#this is my solution lol

[inkskinned]

i wrote an interactive poem for my girlfriend in 3 parts. she said you need to read it.

go here: take only the final quiz or take all 3. i don't mind. it's sad, though. this is a poem about choice. about fate and mental illness and how love fits inside of all of it. this is a poem about a long dark hallway. mostly this is a poem about mango sushi rolls.

good luck. i love you. despite it all, i'm hopeful.

[empress-of-hugs]

I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. So, contrary to all logic, I'm baking cookies. For the people at the dentist's office.

[scalierpepper]

Canaan crew appreciation post ^

(All scenes from Reinaeiry's Take Me to Church but it's EPIC video.)

Also, there was a lot of thought put into the details and compositions for this video, and it was like 4 months of my life so I want to talk abt it ! For lack of better place to do so I've dumped everything under the cut again:

Some details/process I personally enjoy:

I used images of pluto as my color scheme for the ninth house:

And last but not least, perhaps one of my favorite details of the whole project...we took inspo from religious and classical imagery for a big handful of the compositions or poses. The art I chose to pair with each scene was very intentional:

[zarla-s]

Dooo it, doooo it

(Links - neocities, sadgrl.online, w3schools, word to html editor, github, lissa explains it all, beginner's guide to html and css)

bleh I think i caught a cold on my trip, I've got a headache. plz allow for any delays, haha

[patreon]

[gomzdrawfr]

small habits

[rocketbirdie]

Cloud Strife

1 in 3 chance for each played 7 to create a Planet card when scored.

[padmesbox]

Hangman reacts to AEW: Figure Fighters

[sapphickx]

radio tv, my favoerite band ...<3

[luminique]

https://www.tumblr.com/luminique/768013333893873664/tying-a-bow-on-lighters-bicepsmwheeheh

WAITTT how about after what happen in that drabble. Reader decorated lighter’s body with stickers. Like his chest, arms, back or every part of his body is covered with STICKERS

OH and also the ribbons around his biceps 🥹🥹 reader even tie small bows on his fingers.

thats enough lighter yap for today 💕

sometimes, they sell really cute bandages at jc pharmacy in lumina square. while shopping for the girls with lighter, you decided to pick those up too, mainly just because they're cute. while lighter does some extra shopping, you decided to look at the stationery section. seeing all of the different sticker designs, animals, bangboos, galaxy, etc. a certain idea pops into your head.

after being able to convince him to let you tie a bow around his bicep, he was basically a flustered mess to even stop you from doing anything more. so while he was playing with the ribbon in his fingers, you seized the opportunity by placing a sticker right on the edge of his shoulder scar.

"and what's this?" his other hand went to feel the little bandage you placed on him. for how large his scar is, something this small would never be able to patch it up.

“it’s cute, and you seem like you need it,” you chirped, carefully peeling off a sticker from its backing and placing it on his chest. he didn’t need a bandage, his scar was healed somewhat, but the feel of your fingers on his skin sent shivers down his spine.

he’s the red scarf of the sons of calydon and he’s letting you place cat stickers on him like it was nothing. “i’m not some sort of cutie you can just, decorate whenever you like,” he protested but didn’t even make an effort to remove them from his body. he doesn’t want to seem like a softie, this was ruining his cool guy personality.

you didn’t really mind what he had to say, still continuing to stick bangboos on him now. if you weren’t going to stop, at the very least he could seem a little more angry (he can’t get angry at you doing something so silly). with a cross of his arms and his head turned, he effectively stopped you from placing anymore on his body.

however, he just opened himself up to even more opportunities. a quick little kiss on his cheek then a sticker to seal it in place had him staring wide eyed at you. he didn’t really think you would be THAT bold but the blush on your cheeks made it obvious to him that you were just as flustered by your own actions as him.

the red on his face was double yours though and he’d try to say something about it but it just comes out as stutters and half completed sentences. he loosens up, pushing up his sunglasses. if he’s getting your affection in such a… stupidly silly but cute way, maybe it’s not so bad to be covered in stickers and bandages…

[a2zillustration]

It looked like it wanted a kiss what do you want from me

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[dammjamboy]

i loved this stream so much nobody understands

[redxx95]

How Cherry Magic avoids romanticising self-sacrifice

Alright strap in boys, this is gonna be a long one.

Spoilers for the manga (mostly the english volumes but I will include a bit from vol 12. I'll mark it tho so yall may skip it if you don't want to be spoilered).

So in this one I want to examine how cherry magic does a great job at portraying self-sacrifice in a relationship as an actual flaw rather than a romantic ideal to aspire to. Very often you'll see characters in media putting their own needs aside for their lover. A lot of people will swoon at that because it is usually presented as proof of how dedicated they are to their partner and their wellbeing. (See... well the thai adaptation actually).

But what has pleasantly surprised me is how Toyota handles this in her manga.

Starting from the beginning, we all know the millions of things Kurosawa did for Adachi to get closer to him. After all, that is what's usually expected of him if we talk traditional gender roles. But one of the reasons Adachi even starts falling for Kurosawa is because of how he was for once able to do something for him.

For someone with very low self-esteem, being able to help this super-capable perfect man is a big boost in confidence and also raises his own selfworth.

So now let's look at a few instances of selfless action and the consequences resulting from them.

First one is the disaster-date in volume 4

Kurosawa does his very best to choose activities that he thinks Adachi will enjoy. That is his primary concern.

The effect this has on Adachi though is that the gap between them feels impossibly wide, only worsening his already low opinion of himself.

Whenever Kurosawa does something big, it makes Adachi feel that much smaller. That's why he'd rather them be equals in everything instead of one giving more than the other.

Next is the argument they have in volume 8

Kurosawa attempts to, very selflessly, protect Adachi from his lowkey homophobic parents. He doesn't want them and their opinions to hurt Adachi personally, so he ends up lying to him to keep the peace. The effect this has on Adachi though is disastrous. At first he's just generally worried about why Kurosawa would even lie to him in the first place, but then they have that fight in their living room and you really get a good look at how negatively this affects Adachi.

The very first conclusion he jumps to is that he's not doing good enough for Kurosawa to feel secure with him.

The next one is even worse, where he thinks he's not good enough in general. Both of these show how when pressed, he will default to blaming himself, believing that he is the problem first and foremost.

And then, if all of that wasn't bad enough, this happens next:

He's actually being self-deprecating again, something he hadn't done ever since Kurosawa told him not to in volume 5. And yes you can actually go back and check for yourself. Whenever he has negative thoughts after this point he's always pushing back.

So there's an escalation happening here, one that is entirely caused by Kurosawa not sharing his burdens with him, by making their relationship unequal.

I think it also hurts him extra bad because they've had this argument before, just with their roles switched.

So to him it must feel like Kurosawa is betraying the important lesson Adachi learned from that argument, which is that communicating with your partner is important, even when you feel like it might hurt them.

There's also something to be said about how most people would've probably stopped prodding when someone says "it's something I can't tell you", but Adachi knows that Kurosawa has a pattern of hiding his issues from him thanks to the mind reading, which is the whole reason they had that argument in vol 6 in the first place.

So, to summarize: Whenever Kurosawa acts selfless it takes a toll on Adachi's mental health. Because of his low self-esteem he needs to feel on equal terms with Kurosawa to be able to see himself as worthwhile. (And obviously he also loves Kurosawa and doesn't want to see him in pain just in general.)

So after all that, surely Kurosawa would have learned his lesson, right? Surely he wouldn't just do it again, right?

... Spoilers for volume 12 start here ✨

So volume 12 is all about Kurosawa overworking himself because he's been assigned this big project by their chief to oversee their company's spot at a stationery convention. (I didn't look up whether or not that's a real thing but it is in the manga universe I guess lmao.)

Adachi tries to help alleviate his burdens with mixed success.

(On the left he feeds Kurosawa because he needs to finish his work and doesn't have time to eat. On the right he tries to take a phonecall for Kurosawa but gets told that Kurosawa needs to hear it personally so relaying a message won't do.)

Then Adachi muses to himself how Kurosawa was always helping him out in the past and how Adachi can't do anything for him in return, especially since they're in different departments. He feels very useless, which is once again bad for his mental health.

Later at home, he offers to at least take over the chores for the time being, but gets told that Kurosawa actually enjoys doing chores so there's no need for him to help.

Kurosawa tells him that all he needs is Adachi to be close to him, while making out with him on the sofa. And right here we see how he only got half the lesson he was supposed to have learned in volume 8: In their fight Adachi told him that they should both be happy and he should share "all the hurt" with him, too. Well, the simple solution to that is not to see all his burdens as burdens, then he's not hurting and Adachi doesn't need to bother fussing over him! Win-win. Epic mind gymnastics 😎 (To be honest, I feel like this is actually very relatable to people that tend to give more than they take. We get so used to the weight of the burden that we don't notice it slowly pulling us down.)

So Adachi obviously notices what's going on and berates him about not having understood anything he said from that fight.

Throughout the volume Kurosawa gets more and more overworked, makes mistakes and is confronted with unexpected complications. He's very adamant about not asking anyone for help though, stating that he "can't be bothering his senpais any more than he already has" and that he's "doing this all for the sake of his future with Adachi".

He also still has some hangups about people seeing him as just a pretty face, as you can see in that flashback in the second page. He constantly feels the need to prove himself to others, which prevents him from ever seeking out help.

So when he inevitably reaches his limit, Adachi is finally able to be there for him, being the only one that sees through his facade.

(That hand kiss is so precious 😭)

Also, on that first page Adachi asks him whether or not he's fine, which reminds me of this panel from volume 6:

He really knows him so well.

Emboldened by his husband, Kurosawa finally does ask for help and is, of course, met with understanding and sympathy.

.

Spoilers for volume 12 end here ✨

So all this to say: Sometimes, when we try our best to be selfless and to protect the people close to us, we do more harm than good. Sometimes we cause harm to others (see volumes 4 and 8) and sometimes we cause harm to ourselves (see volume 12). It is of course a noble cause but it's not something to strive for at all times and can sometimes be actually counterproductive to what we wanted to achieve in the first place.

As someone who breaks themselves apart to help all the people around them, this aspect of the manga resonated very strongly with me and is probably the biggest reason I got so obsessed with this silly little BL romcom.

I know that this manga is not like, the best in quality. I know it's super niche and silly and cannot compare to the big popular mainstream manga with lots of depth and thought put into it, BUT.

A piece of art doesn't need to be "good" in order to resonate with people. You don't need to paint the mona lisa to reach someone and make them feel seen. You just need some sort of medium and a will to communicate something to the observer. (Something an AI could never replicate but that is a whole other discussion.)

This manga reached me when I needed it and it communicated a message that resonated with me and that is all it needed to do for me to love it to the point of obsession. 💖

Finally I'm done with this essay it is so long oh my god. If you reached the end of this, I'm so sorry. I hope you enjoyed it tho.

[teamoon7]

🇧🇷: mini rabisco do kaiser :D pensando se começo a postar aqui uns rascunhos aleatórios enquanto não posto nenhuma arte completa...

🇺🇲: smol kaiser doodle :D thinking if I should post some random sketches here while I don't finish any full rendered art...

[fishsfailureson]

An Ardetosaurus walks through the Morrison formation, looking for water.

[tealvenetianmask]

Hi all. Here's my take on why Stolas doesn't need a whole rebound relationship with the Better Than Blitzo guy or Vassago or anyone.

It baffles me when people frame his lack of sexual and romantic experience as a problem that needs to be solved through relationships with other people.

I get the idea that he's a sheltered, neurodivergent, and until recently, closeted, gay man going through a second adolescence- and that causes him to have expectations for relationships that are based more on fiction than reality. I really do. And I think the way out of that problem is to truly understand the person he's trying to have a relationship with. Not to learn about relationships in general by dating around in order to practice for the person he actually has feelings for.

I also find it pretty narrow-minded to assume there's some amount of experience (in terms of number of partners) that's necessary for someone to understand relationships. A lot of queer and/or neurospicy folks come to relationships late, and for some that means a lot of different partners, and for others that means falling in love with just one, and both are fine.

A certain number of partners doesn't make you more or less of an adult, and frankly I find it a little infantilizing to assume that Stolas doesn't know who he wants as a 36? year old man just because he hasn't met some threshold for what a "normal" sexual/romantic development is. He might be going through a period of self-discovery where he's overly excited and wrong about things and makes mistakes, but that doesn't mean he's an actual teenager.

Shit, I've had some shorter relationships that I would skip if I could go back in time. Did I learn from them? Sure. Could I have learned those same lessons without them and saved myself some time and frustration? Absolutely.

I don't mind that he made out with some guy at a party. I don't mind that he might hook up with that person. A little experimenting likely won't hurt. It doesn't mean that he needs to go through a whole other relationship in order to discover that he actually loves the person who he knows he loves.

Never mind that Blitz actually does hold the key to Stolas discovering a lot of his shortcomings. And figuring those out is Stolas's whole character arc.

[mod2amaryllis]

hubble's tank gets suuuper bad hair algae but i did tanks today so he looks nice 💙