#this is a long post and it's extremely late

[plaguedocboi]

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make a post about this, but I think typing it out will make it feel more real to me.

My mom called me yesterday to tell me Tabasco cat had died.

It was extremely sudden and unexpected, and I didn’t even know that he was sick so it was all the more surprising. Apparently he wasn’t eating well on Sunday and breathing a little harder than usual, so my mom brought him to the vet Monday morning and he died that afternoon. He had a heart attack while they were doing lab work on him and they couldn’t bring him back.

Tabasco was born with feline leukemia, but never had symptoms. He lived years longer than his other siblings who inherited it, and was always a big, beautiful, healthy-looking cat with none of the problems his late brother Twig dealt with. But we knew he still probably wouldn’t live a long life, and I guess I’m glad he went quickly instead of the prolonged illness that Twig had.

I’ll miss you, you majestic orange beast.

[triglycercule]

happy birthday dust sans :3 ‼️🎊

"well, that's that. a grand execution, the perfect punishment for a sinner with lifetimes worth of crimes, and yet, nobody showed up, and dust didn't even try to fight back."

"heh. sounds pretty pathetic to me... but hey, maybe this was what he wanted."

"to die alone only accompanied by the ones he hated with nobody who he'd actually want to witness this?"

"maybe dying only with yourself would be less embarrassing than a public show. privacy is something you never realize you want until you lose it."

"... you were right, that does sound pathetic."

[shoutsofmybones]

On change in the Catholic Church.

I've been seeing a post go around where people are defending their stance that if the Catholic Church was to change its mind about gay sex being sinful they would have to leave because the Church would have been inconsistent, and therefore they wouldn't be able to believe in the holiness of the Catholic Church anymore. Because the Church going back on a stance on the inherent sinfulness of a group of people would be a great betrayal, simply because it's a doctrine held for centuries. I saw well-meaning and (I believe) perfectly reasonable and vaguely progressive people add that they believe this.

Not to be that guy, but does anyone on this website know that the Church already did this, not very long ago? Like, y'know, in Vatican II?

The Catholic Church, for centuries, was extremely antisemitic. This is not news, this is not a controversial opinion, this is fact. The Catholic Church was the primary driver of antisemitic speech and action in Europe, over many centuries. This was due to an actual doctrine the Church promoted, which held all Jewish people responsible for the death of Christ--the "deicide" accusation. This was a normal, accepted, established belief held by the Church for centuries. In the latter half of the 20th century, for obvious reasons, Church authorities realized that this needed to change. That they were responsible for unimaginable suffering, and that the teachings of the Church itself had to be wrong.

So, they changed the teachings.

I don't write this to deliberately shake anyone's faith. I just write this to say, if you need the Church to be consistent in order to be believable, it's too late. The Church has already been inconsistent. And it's not the end of the world. It's fine, and good, that the Church decided to change that teaching. Nobody's been smited, or anything. And, in my opinion, if the Church can change its mind about antisemitism, something that so occupied its actions during the entire Middle Ages, then maybe, just maybe, it can change its mind about other things, too.

[katiebuggg]

You really got a hold on me

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teddy boy John x reader fic!

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this is my first ever tumblr post so I'll be posting here until my ao3 account gets approved LOL If you guys like this fic I'll write chapter 2 and have it up by tmrw. enjoy!

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It’s early morning, February 1960, in Liverpool. In the silence of the night before, a quiet dusting of snow had fallen onto the still-sleeping city. The crisp air bites at Y/N’s nose as she hustles through the streets. Clutching a mess of papers to her chest, Y/N briefly glances down at her Sultana watch. Its face is small, and the band is a braided leather adorned with gold hardware. It was her first big purchase with the money she had earned herself—at the job she is now extremely late for.

“Shit!” she panics to herself as she quickens her pace, her heeled boots kicking up light snow as she dashes around one corner, then the next. Her heavy tote slides down her shoulder with every brisk step, making it difficult to keep the papers hugged to her fur-lined coat while simultaneously pulling up the bag’s slipping strap.

Finally, fifteen minutes late, Y/N tugs at the cold iron door handle of the building where she works. Her job at the local newspaper isn’t glamorous, but it keeps the lights on and puts her brand-new communications degree to use. She flashes a sheepish grin at the woman at the front desk—her friend Nancy. Nancy blinks back through her false eyelashes, unamused. She’s only a year older than Y/N but is quick-witted, sharp, and, most importantly, beautiful. Naturally, she worked her way up to the front desk swiftly. Her long, pin-straight black hair is pulled tightly into a French bun, and she wears a dark grey boxy dress with a thin white cardigan over top.

“Second time you’ve been late this month, Y/N. If the early morning stories are too difficult, you should consider taking more late-night ones,” Nancy says coolly as the phone rings on her desk.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Y/N groans, ignoring the comment about a schedule change.

Nancy pulls the phone to her ear and waves a dismissive hand at Y/N, who rolls her eyes before striding over to the elevator. She urgently presses the button for the seventh floor and slides in as soon as the doors open. The stale, damp smell of the office building elevator clings to her cold nose as she scans over the headlines of the stories in her hands: a section on local politics, sporting news from the weekend, and an advertisement for a hotel beneath them. Y/N exhales a puff of frustration as the elevator dings and opens onto her floor, where the loud chatter of typewriters fills the office.

She plops down into her wooden chair, placing the stack of papers on her desk before shimmying off her coat. Her job here is simple—look over the papers for errors, then pass the stories up to the publishing and printing department. Despite the simplicity of her work, she stays busy, tirelessly sifting through the news from one dull article to the next. Nothing ever really catches her eye or piques her interest. Y/N is considerably younger than most of her coworkers, except for Nancy, whom she keeps close. She wrapped up university quickly to jump-start her career, which she had imagined would be far more glamorous than this. Despite her disillusionment, she grabs a fountain pen from the cup of stationery on her desk and begins to review the stories carefully.

As the morning hours tick by, Y/N sifts through story after story, paper after paper, circling errors and drinking a generous amount of coffee. When the clock strikes noon and the church bell chimes from around the corner, she gathers her things for lunch and lugs her way downstairs to meet Nancy.

“Jesus,” Nancy chuckles dryly, wrapping a scarf around her neck and tugging on her gloves. “You look dead.”

Y/N groans in response, rubbing her eyes, her coat wrapped warmly around her.

“It’s been a relentless week… seriously,” Y/N mutters.

Nancy pulls her small purse onto her shoulder and links arms with Y/N as they step out of the building to grab lunch at their favorite café across the street. The bitter winter air stings their faces as cars whizz by, splashing slushy snow onto the wet pavement.

“You should tag along with me to the club tonight,” Nancy chirps as they cross the street.

“Are you kidding me? I’ll be knackered,” Y/N protests, still arm-in-arm with her friend.

“Oh, come on! It’s Friday, Y/N—live a little.” Nancy bumps her hip against Y/N’s, who rolls her eyes dramatically, letting her head fall back for added effect. Nancy chuckles.

“Fine, fine… but if I miss a story, it’ll be your head on the stake, not mine.”

The girls step into the warm, bustling café and slip into a cracked vinyl booth before continuing their lively chatter. Across the way, sipping steaming hot tea and sucking on cigarettes, sit two boys. One wears deep blue jeans and biker boots, while the other dons a pair of black slacks and saddle shoes. Both, however, wear thick, worn leather jackets over warm jumpers. They jabber loudly, smoke spilling from their smiling lips, curling around their booth in soft plumes.

Nancy notices them first and huffs. “Right, because the first thing you want to hear in a café is two teddies gobbin’ off,” she scoffs. “Give me a break.”

Her tone is loud and annoyed—no doubt meant for the boys to hear.

Y/N groans, covering her face with a menu. Since they met, Nancy has been known for her short temper and strong opinions. Y/N loves her for both of these things—one more than the other—but sometimes, it costs her sanity in public.

“Nancy… please,” Y/N warns through gritted teeth, giving her friend a pleading look.

Nancy ignores her, keeping her judgmental gaze fixed on the duo.

The boy in slacks turns his head toward them, meeting Nancy’s eyes for a split second before giving them both a once-over. He chuckles dryly, his eyes lingering lazily on Y/N a second longer before glancing back at his friend. He nudges him under the table and whispers something over his tea, making the other boy glance over as well. The one in jeans murmurs something back, and they both snicker. The sounds of other café patrons and kitchen clatter mask their quiet exchange.

Y/N can feel Nancy start to boil over, noticing her eyes haven’t moved an inch off the rowdy boys.

“Please, for my sake, do not—”

Before Y/N can finish her sentence, Nancy has already popped out of the booth and is storming over to the teddies.

Y/N groans and slides out after her.

“Oh-ho-ho! Here she comes!” the boy in slacks announces as Nancy furiously approaches. His auburn-brown hair matches his deep eyes, and a foxy grin spreads across his face. He holds up his hands in mock surrender, a cigarette pinched between two fingers of his right hand.

“Nobody in here wants to hear you two causing a racket,” Nancy announces, arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring down at the men with her famously unamused expression.

Y/N catches up behind her, eyebrows raised, her face pink with embarrassment. She shoots the boy in jeans a remorseful smile and pats Nancy on the shoulder, signaling it’s time to go.

“She doesn’t seem too bothered,” the boy in slacks says slyly, looking around Nancy to meet Y/N’s eyes. He flashes her a toothy grin.

“I’m John. Who—”

“No one gives a shit who you are. You lot are a bunch of bloody gobshites, anyway,” Nancy interrupts before turning on her heel, grabbing Y/N by the wrist, and dragging her toward the door.

“I’m Paul!” the other boy shouts in a pestering manner, followed by an eruption of laughter from both of them.

“Oh, piss off!” Nancy yells back before yanking Y/N outside, back into the cold streets of Liverpool.

[redsugarx]

青白之魅 6: Conclusion

1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion

If you’ve followed this series all the way to the end, thank you for your support! A lot more people saw it than I thought would, and I’m really happy that I got to share my process and thoughts with you :) I read all your replies/tags and they make me super happy! There are just a few more things I want to address to wrap things up now.

behind the scenes vid of me with Dragun that Bloomin Studio recorded for us :)

Things That Went Wrong

I am a strong believer in the scientific method and the scientific method involves error analysis!!!!! Also I don’t want it to look like all of this went off without a hitch. That wouldn’t be fair to the complexity of this project and all the people who helped me work through and solve the problems. So here are some of the ways in which We Fucked Up.

Embroidery positioning: The bottoms of the sleeves were accidentally sewn together before the pieces were sent to the embroidery workshop. If you put the whole sleeve into the machine the embroidery would go through both the front and back of the sleeve, making it unwearable. To solve this, we had to pull the stitches out from the bottom of the sleeve, have it embroidered, and then have it sent back to a tailor's shop to repair the seam. 

Tear in fabric: Lily organza/crystal organza admittedly is a very fragile fabric, especially for machine embroidering. It’s extremely thin, and the surface is very smooth and slippery, which looks phenomenal but makes embroidering it really hard. I covered this in the last post, but long story short, in the process of embroidering one sleeve on the green set, the fabric got snagged in the machinery and tore a hole in the bottom of the sleeve.

At first the plan was to remake the entire sleeve piece, but because the color of the fabric was custom-printed, when I had a new piece of fabric printed for the new sleeve, the color didn’t match exactly, so we had to make do with the existing fabric. In the end we shortened the width of the sleeve so that it cut off above the hole, moving the seam up. Thankfully it didn’t really show up in the pictures, but you can see when it’d laid flat how the ‘margin’ under the snake embroidery for this garment is unusually small, because it got cut off.

Lateness: We ran like a full hour or two overtime with our hair & makeup. This is unfortunately not at all unusual for fashion projects like this, but as a result we lost like a third of our photography time, so there were some shots that I would’ve loved to get that we didn’t have time for. 

Forgotten items: There were a number of things we forgot to bring down to SoCal with us. The biggest thing was probably our steamer. Fortunately, because this set is mostly polyester, it didn’t get too too wrinkled, but there are still some creases and folds that we would’ve steamed out had we gotten the chance.

Fav Shots

Shh not all of these are published anywhere else.

Things I Would've Done (if I had infinite time and money)

Lingzhi - I don't have any photos of it but I bought a replica lingzhi herb (the magic fungus that Bai Suzhen steals to revive Xu Xian after her dies of shock from seeing her snake form) prop. We didn't get around to using it but it would've been a really nice major callback to the story. Also I would've gotten to talk about how I think it's highly possible people thought the lingzhi was magic because they ate it and started tripping balls

Willow branches - Willow branches by the West Lake feature heavily in the opera. I wanted to get willow branches to hang from the backdrop but unfortunately wasn't able to find ones that were realistic enough. They were replaced with dried water reeds, but most of the pictures weren't shot high enough to get them in frame.

Swords - In the opera, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing both carry swords. Also, swords are also just cool as hell. I do own one prop sword, but it was too big to fit in my suitcase even diagonally, and also I really didn't want to deal with TSA side-eyeing me about it (even though it technically counts as a prop or sports equipment), so we did not get any swords in the photoshoot.

Extremely specific shot with snakes on the floor - I have this concept of a shot: the empty set, without me or my sister in it, with both Dragun and Spirit on the floor. It would be so cool to do like a snake form -> human form diptych concept! We didn't have time to get both the snakes out at the same time unfortunately. Artistic rendition below LOL

artist's rendition

Credits & Thanks

Credit should be served where credit is due!!! I probably mentioned most of them somewhere but I want to reiterate that a whole lot of people helped make this happen and I appreciate them a lot.

Day Of:

Yulan, as the White Snake (ig @/chlobaltblue), especially for all the Talking To People Thing parts (that I hate doing)

Bloomin Studio (ig @/bloominstudioofficial), photographer

Cujo from Art of Scales (ig @/art_of_scales), for providing us with Spirit & Dragun as well as the space

Kevin (ig/@k.evinzhao), for driving and getting us stuff

Preparation:

Jinerjia（cutting & sewing）

Xishi Pavilion (cutting & sewing）

Chenxi Workshop (cutting & sewing + alteration)

Hantangfengshang（cutting & sewing）

Changxin Embroidery (digitizing & machine embroidering + alteration)

Hanyiren (patternmaking + CAD)

Xingluzhe (fabric printing + laser cutting)

Final Thoughts

In the introduction I talked a little bit about our intentions with this project and the cultural elements that I attempted to adapt and interact with. The Legend of the White Snake is one of the most well-known Chinese folktales out there, and yet there are so many wonderfully intricate details within it that people don't know about.

Snakes have a bad reputation in a lot of cultures. Evil, dangerous, and malicious, they're often cast as the scheming villains of the story, sly and sneaky characters whose goal is to do you harm. They are not the only victims of a bad reputation—every great dynasty always has some beautiful woman to blame for its eventual downfall. People have been arguing over the game of fault and intention for centuries. Even in the hanfu community, there is an unprecedented amount of infighting over what should or should not count as hanfu, who is 'allowed' to appreciate it, or who can take 'ownership' of it.

I think that's the last thing we need in this day and age. I'm reflecting on this project at a time that is uniquely terrifying for many minorities, especially in the US, who seem to be being persecuted for the crime of simply existing. I don't claim to be fighting for justice, I'm just a student in a world that is far too large for anyone to comprehend. But I hope that I helped make something beautiful happen, and I hope that we shared that with someone else, even if it's just a few people, who are reminded that it's not all for nothing :)

-

Okay, we're pretty much done here. I really enjoyed this process and documenting the whole thing, and I definitely want to do something like this again someday, but I definitely don't have the energy to do this kind of thing very often! If a big project does come up again I'll probably document it in a similar way, but it probably won't be for several months/even years. I'll keep posting hanfu articles and maybe document some smaller single-post projects on here at some point :)

Thank you for letting me share this process with you, and feel free to reply/reblog/send asks/whatever with thoughts, questions or concerns! Please interact with me it brings me joy.

1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion

Here's a picture of my snake to close out (his name is Porcupine/Porky for short/滷肉飯 and he's the dumbest animal I've ever met)

[revolutionsingingintherainnn]

Say what you have to say about the tiktok(about what zak said) i need someone to yap about this

this is in reference to this post

i feel like i always need to make disclaimers before this sort of thing. i love lando. i love oscar. i'm not hating on any of them. i receive no joy from hating on either of them. i'm only saying what i have seen, and what i have understood. people can disagree with me. as long as you do it respectfully, i don't mind.

now. coming to the post.

zak, and mclaren overall, made it extremely clear last season that they don't have a number one driver. usually, teams have a number one driver. they have two competent drivers, and the one who performs better is the number one driver, so that the team can bring home the wcc and the wdc.

with the lack of backing from mclaren to lando, it's clear that they don't have a number one driver. they backed him too late, and when he eventually lost, they claimed that a wdc was never their plan. a lot of people, ex drivers and ex principals and such, told them to focus on both, and to back the driver as well, because it could just end up being a once in a lifetime opportunity. we don't know what's going to happen with the 2025 car (touchwood), but when given the opportunity, they stuck to their no number one driver policy.

nothing wrong with having two number one drivers. they want their drivers to race each other on their own, beautiful, as they should. but, when one of them, could be oscar, could be lando, we don't know yet. when one of them performs well, has created a gap between the teammate, is in the top three, i think mclaren needs to get their shit together at that time and back the driver.

last season, their "we do, we don't" thing pissed me off a lot, because it was mixed signals for us, and at one point, it felt like it was mixed signals for the drivers as well. both have to think for themselves, but both also have to think of the team. theyre both competitive and theyre both hungry for wins.

that does not mean that they crash each other out, or make close calls like in monza.

in the post, zak has full right to aim for the constructors and drivers. as he should. he wasn't expecting the constructors in 2024, least of all the drivers. preparing for it now, which includes better strategies, is going to help them in the long run, and that's all that zak means by it.

lando also has full rights to aim for the drivers, because while he was not close last year, he was a contender and he knows now what to do and what not to do. he knows now how to handle that pressure, and he knows what is expected from him. coming p2 in the standings made it entirely possible that he could (will) win wdc this year.

zak is right when he says that lando drove flawlessly in abu dhabi, because he really did. no track limits, no messing up of pitstops, or no locking up, nothing. he was focused and he was confident. all that zak is saying there is that if lando did a repeat of it in 2025, and there was a real chance of him winning the wdc, zak will not hesitate to back him up. this was nothing against oscar. if oscar has a real chance to win the wdc, zak (and especially andrea) will not hesitate to back him up either.

so, no. oscar's 2025 season is not over before it's even started. he's got races to prove himself. so does lando. every driver on the grid has a chance to prove themselves at the start of the season.

and, if either of the two mclaren drivers create a gap and have a real chance at winning wdc, then i think it's completely fair for the other to be a number two driver as long as it doesnt hurt the driver himself.

let me make it clear: number two driver does not mean that he will let the other pass. this was a common misconception amongst fans last year. helping your teammate does not mean rolling over.

and, oscar was not a number two driver last year. i know people like to say that he was, but he really wasn't. he was asked to help lando too late in the season. there were two races (brazil and mexico, i think) where he could have defended against max, and he didn't. he did help in the 10 seconds penalty that lando had received in brazil. and he did help with the brazil sprint. but truly, that's about it. lando repaid the brazil sprint favour in qatar.

i am not the biggest fan of team orders, but when it is necessary, when a wdc is on the line, then i think it must happen.

[smoozie]

Hey I've seen Pearl response and I still agree with OP, but I don't think Pearl is "wrong" either. Let me explain.

I have seen so many bad faith misinterpretations of what OP said, so let me explain how I interpreted it (which may not be OP's intentions. This is just where I am coming from).

Fandom is and always has been by fans for fans. Creators are more than welcome to participate in and consume media from fandom, but they are not (neccesarily) the target audience of it. The life series/hermitcraft space as of late has shifted its audience more towards the creators than the fans.

I do disagree with a lot of the harsher wording with OP's post, I don't think ccs are breathing down our necks nor do I believe Gem and Pearl are coming from a place of entitlement to content.

I understand creators and their boundaries, but asking people not to tag shipping creations with the creators involved is just a genuine misunderstanding of how the tumblr tagging system works. Pearl's response here is saying "maintagging" is fine as long as the appropriate shipping tags occupany the work, which is exactly as it should be.

The maintagging thing is such a nothingburger. Pearl asks all shipping art be tagged as such, that is what SHOULD be happening anyway. Net zero information gain.

Also, your response feels unjustly aggressive towards me. I don't have an issue with Pearl being uncomfortable with shipping and the way you threw that at me felt extreme. I'm of the opinion that a person's Tumblr content should be regulated by that person, not that the content should be regulated for who may view.

Literally so real and so true. Some of this was bugging me in a way I could not describe but now I know

[ruth-gemmells-boob-scar]

Rewatched ep2 of The Gilded Age last night, and when they get to the Russells', Anne says "so this is what Dido felt when she was about to throw herself onto the flaming pyre."

Either Anne (or Fellowes) isn't that clever, or I'm not understanding Dido's story.

Dido, first of all, stabs herself (idk if the pyre's already burning by then or not). So that's one thing. Secondly, she's doing so because she has been abandoned. Who has abandoned Anne? Patrick? (Babe, he's holding your hand.)

The only way I can figure it is that Anne is basically saying she's only doing this because she loves him. But also, that's an imperfect metaphor.

I assume it's meant to be foreshadowing, but it's sloppy, right? Patrick's the one who kills himself, and sure, he abandons Anne to pick up the pieces. But does that suggest that she, too, will commit (more suicidey) suicide in s2 (which I expect not bc she's too tenacious for that)?

The most it tells us is that Anne is a literature/mythology/opera girlie. And that this dinner is gonna kill somebody.

Or, if we're gonna put the queer reading on it, it possibly foreshadows, not Patrick's death, but Aurora's betrayal. Aurora agrees to bring Bertha into society, and abandons Anne ("you'll deny it but you will"). Does Anne then fulfill the story of Dido and destroy herself? Or does she live to see the vision at the end of Berlioz' Les Troyens come to pass? That the old city will be defeated by the immortal new.

Again, I can see similarities, but I think the line is wasted. Because again, Anne is referring to committing social suicide, but without having first been abandoned. It doesn't follow.

Because I don't think Anne is dumb. I think she is incredibly adept at operating within the rules of NY society. I mean, she sits next to Mrs. Astor at luncheon. It's just that the Russells have so much money, they are capable of breaking the game. There's no playbook for her here, and Patrick never tells her why he needs her to get cozy with Bertha.

So why would she make a reference that makes no sense?

She should be referencing Joan of Arc. Being burned for the crime of defending her homeland from the invaders (she def called the Russells invaders). The profound injustice, the political overtones, her firm conviction that she is correct. It fits much better.

[gotchibam]

Does anyone here draw in both desktop & mobile? I'm planning to get a galaxy tab at some point and since I don't really have any experience drawing on a (mobile) tablet, I'm curious abt how it feels to draw on one vs. drawing on pc w/ a graphic tablet 🤔

[reineyday]

okay, so i was thinking about a mishanks demon/priest au.

if mihawk is the priest and shanks is the demon, then my thoughts are that mihawk is the best exorcist in the world, and ends up on assignment to exorcise one of the four reigning demons out in the human realm, dubbed emperors by the supernatural community. except when he gets there, it becomes clear that at least this one demon emperor is more than he appears, and that the ethics surrounding this entire community--including the people mihawk works for--are questionable at best. they fight, mihawk acknowledges how thrilling it is to find an equal in one of the emperors of hell, and they uncover a sordid plot together. all very action-drama-mystery-intrigue-love story.

but if shanks is the priest and mihawk is the demon, then i think shanks would get sent to kuraigana to bless the grounds of the castle there (possibly as a punishment from garp who is annoyed with shanks at introducing some questionable moral concepts to his grandkid, or on a dare from benn and yasopp that he wouldnt be able to), and instead comes across the presiding demon who's been living there for the last three centuries, and perhaps even his two demonic charges (a ghost demon from thriller bark and the fabled demon of the east, on a mentorship for whatever reason). and it would just be a comedy of shanks trying to subtly get into the pants of--and even, god(lol) forbid, date--a demon under the guise of trying to exorcise him, and mihawk being very, very annoyed at the handsome priest trying to convert his castle home into some sort of church. (shanks is a priest because he's good at it, not because he believes in everything being preached haha.)

[squorttle-pox]

idk if it means anything really, but i think it's interesting how after all their time together as a couple in a christianity-adjacent world, lucifer and lilith only had one (1) child, and it was only 200 years ago at that

[sonknuxadow]

i got so excited when i saw this shot like 1. its really cool and 2. oh my god he has FANGS. onscreen in a game. hi sonics fangs i havent seen you since 2008. too bad you only appeared for like 2 seconds

[pyjamaart]

A looming presence... (A piece of fan art for Episode 11 of the Christmas Comeback Crisis)

Read more for an essay on all the memes and references ;)

So here it is. Finally. Only one month too late: This piece of CCC fan art I've worked on since the episode came out.

Sorry for the delay, but I just started at my new job this week and it's been a little stressful, so I didn't have much time to work on this. But now it's finally here!!! I gotta say, the hardest part by far was the background, lol. I didn't mean for it to escalate that much. At the end I was honestly running out of memes to draw.

I bet we can all agree that episode 11 of the Christmas Comeback Crisis was so worth the wait, right???? My god. Peak entertainment. I still can't believe I'm getting all this awesome lore and music for free, feels kinda criminal.

I'm so invested in this story, it's unreal. I can't wait to see how it will end. I can already tell it's gonna be pretty emotional. (And not to alarm anyone, but I have a slight feeling that the Voice is not gonna make it out of this story arc alive. I mean, after everything he's done, it's safe to say that he kinda deserves it. Of course I really don't want him to die, cause that would mean…….. Woodman would also have to die??? Otherwise the Voice will just keep coming back again and again because Woodman is keeping his memory alive…….. Oh man wait a moment….. I don't even want to think about that. Forget I said anything about this.)

Anyway, let's talk about this piece of art for a moment.

In the foreground, we have our brave protagonists. I really really like how Nozomi turned out, so I decided to make her my new icon from now on. Don't get me wrong, I love my old icon, but it's kinda zoomed out and you can't really make out any details when it's really small. So Nozomi it is. Meta Knights sword was shockingly difficult to draw, especially because I had to figure out how to draw it when he's holding it at an angle like that. Otherwise, drawing him was actually one of the easiest things about this whole thing. His design is really just two circles with some arms and armor. Figuring out how the circle tool in Gimp works has never felt this good. (Kinda crazy I can just draw him like this now, considering how obsessed with him I was when I was about 12-13 years old. Back then you had to download official renders of your favorite characters onto your computer, then print them out and hang them on your walls all around your room. Yeah I've always been like this.) Drawing Santa was really fun too, just his right hand was a little difficult. But that's just because I still can't draw hands in general. Maybe I should practice drawing hands more. (Naaaaaah I'm just kidding, I'll never do that.) Now that I'm looking at him again, he's also longingly staring at President Haltmann in the background. Doomed yaoi fr.

Speaking of the background, let's talk about that next. There's obviously the title-giving "looming presence" the Voice. I had his hands completely in the background at first, but I thought it looked cooler when they were hanging threateningly around Santa's shoulders. (You may ask yourself, 'man these hands look kinda alright for my usual hand drawing standards', and that is because I traced over pictures of my own hands. I love "cheating" at art.) I also gave him his stupid little bow tie and the colored buttons on his suit sleeves. Not only is that kinda my trademark for drawing him at this point, it's also supposed to show, that under all the threats and the evil villain persona, he's just kind of a loser. A real (male equivalent of a) girlfailure. That's why I made sure that half of the things shown in the background are there to make fun of him a little. I love the Voice dearly, but that's just what felt right.

And now let's get to the actual main course of this essay. I probably spent half the time working on this on the freaking background. I'm just gonna start in the top left corner and then go down each column and explain what each of these mean or what they reference. (Since there are some quite obscure ones in there.)

Let's start with the two ponies in the very top left. They're actually ponysonas of Nozomi Tojo (left) and Takane Shijou (right). Nozomi is an earth pony and has a tarot card as her cutie mark, specifically the ace of cups. Takane on the other hand is a unicorn and has some musical notes as her cutie mark, which you can't really see. I don't know enough about the Idolmaster to think of something more meaningful for her, sorry. ;)

Under that are Susie Haltmann and her father, President Haltmann. They were (after Woodman) the first characters I wanted to draw into the background. Susie has this black bar covering her face, since she was never really there to begin with. The whole story line with her father wanting to bring her back was actually so freaking sad. And when the Voice killed him in episode 11 and that image of Susie flashed on screen as the last thing he saw before he died….. Oof……… That's also why I drew that cursor looming next to her "window" about to click on the closing button. Haltmann himself is also the only character in the background to actually leave his little window, wanting to reach his daughter. He's also glaring at the Voice for causing him all of this grief and anger in the first place with his false promises.

Then there's…. ahem, "Hot robots in your area". With drawings of a random unnamed robot and Mettaton from Undertale. Which the Voice has apparently bookmarked. This is just a head canon, but I like to think he has a thing for robots, lol. ;)

Oh and on the left next to that on the very first column is Simpleflips' logo. Shoutouts to Simpleflips indeed.

Onto the next column. At the very top is Haruka Amami (also from the Idolmaster), who played a pretty huge role in the CCC, especially in the latest episode. That moment at the very end where she saved Grand Dad from certain death was just fantastic. Absolutely goated scene. She's kinda pressing her face against the window she's trapped in. I hope you can even see that from far away, haha.

Under that is one of the more obscure references. It's from a King for Another Day video, specifically one titled "The Hobart Hootenanny - SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day". It's a slideshow made of beautiful Hobart pictures. One that struck me personally the most was a little family picture of Hobart and the rapper Eminem, who was also a contestant in the KfAD tournament, looking lovingly over their son sitting in a cradle. Eminem is seen saying "Our son is beutiful". A truly touching photograph indeed. In that same slideshow is also another scene of Hobart together with the Voice, but we'll talk about that one later.

The next one is a reference to the CCC side story "I wanna thank me" and shows a pie chart with the election results that were discussed in that episode. Under the pie chart itself is a little box containing all the different parties and showing their respective percentages. On the left is a poster for the "Poké Poké Literature Party", showing Monika's head with the words "Just vote Monika" at the top of the poster. The words (and Misha.) are scribbled on the bottom, lest we forget that she's not running this party alone. This side story was first featured in the Christmas Comeback Crisis Watchalong in 2020, which was actually the first time I watched the CCC in its entirety. It all went downhill from there. ;)

Then there's the Voice's… thing? Object? Weird apparatus where no one really knows what it does or what its purpose is? Every time we see the Voice sitting in his office, this thing is sitting on his desk right next to him. There's been loads of jokes about its purpose. They've all been made before. I'm not going to repeat them. Only the Voice himself truly knows what this thing does. Probably. Could just be a decorative piece of art.

Then we have something veeeery self indulgent on the next column. It's Aquaman from Megaman 8 (With a not so subtle skull right next to him). You should all know by now that I'm the founding father of the Aquawood ship. And I also have the head canon that Woodman and the Voice are very divorced. Interpret into this whatever you want.

Next to Aquaman is the internets' favorite panel from the web comic Tails Gets Trolled. I fucking love that comic. If you haven't read it in its entirety, I highly recommend doing it. (Though be warned that it contains some pretty heavy topics, many many slurs and a plethora of gore.) Okay, maybe I don't recommend reading it. (Just read it with all of that in mind.)

Under that is a personal favorite joke of mine. It's supposed to be Spotify, with a playlist open that I created some time ago. I called it "Die Pizza Playlist" (Remember that die in German is just "the") which I always listen to when I'm baking my own pizza. Highlights include "Pizza" by Antilopen Gang, "Pizza Heroes" by Lemon Demon (You can actually see the album art for Spirit Phone on the left of the playlist.), "Pizza Pizza Pizza" from the Ratatouille musical and so on and so on. The first song in the playlist is obviously "We like pizza" by the Pizza kids, which is even playing in the image. On the side are two more music artists, at the bottom is the image for the Veggie Tales soundtrack, which also featured a song called "Pizza Angel". And over that is Mitski. I just feel like the Voice would listen to her music. Do not question me on this.

The audience laughs at the funny 7.

On the Voice's left shoulder sits a single green bean. It's flashing you a cheeky grin and a peace sign. While I didn't intend for this to happen, I accidentally referenced my own Woodman birthday gallery art from two years ago, where the bean also sits atop the Voice's shoulder. I know that next to "Yankin'", the bean is one of the most hated memes on SiIva, but I think he's just a silly little guy! :D

Let's head on over to the next column. Seems like the Voice has an incoming call from one of his guards, but he's ignoring it as he has more important things to do, like hovering intimidatingly over Santa Claus.

Next to that window on the right are the Voice's messages. I almost wrote "messanges". That would have been embarrassing, thank god I caught that in time. This is also (yet again) a little self indulgent, since the Voice apparently has the last message he sent Woodman pinned to the very top of his messenger app. His big triangular head is blocking most of it, but since I'm the artist, I can tell you exactly what it says: "Please call me back", which was sent on February 1st 2023, the day "The Disappearance of Woodman" was released. Yeah, I'm still very upset, how could you tell? :( Under that is a message to his trusty pizza guy asking for a pizza with extra cheese.

Next we have two of my favorite memes on the SiIvagunner channel (My absolute favorite being "Funny budots", since I never wrote that down anywhere.), one being Frisk Undertale becoming uncanny and the other one being the goat. I don't really know how to describe the goat, but apparently it was crafted by the same artist who made the stoned fox that's also very popular online?? I may just be stupid, but I didn't know about that until I looked up a reference for the goat. Since it often appears alongside Undertale and Deltarune, many have made the assumption that this is what Asriel would look like in real life. That's why Flowey is there next to it with an equal sign. Whoever drew up that calculation wasn't really sure of their work, which is why they drew a question mark right next to it. Between Frisk and the goat is a little Soul, also from Undertale/Deltarune.

Onto the next column, where I'm dropping very subtle hints that a specific character in this image might like pizza. Or might even be a little obsessed with it. On the left is a list with the contact details of three well known pizza chains, on the very top is Sonic the Hedgehog who just recently became a brand ambassador for Totino's and on the bottom right of this section is a flyer for some kind of pizza sale.

The next window contains my favorite joke of any rip on the entire SiIvaGunner Youtube Channel. "Peepoona 5. Let us shart the pants." Just typing this out is making me die of laughter yet again. (The rip in question is "Our Beginning - Persona 5".) But as you all know, I am very into toilet humor. That's why Aquaman is one of my favorite robot masters. And why I'm such a big fan of Youtube Poop. And why I watch Minion fart gun religiously. But enough of that, you get what I'm trying to say. I love funny poop jokes. That's why this is here.

Oh man. This next one is why I wanted to write this very detailed essay in the first place. A reference so obscure, even I can't find its origin anymore. And believe me, I tried. Thankfully, I took a screenshot of the original comment thread this was based on. A user called "The New Guy" commented on a SiIvaGunner rip, something along the lines about how much they enjoyed this specific rip. At the time, the comment had 920 likes, so I'm guessing it must have been a pretty popular video. (The comment should also be about 4 years old now?) Anyway, under that comment, someone asks them what their profile picture was from. They simply answered "wagon", since that was exactly what their profile picture showed. Someone on the SiIvaGunner team must have found this exchange so funny that they commented "wagon" as well. And that's the origin of this joke. If anyone knows which rip this is from pleeeeaaaase tell me. I need to know.

I don't think I need to explain who the next guy is. Just the love of my life. I specifically drew Woodman in his getup from the Nuclear Winter Festival, since that was the last time he appeared on the channel. He's looking kinda concerned in the general direction of the viewer, for obvious reasons. And right under him is his trademarked >:] emoji.

And last but certainly not least, the final column! Now I finally get to talk about this other scene from the Hobart Hootenanny. It shows Hobart and the Voice having a romantic stroll at a beautiful beach, while the sun is slowly setting in the background, making the water shimmer with its breathtaking colors. Okay, the last thing didn't really happen, since it's a shitty MS Paint drawing, but I like to imagine it did. Maybe I should draw a remake of this image one day. Now I'd like to quote the video in question: "A man and Hobart were walking together on the beach. He looked back and saw that in his times of sadness and need, there was only one set of footprints. He asked Hobart why he would leave him in his time of most need. Hobart simply turned to the man and said, VVVVVRRRRR SRRRRR RRRRGGGHHHH--" (Thank you SiIva Wiki for the transcription.) Now I don't think I need to explain why I drew Hobart in a bikini top and fishnets. The question answers itself.

The next image is actually quite easy to explain. It's mm5charge and smol Maki. In another universe, Chargeman and Maki might have been integral to the SiIvaGunner lore. This specific image is just stolen from my piece of fan art called "Megaman 5 Brainrot (featuring Acidman)", which I posted in 2022. I still head canon that Megaman and Love Live take place in the same universe. Just because I think it's funny. And because I want to see funny robot masters interact with the girlies from Love Live. How do I explain this? It's like…. balancing out the world? The robot masters are almost all male (with a few exceptions) and the characters shown in Love Live are all female. How would Thanos say? "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be." Don't question my cool head canons, okay?

After that we have a poster featuring the Jazz Cats! I really really love the little animations that showed their backstory when KfAD2 first came out. I don't know if it's okay for me to say this, but I also really really enjoy the song "But Not You" written (in universe) by Doge and Naxx. The text is veeeeeeery questionable, but man, does it sound good regardless… And shoutouts to wolfman1405 for the heavenly vocals.

On the right of that is a missing poster for Wade L.D.. Nothing much to explain here I guess.

Left of that is the Voices shopping list, which lists flour, oil, yeast… Wait a minute…. All of these are ingredients for pizza dough! Guys, I'm beginning to think that this guy might like pizza.

On the very bottom of this column is Mario 7 Grand Dad himself, who has his hostile gaze directed at the Voice. I would be pissed off too if someone kept me locked in a glass tube for 7 years.

The last little window just shows the Vineshroom with the words "fecal funny" written under it.

And with that, it is done. The entire background thoroughly explained. (I may have gone a little overboard this time.)

It's been a while since I posted new art, huh? In the meantime, a lot has happened. As I said before, I started a new job, got a tattoo of Woodman on my leg (best idea I've ever had btw) and I also started watching MLP, which explains the Love Live / Idolmaster ponysonas, lol.

And that's all I wanted to say. I hope that the next piece of art isn't that far off. Jenny out. (I think this might have been the longest essay I've ever written here. I'm so sorry. By which I mean, I'm not sorry at all. I'm not forcing anyone to read this.)

[thepringlesofblood]

stardew valley 1.6 be like

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

Alrighty! <—has been saying this word on loop during my retail job I’m kinda sick of it now but I don’t really know how to stop saying it so! it stays! LIST TIME!!!

To-Do Tomorrow:

wake up early enough to get shower before work

print out ticket for a play that one of my friends is in that I am going to see :)

seek out a Ruler so that I can make measurements & decide what sized items I would like to buy [Friend pin & Ghostbur magnets]

if I have time/energy I shall aim to accomplish these things as well:

text two friends

respond to another friend’s messages

finish tagging the autism posts I’ve reblogged (I tagged about half today it was So fun)

reblog spotify wrapped posts + answer spotify wrapped asks :)

read some books

[arolesbianism]

Finallly got around to properly designing Demonstrator! She’s silly