#made out of MAGIC no less

[whoslaurapalmer]

i had so much fun making the sweet dreams figure from the book of bill, that i decided to make something else from it -- the BILL CIPHER MATRYOSHKA

i only wound up making five of them, because my medium of choice was model magic, and, well i don't necessarily recommend it for making matryoshka, but, it worked out!!

the original art from the book of bill, done by louie zong --

and there it goes in action!!

and a secret surprise 👀

of course the littlest one has something special inside! oh! it's a coin!!

and what's on the other side?

oh hey, there's another one in there! wait, it's the......same coin??

huh. same coin? same coin.

[luna-loveboop]

A concept:

This is their entire relationship

"I grew up in a cave and my motto is I DONT KNOW THE MEANING OF GIVING UP!!!"

And

"I was raised in a forest but am older with a wife and somehow (?) can act responsible"

They love each other. I feel like that panel is just how they interact ya know? Magic Cave Boy is excited and Disturbed Forest Boy is. somehow still acting responsible.

Also going through the comics and?? Like every frame with them is like this

More of their goofy little dynamic:

Art and odd little dudes from Jojo @linkeduniverse au

[multiiocular-mushroom]

francis madoka magica crozier

(the witch designs are here and also posted separately with some lore under the tag 'the soul gem passage')

[humanmaybe]

Listen the thing about walrus vs fairy is that fundamentally the question of shock is about the exact moment you open the door to find either a walrus or a fairy. Not how you feel after thinking about it for a bit - the initial surprise of opening the door to either a magical creature (which could look more or less humanoid) or a massive semi-aquatic animal (a fucking walrus)

Do you know how fuck off huge walruses are? Yeah I would have a bit of a crisis after learning magic exists and my understanding of the world has been completely re-written. But that’s still a fucking walrus, a large and sometimes aggressive sea animal which should not be anywhere near my house. My first reaction is going to be OH FUCK?? And probably closing the door before it gets inside or decides to be aggressive

[movedtodykedvonte]

My personal feelings in the Fionna and Cake ending is that it was perfect.

The story showed about how we can only control what is in our very personal and small world and not worry about or take on the responsibilities of that outside ourself.

We will make mistakes and wish we could rewrite them over and over and over until it’s perfect but we can’t. We will hate aspects of our lives and adore aspects of lives we don’t know the intricacies or hardships of but we can not insert ourselves. We have our own lives to live and rather than define it by a given purpose let us define the purpose as we go along. Not everything is revealed when it’s over, you may not get the answers but it’s okay to go somewhere and not know.

Some endings are happy, some are sad and some are just that, endings. They don’t have neat little bows or a “The End” on the last page but they allow us to put the past down and move on to whatever else lies ahead.

[redrobin-detective]

Shout out to the fics you read years and years ago, fics you found on a whim late at night and read and moved on and yet their stories haunt. Pour one out for those fics you stand no chance in hell of finding again and yet even long after you read those words, you still find yourself affected by them. Here’s to the stories that exist without name, author or even words but just the gentle impression they left on you long ago.

[aroacettorney]

tbh i wish aup had more reps for characters who achieve greatness purely through hard work and effort. the emphasis on genius/being special is mayhaps way too much to the point that it feels kinda damn depressing for those who aint born as one.

[arolesbianism]

A mini Meiro ref

[squarebracketsmileyface]

okay hear me out, hold me like a grudge by fallout boy is also SIL jaylex

"Part-time soulmate, full-time problem"

You're so goddamn right. That line right there describes Jay and Alex to a tee, that's literally them.

wait ooo tim and Jay would be that other fob song that's like "Ex-friends, Better off as lovers" (or at least that's how Jay'd see it, cos Jay would also think he and Alex were "Part-time soulmate, full-time problem") Bang the doldrums, thats what "ex-friends, better off as lovers" is from

god Jay and Alex as "part time soulmate, full-time problem" tho, that's so fkdsajf cos like, they're so nearly soulmates. They're so nearly soulmates. They could have been soulmates but there was too much else going on, too many awful things going on around them, whether that's the Operator or Alex's upbringing with the internalised homophobia stuff.

God i need to write that oneshot about jaylex's first time together. I need to fully show just how almost soulmates they were.

[notmoreflippingelves]

Hi! I just read your post about Mateo recently. If I may, can you give me any specific instances in the narrative of the show where Mateo isn’t called out as heavily as they should have? I’m just curious?

During the Shuriki returns arc in particular, Mateo makes some pretty glaring mistakes that I feel like he should've gotten much more flack for (and based on what we see elsewhere in canon, I feel pretty confident that if Gabe, Naomi, Isa, or Esteban at least --and possibly even Elena-- had made these mistakes, they wouldn't have been swept under the rug nearly as quickly as they were for Mateo).

While it's unfair to completely blame Mateo for Carla's manipulating him during the "Rita" arc, I feel like it's reasonable to hold him a *bit* accountable. He did after all blab highly confidential information (on more than one occasion) to try and impress a pretty girl with how clever and important he was. (Something tells me that if any of the others had done likewise, they would've been called out for it. But because it's "beloved" Mateo, we don't even get "wait, you told Rita how to get into your workshop? And you've known her for only a few weeks? What were you thinking, Mateo?") Moreover, he never even apologizes for this or promises to do better/be more careful with such important, sensitive information in the future.

Even more aggravating is his behavior in "The Scepter of Night." Mateo is so eager to play the hero and claim all the glory for himself that he twice (!) disobeys a direct order/abandons the plan and goes looking for the scepter piece on his own. This directly leads to Fiero and Victor finding the scepter piece and (temporarily) stealing it. And it's really only due to luck and very conveniently-timed infighting amongst Shuriki's allies that Elena and co. are able to get the scepter piece back. While Mateo does receive some (brief) criticism, it's nowhere near the level that it should be.

Also noteworthy Elena doesn't really get particularly "mad" at him (especially considering how angry we see her get at other characters even for more minor things) . She's not truly, actually angry at Mateo (and Gabe and Naomi are only a bit angrier); she's just a little frustrated and disappointed at him in the moment. And apart from a (very short) little "do better next time" speech, Mateo doesn't face any real consequences or lingering resentment unlike other characters who do.

When Isa obeys direct orders in "Sister of Invention," she has to face consequences (Elena grounding her). Similarly, Elena holds a grudge against Esteban for days (if not weeks) after he interfered with the Feast of Friendship (a much lower stakes mistake than Mateo's imo). Moreover, it's possible to interpret Esteban's staying behind in Avalor when the others go to see the Norberg Lights as a punishment (either self-inflicted or imposed by Elena) for his actions in the previous episode.

In contrast, Mateo just gets a brief "I expected better from you" speech from Elena and Gabe jokingly assigning him push-ups as punishment (which he immediately takes back when Mateo tries to do them). I'll give Mateo a little bit of credit for actually apologizing this time (which he doesn't always do). But it's still frustrating that everyone is so ready to forgive and forget Mateo's missteps immediately while this same courtesy is seldom shown to others.

I think it's worth directly comparing a few Mateo-centric episodes with a few more similar ones that focus on other characters so that we can see how there does seem to be a noted narrative bias in his favor compared to the others.

Let's start with two "feeling kind of insecure" episodes: "Spellbound" for Mateo vs. "Naomi Knows Best" for Naomi. In the former, Mateo expresses doubt that he's capable of rising to the occasion as royal wizard. No one (except Gabe and he gets over it by the end of the episode) blames him for not having reached his full level of confidence and potential right away and not being able to immediately solve the problem. And Elena in particular (and by extension the narrative) gives him so much validation and support. Whereas in "Naomi Knows Best" (and to a lesser extent "Finders Leapers" and the "Carla-as-Rita" arc as well) the narrative "punishes" Naomi for her feelings of self-doubt. We're told that *if only* Naomi had trusted her gut instincts and stood her ground right away, Elena and co would not fallen right into the trap and that Naomi needs to screw her head back on straight and embrace confidence ASAP to fix her mistake.

When Mateo feels insecure, the narrative gives him every reassurance about how capable and special he is, that he can learn at his own pace, and his insecurity isn't really such a problem after all. When Naomi feels insecure, the narrative encourages her to get over her doubts as quickly as possible because unlike with Mateo, there's "no time" for her to wallow in self-doubt and actually the fact that she even had said doubt in the first place is what "caused" the disaster.

On a slightly different note, Naomi is also called out for taking a little free, fun time for herself in "The Last Laugh" when the group needs her, and yet somehow I have a feeling that Mateo would've been allowed to take a day off if he wanted without any protest. He complains about long hours in "Movin' on Up" and Elena gives him the big royal wizard's chambers for him to relax and unwind in. Naomi asks for one (1) day off to spend with her childhood friend for her birthday , and suddenly it's big drama. (And at the time, Naomi asked for said day off, all Elena needed from her was help doing paperwork. The Team Ash stuff came up unexpectedly.)

Similarly whenever Gabe and Mateo get their little rivalry on ("Spellbound," "Party of a Lifetime," "Captain Mateo" and a few other examples) , the narrative either presents them as equally at fault or Mateo as the only one in the right.

When Gabe brings in Bronzino to train the Royal Guards in magic, it's specifically because Mateo failed to explain how and why he was training the guards in the way he was. If he'd just explained how they were going apply the seemingly basic exercise they were doing to real magic, Gabe likely would've allowed Mateo to continue the training at his own pace.

(Also like. it's super hypocritical imo for Mateo to get annoyed at Gabe feeling impatient/impulsive about their apparent-lack-of progress when Mateo himself is easily the second most impulsive character in the show after Elena.) Mateo feels entitled to keep important information to himself (or blab it to a cute girl he barely knows) even when its no one else's best interest. He's only okay with being "cautious and patient" when he specifically is the one setting the pace. And yet, Gabe is the only one who is called out for his behavior in this episode--even though he might not have acted as he did if only Mateo had trusted him and the guards with an explanation in the first place.

And then there's just a few other "dude not cool" little moments that never really get acknowledged/Mateo never apologizes for. For instance, there a two low-key terrifying Mateo moments in "Captain Mateo" that are not only not acknowledged but are also framed in context as Mateo being just "so funny and quirky". Near the end of "Should be in Charge," Mateo magically gags Gabe so he can't protest anymore about Mateo taking over as leader of the mission. And this is after having already enchanted one of the stationary suits of armor to come to life and fight Gabe. (Gabe admittedly does lightly shove Mateo out of the way during his parts of the song, but that's still a far cry from literally drawing a sword on Mateo as Mateo does via magic to Gabe.)

It's played for laughs (The Grand Council is just smiling happily in the background throughout the scene which is so yikes), so it's easy to overlook what's actually happening. Frankly, it's pretty horrifying that Mateo's natural instinct upon his experience/authority being questioned is to literally attack and then silence. (And attack and silence someone who is supposed to be one of his best friends and closest allies at that!)

Rather than the narrative acknowledging that maybe it's a bad idea to immediately grant power to someone to someone who is so retaliatory against fairly minor criticism, the Grand Council just gives Mateo exactly what he wants and doesn't even offer a "maybe next time, let's not gag or attack our friends, okay?" alongside it. I mean sure Mateo does step down as captain at the end of the episode, but it's very specifically presented as his and Gabe's voluntary choice and not an order from Elena/the Council.

[absurdist-void]

MY BABY GIRL IS ALL GROWED UP!!!!!!!!

[giantkillerjack]

Anastasia the Musical sucks so bad. They really said "We're gonna cut the best song from the movie - just axe the absolute banger that is 'In the Dark of the Night' - because we are being SERIOUS and GROWN-UP now. We are A Big Historical Realism Musical Now. This is FOR REAL, okay!? We don't have a SILLY villain like Rasputin! We have Gleb! [Please Just Clap.] We are HISTORICALLY GROUNDED. -- Anyway, here's a musical unironically glorifying the Russian monarchy~~ 💖😌💖😌💖😌💖"

[nejackdaw]

Man... I love the concept of Eragon's spellcasting so much. Usually spells draw on some sort of mana pool, in books and games, and if there's not enough left you simply cannot cast the spell you want to cast until there is.

Magic in Eragon doesn't care if you have enough "mana" left. Spellcasting in Eragon says "you invoked something ancient, and it is going to draw off your life in order to do what you asked, even if it kills you." You cannot stop once you start. Spellcasting is incredibly dangerous and takes a ton of training to (1) know your limits and what will go beyond them and (2) slowly, slowly increase that limit.

If your endurance and constitution are high enough, you can cast a complicated spell and come out of it feeling exhausted and kinda like shit, but it's done now. If they're not high enough, all you can do is sit there and slowly die knowing you made the wrong choice.

Idk I had a dream last night that used Eragon style magic and it was like WOAH

[mint-mumbles]

Gonna use this image any time someone says something low key sexist about Sable (ie "she's showing too much skin" regarding a fucking bathing suit 😭🤦)

I don't hear you complaining about Spirit 😭

[sualne]

been thinking a lot about the what happens post game and sycamore's hypothetical children.

[waitineedaname]

beloved tumblr mutual...... i see you post all the time about the show(?) with the pretty long hair men...... but dear lord what is it about. ive tried to piece it together but i just cannto understand. help me. help me beloved tumblr mutual. i need to know a vague summary !! :)

this series is always difficult to summarize concisely, but I will do my best!

the long hair prettymen series you're likely referring to is Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/MDZS/The Untamed! it was originally a BL novel series, but it was also made into a wildly successful live action drama (The Untamed) which was my avenue into the series! it's about the rise and fall of Wei Wuxian, an extremely talented cultivator (sword wizard) who goes from celebrated war hero to reviled necromancer. the series opens with his death and then resurrection 13~16 years later. it's about necromancy and the horrors of war and politics and reputation and the rumor mill and family and sacrifice, but it's also about what if the class clown bad boy and hall monitor valedictorian were madly in love with each other. it's also about one kid having a shit ton of uncles. it's great! I cannot recommend it enough, it's truly a delight to read and watch, even when it's supremely corny. the creator does a fantastic job of balancing humor and tragedy, and the characters make me want to eat drywall

however, the waters may be muddy, because recently I have started posting about another long haired prettyboy series, which is Scum Villain's Self-Saving System! it's another novel series by the same author as MDZS and I'm only halfway through it, but I'm having a great time. it's about a dude getting isekai'd into an absolutely horrible web novel that he obsessively hates, and he gets thrown in the villain's role. it's hysterical, and also has been shredding my heart periodically. but it's mostly very funny, and I'm obsessed with the characters. everyone in this series needs serious help, they're all fucked in the head