#this is so long oops

[bluebugjay]

A lot of people aren't vibing with Charles and Crystal's romance and honestly i think it's because it's not necessarily supposed to be a full-fledged, endgame romance.

I think it's written to be a fling.

Charles is a flirt; one of the first things he thinks about when Edwin tells him ghosts can't feel is that he would miss kissing, he says himself it's nice to be seen by someone his own age, he calls Crystal fit, etc. Assumably between cases he has a very small social circle of literally just Edwin so it makes sense that this girl who he gets on with and finds attractive immediately becomes a bit of a crush for him.

Then Crystal picks up on his flirting almost immediately, again they get on, etc. She says if he wasn't dead and she wasn't dealing with the aftermath of her toxic relationship with David he would be a good addition to her body count, i.e. just a fling. She doesn't say they'd date or she could fall for him just that they'd probably hook up.

Their first kiss happens when they're both dealing with some heavy stuff, Charles is angry, continuing to push down his trauma with his father and his past, Crystal is annoyed about not being any closer to getting her memories back whilst trying to deal with the trauma her last relationship caused her. They find comfort in each other in that moment. Crystal says she wants something real and the care they have for each other is real, there's no manipulation, no secrets. It's honest and it's innocent.

The song that plays in that scene is called Young Blood (White Sea Remix) by The Naked and Famous and has lyrics such as 'we're only young and naive still' and 'can't help myself but count the flaws, claw my way out of these walls, one temporary escape' and 'we lie beneath the stars at night, our hands gripping each other tight, you keep my secrets hope to die' - It does align with the idea that they're what each other wants in the moment, a distraction, to be able to pretend everything is normal and ok (keep each others secrets)

Crystal in the next episode, the next morning after their kiss, literally calls Charles a 'cute distraction' and says they should be friends. This time both of their issues and trauma are the reason for them not continuing the relationship. Blatantly, Crystal isn't ready for another relationship so soon after David, she wakes up with a nightmare about him and Charles. They bring up Charles fighting the Night Nurse and Charles says that he thought they were on the same page about it and 'at least that's how it seemed last night' which again leans into the fact they were both looking for comfort. Charles and Crystal kissing had nothing explicitly to do with her supporting his actions fighting the Night Nurse and yet that's how he took it because that's what he was searching for comfort from and acceptance on. Which is most likely why he seems to take the rejection harder than Crystal, seemingly agreeing to be friends more out of respect for her choice than the want to call it quits himself.

Charles tells Edwin later on about the kiss (right after Edwin is complaining about having to cancel plans with Monty) and says though he didn't physically feel it, he did feel it 'up here' and points to his head. The mind is generally not the place you feel love, I feel that's a given. (reminds me of the starfish on the beach that Niko says are in love, Edwin points out starfish have no brain and Niko says love doesn't require logic, meaning: love is not stored in the mind.) Charles and Edwin's conversation veers off to being about there own relationship, with Charles saying he wouldn't want to be dead with anyone else - not even the girl you just kissed? No? Ok.

The way that episode goes (The case of the two dead dragons) Crystal and Charles end up arguing about the very reasons they decided to not continue their relationship. Crystal likens Hunter and Brad to David, and Charles defends them saying not everyone is her demon ex-boyfriend which seems like he's projecting and really defending himself. Then Crystal calls him out on his 'rage problem' and what happened with the Night Nurse. So though they comforted each other the night before, their real feelings for each others issues are surfacing and they're not so on the same page. Of course they get over this and apologise soon enough. Though in the end, it's Edwin Charles opens up to and actually talks to about how he's feeling rather than pushing it aside and looking for a distraction. And after that, Charles gives Crystal genuine comfort not just a distraction by listening to her talk about her nightmares/visions about David. (immediately followed by the scene of Edwin and Monty on the swings in which Edwin suggests they don't see each other anymore, then back tracks, they kiss followed by rejection which definitely has... parallels)

After that, Crystal and Charles are still an obvious source of comfort for one another, they talk to each other about their stresses, they stick close together a lot of the time but there's nothing inherently romantic to their actions aside from the fact we know they have kissed which gives their actions a depth that, for example Edwin and Niko's don't, despite them also being affectionate and spending time together alone.

Then in the last episode as Crystal is attempting to leave for London, her and Charles share another kiss. When she tries to say bye to Charles, he says it feels like a 'good-bye good-bye' rather than a 'see you back in London good-bye' and Crystal doesn't correct him, essentially confirming it was supposed to be a forever goodbye. She instead kisses him. It's a good-bye kiss. A (supposed to be) final kiss. A 'we had a good run' type of kiss. Crystal kisses him because she thinks she'll never see him again. It's similar to the first in which the kiss itself is the beginning and end, and it doesn't mean much past that. It's a kiss as a secret again, like their first kiss. A kiss to fill the space left by things they don't want to talk about. She doesn't want to admit she's planning on leaving for good so she kisses him instead, it's a comfort and it's a distraction. (and its consistent)

When Crystal decides to stay in the end, Charles says it'll be great, then specifies that 'solving cases together' will be great, not anything else that could of implied. Which could either be them just being awkward, or a flip in their dynamic that now Crystal is the one more involved in their relationship and Charles is the one setting boundaries.

Overall I think they have a really interesting dynamic. They are exactly what each other needs in moments and then the opposite in the next, they care about each other so much yet are possibly the people that unearth each others insecurities and traumas the most. They're both looking for a new, different kind of relationship and find it within the other but inherently once the novelty fades they fall more into being friends than anything more. I think like most of the relationships in this show, they're supposed to be complicated, they're supposed to be more of a journey than a destination. They learn and grow from their interactions together and I think that's something really beautiful.

[minigenos]

[pangur-and-grim]

I love how you can use the environment in baldur’s gate.

for instance, I got my ass completely handed to me in a battle, so on my second attempt I piled barrels of gunpowder & wine near where the enemies would run out, and had one of my guys posed with a fire spell to ignite them. and THIS TIME, I triggered a massive explosion on my first turn of combat, instantly killing my entire party.

[hinamie]

i don't normally participate in these redraw challenges but it's megumi so i'll make an exception

[starry-bi-sky]

on a completely separate note; shizun luo binghe with a disciple shen yuan who fell into the abyss??? *thinks about LBH canonically stealing SQQ's corpse for 5 years* he'd hallucinate i think. like, like visual and audial hallucinations.

Keeps thinking he's seeing SQQ in the corner of his eyes, or wandering between the trees, amongst a group of disciples. Thinks he hears him calling for him, but its just the wind or another disciple.

Gets Xiu Ya reforged but patently fucking refuses to make a sword mound. Because his disciple Is Not Dead :))) There was No Body. He's Not Dead. And If You keep Insisting That He Is, He's Gonna Skewer You :). He's holding onto Xiu Ya so he can return his most favored disciple's sword when he returns. It's on his hip right next to Zheng Yang where it's supposed to be.

Also this motherfucker?? does not sleep btw. He has the image of SQQ, wide eyed and hysterical and standing at the mouth of the abyss burned into his fucking eyelids. Can't use the dreamscape to escape it either because he keeps trying to save him and either he does and it's an incredibly cruel trick to wake up to, or he doesn't and he gets his heart broken in several different pieces again.

There is no convincing this man that Shen Qingqiu is dead. Absolutely nothing at all. He is buried so deep in denial that moles would be jealous of how deep he is. He keeps making tea for two in the bamboo house only to remember that it's just him. SQQ's fans are hiding everywhere, little reminders of his presence. He goes to wake up SQQ on the mornings he sleeps in-- only to find the room empty.

[remxedmoon]

y’know what? fuck you. *UNGRAYSCALES YOUR ISATS*

no wait come back there’s greyscale versions under the cut :(

[lacrimosathedark]

RadioApple

Perception Check by Tom Cardy (but specifically the Vicious Mockery part) Your Stupid Face by Kaden MacKay (this is like THE Radioapple song) Not Another Song About Love by Hollywood Ending Love Again by Dua Lipa (I heard this and thought of Lucifer recovering after Lilith) Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner A Lovely Night from La La Land (I more think of this as a RadioRose song, but it works either way) Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home) by Usher (SOLELY because Amir Talai is a chaotic gremlin and had it on his Instagram stories with 📻🍎)

for a little spicier... Villain by Bella Poarch Teeth by 5SOS (tbh probably also works for Lucilith) Flesh by Simon Curtis

For toxic/unhealthy Radioapple, Cannibal by Naethan Apollo Living Hell by Bella Poarch Attention by Charlie Puth

Individuals beneath the thingy

Alastor

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile by Donald Craig (basically his theme song) Happy Face by Jagwar Twins (absolutely perfect but there's also a great animatic) GOSSIP by Maneskin (mostly because of the bomb animatic but it does actually fit him) Friends on the Other Side from Princess and the Frog (because duh) Down in New Orleans from Princess and the Frog phony by Will Stetson and/or Trickle (it's two different translations of the same song) Gives You Hell by All-American Rejects (the words are perfect but the original doesn't fit his vibe but Django Wallace has an acoustic cover that's nice) Shadow by Livingston Nightmares Never End by JT Music Fais Do Do by Ann Savoy (a New Orleans lullaby I found when researching the city) FRIENDS by Marshmello (@ Vox) NO by Meghan Trainor The Dismemberment Song by Blue Kid Killer in the Mirror by Set It Off Killer by The Ready Set Choke by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Fences by Paramore Sad by Bo Burnham (You cannot tell me he wouldn't sing this) Party Like Its 1929 by TAPE FIVE Sinners by Nahu Pyrope Demon Lord by Sena Kiryuin Demons Banquet by Will Stetson Signed & Sealed by HalaCG Whisper Whisper Whisper by Himuimo PSYCHO by AViVA

Lucifer

The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman (definitively His Song) A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman Fairytale by Alexander Rybak (tbh a Lucilith song but it's so perfect for him with the violin and everything it's His Song in my head) All Eyes on Me by OR3O Look Who's Inside Again by Bo Burnham Shit by Bo Burnham (depression!) Don't You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia Hell's Comin' With Me by Poor Mans Poison The Mask And The Mirror by Poor Mans Poison overwhelmed by Royal & the Serpent (Anxiety: the Song) I'm a Mess by Bebe Rexha I'm Gonna Show You Crazy by Bebe Rexha Panic Room by Au/Ra I Should Have Stayed at Home by Ryan Mack I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Set It Off Dear Theodosia from Hamilton Daughters by John Mayer Wherever You May Go by The Calling Demons by Imagine Dragons Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol In the End by Linkin Park Numb by Linkin Park Unknown Mother Goose by rachie My Nightmare by Get Scared Sarcasm by Get Scared Just One Yesterday by Fall Out Boy Heartbreak Feels So Good by Fall Out Boy Song of the Caged Bird by Lindsey Stirling Miss Murder by AFI Circus by Britney Spears INFERNO by Sub Urban and Bella Poarch Lucifer by Trickle House of Memories by Panic! at the Disco Crazy = Genius by Panic! at the Disco Say Amen (Saturday Night) by Panic! at the Disco For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic by Paramore Polkamania by Weird Al Yankovic (I saw somewhere that he likes polka and now I'm stuck with This) Angel With a Shotgun by The Cab (obligatory for any angel character) Angels by Vicetone (more a Vaggie song but also works for him) The Devil Went Down to Georgia (obligatory) Violin Sonata in G minor (aka The Devil's Trill Sonata) composed by Giuseppe Tartini

a couple Lucilith songs because it feels very integral to Lucifer's character

100 Years by OR3O Take Me to Church by Hozier Somebody That I Used To Know by gotye Hopelessly Devoted To You from Grease Church by Fall Out Boy This Love by Maroon 5 Horns by Bryce Fox

And maybe some electro swing to dance to?

Betty Boop by Charlie Puth Posin by Glenn Gatsby Picolo and a Cane by TeknoAXE Tangled Up by Caro Emerald Puttin' On the Ritz by Betty Booom She Wants Me Dead by Cazzette Lone Digger by Caravan Palace

This is all without including fansongs, of which there are...a lot for Alastor in particular. And the lists are still growing lol

asking for a friend does anyone have songs that remind you of radioapple? songs for just lucifer or alastor work too

[eiuuei]

‘Blue Lily, Lily Blue’ an animation.

[polinsated]

Tell me what to do. I will do everything. No. Tell me.

[funkycloewn]

The aftermath:

The reason why Jax is intimidated by Ragatha lol

Moral of the story: Don't foolishly joke around like that smh

Credit to @sm-baby for the Carnival AU!

[potofsoup]

i love your fourth of july comics every year but this years feels extremely optimistic about biden’s abilities in the face of him letting roe get overturned and funding a gen*cide at worst or letting it happen at best by taking the bare minimum of regulatory action… i mean can he really be trusted at all anymore to do the right thing or act in line with the people’s demands? and how do we know the people behind project 2025 won’t just rig the election again to get in under false pretenses?

Hihi! Thank you for reading and enjoying my July 4th comics every year! I am in a non-US airport en route to a month-long trip in a place with sketchy internet, so sorry in advance for sloppiness in my response (and potentially going radio silent).

But:

I don't think he "let" Roe get overturned, since that was the Supreme Court's overwhelming conservative majority, which really started with Mitch McConnell refusing to approve Obama's appointee and forcing it into a 2016 election issue. The fact that Trump got to appoint 3 Supreme Court Justices is what got us here.

Re: Biden and the Israel/Hamas war ... on the one hand, there's definitely more that he could have done, but on the other hand, they are a whole other country over there. It's Hamas that initiated the Oct 7 attacks and took the hostages. It's Netanyahu and his right-wing government who decided to retaliate to such extreme extent. Biden can talk about how he would really like Netanyahu to stop fighting and step down, but at the end of the day that's not his call, any more than he can stop the Sudan fighting that is near-genocidal either.

So, to come to your question #1: "Can he really be trusted at all anymore to do the right thing or act in line with the people’s demands"?

For me, it's a resounding YES. Guyz, he has passed so much good domestic policies. My spouse works in green energy and the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act halved his anxiety and gave him legitimate hope. The tumblr post I linked to in my comic has links to many of the other great things that Biden has done. Tbh I voted for him in 2020 because "a moldy onion is still better than Trump", and I've been pleasantly surprised. Like how he tried to cancel student loans, the Supreme Court overturned it, and then he came back 6 months later with a different way to do it that didn't lead to a court challenge.

Is he perfect? Hell no. There's tons of stuff that I wish he did more about, or he went further on, but also he's just one guy heading one branch of government who is heading into an election year. (Just like FDR promising not joining WWII, while behind the scenes doing all the Lend-Lease Act stuff). And "the people" have lots of demands, many of them conflicting.

I'd also like to push at the unspoken part of your question... "Can he really be trusted to do the right thing..." compared to whom? Because right now the answer is "compared to Trump." And compared to Trump... I don't even trust Trump to respect the results of a legitimate election. Heck, he might just take his favorite state secrets, sell them to the highest bidder (or just show them off to someone for funzies), and then claim Presidential immunity. A decent Democrat who got stuff done vs someone who probably wants to pardon himself and all his friends and do Project 2025 stuff is not even on the same level. (Do I wish that there was a viable Democratic alternative to Biden? Sure! But who?) Heck, at this point -- imagine if it's Kamala Harris vs. Trump. Who would you vote for?

As for your question #2: "How do we know the people behind project 2025 won’t just rig the election again to get in under false pretenses?"

We don't. But also what can we do besides showing up to vote?

Actually, I need bullet points for this:

The 2022 midterm elections brought in fewer-than-expected election-deniers into crucial electoral offices at the state level, which means that hopefully most state electoral boards will continue to have integrity

Yes, voting is harder but at least we can still vote. So it's about getting out there and getting your vote counted. For some states, it involves waiting in 8 hour lines. For some states, it involves bringing 2 forms of ID. Document. Track. Make sure it's dropped off in a real ballot box and not a fake one. Don't believe messaging that the voting is happening on a different day or location, etc.

A 50.1% majority is easily challenged. A 55% majority, less so. Which means getting people out to vote.

The more people know about and think about the reality of a second Trump term (versus being disappointed by a Biden term), the more they will be motivated to vote against Trump.

Finally, let's be real here: I'm braced for a 2nd Trump term. That said:

I'm still going to go and vote for Biden, because the only way to prevent a 2nd Trump term is to vote.

A Trump term where either the House or Senate is controlled by the Democrats will be *very* different from a clean Republican sweep.

Even with a clean Republican sweep on the federal level, States have so much more power now, and voting the state level stuff will help shore up Democratic goals for the future. States get to draw voting districts however they want. States get to decide on abortion policies. If you live in a deep Red state, there still might be things to vote for that make it easier to live in now, and turn it purple a few elections down the line.

So at the end of the day, it's "Vote AND". Vote and keep living your best life. Vote and tell others about Project 2025. Vote and have hope. Even if Trump wins, at least you'll have voted against him. Vote and stay to build up a progressive wave for the next election.

[applestruda]

Summer, Spring, Autumn, and Winter

(Aka hermit ladys as mucha's four seasons for week 3 of the design challenge)

[bananakeiky]

Had people on my instagram request for their faves to get their bangs pinned/moussed back! You may notice that... my process gets much more elaborate with each one...

[daily-odile]

odile with a gun perhaps

gun

[messiahzzz]

it’s been almost a year now… is the bg3 fandom finally ready to talk about how gale’s “hubris” is the sole product of actively feeding his insecurities further and straight up denying him help & guidance when he was at his lowest and needed it most. it’s not one of his core traits and never was. he isn’t some closeted power hungry monster that is just waiting to be enabled. what he wants is admiration, recognition and acceptance. which is also what he sought from mystra before the orb disaster happened. he had no desire whatsoever to become a god himself or challenge her rule, he simply wanted to be seen as sufficient in her eyes (“to serve her better”). to be as equal as he could possibly be in a relationship with a literal deity. he has a deep passion for magic and knowledge that affects almost all areas of his life and enjoys the display thereof. he wants to be the smartest person in the room and enjoys when his work is recognized. he may be perceived as arrogant when it comes to his skill, but he IS NOT hubristic. it truly takes so little for him to be wholly content.

[pixlokita]

Fam visited and brought new bebe so had to draw glammike and baby Greg to get it out of my system