m 100% right about things or that having a different opinion is wrong - also they’re kinda all over the place sry

// season 2 spoilers below obvi //

I lowkey liked sashas character this season 😭 I know I KNOW okay she was annoying with that missy thing & some other stuff but other than that she was kinda just a walking meme and the scenes with her & quinni at the end were sooo cute imo

as much as I love malakai/amerie - amerie needs to work on herself like.. a lot

also malakai get your ass BACK on that plane and come home thx <3

Idk what was going on with darren when it comes to them & quinni this season but all that aside I did really like darren this season

as much as I wish they looked more into quinni’s arc I think her being so independent and unmasking goes along with the shorter scenes she got (also she was fighting with her friends and it’s ameries pov so like yeah makes sense)

I really wish we got more cash & harper scenes since they’re living together now

cash’s name origin has me crying my eyes out

spider & missy unironically one of my favorite ships of the show

however that shit with spiders mom- good fucking god I would also be a total dick if my mother told me I was destined to be a monster

wish we got more missy lore tbh

also wish we got more ant lore but I loved him & harper together, they were sweet okayyy

loved & hated the love triangle

loved rowan & malakai at first but then amerie got involved and I just.. idk I liked some of her and rowan’s scenes together (yk before ep8) but it felt shitty of her to get with rowan

then again amerie annoyed me a lot this season so I might be biased

the way she’s so self absorbed just like in s1 is actually a bit painful, like did you learn nothing??

HOWEVER the abortion storyline did make me cry and her & malakai & harper need more scenes together immediately because good god were they tugging on my heart strings

stealing all of harper’s wardrobe btw

woodsy teaching harper to drive?? mother is mothering

finale was fucking wild but i honestly loved it

voss getting arrested was the BEST decision the writers made with his character

the new editing styles they used??? to die for. I love when shows do that type of stuff

this season honestly felt a lot more interesting than s1, obvi love s1 but s2 just has so much more fun & fluid stuff imo

they set up so many plot lines for s3 I NEED them to renew it right now

[likesdoodling]

It has been a while since I started digital art,

Quite a while.

So here is a 'progress over the last two years' since I gained access to a drawing tablet.

:D

This is my first ever digitally illustrated piece- compared to my latest one-

So, a little bit different.

I do think my art took quite a jump around June 2022, when I took a break from my Steve comic strip, (for obvious reasons- it was about Technoblade's polar bear so...) and decided to try practicing gesture drawing to see if it helped my general anatomy knowledge. This is before,

And this next one is after.

The most obvious change here is that I switched to using thinner lines. There is a gap of about two months between these.

This was when I realised that you could improve art by practicing it (mind-blowing I know), and then started to do just that. Some other notable jumps forward would be when I discovered the airbrush-

Well, discovered a new method of shading with it anyway.

Then after that I had a few pictures that I actually still like, despite them being pretty old at this point, the one below is actually from September of 2022-

I mean, the hands are a bit iffy, but the rest looks alright. This was when I was going through a bit of a melanie martinez phase-

This next one was from January of 2023, I'd only just gotten into bungou stray dogs via some random memes on pinterest about this weird brown haired guy who had lots of bandages and who had this running gag with wanting to die- I actually looked him up at one point, but that didn't really explain much. The main one that I remember was 'life is short, so make it shorter, shorter than chuuya~'

Which at the time was just kind of confusing,

Then I watched the show and it made perfect sense.

I'd discovered ascendance of a bookworm in like, 2021, but I hadn't really been doing fanart of it since I was mainly doing dsmp related stuff and I kind of assumed nobody would know what on earth I was referencing. Turns out tumblr has a lot more bookworm fans than I orignally anticipated. Instagram still has no clue. I think maybe one person out of my followers on instagram knows what I'm on about-

Then we've got these two which I am still proud of btw-

The first one is from a dystopian/time travel fanfic called viridian.

The second one was after I learned about rim lighting. It was inspired by a song actually, 'crash' by noevaii. (and yes I found that song from a sad-ist animatic, it was cool) The character isn't anyone in particular. They're both from February 2023.

Then there's probably my most liked picture on instagram, (not tumblr, since tumblr knows about bsd and bookworm, but y'know. This was even sadder than I originally intended since the last half of my comic strip was finished AFTER everything happened)

Then the final conclusion of my Steve comic strip in May of 2023.

I don't think my art really changed much in between those, but eh.

Then I switched to doing a bunch of ascendance of a bookworm stuff to see what would happen and turns out there are way more fellow fans out there than I anticipated-

Then I guess my next breakthrough in tumblr popularity, (even if it might not have been a breakthrough in art skills necessarily) was when things went DOWN in the bsd fandom with chapter 109 and I did probably one of my most liked tumblr posts I have ever done-

If you want to see the rest of that, feel free to scroll down on my tumblr page, the original's like eight pages long-

This was before anyone knew what was going to happen btw.

I still think it's hilarious that I put in chuuya having contacts. My reasoning being, they're on a film set,

It was a pretty interesting exercise in shading in monochrome.

Then I started a 30 day art challenge in October that I didn't get past day six of, but it was still pretty fun. This is the best one of those-

After that I spent most of my time studying for the jlpt n5, so I didn't really do that much art related stuff,

This is one of the two non-commission related pictures that I finished over the two months after I kind of gave up on the art challenge. This one's from November,

Then I finally finished an art commission I'd been working on for the three months prior, as well as studying. Here is an example of the type of pictures I was doing for that,

Then I was occupied with christmas and birthday presents for my siblings, both my little sisters are into ascendance of a bookworm- (completely my fault I am proud to say) so I was able to do stuff related to that, here's a couple of snippets, but you guys don't get the colour version hehe

And one of them has also read the entire fma manga just like I have so-

Anyway, it's been quite a progression since I resolved to master digital art in 2021.

I reckon I've come a fair way since then. I mean. My art skills in general are way better than they used to be. The last two or three years have been pretty interesting.

Also-

Just had to include this one, I'm gonna do a more detailed version but still-

I think it's funny so I'm posting it here. Even if it's not really related to art progression-

[3416]

thank you for sharing the positives to being a leafs fan because it gets exhausting watching the entirety of the hockey world stomp over a team that is dealt with the shorter end of the stick. your content makes me still hold onto faith for a team that isn’t loved.

my question is: do you believe that the leafs hate he justified as much especially in comparison to other teams in the league?

the thing about the leafs is that they have one of the biggest and widest reaching fanbases in the sport (if you go to any games on the road, you'll immediately know what i'm talking about... every arenas like half full of em), but it feels sort of like a love them or hate them in the nhl itself bc of the amount of rivalries and history. that's not even taking into account their surface meme-ability in modern day for being unable to get deep into the playoffs. at least we no longer have to hear a deluge of first round jokes tbh.

i honestly don't think anyone holds as much contempt for the leafs as much as a certain section of their own fanbase so i've never viewed it as a leafs vs everyone else thing, though it definitely is that too lol. i ALSO hate a portion of this fanbase more than i hate any other team or its fans tbh bc of the way they talk about their own damn players. might as well cease to call yourself a fan at a certain point imo regardless of the fact that you grew up with the team or whatever. i don't actually think the leafs are like. targeted or everyone hates them the most (all original 6 teams take a fair bit of heat tbh), but their fans online are the reason a lot of like goofy polls and stuff always read as the leafs being the most annoying/biased/delusional group. it's hard to disagree in some ways. i guess i don't put myself in a position to see a lot of leafs hate in general? i don't follow people who hate them or interact with people who hate them beyond finding ppl in this fanbase who have such nasty things to say, lol, so that colors my perception but. for as much hate as you might see, the leafs are definitely one of if not the most loved team too. center of the hockey world, it's true it's true. you gotta take the hate with the love, but i also think a big part of hockey/sport culture is just chirping and insults in general so fkljdsl. being able to parse what's actual hate and just jokes is also important.

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

Something I really appreciate about your writing is that you make the kids feel like actual teenagers. I have to ask, how do you get the characterization down when your writing? It's something I struggle to do, even when I go back to the original source.

Going back to the original source is a good start. Characterization goes deeper than simply ‘this character is nice’ or ‘this character is funny.’ Let’s look at Izuku for example. He’s kind and smart, but so are several other students. Something specific to him is that he doesn’t have much of a sense of humor; he doesn’t tell any jokes and rarely laughs at those made by others. Compare this to someone like Uraraka, who occasionally makes teasing comments about her friends, versus Sero or Mina who make jokes at the expense of their classmates pretty often. Back to Izuku, this fact about him contributes to a general sense of his social awkwardness, which my writing interprets in a few additional ways. I feel like his lack of humor and awkwardness would extend to trouble with nicknames, giving or receiving, further evidenced by his struggling in canon to call Tsuyu by the nicknames she wants to be called by. Kacchan on the other hand is out of habit, which combined with his issues visualizing One for All as a part of himself early on indicates he has a hard time breaking habits once he’s set on them. Even the fact that it took him so long to realize that he could adopt a kicking fight style is more evidence of this. And then a reoccurring feature in my fics is that Izuku isn’t a touchy-freely person. There’s not much evidence in canon for this, except that despite him and his Mom being close, they don’t touch often. This might not actually be the case, but that’s part of where my idea came from, and it fits back into that awkwardness. Little things like that can say a lot about a character and how they approach different situations.

As for writing teenagers in general, a common mistake i see in both fic and original content is the assumption that all you need to write believable teenagers is to throw in a bunch of modern slang and references. Think Riverdale, bad crack fics, and 90s anti-drug PSAs. Not only is this often handled poorly (incorrect slang use or misjudged references) it also quickly dates the writing. Memes can take years to reach big names in the entertainment industry, and then it takes another few years for a movie featuring those memes to come out. By then, the meme is dead and cringe. In this day and age, memes can have a much shorter shelf life, living and dying within a week. Even if you release an fic chapter during the peak of a meme’s life cycle, it’s only going to be funny to the people who read it then and there; everyone who jumps on the fic later will just cringe. And there’s no way to tell which ones with have the staying power of something like a rickroll or a classic vine.

The solution: don’t do this. Avoid overusing slang and meme speak, and instead implement more general/timeless dialogue. Slang like ‘dude’ has been in the lexicon long enough that it feels normal, and while ‘mood’ and ‘vibe’ are fairly new, they aren’t as obtrusive as ‘bae’ which is falling out of style, or ‘boomer’ which references a specific group of people. Basically, the more general and common, the better. And keep the time period of your story in mind; MHA for example takes place at least a century in the future, why would the kids of that era still be complaining about boomers? Teenagers still act immaturely sometimes and make jokes, but try and find the humor in the specific situation of the story rather than quoting something else. Teens are also more openly casual than adults. Teasing, touching, maybe saying something rude or inappropriate. One simple way to convey casual speech is to use more contractions; i.e. ‘can’t’ instead of ‘cannot’ or ‘we’re gonna’ instead of ‘we are going to.’ This is my advice for all dialogue: read it to yourself outloud and ask if it sounds like something a real person would actually say. Exaggeration is also good. ‘My life is over!’ when their crush doesn’t like them back, or a big group groan at a pop quiz.

As for the internal experience of being a teenager, the thing i remember most about being that age in the tension between suddenly being expected to be ready for things and take care of myself when i didn’t feel ready, but still being treated like a dumb child in other ways i thought i was ready for. You start understanding more things when you get older and want people to take you seriously as a result, but you’re also insecure about the things you don’t understand and maybe overcompensate. In short, being a teenager comes with a lot of confusing, frustrating changes, some of which are absolutely unfair, but there are a few you genuinely bring upon yourself.

Hope this helps you get started. If not, or you have other questions, the ask box is always open.

[romancomicsblog]

Who should play Omni-Man in a live action Invincible?

Whether you are an avid watcher of Invincible or not, at this point you probably know the character of Omni-Man through the zeitgeist, merchandise, or memes.

Since JK Simmons interpretation of the character, Omni-Man has sky rocketed into popularity. The incredible villain was a major part of Invincible's success, giving us a very violent, angry and conflicted performance from Simmons.

Given there will be a live action film, currently in the works from Allen the Alien actor Seth Rogen, I thought I'd throw some names in the mix who I think could be potentially great Omni-Men.

Warning: This will contain spoilers from Seasons 1 & 2 of Invincible so be warned!

Who can't be Omni-Man?

Before we get started into who could, I am gonna limit myself a bit. Let's start with the obvious, JK Simmons is too old. He's fantastic, and I love his version, but he can't be Nolan. Might I suggest Conquest, Art, or best of all, Cecil?

I also have no intention of picking actors who have played Superman. So Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, etc, no dice.

Also in general, I'm gonna try to avoid actors who already have an iconic performance as a superhero character. So actors like Hugh Jackman, Ben Affleck and others won't be on this list either.

And finally, I've seen the fancasts of both Jon Hamm and Nick Offerman. Frankly I like both. But I think we can do better.

What are Nolan Grayson's Physical Characteristics?

Omni-Man needs to feel like the most dangerous man in the room AND the world's greatest hero. It's a very delicate balance to pull.

I'd prefer someone over 6 ft tall, with a background in both heroic and menacing roles.

Nolan is a viltrumite, meaning he could be any race or ethnicity.

If he can rock a mustache, even better.

I'm looking for an actor in their late 30s to early 50s. We have a little room to work with as his age is slower, but someone in their 40s is most preferable.

Let's get into it.

3. Colin Farrell

Starting off our list is the original Bullseye himself Colin Farrell. Though he is a little bit shorter than I would like at 5'10, Farrell brings experience, skill and likeability to Nolan, which is very necessary if we want to portray him as a good guy.

What really sold me on him is actually Saving Mr Banks, where he plays a sympathetic, problematic father who truly loves his children. That sympathy can go a long way for Omni-Man.

Where he doesn't sell me is the ruthlessness of Nolan, nor does he feel like he can be a very threatening villain. He did play a fun one, namely the Penguin in The Batman.

Really my main concern is The Penguin, as he is returning for his show and likely The Batman Part II. I'd prefer someone not as known for wearing the costume of such an iconic character.

2. Joel Edgerton

I feel like everyone forgets about good ol reliable Joel Edgerton.

If we want a villain with brutality, Edgerton can bring it. He can rock a mustache, he's played multiple convincing villains and could really make the role his own. He's held his own against power houses like DiCaprio and Maguire in Gatsby.

He's even played a few good guys, namely Uncle Owen in Obi-Won Kenobi.

The great thing about Edgerton is he falls so deep in the role, people forget it's him. It may be good to have an actor smaller than the role he's playing, but with a skill to match Simmons.

My main concern is very simple, he's 5'10". I'm sure we can make him seem bigger, but other than, he seems evil, untrustworthy. He often plays characters who are darker or troubled. Can he play 100% heroic? Or atleast faking heroic?

I think he'd do a fantastic job, but there's one more guy I'm itching to see put on the red and white.

1. Joel Kinnaman

Takeshi Kovacs. Rick Flag. Alex Murphy.

Joel Kinnaman is one of my favorite actors working today.

I think Kinnaman has both the intensity and heroic nature to be a perfect Nolan. At 44, he is in the perfect age range we want. He is 6'2", and while I admit he is leaner than I would like, bulking up to play Nolan I think is very possible.

He's got a great voice, can rock a mustache, play a convincing father, and has never truly donned a cape. He'd make a fantastic villain in a movie, and an even better hero once he joins the Coalition of Planets.

I think he'd add a different enough performance while being able to stand up to a great actor like Simmons. Joel Kinnaman is my ideal Omni-Man.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider following, and check out my socials and other sites here! And let me know: Who do you want to see play Omni-Man in a live action Invincible?

[crownmemes]

I've been running this blog for a year now, with 400+ memes posted, so I thought I'd just share my meme making process for anyone that may be interested!

I watch a lot of media. My current job works with television, so it pays to familiarise myself with as much content as possible. Plus, I'm a sucker for detective shows, especially older ones. So, I watch a lot of media, and while I watch, I note down any interesting sentences that I think could work well as a rp meme. Everything goes into a google sheets tracker I made.

My requirements for taking lines from sources are that they must be lines I can imagine starting and interesting thread, and they mustn't be overly genetic (e.g. "Hi, how are you?"). Generic is fine as long as it provides some kind of direction still (e.g. "This isn't a game" could be an argument, a warning, concern, etc). Sometimes I'll also tweak lines to work better for rp - e.g. "He's going to need to rest for a few days" -> "You're going to need to rest for a few days."

Once I've got a lot of lines, I go through them all again to double check for ones that don't work, then I move them to my theme tracker.

I tick boxes for what themes the lines can work for. For less common themes (e.g. aliens), I have a section at the end of the tracker where I can manually add extra themes, then a count of them on another page.

Every few months, I go through and make memes out of anything with ~30+ lines. I aim to keep them all ~30 in length, ideally no shorter than 25, no longer than ~40. The only exception is the Questioning memes, which are made from any lines that are question, thus fill up quickly. I go up to 50 for those.

I then use a formula to add speech marks to the lines I'm using, throw them into a list randomiser, and then separate them out into multiple memes if needed. Back in my tracker, I change their ticks to grey so they aren't included in the active count anymore, but I can still find them if I need to see what I've used in the past.

Shows with 25+ lines get their own meme too, and if it needs to be split into multiple memes, they also get a Condensed version at the end. This is where I've pulled out the best/most relevant lines for the show into one, shorter meme.

If they don't have 25+ lines, they get ticked as Assorted, and they go to an Assorted Media meme.

Originals are ticked as Original. I only add them to the theme tracker if they can be used for other themes too.

As of writing this, there are 6.4k lines in my tracker, and 185 waiting to be added.

It isn't a short process, but it's not the worse either. I spend about two evenings every other month caterogrising lines and creating memes. This usually results in 40-60 posts for the queue.

Things I wish I'd done differently:

Adding more robust tracking for smaller themes (currently I don't have a way of tracking which I've historically used once their meme is made)

Things I would like to do, but would take too much effort for the amount they'd be used:

A fliterable list of every show/film with a specific meme

A meme randomiser where you can tick which themes/genres you want memes from, and then it shows you a random one

A meme randomiser where it has all my theme tracking data, and then makes you a unique meme. E.g. you ask for an angry meme, so it randomly gives you 30 lines from the 700+ angry ones I have in my tracker

If you read all this, I hope it was interesting! 😅

[waugh-bao]

for the ask meme, top 5 photos of keith and charlie! 🥹

also! while you’re at it, top 5 keith songs (can be both the stones or his solo works)

This isn’t intentional, but every photo I ended up picking of them is from the last 30 or so years of the band.

In no particular order:

Also a bonus shout out to the best Keith and Charlie photo where Charlie technically isn’t in the picture:

For the top 5 Keith songs, also in no particular order:

Hate It When You Leave (Main Offender, 1992)

Most of Keith’s solo songs are either about getting screwed over by a woman (and deserving it) or missing somebody in a long term relationship. This is one of my favorite songs of that second genre, I admit partly because it reminds me of a very particular part of my life, but also just the lyrics, the beat, and his voice play beautifully together. It’s an aberration for me in that most of the Winos songs I enjoy are the ones where Charley Drayton is on drums, because he has a lighter touch that suits Keith better.

Alteration Boogie (Unreleased Voodoo Lounge Outtake, 1993)

Voodoo Lounge is a great album that also has a lot of outtakes from the studio sessions floating around online (there were 75 demos from the whole process which was an unusually large amount for them), but this is probably my favorite Keith solo piece. It’s a song about and sung to Charlie (who joins in on drums halfway through) and it’s the most unhinged thing you’ve ever heard. Keith composed an entire 5 minute song about Charlie’s personal, how his trousers hang, and his ass, among other topics, seemingly on the fly. It’s a really interesting insight into whatever is going on in his head.

How Can I Stop (Bridges to Babylon, 1998)

I think most of Keith’s best ‘solo’ music really comes from him doing his own thing as a vocalist within the Stones. Especially because he has a tendency to strip things down and do almost everything with just himself and Charlie, plus occasionally one or two other people (Stu, Pierre, etc). It’s an emotionally devastating song (“You look at me, but I don’t know what you see/A reflection, baby, of what I want to be/I see your face and I want to roll with it…”) and the music itself more than matches the lyrics for quality. Wayne Shorter guested on the song and the last minute, which is just Charlie and Wayne going back and forth on sax and cymbals, with a little piano backing, genuinely gives me chills. It also shows how Keith’s generosity as a musician and his love of Charlie works in his favor, because that duet between them makes the song.

Love Hurts (Tribute to Graham Parsons, 2004)

It’s a cover, not a song Keith wrote himself, but I think it really suits his style/content as a solo artist and he makes it really work with his voice here. Norah Jones also works fabulously as co-vocalist, I think he actually tends to harmonize better with women (Sarah Dash, Norah, Sheryl Crow, Lisa Fischer, etc) live than with Mick.

Losin’ My Touch (Forty Licks, 2002)

I’m a sucker for all of Keith’s ‘sad old man at the end of a long term relationship’ songs, like “This Place Is Empty”, but this song (which was one of two originals added to a 40th anniversary greatest hits album) is really lovely. It’s a very classic Keith only on vocals/no back-up, drums, piano, and a bit of guitar, and I think that’s often how he sounds best.

I wouldn’t put it in my top 5 solely because of how horribly the production of the song was mangled by Andrew Watt, but Keith’s one solo song off of Hackney Diamonds, “Tell Me Straight” has absolutely gorgeous, devastating lyrics. It’s almost certainly his Charlie song, and both more beautiful and sadder when you consider the writing in that light.

[not-poignant]

1, 2 & 39 for the ask list please! (thanks)

Which of your fics would you keep the basic plot of but rewrite completely?

Hmm. I don't really think this way, honestly, and I don't think I would rewrite any of them.

They're all fics I enjoy rereading, and I enjoy not having to think about rewrites. The closest I'm coming is Game Theory which isn't being rewritten, just going through more tweaks than I'd generally give a work of mine.

I'm not the kind of writer that sits there and think 'oh wow I'd do it SO differently now' re: older works. Unless they're like so old no one here has read them.

There's nothing I'd rewrite completely. But I would split most of my earlier stories into shorter chapters, because a lot of the longer chapters came about as a result of me being ashamed of my overall story word length, and some chapters feel very cluttered as a result. But that's formatting, not rewriting.

2. Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to?

Oh yeah, Mallory & Mount, lol. That's why I haven't started it yet.

Still building the world and still kind of thinking of the skills I need. Also very, very aware that the last time I split off with two new characters in an original story it didn't do well (The Ice Plague) which has spooked me and makes me doubt my skills whenever it comes to writing anything new. :/

39. Wildest AU scenario you have written?

Oh, the wildest alternative universe. Honestly, probably the Underline the Rainbow universe. Turning fae tales into inceptioned omegaverse where some of the roles are reversed (Gwyn as a villain, Augus as a mild mannered person, Efnisien as the hero) is pretty wild!

It doesn't feel like it, but if you were tell a complete stranger about the journey from Game Theory to Underline the Black it looks pretty unhinged.

Strange Sights is close too.

~

From this meme!

[theg-unit]

So I’m chronically obsessed with COD MW now. Here’s some head cannons and plot bunnies ya filthy animals. (Also I’m combining the originals with the new plots somewhat so get over that quickly)

-soap, gaz and roach are the younger of the 141. They exploit this youngest sibling favouritism by getting away with being chaotic shit disturbers.

-ghost is not as old as everyone originally thought. Like he’s older then the youngest three but by less then 7 years.

-alternatively ghost is the youngest by like 6 months or something. This makes his life even more tragic somehow

-ghost is a total cryptid. And sure the weird stealth scary vibes sure. But also a meme cryptid. Like he’s always in the weirdest places doing the most random chaotic shit. And it’s always to quietly fuck with everyone else.

-once gaz called lazwell mum. Roach has accidentally called price dad (and mum)

-soap got his nickname because he was trying to come up with improvised explosive devices and learned (very loudly) that soap can explode in a microwave. There was no microwave for 8 months. He hasn’t been allowed near another one

-Though soap is technically demolitions and had an accident with the microwave ghost is the one who is a total pyromaniac. The man sets everything he can on fire. Turns out he knows how to make anything light up.

-now for some sad head cannons

-Price definitely had a son who died in combat. He took up 141 to deal with the grief. 

-Lasswell and her wife have definitely almost gotten divorced before. They owe a great deal to their marriage counsellor.

- Gaz is definitely the middle child of way too many siblings.  The house is way too full and he joined the forces to get out. (And maybe be recognised instead of neglected)

- soap was a ginger growing up. (Jk)

- Soap keeps his hair is short as possible even if it’s in that ugly ass mohawk because of a really bad hazing accident when he first joined Bootcamp. he never told anyone about what happened though he suspects price knows.

-it’s hard to make ghost story sadder than it actually is so we’ll go with some made up stuff closer to “cannon”

-their first Halloween together, the 141 decided to prank ghost by putting a skeleton in bed with him. He flipped the fuck out and didn’t talk to anyone for a month, price made them scrub the showers with toothbrushes.  he also has a massive fear of bugs, especially maggots.

-back to funny things-

-after falling out of the helicopter gaz took circus lessons in silks, so that if it happened again, he could climb his way up 

-ghosts mask gets regularly replaced with a pink glitter. Hello Kitty version he doesn’t know who’s doing it, but he will find them. (It’s price. )

-soap, and ghost have slapping fights regularly.

-Ghost likes to lay tripwires in inconvenient spots, especially for visiting brass. He also was once spotted on the roof of the building opposite the mess hole, angling mirrors specifically to hit price in the face with the sun after a night out.

- soap can lift almost twice his body weight, and he is almost over a foot shorter than Ghost

-ghost is huge. Like genuinely massive. He is almost 6 foot seven, and had an almost constant bruise on his forehead when he first reached the height. He has to duck through all the doorways on base and turn so he doesn’t smack his shoulders. Despite all this, he is scarily, graceful and quiet. It’s like turning around and seeing a tree has suddenly grown behind you. except the tree is strapped.

-that one video from Pirates of the Caribbean where Elizabeth pulls all the weapons out of absolutely nowhere is ghost when he’s told to disarm. No matter how big he is one person should not be able to hide that many weapons on them.

This turned into more of a Ghost  head canon post, but that’s okay. I am genuinely so obsessed I might actually regularly post this time.

Adios.