#legit really love this one

[marcelineuntitled]

i was planning on doing something else with this composition-wise, but now i don't think i will, so here!

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[isan0rt]

I'm doing my first reread of the back half of Dunmeshi, having forgotten a lot of the details of what happened because I read it all so fast (three days for the whole manga from start to finish) and damn. This panel from chapter 54. This fucking panel.

I'm sure I'm late to the party here and someone else has already talked about this but this panel is just. This whole sequence is just such a stark illustration of who Kabru is when the chips are down. He's out of his element. His plan to get the people out of the dungeon safely failed catastrophically in a way he (naively) didn't predict, but the Canaries did, and planned ahead for in exactly the way that is the most upsetting to Kabru personally. He's being actively retraumatized at this very moment by the panic as people flee, as people get poisoned outside Pattadol's barrier.

And he still saves this man.

He doesn't know this guy! He had never seen him before in his life. Everyone else in that crowd was already too late to save. But this guy wasn't! This guy wasn't, and Kabru put his neck on the line to rescue him without hesitation. His first thought was for identifying the person still trapped so he could be rescued. He didn't think for an instant about his own safety. The instant concern is not an act! Look at his face!

He didn't have to save this man... Except that he did, because of who he is as a person. There is no innocent human life that is disposable to Kabru, despite what the red herring of his reaction to the thieves at the beginning was. This is who Kabru is.

[madootles]

jon sims losing his mind in seasons two and three <333

the magnus archives has me in a serious chokehold right now

[egophiliac]

so on the subject of the "Crowley is secretly Revaan/Laverne/Levin/please Twst give us his name" theory, I think my feelings are best summed up as "I don't really buy it, but it's funny". like, in all seriousness, I'm not opposed to it; I have enjoyed the writing in Twst so far and I'm willing to trust that whatever happens will, you know, make sense and not be terrible. but I'm just not really convinced by the current evidence! maybe that'll change once we learn more, we'll see!

with that said, may I propose a few alternate theories about the possible Crowley/Revaan connection:

[s0fter-sin]

one of my favourite aspects of supernatural that you very rarely see in paranormal shows is that sam and dean are already versed in the world they live in. there’s no sudden discovery of ghosts and demons and now they have to learn about them along with the audience; they are born into it and already know all about it. it allows the audience to follow their personal story instead of also trying to figure out this new world and its rules

the first season is full of knowledge we never see them learn; “w*ndigoes are in the minnesota woods or- or northern michigan. i’ve never even heard of one this far west.” […] “great. well then this [his gun] is useless.” (1x02), “you don’t break a curse. you get the hell out of its way.” (1x08), d: “it’s a god. a pagan god, anyway.” […] “the annual cycle of its killings? and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. like some kind of fertility right.” […] s: “the last meal. given to sacrificial victims. d: “yeah, i’m thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” (1x11)

almost every episode in the first season is a monster they’ve faced before that they then explain to the audience in a way that should feel patronising; like it’s the same speech given over and over again but instead, the audience almost feels included in the knowledge. it’s stated with such an innate confidence and comfort in said knowledge that it feels like we already knew it too; “spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. if they want inside, they just go through the walls.” […] “the claws, the speed that it moves; could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog.” (1x02), “it's biblical numerology. you know noah's ark, it rained for forty days. the number means death.” (1x04), “no no no, not the reaper, a reaper. there's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names.” […] “you said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? reapers stop time. and you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why i could see it and you couldn't.” (1x12)

they already know and, at least in the first season, already have what they need to kill whatever they’re hunting; already know to salt and burn bones for spirits, fire for a w*ndigo, exorcisms for demons, a silver bullet to the heart for shapeshifters. there’s only three times in the entire first season that they run into something new to them; 1x14 when sam gets his first vision that leads him to another psychic, 1x16 when dean calls caleb for help on the sigil he put together and he tells him about daevas, and 1x20 when they find out vampires are real- and they only don’t know that bc john thought they were hunted to extinction and not worth mentioning

(there’s also technically two half instances if you count one of them knowing something the other doesn’t - sam figuring out the tulpa in 1x17 and dean already knowing about the shtriga in 1x18 - but those still rely on sam and dean having prior knowledge)

even when they’re uncertain about facing something, it’s not bc they don’t know what it is; it’s precisely bc they know what it is and acknowledge that it’ll be a difficult hunt (“i don't know, man. this isn't our normal gig. i mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. this is big. and i wish dad was here.” 1x04)

so much of the tension in paranormal shows typically comes from the main character(s) not knowing what is happening to them/the people around them and having to find out how to resolve it. supernatural is unique in that it operates more like a police procedural. the tension comes from solving the clues and identifying patterns to figure out who (what) the killer is and intercepting before they can take another victim

it’s such a different tone to go for when compared to other shows that came both before, during, and after its run. it sets sam and dean on even footing with each other since they both have the same knowledge going in, and it puts them in a place of authority usually reserved for an outside character

the shows i compare spn to most is charmed, buffy and teen wolf; every main character in those shows are brought into the paranormal world knowing nothing, putting them on the same level as the audience, and they have their mc interact with others already knowledgeable about that world in order to overcome their problem/monster of the week. the audience organically learns about this new world as the characters learn about it. it’s a sound writing strategy that prevents “as we already know”-style exposition but something that complicates it is if your world building isn’t unique or intriguing enough, this slow introduction can become boring

we’ve seen shows like these before; sitting through the same tropes of characters learning to use their powers, struggling with no longer feeling normal/relating to the regular world around them, and not knowing how much they can trust the people already involved in this new world gets repetitive. all three shows eventually reach the same level of comfort with their new world that spn starts with but if the characters aren’t enough to draw you in, you can end up dropping it before they reach that point (and often, before the overarching plot can really kick in and evolve the show beyond the villain of the week format)

it’s the superhero origin movie in tv format; dragged out and overplayed. dropping the audience into an established world of course comes with its own problems but you also have the benefit of pre-existing established character dynamics that let the audience slot in like they’ve always been there instead of just getting to know all the characters while the characters also get to know each other

sam and dean already knowing about the supernatural lets the audience immediately get to the core of the story; the conflict between sam and dean, the search for their father, and the mystery of what killed their mother

[i-am-as-normal-as-you-are]

Keep thinking about this Payneland Sentinels/Guides + Wing AU idea I had awhile ago SO y'all get to deal with me rambling

Quick info about Sentinels and Guides

~ A Sentinel is a person with enhanced senses (touch, sight, hearing, smelling, and taste), due to the enhanced senses it can become very overwhelming - similar to pulling a muscle, that can happen with their senses being too overstimulated

~ Guides help to ground and calm a Sentinel

~ Together they can help control and focus a Sentinel's abilities as well

Check out this cool Sentinels and Guides info post if you don't know what they are, the person does a great job explaining things

Now rambling time

Edwin is a Sentinel and Charles is a Guide

Overall Sentinels and Guides are rarities here, they were less known about during Edwin's time and were shunned - during Charles' time there was more knowledge on them but they still weren't really accepted by everyone - then modern day there's definitely better acceptance compared to the past + laws/rights protecting them

While Edwin was alive, he didn't have a Guide, but had some control to not get too overwhelmed due to his enhanced senses (or at least not show it around others, otherwise he'd definitely hear about it from his family)

But Hell threw that bit of control and composure out the window with how intense it was.

He thought that with escaping he'd be able to get some reprieve, but he still feels too much, and there's so many new things around him that it takes awhile to attempt adjusting.

Then he stumbles onto Charles and things start to feel a little less, more comfortable and controlled.

When Charles dies, they learn that he can't feel things like before, which they assume is the norm for ghosts. BUT he can feel Edwin perfectly fine, especially after bonding. He only has senses when it regards Edwin, like for example he can smell Edwin's ghostly hair pomade. Plus Charles is able to detect him nearby.

(I hc that a lot of ghost's senses are dulled or seem off compared to when alive, like touching things feel odd or smells seem dulled - so Charles would follow that logic + the special added bonus of properly feeling Edwin and his senses being able to detect Edwin due to being his Guide)

They learn that Edwin has all of his enhanced senses in tact, so for example he's still capable of tasting/eating but doesn't need to eat since he's a ghost so he doesn't see a point in doing it unless if it's necessary for a case (sometimes Edwin wishes he could give that capability to Charles since Charles reminisces and misses food a lot)

During the beginning, they basically had to stay attached at the hip. Anytime they'd tried to do something separately, Edwin would get spikes or zone-out frequently. Edwin hated feeling so useless plus thinking that he's trapped Charles where he won't move on due to Edwin's reliance on him - Charles does enjoy being around Edwin, he also really enjoys that he can feel and sense him, he's now in a world that he can't properly feel things like when alive but then there's Edwin as his beacon, but sometimes he worries that he's just using Edwin to feel something like 'Am I touching him too much, is he uncomfortable and just not saying anything?'

Things improve overtime where they can go do their own thing from time to time, but still just usually default to sticking together. They started taking on cases especially since Edwin's enhanced senses seemed perfect for it.

Also at first they bond and see it as plantonic.

It isn't till Crystal comes around which causes Edwin to have more territorial/protective instincts and jealousy come out regarding Charles + all of the stuff in Port Townsend, that they start to think about taking it further towards it being romantic.

(Bonus: Crystal thinking they're already together cause they constantly touch each other and have been caught cuddling together)

Then combining the wing au idea with the Sentinel/Guide stuff

So here Sentinels and Guides are also born with wings, at times it's used as a way to help easily spot others (So for example, in modern day if an unbonded Sentinel might be having a spike or zone-out, others might seek out the nearest person with wings who is an unbonded Guide to assist the Sentinel)

Edwin has the wings of a Little Owl and Charles has the wings of a Laggar Falcon

When alive, Edwin was to bind his wings and hide them so others wouldn't see them, only able to have them out in private. Then while in Hell, he had to learn the habit of keeping his wings tucked very close to his body or else they would be a huge liability.

Charles keeps his wings out since he finds them cool, but also tries his best to keep them under control. Too many instances of him getting too excited and his wings accidentally knocking something over... his dad wasn't happy.. (His dad hates his wings, but his mom praises how beautiful they are)

After they meet and Edwin binds his wings out of habit, Charles immediately puts a stop to it cause that CAN'T be healthy. But Edwin will still keep them closely tucked to his body.

Edwin has found that when Charles helps him calm down, he quite enjoys when Charles wraps his wings around him to encompass both of them. It helps block things out.

Then it took awhile, mainly due to Edwin not being as open about his wings, where they help preen/groom each other's wings

Edwin was used to making do on his own, while Charles usually had help from his mom. So it started with Charles asking for help, then Charles saw what Edwin was doing and decided that boy needs help (like 'Edwin this spot is an absolute mess cause you can't reach it properly, I'm helping you')

[fluffyartbl0g]

The one piece reread only makes the hardest moments hit even harder,,,, even when you’re rereading it poorly in portugese

Or AKA, i found out today that HINATA SHOYO reads one piece and I haven’t recovered since

[a-stars-art-blog]

I think about them too much. Exhibit Z

[solaestial]

more rpgmaker experimentation with a potential little scenario :>

[linkito]

to supplement the art I posted on my spicy blog— here’s an attempt at an infographic for the messy queer-platonic-romantic nonsense that’s going on within the ribbon gang! 🎀💕

Hurray!

[manalltheseart]

OMG finally finished this. I was actually drawing this just for funsies but then the event came up so why not?

Happy 4th Anniversary with the game that pulled me into interactive fiction, made me brainrot so hard and froth at the mouth for such a well written and thought out story, @evertidings

The illustration without the text is below:

[volaenii]

Wide eyed, you look at me. Set on fire in a silver dream

Close up for details!

[itagakimizuki]

YAGIRA YUYA as Agawa Daigo GANNIBAL (2025) 2.01-08

for @chayatorns 💕

[quibbs126]

Oh yeah, I was planning on saying “hey for Valentine’s Day, can someone draw Orion Pax and D-16 but with the vibes of this?”

Since for some reason this combo and picture gave me similar vibes to that pair

But Valentine’s is basically over now, so oh well. My bad. Should have posted the suggestion sooner

[variksel]

hot dndads take I bet glenn and erin wouldve fucked. if they had had the time.

they are enemies to loverenemies. in my mind. they are the blueprint to hero x taylor in s2