#i’m probably going have to do black for the versatility

[icelogged]

breakfast and the decision to be angel or a demon

[gremoria411]

A question I've been half-pondering since you posted some of your thoughts of G-Witch -- are there any series that you think do particularly neat things with design lineages (either aesthetically or otherwise)?

Obviously in G-Witch, you've got this lovely variety in mobile suit design, with each corporation having a different, easily-identifiable style. But there's also things like how both styles of 'suit in Gundam Wing (Gundams and Leos et al) trace back to Tallgeese, so you have a 'progenitor' mecha running around.

Oooh, that is a fun one. Off the top of my head I can think of around two series that do really interesting things with Mobile Suit Design Lineages, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans and Mobile Suit Gundam 00, but Gundam Wing, Witch From Mercury, SEED and the Universal Century in General all have examples worth discussing.

Note: I hit the character limit here, so this post’ll just be part one, and contains my thoughts on 3/4 of the main units in 00. I’ll talk about the fourth and other series in a subsequent post.

Admittedly, most of these are the titular Gundam’s design lineage, but there’s enough grunts that are worth discussing too.

First of all, Gundam 00

I’ll fully admit the above graphic is overkill for what I’m going to actually be discussing, but I think the design lineages of the four main Gundam’s is very very good, because each unit is clearly delineated into a speciality. (I’m gonna define them by their Third Generation Entry, since that’s the ones in the first season of the show).

Exia - Blue, with a focus on close quarters combat (I.E. Swords, to the point its original developmental code was “Seven Swords”).

Dynames - Green, with a focus on long range and sniping.

Kyrios - Orange, a transforming mobile suit that has high mobility.

Virtue - Black and White (sometimes with purple), Initially seems to be the Heavy Weapon Gundam, then later you realise it’s just full of absolute bullshit. It’s great I love it.

The second season, movie and side manga all add to this development line, so you can see how each concept develops over time. It also provides alternate equipment options for the main units, variants on a theme if you will. (I’m going to ramble a lot here, so I’ll identify which unit I’m talking about in bold).

Exia, for example, is the melee Gundam, one of two Gundam’s designed to primarily deal with any traitors to Celestial Being (I should do an analysis post on 00 sometime……, anyway). It accomplishes this by incorporating weaponry specifically designed to get around GN defences which, at the time of its inception, is unique to celestial being (this is why it’s got solid swords in addition to beam weapons). Its immediate predecessor, the Astraea, is probably the most stable of the original second-generation gundams - it’s designed for melee combat and doesn’t incorporate much experimental systems into the mobile suit itself. Because of this stability, it’s typically used for testing weaponry slated for other Gundam’s, such as the proto GN Launcher. This is further evidenced when it’s modified into the Astraea F by the Celestial Being support organisation Fereshte, since it’s the mobile suit of choice for that organisation when circumstances don’t demand a different unit, again because of that versatility. The Exia’s successor is the 00 Gundam (which I habitually just roll into the 00 Raiser, since it’s only around for about three episodes). The 00 Gundam is fitted with two GN Drives instead of the standard one, which should give in a far greater output. In practice, it needs to be fitted with the 0 Raiser, a little stabilisation plane thing, in order to run stably. This becomes the standard loadout for the Gundam, and it becomes the 00 Raiser. The 00 Raiser has slightly less swords than its predecessor the Exia, but makes up for this by incorporating the Raiser Sword, which essentially turns the entire Gundam into a sword hilt. The 00 Gundam’s Variants, the 00 Seven Swords and XN Raiser are essentially the 00 Gundam with even more swords and bladed weapons bolted to the frame (I’d like to specifically call out the Seven Swords for having GN Katars, which is just neat, honestly). As Setsuna’s penultimate suit, we have the 00 Quanta, which dares to ask the question “laser-shooting psychic swords?”, and can also freely teleport, just in case you thought distance was going to make this easier. The 00 Quanta Full Saber is probably what you’d expect by this point - the 00 Quanta with a bunch of extra swords strapped to it. (The ELS Quanta’s not, strictly speaking, a combat Gundam, so I tend to look at it as its own thing). The Exia line starts off basic, but eventually takes the concept of “sword” to greater and more ridiculous levels.

Dynames, is a sniper, but it develops very differently to the other Gundams. The original Dynames and its successor Cherudim were developed for Neil Dylandy, an excellent sniper. However, the Cherudim and its successors were piloted by Neil’s brother Lyle instead. Lyle was not as good a sniper as his brother, and so his Gundam’s were subsequently reconfigured in order to be more effective in large-scale combat - rapid fire rifles and submachine guns as opposed to “true sniping”. So, though the line shares several visual elements and retains a focus on ranged combat, it changes with its pilot.The Dynames was armed rather simply - a sniper rifle and two pistols, with supplemental armour being added. This is likely a direct response to its predecessor, the Sadalsuud. The Sadalsuud is notable for two reasons - it was configured more as an information-gathering unit than a combat machine, and it was notably lacking in armour. The Sadalsuud F incorporated a pinpoint GN Field in order to get around this issue, but the Dynames simply incorporated more armour as a result (likely due to practicality). The Gundam Cherudim, Dynames successor, incorporated missile pods and GN shield bits in addition to its pistols and sniper rifle, with its GWHW/R pack adding GN Rifle bits to the mix, giving the Cherudim far more guns to use. Another equipment pack, the Cherudim SAGA, even went so far as to be a “Seven Guns” counterpart to the Exia’s “Seven Swords” philosophy. Lastly, there is the Gundam Zabanya, which incorporated GN Rifle Bits and GN Holster bits, casting off its original sniping specialisation for a mass battle focus. “You don’t need to be a better shot, you need to shoot more bullets”, indeed. The Dynames line shows the progression from scout, to sniper, to more sniper, to Gundam with a billion guns. This is directly due to the influence of its pilot and the difference between the brothers - Neil’s a Sniper, Lyle’s a Gunslinger and so the line is adjusted accordingly.

The Kyrios is probably the simplest to talk about, since it was piloted by Allelujah/Hallelujah Haptism and was designed to maximise its aerial profile. The Kyrios itself was armed with beam sabers, a beam submachine gun and claw shield, with various optional missile packs, typically used in quick strikes. Its immediate predecessor, the Aubulhool, was barely a mobile suit at all, being essentially a proof-of-concept for the transformation mechanism. Nonetheless, it would also be used as a quick strike craft by celestial being when required. The Arios is essentially the Kyrios but more so - it has a new rifle, and the original beam submachine guns and claw shield have now been integrated into the mobile suit itself. The GWHW/M pack gives it a missile pod and swaps the rifle out for a GN Cannon. The Arios is also unique in that it incorporates a support mech - the GN Archer, which is essentially a smaller, simpler Arios for all intents and purposes (it’s not on the chart, but it was adapted from the Gundam Artemie, the bee-looking Gundam at the top-right). The Arios Ascalon is essentially the Arios fitted with various pieces of equipment originally slated for other units - a GN sword from the Exia, missiles from the Dynames and a GN Launcher from the Virtue. This makes it far more versatile, while still retaining its excellent mobility. It’s another one I’m quite fond of, simply because I find the versatility appealing. That and I think the Arios looks good in red. The last unit in the line is the Gundam Harute - designed from the ground-up as a two-man space superiority fighter. It’s also designed to leverage the abilities of its two/three super-soldier pilots, incorporating the Marute Mode which allows its pilots to fight in-sync (it’s…. Not quite clear how it does this, but 00 runs with the “quantum innovators understanding” stuff quite a bit, so I’m not too concerned). The Harute also incorporates GN Sword Rifles, which are scissor gun-swords (fun), as well as GN Scissor bits and a nice lovely missile container on the rear. Kyrios and its derivatives are largely concerned with doing the same thing - a fast attack plane that’s also a Gundam. It’s a very good, very achievable concept, so it’s neat seeing how the line develops over time. I’d like to note that the Harute is basically a culmination of everything that came before it, but considering I’m quite fond of it, perhaps I’m a little biased there.

I’ll talk about Virtue and other series in a follow up to this post, since I managed to hit the character limit for the first time.

But in essence, I think 00 does interesting things with its Gundam Design Lineages because each unit has a specific role, so it’s interesting seeing how they develop within that role, and seeing how their pilots influence them. The vast amount of other units added in supplemental material further sheds light on the in-universe development patterns and general “goals” of each unit. Exia retains the sword focus, but takes it in more esoteric directions as Setsuna himself moves toward his awakening as an innovator, Dynames undergoes a shift from sniping to gunslinging when its original pilot dies and celestial being replaced him with his brother (which is a very weird process, now that I think about it). Kyrios basically hits the nail on the head first time with its mobility and fast attack focus, with Arios basically just adding armaments, however his eventual understanding with Marie enables the addition of the GN Archer and eventual development of the Zabanya, which raises its mobility to even greater heights. On the other side of the coin, the units seen during 00P and 00F provide context for their successors - what worked and what didn’t, and how they developed.

[vivianbernadetteaurora]

The 1950s

1950s were a big turnover like many other decades before and after and continue to be so. Such as one is over the top., gracious big bold, logos, intensity, blunt, colourful, and brassy almost, when you think of this most of us of our generation would think of the 2000s and the 210s and the shift of the two this 10 period cycle, well actually it’s a 20 year cycle if you really think about it coming in and out of fashion maybe 15 at the most, so you’ve got the 1940s where the war is still going up until 45 where is the, black-and-white even in the movie signals this?, we were invented somehow that had the money to, people like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Hollywood and these times does this to these women? It mainly does it to the women it torment them torches them it will give them somebody who is their double., they understudy but tell them how amazing that other person is and that they wouldn’t reject these kind of office so why are you when they are deep into their career and they have given us everything of themselves? They are about down to bound to be a tad bit angry and the funny, narcissism does this to us? It thinks oh it won’t be me. I’ll never feel that way about somebody before me such as Marilyn Monroe probably never thinking she would feel like Joanne Crawford did about her who were up and coming., as a woman, you must be dignified but not too dignified to the point of you coming across arrogant, you must be flirty but never a slut, you must have virgin like quality but don’t be too virginal, age gracefully but don’t be ugly, why don’t you lose a few pounds but don’t get too skinny.

All these things are absolute recipe for disaster, and monsters the real monsters of the people behind these acts of making people feel this way the talent agents the executives, the managers the people who these companies the nepotism, allot it .

The difference in these decades like the 80s and the 90s grunge versus hair metal heroine versus cocaine, two different kinds of things in all of these things I’ve listed above so what are we due for next to me?, the 210s were rather over the top but also subtle so when it comes to our next decade that’s coming up with making it subtle bit again, so these women are men the men had it in the way the homosexual ones anyway they weren’t allowed to be open with their sex, point where they would make these men marry women while they had a life on the side which couldn’t be publicised which couldn’t be shown, I even said to my boyfriend if we break up, I want to marry a gay man, the way gay men treat women, and I hate to make sweeping statements and I seem to a lot. I seem to write like that energies sometimes.

But I love the beauty of sees a woman and her straight man never could. , this decade of the 50s bought us the Marilyn Monroe of her absolute peak, her beautiful presence versatile and face, even though she was even one he got bullied by Louis Mayer, the company, to the point I think he even called her his little chinless wonder, bullying tactics, it worked in the 2000s with Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, where do they stay? These women go back, they’ve made up a bit now because they’re both mothers, I dread to imagine what kind of mother might be with her addiction issues sorry I’m an addict myself and it worries mate maybe it was a blessing, disguise have children?, like not to be able to have children it’s horrible. Your life ends up becoming an addiction disaster if you’re not stable enough.m and men who don’t treat you right, children are a blessing and if you have them count yourself lucky every day, do I think abortions bad, I don’t if you’re not in the right place to have a child then you shouldn’t.

This is comparing all the decades having very similar ways and if you look at it, you’ll see,. one thing I didn’t like was Jane Mansfield think the woman had much class, especially when it came to Monroe she played into the image of being exactly like her, to me it’s a shame they didn’t play into her being probably mixed cause I think she is. and by no means do I mean blackface but make them more darker? Dark hair? Lipstick et cetera, but they had to do a copy of, king size Monroe call her, and she was she lived, Monroe hated it and if you can see some of these pictures she copied it, was is Mansfield love being Monroe as Monro didn’t.

[rwby-necromancer-au]

OK BECAUSE AT LEAST ONE PERSON SHOWED INTEREST

I’ve been thinking about songbirds a LOT lately

I have such a vivid image in my mind of how these guys would look and how it’d look to be on one of these stolen ships taking people out of Atlas to save them. How they’d care for these people and try to keep them safe.

I’ve also toyed with the idea of giving them a uniform of some kind. Instead of them looking like ordinary people.

I think them being dressed in all black would be a cool counterpart to Atlas’s Pursuers wearing only white.

In this hypothetical uniform, they’d wear masks. (specifically plague doctor masks bc I’m predictable and they offer a lot of versatility in design considering they’re called songBIRDS)

And also I’ve always imagined them with black captain hats or black chauffeur hats:

LOTS of layers, like a LOT.

They go everywhere, so they need to be prepared for any kind of weather. The hottest of the hot and the coldest of the cold.

I figure these guys may also just use dark colors, not necessarily black

Like brown, dark green, or whatever matches their mask, which will entirely depend on what role they have on the ship. Role = what kind of bird you are.

Here are the roles and their associated birds:

- Captains are Crows or Ravens

- Second in Commands would be Passerines

- Healers/Medics are Hummingbirds or Kinglets

- General songbirds without a specific role are Blackbirds

- Caretaker songbirds (ones that care for orphaned children or the elderly) are Cardinals

- Psychiatric Songbirds are Starlings

- Chef/Cafeteria Songbirds are Swallows (see what I did there? Hehe)

I imagine they wear trench coats, which I think would be a nice callback to where Oz got the idea for his own trench coat and why he likes them so much.

Another fun callback is how Qrow has his own plague doctor/songbird mask.

And how Glynda wears similar boots to the songbirds.

They probably wear cargo pants with lots of pockets, and bodysuits that go all the way up over the head (apart from the face), these can be swapped out for short sleeve version too. Work gloves and steel toed work boots are a must, so are lots of bags and holsters. I imagine they also have a harness that has some bags on it too.

All hidden beneath a heavy trench coat, that also has pockets.

I imagine these holsters and pockets are used to hold guns, flash bangs, other forms of weapon that can temporarily disable an enemy, knives, etc.

And most of these holsters and bags have a cover to go over them, to keep the things inside in place.

Can’t have anything too restricting, they need to be able to jump, run, roll, etc.

I imagine that they whistle, sing, hum, and that every song means something different.

Rarely do they ever actually speak to each other when they’re working, only use non verbal or musical communication. The only time you’ll see them converse is when they’re on the ship itself and not in danger.

They have to give up their entire identities to do this job, only being referred to by “Songbird” or their title of songbird (I.e “Blackbird” or otherwise)

They are covered head to toe. No skin is allowed to show really.

Those with long hair must either tie their hair up in a way that their hat and bodysuit will cover it, or cut it (Most usually cut their hair).

All songbirds must know how to speak in sign language.

All the boats that are used to take people out of Atlas/Mistral must be stolen from Atlas/Mistral or made to look identical to their ships. That way they can avoid detection

But yeah, those are some of my thoughts about them!!!

I really love thinking about these guys!

[metalhealth-willdriveyoumad]

It’s really really unfortunate how much racism and insensitivity there still is in a lot of rock spaces, even in some of the most surface level communities, even in a lot of the music.

I would like to imagine that everyone who’s done even a quick look into the history of early rock ‘n’ roll is more than aware that a lot of Elvis’s stuff was stolen from black musicians and he, along with other white musicians, were given heavy spotlight over black contemporaries that weren’t completely plagiarized like Little Richard. But that’s where the conversation stops for a lot of white people.

And that leaves some massive blind spots where nothing gets called out for whatever reason. Maybe white people just don’t realize. That wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe people of color are just too tired to deal with it, that also wouldn’t be earth shattering.

Regardless, it’s still harmful and leads to some really rough environments for people of color in these space. Environments where we’re having to see people you like and even respect go to bat for a group of people that are, at best, painfully unaware of the world around them.

And I don’t mean stuff from last century that’s either been apologized for or that was so standard for the time that it might not even be worth spending any time on. Some of the things bothering me at the moment happened on albums, in interviews, etc. that people I’m in community with were almost certainly alive for. And I’m not all that old.

This isn’t exclusive to spaces with all white bands or with mostly regressive beliefs. There are some lovely, mostly progressive people that can fall into this trap. I personally am in some spaces where there are a ton of people whose favorite guitarist is black or favorite singer is Mexican and Native American or favorite drummer is Cuban-American, who are fully unaware of a lot of questionable things going on with their favorite acts. Even if you think you’re immune, please just be a little more thoughtful. If something ever gives you a little pause or hits you weird, there’s probably a good reason and it wouldn’t hurt to dig into it.

I’m not going to make this about anything specific, in part because I want this to have some good versatility and I really don’t mean to call anyone out in specific. But I do think people need to be more mindful of the music they’re listening to and the conversations they’re having. It’s really minimal effort so much of the time and it does wonders for making more people more comfortable in their fandoms.

[thatwasntverycashmoneyofme]

{ 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 — 𝖻𝗅𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝖼𝗈𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝖾𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋, 𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗂𝗌𝗍 𝖾𝗑𝗍𝗋𝖺, 𝗒𝖺𝗆𝗂 𝖿𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝗈𝗋, 𝗇𝗈𝗇𝖾. }

asshole! yami sukehiro who’s deliberately disrespectful and it’s probably most likely cuz he was treated roughly for being a foreigner, but this man has no filter especially when it comes to you his cute chubby black foreigner girlfriend.

he definitely gives off guard dog energy, lingering behind you, and he can’t leave you alone or let you go anywhere by yourself and it’s not just cuz he’s possessive and protective, he gets jealous super easily and know how the men of the Clover Kingdom reacts to a beautiful foreigner.

he learned his lesson last time almost having to give his Captain position up for nearly beating a man to the brink of death but yk he locked in with julius so the request for his removal got denied, just barely, but anyways here’s how that went:

you’re standing in the market place collecting your sweets that you brought from the nice vender lady but something catches your eye and you drift off from yami’s line of sight, something he told you not to do, when he looked down to light his blunt (no cig smokers over here🙅🏾‍♀️) you got entranced by a long scarf touching the silk fabric that could have versatile use, you jump feeling someone approach you.

a nobody, who you don’t even remember well enough to give a description to, trying to talk you up as you blatantly ignore him continuing your sales purchase.

the guy gets feed up by your neglect pulling on your wrist as he talks down to you “its not like you have anything to do right?? with all these coins on you, I’m just trying to help you further your business. I could put in a good word for you to my friends no doubt they haven’t been with a foreigner”

you hear the vender yell for help as you stare at the hand the man has on your wrist you look up in front of you seeing the man smirk as your eyes are finally on him. you paused for a minute trying to process ‘did this guy just call me a whore??’

before you can even utter a word, a large rough tan hand encased the man’s hand on your wrist “oi sweetheart this guy bothering you?” you snatch your wrist from the hold, a pout on your lips as you rub it with your other hand “no yami im fine let’s go” you start to walk a few steps before the rando spoke again “geez another foreigner you have to wait your turn buddy I asked for her services first”

you see yami’s aura before you heard the shrill scream freezing everyone in their place in the market “oi oi you calling my woman a whore? i have a good reason enough to kill you for putting your grimy hands on her” you walk around yami finding the rando’s hand flapping limply you could only assume yami broke the guys wrist

“yami stop i got everything i needed from the market let’s go” he sighs dropping the broken bone in his hand as the man let out a pained sound “fine… be lucky you’re only going home with a broken hand” yami catches up to you ready to head back to the bulls home before the annoying voice of the man rang

“yeah you better leave I don’t want to bed a foreign whore whose womb is tainted with another foreigner” you could feel the wind rush pass you before hearing the man choking on his own blood as yami’s fist connected relentlessly.

you weren’t that dumb to try and stop him and definitely not dumb enough to step in so you waited, lighting a blunt putting all your weight on one leg jutting your hip out.

a few minutes pass and yami rises from the pulp of bloodied scum, his fists scraped and scarred as he pulled the blunt from your lips taking a drag as you both walk home his shoulders relaxed “that paperwork’s gonna be a bitch to deal with i’ll have to talk to julius. that fucker’s lucky i let him live if he gets help in time” you laugh at his monotonous voice “thank you for sticking up for me yami baby”

he breathes out smoke handing you the blunt once again “no problem sweetheart you’re too pretty to be hassled like a whore. good thing i fuck you enough like one” you choke on the smoke invading your lungs as he took it from you for the last few puffs as you try to compose yourself feeling the heat rise to your cheeks as you let out a low whine “yamii~ stop it”

𝗌𝗉𝖺𝗆 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗌, 𝗋𝖾𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌. 𝖣𝖮𝖭𝖳 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗅, 𝖼𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗈𝗋 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗅𝗌𝖾. ©𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝖺𝗅

[chiveburger]

2022′s favorite skincare, make-up and fragrances tagged by my longtime fave @nito-onna. here is the link is her much more articulate post! 

starting with skincare... 

rohto mentholatum - acnes anti-bacteria spot dressing patch. I’ve tried two acne patches in the last couple months and this one is by far the better one. It’s very thin and unnoticable, it comes in two sizes per sheet and has helped me quicken the process of popped pimples and whiteheads

lush - catastrophe cosmetic. this clay mask is probably one of the best lush fresh masks I’ve used, and I’m planning to repurchase it with my recyclables. It’s more moisturizing than it seems, and after it dries it flakes off and makes for a very easy cleaning process (compared to every other lush fresh mask). 

laneige - water bank blue hyaluronic eye cream. I’m not a consistent user of eye cream, even though I should be but I’ve stuck with using the one from laneige for the last couple months. It’s straightforwardly packaged, supple and gel-like which makes it very light on the under eyes. It also lasts for a long time

fresh nation - b5 hydropower lip care. one of my go-to lip balms during these last winter months. I also slather it on as an overnight lip mask. It’s not heavy, scentless but moisturizes well. It was also like $14 for 3...

bush balm - bermuda dark spot exfoliating scrub and oil combination. probably one of my most favorite finds of 2022. I’ve been using this religiously on my underarms and I do see a very gradual fading of my dark spots. the sugar scrub is very gentle, and the oil is not excessively greasy. this is my only ongoing subscription on amazon

going to make-up...

wet n wild - megaglo makeup stick in sand. one of the BEST concealers I’ve used in years, and the only con about this is that it kinda stinks. this shade is perfect for my skintone, it’s not very heavy, extremely cheap and does a really good job on my eye bags. I haven’t found a concealer in this suitable of a shade ever

glossier - cloud paint in beam. a forever favorite item for me regardless of the year. I’ve had one tube of this bush for the last 3 years so it really goes a long way, and I do not leave the house on a day out without using this. the cream texture is light and versatile and you can build the strength of the blush according to your preference. 

dejavu - fiberwig ultra long mascara in pure black. again, an item I’ve used for a couple years and still love and is always apart of my make-up routine. It’s the one mascara I’ve used that doesn’t clump and elongates my lashes without making spider legs. I haven’t experimented with any other mascara after finding this one.

lastly I only have one fragrance and its...

giorgio armani - sì eau de parfum. all I can say is that this is my scent. If you ever meet me in person I’ll smell like this. I’ve gone back and forth from different perfumes but I always end up coming back to sì. I’m not a big fan of floral scents, so this one is more musky. I have used this since high school and have not found a scent I like as much as this. 

thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far. I tag @033h, @vensulove, @calpicowater, @idleminds, @julieterbang and everyone who likes pentagon to do this tag!

[steven1123x]

Behind The Scenes - Chapter 27: Actors At Work

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

A few days passed, and Steven woke up in his room, he picked up his phone and got a text from Mordecai. He and the crew were at the studio. Steven looks at the time, the numbers read 9:10 and under it, it said March 26.

Steven got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

He stepped out and went to his closet and picked out his bright red star shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts. The hybrid put them on grabbed his white Converse, put them on, and tied them.

He grabbed his hat that he bought a few days ago and put it atop his curly hair, grabbed his phone, and went out the door. Steven went on his phone and looked up the distance.

Twenty-five minutes. Perfect.

Steven walked downstairs, went out the door, grabbed his bike, and took the ride to Burbank. He decided to listen to music on the way.

He grabs his earbuds, plugs them in, and puts on a song.

The Cartoon Network movie lot was already bustling with life. Steven parked his bike, and put his feet on the ground, As a tall and grey rock man walked up. he wore a black guard uniform. “Rada rada.”

Steven showed him the text that he got from his friend Mordecai. “I’m here to watch them film Snitzhel.” He said.

Snitzhel nods and rasied the gate. Steven biked inside the studio and saw actors, Crew members, And even familiar faces studying their lines, he was looking for Regular Show.

“Oh, excuse me?” Steven asked. He sees a boy, he is wearing a white hat that covers his head and neck, his clothes are a blue shirt and shorts consisting of a green backpack worn on his back, completed with white socks that were cupped around his ankles and black shoes.

“Oh, hello.” the boy said.

“Oh my gosh! your Finn The Human from Adventure Time! Can I have a picture?” he asked.

“Sure, man,” he said, Finn walked over and put his arm around the boy’s shoulders, and Steven took a selfie with the boy.

“Oh, can you point me to where the Regular Show studio is?”

“Oh, you see that soundstage over there?” he asked. Steven nods. “It’s there, soundstage twelve.”

“Thanks, Finn! Hey. Happy late birthday by the way.”

“Thank you!” he said, then Steven rode off to the soundstage.

He’d made it, he walked in and saw a large, acoustically treated space designed for recording the show. Inside, he saw high ceilings and expansive floor space to accommodate various setups. The walls are often lined with sound-absorbing materials, such as foam panels or curtains, to minimize echoes and improve sound quality.

The floor may be open or have a stage area, with various microphones, instruments, and recording equipment scattered throughout. There are usually control rooms adjacent to the main stage, equipped with mixing consoles, audio interfaces, and monitors for sound engineers to manage the recording process.

The lighting can vary, with bright overhead lights for visibility and more atmospheric lighting for specific scenes or performances. Overall, a soundstage is a versatile environment tailored for optimal audio production, featuring a blend of technical equipment and creative space.

Steven sees a living room setup, Mordecai and Rigby are talking with Margret at the snack table. Then, someone walks into the set. Steven sees him — probably Mordecai and Rigby’s director.

The man has straight, dark brown hair that falls over his forehead and ears. He is smiling broadly, displaying his teeth. He is wearing a light-colored, button-up shirt. He also has a black and white checkered lanyard around his neck, He holds a clipboard under his arm as he walks to the director's chair.

“Coooollll!” Steven whispered, his eyes going starry, his friends smiled at him.

“I will ask him if you can watch,” Mordecai said, Walking up to the director.

“So, Steven. you want to be an actor?” Margret asked.

“Heck yeah, I do! That will be AWESOME!” He said, jumping up into the air, Margret chuckled, she liked him.

“Yeah, It’s a lot of fun, I love it you know.”

“I bet!” he said. Then, the Blue Jay walked back towards him and gave the hybrid a thumbs up.

“Okay places, guys! And action!”

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

“Regular Show: Brain Eraser, Scene One. Take one.” the Clapper Loader said, clapping the clapperboard.

Mordecai and Rigby were deeply engrossed in their latest video game session, the screen flashing with vibrant colors and intense action. Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from the television, accompanied by bold letters declaring, “PLAYER 1 WINS!” Rigby slumped back into the couch, frustration etched on his face.

“Ugh! I lost again,” he groaned, his eyes narrowing at the screen.

Mordecai, with a smug grin, simply shrugged, his amusement evident. “Hmph. Hmph,” he replied, relishing his victory.

Rigby’s annoyance quickly turned to distraction as he rummaged through the couch cushions. “This stupid thing was throwing me off,” he muttered, pulling out a magazine that read, “Mustaches Monthly - SPECIAL HANDLEBAR ISSUE!”

Mordecai’s eyes widened in realization. “Dude! Pops' Mustaches Monthly! Benson told us to deliver this weeks ago. You have to give this to Pops.”

Rigby’s protest was immediate. “What?! Why do I have to?”

“Because you’re the tool who crammed it between the sofa cushions!” Mordecai shot back, exasperated.

Rigby huffed, sinking deeper into the couch. “I can’t get up now. I’m going to lose this sweet butt cheek groove I’ve been working into this couch! It looks just like me!” He gestured to the distinct impression his body had left on the fabric.

Mordecai rolled his eyes. “I’m not going up those stairs, dude.”

After a moment of silence, Rigby proposed a solution. “Fine, let’s play rock-paper-scissors for it.”

With determination, Rigby threw out paper while Mordecai chose rock. “Hmph hmph,” Rigby smirked, reveling in his victory.

“Whatever,” Mordecai groaned, begrudgingly conceding. As Rigby resumed his gaming, Mordecai reluctantly made his way to Pops’ room, where he could hear the sound of running water.

“Pops. Yo, Pops. I found your Mustache Monthly,” he called out, placing the magazine on a chair. Just as he turned, he was met with a shocking sight—Pops, fresh out of the shower and completely naked.

“Aaaaagh!” both Mordecai and Pops screamed in unison, their eyes wide with horror.

In the chaos, Mordecai caught an unintended glimpse of Pops' “junk mail.” Panic surged through him as Pops hurriedly covered himself with his hat, while Mordecai instinctively shielded his eyes.

“Aaaaagh!” they both continued to exclaim, trying to escape the awkward situation, but finding themselves blocking each other’s path.

“Uh... uh... uh... uh...” Mordecai stammered his heart racing.

“Uh... uh... uh... uh...” Pops echoed, equally flustered.

Steven was trying his hardest to contain his laughter.

Finally, Mordecai managed to slip past Pops, darting out of the room just as Pops retreated into his bathroom. Breathing heavily, Mordecai made his way back downstairs and plopped onto the couch next to Rigby.

“Stop playing for a second,” Mordecai panted. “When I went upstairs, Pops was getting out of the shower.”

Rigby looked at him, puzzled. “Yeah, so?”

“And he didn’t have a towel,” Mordecai replied, his voice laced with disbelief.

Rigby’s face twisted in disgust. “Ewww!”

“Cut! Perfect guys!” J.G said, standing up, Steven then burst out laughing.

“Not funny, Steven.” he glares at his friend.

“It is! you saw Pops naked, dude!”

Rigby looks at his two friends back to back.

“It was for the scene!” he protested.

“I know! but was that acting or real? cause it looked pretty real to me.” Rigby said, Mordecai punched him in the arm.

“Owwww!” Rigby said as his friend glared at him.

“You did a good job,” Margret said. Mordecai could still see Pops’… stuff, it’s burned into his brain. And they were rehearsed this last week!

“Thanks, Margret,” he said. Sighing to himself.

Steven looks at Mordecai.

“Okay guys, places!” J.G. sat in the director’s chair holding a bottle of water in his hand. “And…” The man said. “Action.”

“Regular Show: Brain Eraser, Scene Two. Take two.” the Clapper Loader said, clapping the clapperboard.

Mordecai and Rigby were lounging in the park, the sun casting long shadows as the day wound down. Trying to be helpful, Mordecai picked up Mr. Peterson's magazine delivery, intending to drop it off at the old man's house on their way back.

"I tried not to look and just give him the magazine, but I saw his..." Mordecai began, his voice tinged with horror.

Rigby, ever the jokester, interjected with a smirk, "His junk mail? Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Mordecai's face turned pale. "No, dude, I'm mentally scarred. It's like the image is glued to the inside of my eyelids. Every saggy, wrinkled, shriveled, pasty..."

"Whoa, whoa! Don't put it in my head," Rigby quickly interrupted, holding up his hand as if to ward off the mental image.

Mordecai glared at him, the ghostly vision still unsettling in his mind. "This is your fault. You have to help me."

Rigby sighed, realizing the gravity of his friend's distress. "I'll help you to forget it if you promise to stop talking about it."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Mordecai's eyes. "Deal."

They shook hands, sealing the agreement, each hoping to put the disturbing incident behind them.

Steven watches the whole filming process from start to end.

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

The behind-the-scenes took hours to film because some actors forgot their lines. But all and all, it was a good filming day, Steven was walking out of the soundstage, he was about to grab his bike, then he bumped into a woman. Steven looks up.

The woman has short, curly dark hair and wears glasses. She is dressed in a plaid shirt with red, blue, and black colors over a light-colored top. She is standing with one hand in her pocket.

“I… I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay, It’s my fault. Should’ve watched where I was going.” The woman said Steven heard the woman’s voice. It was the most calming voice he had ever heard in his life.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked.

“I’m Steven Universe.

“I’m Rebecca Sugar, nice to meet you.”

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

A\N: THIS IS IT! Steven had just met his future director! I can’t wait to see where this goes from here! Bye, guys!

[idontknowreallywhy]

Best Jupidad Moments #4 Nevermoor Ch 7 - Settling into Reality

I’m going to start this ramble with a little flashback to Ch 2

She had imagined, a hundred times over, how it would feel to be liked instead of feared. To see people smile instead of flinch when she walked into a room. It was one of her favourite daydreams. But that was all it was, Morrigan told herself, shaking the cobwebs out of her head. A daydream.

And now… chapter 7…

Jupiter stood behind a wooden desk, leaning over a mess of papers and maps. He looked up, smiling broadly. ���Ah! There you are. Excellent. ‘I thought I might give you a little tour. Sleep well?’ ‘Yes, thanks,’ said Morrigan. She suddenly felt shy. It was all this smiling at her that Jupiter kept doing, she thought. It wasn’t natural.

Must be weird to wake up for the first time in a world where your favourite daydream has come true! 

So now it’s going to get real - how does life work for these two from now on?

Obviously it’s not going to be plain sailing, that would be dull and would get so saccharine we’d get a headache. Even with his superior ability to see how people are feeling, Jupiter can’t get it right all the time as it wouldn’t feel genuine for the reader (and the best heroes are fallible and human). For this relationship to be believable, our Jupidad is going have to make some wrong calls. Buckle up…

‘Definitely not,’ Morrigan said, bristling. ‘I don’t want a nickname.’ ‘Course you do, everyone wants—’ … … ‘Everyone wants a nickname,’ Jupiter continued after the announcement.

‘Mog is a great nickname!’ Jupiter insisted. He rolled the word around in his mouth as they walked down the long hallway. ‘Mog. Moggers. The Mogster. It’s so versatile.’ Morrigan made a face.

‘It sounds like something an animal vomits up and leaves on your doorstep. Are you going to tell me about the Wundrous Society now?’

‘Soon, Mog, but—’

‘Morrigan.’

‘—first, the grand tour.’

At best he’s going from supportive-dad-mode to annoying-dad-mode here… having read Hollowpox and knowing that she eventually embraces “Mog” it’s hard to feel *too* cross with him in retrospect but I found this section a little uncomfortable and somewhat surprising after how focused he was on allowing her to have her own agency in the previous chapters. It’s not like it’s an unimportant thing either… the name people use for you is kind of a big deal and she’s pointed out that it doesn’t feel like a flattering one…

I wonder, perhaps, if the nickname thing is because he wants to draw another line between himself and Corvus who always used her full first name and would never have used something as affectionate as a pet name for his only daughter. Safe to say Morrigan’s probably been called a lot of names but never a cute silly one before.

It also makes me wonder whether Jack was a Jove-bestowed nickname and if so, what John Arjuna thought of it at the time. 

On the definite plus side he never introduces her as Mog, nor does he try to persuade anyone else to call her this.

‘You were going to tell me about the Wundrous Society …’ ‘I know, and I will, but it’ll have to wait. Martha—’ He waved the young maid closer. ‘Could you give Morrigan a little tour? Just the highlights.’

And here’s where Morrigan begins to be introduced to the fact that our Jupidad is going to be a frequently absent parental figure. He’s got so many calls on his time.

Thus he is missing (yet much spoken of) for the rest of the chapter. However I’m going to slip in one little foreshadowing theory about the chandelier just in case I run out of steam before I get to chapter 26…

Martha held both hands to her cheeks. ‘Oh … Captain North will be so upset. That ship’s been there for ever, it’s his favourite thing. How could this happen?

The precious chandelier was a pink sailing ship. As we find out later, it grows back as a black bird with outstretched wings, which some view as a comforting protective creature and others as threatening. 

Jupiter said he loved it even more than the pink sailing ship.

Jupiter took on the hotel when it was a wreck. I reckon at that point the chandelier was fairly normal but became a sailing ship to represent the chief passion of its explorer proprietor - adventure, travel, discovering new realms. The day his Mog arrives, that loses its top spot in a dramatic style and is eventually replaced with a very clear symbol of his new #1 priority - the little girl he saved who will eventually become the one to protect him and everyone he loves in return.

[mrs-mquve-cc]

Palette for upcoming eyebrow recolors!

So, since I changed my palette for hair, I also need eyebrows to match! I’ve switched most of the brows I use in my game to @pooklet‘s gorgeous retextured & bumpmapped eyebrows (naturals, unnaturals) and I plan on doing some of my own using the textures by Trapping and actions they’ve shared.

I was able to choose 21 colors (8 natural & 15 unnatural) to match the 33 hair colors I’m using now. Most of these will go with mutiple hair colors but there’s a few oddballs that need to be done on their own.

Black - matches Isis & Lucifer Dk Brown - matches Nesert, Depth Charge, & Shinji Volatile - matches Serqet & Rei Lt Red - matches Asuka Dk Red - matches Verin & Explosive Tntesium - matches Cesium Torpedosphine - matches Torpedo Pyrodechelane - matches Pyrodex, Hangfire, & Haunting Shatterwave - matches Aether & Shock Wave Napardx - matches Napalm Cannogentmx - matches Cannonball, Blasting Agent, & HMX Afterathian - matches Afterburner & Fluorophore Powderlite - matches Powder Cake & Pentolite Tetrylene - matches Tetryl & Xylene

I could have just done Asuka, Cesium, Torpedo, & Napalm straight but I decided to go with the broader actions for versatility. I use Explosive instead of Molotov for natural black hairs so it works out that Dk Red also works for that color.

These will NOT be binned as I prefer to have eyebrows independent of hair color. I will probably offer an option of color-grouped files using @ocelotekatl’s BSOK and Pooklet’s color glyphs (adding new ones for naturals).

So, I know 21 eyebrow colors is a lot, but it’s still fewer files than 33!

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch. 146 thoughts

[3-For-1 Deal]

I mentioned a while ago that Undead Unluck operates on the one plot point per chapter principal, but there’s an exception to every rule, as we saw a few weeks ago leading into the Void battle

Much like said chapter, this one covers three separate events, so I guess that’s Tozuka’s method: if he can’t stretch out one event into a whole chapter, he might as well cram in three. I like it, it’s an efficient use of time

So as I guessed, Yusai is one of the Negators that Fuuko mentioned recruiting last week. I was admittedly wrong about Feng, but I was iffy about him anyway, and we did already get some insight to his character this arc, so it’s only right that we get the previously underutilized Yusai

We see Yusai facing down an unnamed UMA, who based on the black spikes I would think is some kind of iron UMA. Yusai defends her village from this UMA by presumably tricking it into piercing its blades into trees then holding it in place with Undraw for an entire week. Christ, no wonder she’s literally about to die! She had to stay conscious that entire time without food or water; the fact that she’s only just NOW about to die is nothing short of a miracle, as that’s literally the maximum time the human body can go without water. Granted, staying perfectly still that entire time while also in a life-or-death scenario would likely mean that a lot of her metabolic processes literally stopped, so perhaps her water consumption was minimized? Either way, it’s a perfect recipe for keeling over, hence why she looks so emaciated

Fuuko arrives just in time to save her, which means one very important thing: this is where Yusai was at this time last Loop. So, how did Yusai survive last time? If I had to guess, I’d say there happened to be a certain shirtless amnesiac passing by last time, wouldn’t you?

Fuuko defeats the UMA, though I’m not entirely sure if she killed it and eliminated its Rule or just incapacitated it, but the story doesn’t care so neither do we. She brings Yusai back to base and gets her some much needed food, though given that she’s EATING A FULL MEAL AT THE GOD DAMN SPEED OF LIGHT by all rights she should be dying immediately anyway from rupturing her malnourished stomach. She should be taking that rice and mashing it into gruel with lightly salted water, not jamming it into her gullet

Also, Tozuka seems to have slightly altered Yusai’s design; her hair has a much softer look to it this time compared to how she looked in Akira’s flashback, being drawn more rounded instead of spikey, and with what looks like a much higher ponytail. I’m not sure if Tozuka just wasn’t satisfied with the original design, but honestly this one feels like it has more personality, so I appreciate it

Yusai apparently can’t draw her own sword, nor can she remove anything that she views as being inside something else, rendering her unable to draw her own sword or even her chopsticks out of her mouth between bites. How she gets them out later, I have no idea, but this does illustrate an important factor of Undraw’s Rules: it does not target the user, it targets the object. We’ve seen her negate Spring’s cherry blossoms, the unnamed UMA’s blades and even Sun’s feet, so it’s clear that she’s an external targeter. Preventing herself from drawing her weapons implies that she’s targeting herself as well, but since a Negator can only be external or internal, not both, she must be negating the objects ability to be drawn, not the person’s ability to draw. It’s not even limited to weapons! She could probably prevent an enemy from “drawing blood” if she thought about it, making Undraw a much more versatile ability than I originally gave it credit for. Can’t wait to see how far Tozuka pushes it!

Nico comes in and informs Fuuko that he can’t locate Kasuga Village, which Yusai is apparently familiar with, so presumably she guides Fuuko to it. As it turns out, Kasuga Village is Isshin’s home, so I wonder if perhaps Yusai’s family is familiar with the Isshin clan? I hope we’ll get to see a more in-depth explanation of their ties, this plot point unfortunately felt a little glossed over

Kasuga Village is attacked by the same UMA that killed our Isshin’s father in the previous Loop, but this time it’s met by Isshin the 12th, her grandfather. Whether this means that this is a Junior and multiple attack the village or it’s attacking earlier in this Loop, I’m unclear, but either way, Yusai steps in to kill the UMA using the iconic iaido that we’ve seen Andy use so often, only she has to do it without actually drawing her blade. Frankly the fact that she destroyed a UMA’s core with her sheathe is pretty damn impressive, imagine how strong she’ll be once she learns how to overcome that limitation like the previous Yusai did

They ask Isshin 12 to join their cause, but he declines on the basis that he can’t leave his home unprotected. In comes Isshin’s dad with who else but little baby Isshin on his back! She’s so cute, and I am reaffirmed in my decision to name my Tinkatink after her in Pokemon Scarlet. She’s even got her hair in a little knot! Seeing her bap away her loving grandpa is super endearing, this is the kind of thing I want to see more of

Fuuko immediately clocks that this Isshin, referring to her by her true name of Haruka, confirming for Isshin 12 that Fuuko’s story about the timeloop is true. Moved by Fuuko’s tears of joy and the tale of Haruka’s exploits as the next Unbreakable, Isshin 12 changes his mind and decides to accept Fuuko’s invitation

I did mention Isshin as a possible recruit last week, but somehow I forgot to mention the logical inconsistency at the time: see, I knew that Isshin was 23 in 2020, meaning that she was born in 1997, making her only two years old in 1999. I knew that, and I knew that her grandfather should still have been alive at this time, but I just...didn’t bring that up last time. Can’t remember why. BUT I did say we might get Unbreakable and we did, so there

So there you have it, an attacker and a support, that’s both of the recruits Fuuko said she wanted, so now we’re ready to go to the South China Sea, yeah? Well surprisingly, no! Because somehow Fuuko has been made aware of a third recruit she wants: everyone’s favorite guy, SEAN DATZ!

Wait, Sean Datz? In 1999? But he was 18 in 2020 last time! He’s not supposed to be born for another three years, but here he is, about...what, 15? He seems younger than in 2020, but it’s a bit hard to tell, so maybe not. Either way, he’s clearly a 90′s kid now, but how can that be? Well according to Fuuko, he was actually born early somehow, and she attributes this to everyone’s souls actively trying to help her reunite them all

That’s...a little odd, since Sean seems to be the only one who was explicitly born early, but...maybe that’s why Fuuko thought she had till 2003? Maybe everything is happening earlier...? I don’t know. Maybe Sean is just that cosmically unimportant that he can be reinserted into the timeline anywhere and it doesn’t matter. What a loser, the flow of time doesn’t even care when he’s born

I also love that Nico conjectures that the souls trying to help Fuuko is a sign that they all love her, but Sean literally had one interaction with her: he tried to kill her and got cut in half for it! If anyone should want nothing to do with her, it’s him! He’s just the weirdest one to use as an example for this, I really hope this gets expounded upon next week

The team tracks Sean with infrared as he’s only unable to be seen by light, not heat, though perhaps he’ll be able to remove that weakness later, and he’s able to run through the streets of Brazil with his eyes closed without any issue. It looks like he’s memorized the layout of the city, but it’s more impressive that he hasn’t bumped into anyone. Maybe his senses are pretty sharp? Not sharp enough not to bump into Void, though, who paralyzes him with Unavoidable. Naturally, this only keeps him from continuing to run or close his eyes to become invisible again, but does not keep him from drawing his iconic butterfly knife

Fuuko sees this coming though and brings him to the ground, knocking his knife out of his hand and embedding it just like what happened last time. Of course this time he’s not cut in half, so maybe this is the beginning of Sean’s redemption arc. Maybe this is his Bellamy moment where after suffering a parallel defeat to his previous one, he shows that he’s actually pretty likable and endearing?

I wanted to make a joke about how I’d hate this series for making Sean likable, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I actually really like the idea of Sean becoming an actual character, and Tozuka has done a great job so far of endearing us to previously one-note characters, so I’m excited to see what kind of dynamic Sean brings to the table

All in all, this wasn’t a mind-blowing chapter since it’s mostly set up for what’s to come next, but I don’t think it needs to be a banger every single week. I saw someone say on twitter that this arc feels stale because the stakes are so low, and while they went on to write a nice analysis of Undead Unluck as a metaphor for trauma and grief, I just couldn’t get behind their initial premise. We already know what the stakes are for this arc, they were illustrated for us quite clearly not twenty chapters ago: we saw everyone and everything reduced to ash and rubble. We saw all of our friends give their lives with tears on their cheeks and blood on their hands to ensure Fuuko made it to the next world to prevent this from ever happening again

These people are what’s at stake. Their lives, their loved ones, their happiness, all of that is on the line here, and this person thinks it’s stale? Sorry pal, that’s just a bad take all around. I think they’re mistaking “stakes” with “an immediate threat.” No, there’s no major arc villain to face right now, only the abstract knowledge that one wrong move will result in someone repeating the tragedies of their past, but that’s a pretty key concept in narrative fiction: character-driven storytelling

See, Undead Unluck is a character-driven story disguised as a plot-driven one. Fuuko and Andy’s involvement in the Union is 100% motivated by what they want: to stop being Negators so they can live (and die) normally. Every action they take is motivated by what they want or their morals, not by their immediate needs as the plot demands. However, the story is FRAMED as being plot-driven because Apocalypse literally tells the cast what to do and where to go next. Go capture Spoil to get Unrepair’s location, go kill the Seasons to prevent Ragnarok; these are plot points that decide the literal next step in the story, giving the illusion of a plot-driven narrative, but now? Fuuko’s calling the shots. Fuuko’s only going on Quests that she wants to go on that further the agenda she’s decided on, the narrative is no longer driven by the needs of the plot but by the desires of the characters. Fuuko and co. aren’t fighting with the goal of killing God, they’re fighting with the goal of living how they want. They’re explicitly rejecting the plot-driven narrative to replace it with a character-driven one, changing the rules of the world to those of self-determination if you will

Seeing the previously unused characters become more fleshed out in their personalities and their interactions may not be the kind of hard-hitting, pulse-pounding action you’ve come to expect from fights like the Union/Under vs. Sun, but to me it’s everything I ever wanted from this series and from manga as a whole. I want to get to know these people, I want to see how they get along with each other. I want to know what they’re actually, literally fighting for, not the contextual reason why they’re fighting, and watching Fuuko cry over meeting her friend as a baby? That tells me so much more than an all out brawl against some monster ever could

[lady-wallace]

Fanfic Paperback Bind-Up Interest Check

**EDIT** I’ll be leaving this form up for another week to get a few more responses, but from what I’ve heard from you all so far, I’m excited to say that I’ll definitely be going forward with the project! And I will be posting another form soon to vote on what the second story I’ll be releasing will be. Thank you everyone who has filled this out so far! ~~~

Hey everyone! I’m trying to plan out a couple projects I’d like to do next year and one of them (something I’ve been thinking of for a while) is publishing a couple of my fanfics in paperback.

I will be starting with Family Matters and probably one other longer fic or short story collection for the first round and if that is successful I will probably do more in the future.

If you are one of my readers, please take a moment to give me your opinion on this project by filling out this interest check: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1T_RExqc_abhHkor1SlrMOYkXYUYld-iO7Rtw1qYm9eA/edit

These copies would ideally have exclusive content to them and will not just be a copy/paste of the ones on Ao3. I will be doing extensive edits with the likelihood of adding extensions to scenes or even new scenes all together. They will also be fully illustrated with black and white pen and ink style illustrations and given shiny covers. All the art will be specifically done for the paperback copies (and probably PDFs as well for versatility) so even if the stories already have art for them, this will all be fresh.

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me :)

[hepatosaurus]

2022 AO3 Wrapped!

Last year, inspired by some people on discord, I decided to actually track my fic reading for once. I’ve been logging my books and movies for a good 20 years now, so why not try that with fic? I hoped it might help me comment more too, or at least get a sort of baseline number that I could improve on. So, after crunching the numbers: I read 110 fics and 1,188,700 words across 15 fandoms (...more on that last point later)! It was a fun experiment that I’ll definitely do again, with some tweaks. Please forgive any weird numbers/percentages; I haven’t taken a math class in manymany years, and it probably (definitely?) shows. The vibes are accurate, at least.

(I posted an earlier (and shorter) version of this on twitter, but wanted to archive it here too for posterity’s sake because...twitter.)

Word count

This is about what I expected, though I was surprised to see that I only read one 50-100k fic (only one 100k+ fic too, but that doesn’t surprise me at all). I finished up a couple long(er) fic in January (notably, one 200k+ fic), hence the high numbers there, and only read one (1!) fic in July, which explains those low numbers. Otherwise I generally read between 50-100k total per month.

More details behind the cut, aka god damn girl, you sure know what you like and stick with it, huh. (I really hope this text cut works...)

Top Fandoms

So, about those 15 fandoms. I really did think I might have more variety back in January - like maybe I’d be able to chart fandom trends over the months, something like that! - but lol nope. My FE3H fixation is still going strong, three years later. I’ll get to those Witch Hat Atelier and Stranger Things fics in my Marked for Later pile...eventually.

Top Authors

110 fics, 80 authors! There were definitely some repeat offenders: merionettes! desmodus! notallbees! printers_devil! epistrophic! nebulia! No names in the pie chart, but look at those pretty colors. You're all stars.

Top Pairings

No real surprises here. I’ve been in sylvix hell since early 2020 so I knew they’d dominate, but there’s an okay showing from...other Sylvain ships...and gen! and Claude ships! Hi Claude! (Graph cuts off at 20 for my sanity.)

Top Characters

Ha. ha ha ha ha ha ha. Surprise! Listen: I knew Sylvain would be #1, I’m not an idiot. However I did NOT realize he featured in 60% of the fic I read in 2022, jeeeesus christ man. (He’s versatile, okay!!!) Chief Blorbo aside, my Blue Lions/Golden Deer bias persists. Maybe in 2023 I'll read all those Black Eagles fics I saved? Or fic from other fandoms?? (Again, chart cut off at 20 for sanity.)

Tags, Tropes, and Ratings

Looks like I sure read a lot of horny post-canon friends-to-lovers get-together fics with a good dose of pining, huh. That...tracks. Regarding AUs, modern AUs won (14.8%), followed by college/university, canon divergent, and modern with magic. Also fun: figure skating! magical girls! rock band! time loops!

I definitely need to rethink how I track nsfw content though - it’s very inconsistent and redundant here, and doesn’t really tell me anything. The explicit rating is self explanatory, but what’s the deal with those different NSFW and smut numbers? Where did I draw the line? It probably make more sense to scrap the latter tag and just track PWPs.

Etc: Commenting, Rereading, Reccing, and Bookmarks

Commenting: I mentioned earlier that I hoped logging my fic reading would help me comment more, or at least find out how frequently I leave comments, and turns out that number is 46/110, or 41.8%. (Mer reminded me that this number does NOT include alpha reader comments, which is very true. ✨⛸️) Not bad, but I think 50% (or more?) is definitely doable next year. This whole practice really did help me comment more - it made me stop and think about exactly what I did or didn’t like about each fic I read, from <1k vignettes to 200k+ canon retellings. Obviously I’m not telling the authors what I didn’t like, but as for the good stuff...like, I found a lot of compliments hidden in the Comments/Notes field of my spreadsheet that never actually made it to a proper comment, but they definitely could have. I’m never gonna be a person who comments on everything, and I’m NOT going to lie and tell an author that I liked their fic when I really...didn’t? but: 50%. I think I can do that.

(also I cannot emphasize enough how great it was to have a completely private space to bitch about terrible (or not-so-terrible) fanfic. does this fic use too many repetitive epithets? does that author NOT understand Character Y at ALL? was the resolution to this otherwise decent fic just a liiiittle too rushed? tell it to the google form!!! A+ would recommend.)

Rereads: As expected! I don’t reread a ton, with some exceptions. (Honestly a lot of my non-FE fics this year were rereads of old favorites.)

Bookmarks: Without double-checking, I think I bookmarked fewer fics compared to previous years, mostly because I was already keeping track of them in my spreadsheet. I’d like to get a little better at consciously bookmarking fic going forward, though - it’s really handy to have a public, easily accessible list of my faves. (I also say this as someone who frequently raids the public bookmarks of other commenters/authors/etc.)

Recs: 46.4% “yes”! interesting. Only one hard no, and that was partially my fault for not reading tags/warnings correctly.

In an ideal world I’d have some actual fic recs here too, but that...did not happen.

Overall!

This was a fun and very satisfying experiment, especially as someone who loves tracking things. I know a lot of people hate the idea of having an actual/official AO3 Wrapped, and honestly I wouldn’t like that either, but it was fun to actively (and manually) subject myself to this particular Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known Through Fanfic Tropes. I DO think it made me read fic a little more...deliberately? And therefore I read a little less fic than normal, maybe. I noticed that I hardly dropped any fic at all, either because I was more picky with what I read or I just powered through, and I don’t think that was the case in previous years. There was also a tiny bit of pressure at the beginning to start off the year with the “right” fic. Like, “oh god is my first fic of the year seriously going to be this unfinished 2nd person, woke-up-with-the-wrong-junk CYOA in which Claude and Lorenz investigate fuckplants and discover the true meaning of friendship.” (for the record, it was not my first fic of the year, but I DO recommend it.)

God this is long. One benefit of twitter is that it doesn’t allow me to ramble on like this, but oh well, that’s what you get. I really, really hope the cut tag worked.

[woodsteingirl]

sam you have such a goood fashion sense ...... how do you find good clothes ... (<- shes going shopping today & has no idea what to look for)

eek sorry this is so late, but usually when shopping for anything that isn’t dresses i go for neutrals like brown, black, white, navy blue, et cetera because there’s a lot of versatility that you can get out of there, but if you find something that you like in a like prominent color that is NOT to say don’t get it, like i have those pink pants which i consider a statement piece in my wardrobe, i just don’t like. look for bright colored pants or tank tops (this is what i use in my wardrobe instead of t-shirts because i don’t like t-shirts.) when i go out and stuff, those are usually neutrals because they are like. base layers.

for dresses i think it depends sooo much on personal preference, i love wearing dresses more than anything so i look for them often but some people don’t like them, so how often you would wear something should probably go into whether or not you buy it. here i like to find more colorful statement pieces, because with dresses you don’t have to worry as much about matching them with pants or a top and stuff. dresses are just by themselves most of the time — so i would say just use personal discretion and stuff.

okay here is the REAL secret of my wardrobe and it’s sweaters, jackets, and outerwear. if you get a bunch of colorful outerwear you can make like a ton of different outfits from the same base layer. these pictures aren’t great and they’re from a while ago, but this is what i mean the tone of the outfit completely changes based on what i’m wearing on top. i loveeeee colors here it makes color contrasting with your base layer easier and it makes the outfits you wear with the same base layer look different. i love cardigans and suit jackets, cardigans can be light and work well in the summer.

i also want to take a moment to promote these sheer/chiffon cardigans/kimonos. they’re SO fun and i will stand by them forever the two on the opposite ends are from maurice’s and the first one is on sale as of today for like nine bucks which is a literal STEAL i think i’ll probably buy it for myself… these are sooo fun because they are light for the summer and they just look unreasonably cool… the patterns are always fun and it makes for being able to wear it with a lot of base layer colors because they are usually quite colorful. ALSO you can use it like a sort of dressing gown which is also fun…

that is my advice if you want more specifics feel free to ask this is just like a general overview, but i hope i could help!!

[topioswords]

Customer Service

People underestimate the versatility of a pocket folding knife Noir had decided about 4 weeks into his self exile slash career change to outlaw. That still holds true, not that it is a quality specimen he’s got his hands on, but it has helped him out of some tricky spots so far. Like the cover to his charger port being stuck again. He shifts his head to get a better view, tilting the blade and - there. The edge of the semi-hidden leg port gets another nick as the dull blade scrapes against the slightly warped edge before hitting the right spot, but among all the other assorted scuffs and scratches it is hardly something you’d notice. 

Just another scar, figuratively speaking. 

Too bad bots generally don’t really go for that being a sign of honor. Then again, he isn’t exactly planning to go noticed among his own kind.

Noir checks again, but aside from a couple of cameras, which he gently redirects to elsewhere, nobody is trying to pay him any attention. Spaceports really are a blessing, that mix of people moving about hurriedly and being stuck in transit sometimes for days on end is perfect. As long as you keep to yourself nobody’s bothered by your behavior being a little off. Plus, there's the ample more or less free access recharging spots. Noir slumps back into the seemingly deliberately uncomfortable chair and thanks whatever sucky god that decided to bless him with this small mercy. He hasn’t had a decent recharge in days, he doesn’t even want to look over the list of things he’s had to shut down or set on standby near the end.

A message weasels in somehow, even though Noir could have sworn he’d blocked that function off solidly a while ag-oh wait, the half blind shut downs, he might’ve loosened up on other systems’ access. Well, fuck. 

>> Do you require assistance? It says, the reply cursor blinking at him accusingly.

>> no  he writes back glumly, checking the time stamp. It’s been there a while, he should’ve noticed. Who is this even? 

There’s a lot of people and bots at a place like this. Lots of customer service and general service models that would offer help cause that’s what they’re there for. It sounds almost like that kind of inquiry. Only the tone’s a little off, ask him how he knows, haha not like he hasn't been there done that for the majority of his functionality.

>> Are you certain whoever it is writes back, definitely too fast to be a human response. 

Which.

Is bad. Probably.

Dodging questions is easier with humans somehow.

Noir could answer instantly, he’s not that laggy, but that’d strip any hope he has of feigning being a modified human. Poking around his access settings delays his reaction a bit but not enough, his danger assessment is having a grand time somewhere at the back presenting worst case scenarios while he waits.

“I’m fine,” he says, deliberately not texting back.

The surface skimming he’s getting from the nearby service models doesn’t show any attempts at contacting him, he broadens his range a bit, adjusting the parameters. Noir runs his fingers along the edge of the lens, like that’ll somehow help focus.

A message tics in the same moment he finishes speaking very nearly ‘That leg doesn’t look fine.’

There's a location pushed at him, uninvited, and doesn’t manage to stop it before his camera picks up on the sleek matte black bot tapping its own leg inconspicuously, right where his is messed up the most. Its smooth full-face display is doing a deliberately pixelated smile and wink at him. He knows that style. It’s the one they prototyped for more complex Lux models, only the quality is arguably better.

That stupid expression configuration was trademarked

Shit.

>> What. Do you. Want. he writes, bitterly, because he doesn’t trust his voice right now.

>> How much of you is Original? they answer back with absolutely no hesitation. Like they aren’t even gonna pretend both of them know what he’s hiding under two and a half layers of clothes and a fox face.

There’s a nasty drop in performance as his threat assessment takes that bit of data in. It’s not exactly a safe question no matter how he tries to twist and turn it.

>> None of your business Noir sends, giving up on feigning human slowness.

>> It’s rare, finding working Lux models in the open, especially after the callback. 

They’re folding their dumb hover arms, leaning nonchalantly against the railing a floor up, and Noir pointedly makes sure not to turn his head towards them even though he knows they know he’s seen them.

He’s also refusing to look up what that matte jerk is talking about. Knowing isn’t gonna help him out of whatever situation this is.

>> I’m not a Lux model, Noir sends, stubbornly.

>> Well, I suppose a mod is more accurate, if you want to be technical. But I am a bit of a connoisseur at this point. I’d know that joint outline anywhere. And it’s not one that integrates well with flesh.

Noir stares at his ankle joint, which isn’t even that exposed, that is some impressive visuals the creep has. 

>> Maybe I just couldn’t afford proper prosthetics and made do with what I could get cheap, he responds, hoping for a miracle he doesn’t really believe in.

>> Lux parts are not cheap, they answer back, confirming Noir’s suspicion he can’t just squirm out of this awful conversation. That stupid copycat smile curls at the edges as he tugs the pant leg down to cover that bit of exposed frame. ‘Also, your ID is still reading Lux Industries.’

“Crap,” Noir says to himself. He never should’ve responded by text.

>> You’re not very good at the famous Lux service mindedness, the matte asshole writes after Noir has given them the silent treatment for 138 seconds straight, or in more human terms… forever. Noir audibly scoffs and folds his arms. 

>> Never said I was one. And what, are you dumb enough to think customer service people are just like that all the time?

They shift their dumb elegantly angled frame enough that Noir can follow it even at the not optimal angle and rests their arms in a new, more thoughtful pose.

Noir hates that he can tell that design is built over the same base concept as his, only refined. Showoff.

>> I have studied several, never got to see a Lux in action though

>> And you won’t. Stop implying I’m one, I’m not gonna dance for you no matter what tune you play.

>> A shame. You really are very rare now, records and demo versions really do not give an accurate sense of real life interaction. I would love to pick that programming of yours apart, see how it runs. Would you let me have a look? 

It doesn’t seem to really register what they’re saying is intensely creepy, or they’re just that arrogant, Noir keeps the annoyed yelling he wants to do down. 

>> Nope. Gonna call me in anytime soon, or are you gonna wait for me to start rusting away down here? he writes instead. Cause that is where this is going, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be the first time.

They do something with their hand, Noir can’t quite tell what from this angle, but something about it makes his much taxed threat assessment module have another fit. 

>> I won’t, for now, nobody has made a high enough bid. And you might change your mind. they send back, and before he can react they’ve slipped away.

Noir knows it won’t actually help any, but he still shudders, to get that staticky feeling clinging to his everything to go away.

He grabs his knife and charger and packs them away.

Something about this place doesn’t feel so safe anymore.

[love-karens-style]

School of Style – Beyond Basic Black: 3 Fast Facts

(source: © Dolce & Gabbana Menswear Fall/Winter 2015 Collection, via pintrest.com)

“Style is personality. It’s having the ability to look at things beyond fashion.” –Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana

1. Velvet Vibes – First up in today’s Edition gentlemen, I’d like to talk about the model’s elaborate and exquisite patterned pullover, if I may. From my personal perspective gentlemen, velvet is a lovely and luxurious fabric, which can be especially exceptional in the evenings, as it reflects light in a rather beautiful way. Gentlemen, I’m also happy to see this sort of clothing on the model, because it is not what I would describe as a ‘trendy’ item, as such. The colour black in particular, is very versatile, and will never go out of style. As a Style Advisor, I would not eagerly encourage my clients to be 'followers of fashion,' but to think more about suitable and sustainable style. My stance towards trends, can be backed by authors, Scott Omelianuk and Ted Allen, who their book, Things A Man Should Know About Style, can be quoted as saying, “To follow slavishly every new fashion trend because it is fashionable and trendy… is not what style is about.” Style, from my standpoint, is to do with investing in what works for you, rather than allowing trends to dictate what you should be wearing.

2. Healthy Hands – In second place gentlemen, may I kindly bring your attention to the model’s hands? As you may have noticed, they appear to be moisturised and maintained, meaning that the model’s overall outfit is not ruined by dry, dull or dehydrated looking hands. Though gentlemen, I must mention that there is an effective way of applying hand cream, and I suspect that you may be applying it incorrectly. A brilliant beautician taught me that, you apply the product (hand cream) to the back of one hand, and then take the back of the other hand, rub the backs of your hands together, and then move on to the palms of your hands (which in my opinion doesn’t need as much product), not forgetting to work the product between the webs of your fingers. And voilà! Hydrated, happy hands. Moreover, according to author Robert O’Byrne, in his book, The Perfectly Groomed Gentleman, “Rough and calloused hands are not pleasant either to look at or to feel. They will let you down, particularly if you have taken the trouble over the rest of your appearance.”

3. Prominent Pattern – Finally gentlemen, as you may have probably noticed, the House of Dolce & Gabbana, decided to go for gold detailing. The detailing on the model’s top, from my personal perspective, serves as an interesting ‘accessory,’ and does not therefore, necessarily require any jewellery. Except a basic black watch, perhaps. Other pieces of jewellery could potentially take attention away from the fantastic features on the model’s top. So, gentlemen, always remember, “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance,” in the words of Coco Chanel.

Love, KF X                                                                                            

Happy to help: karensworldofstyle@live.co.uk or karens_style on X (Twitter)

This article was researched, written, edited, produced & published by Karen, on 26th August 2024