#though i really gotta give credits to the artist

[steviewashere]

We need to make Steve Harrington less like cardboard. I am going to ramble, please bear with me. Listen if you want.

He had weird jock habits before. Wakes up at the ass-crack of dawn, goes on a three mile jog, lifts weights in his bedroom. Eats his "normal" breakfast which is like crazy: like four eggs, six pieces of bacon, some raspberries, maybe carrots, a full glass of milk, black coffee, four pieces of toast. He's gotta keep his energy up, y'know. Goes to school with a huge fucking backpack, a gallon sized jug of water, he carries around all of his textbooks because it's like a mini workout for him. Sometimes in lulls of classes or between periods, you'll find him talking to his group of friends, but he's actively stretching/doing yoga—his friends don't even acknowledge it because it just always happens. He eats the exact same lunch everyday: rice, chicken, broccoli, a banana, and a milk from the school. (Dude would love milk. Trust.) He'll do like two more workouts in his day: once in gym, and then whatever sport practice he has (basketball in the winter, swim in the spring, maybe a bit of football/soccer and baseball right before summer hits).

His music taste isn't crazy eclectic, but it's still tasteful. He loves Queen, loves Bruce Springsteen, loves TOTO. He's into the radio hits rock (which is classic now), but his favorite song (so I've heard in relation to the show) is "Hammer To Fall" by Queen—a song that wasn't widely popular on the radio. Yeah, he also likes Elvis; can make a reference when he needs to. But he does enjoy music. And, sure, yeah—he does like pop music; maybe that does include Madonna. And—listen to me—my stepdad, a guy who loves punk and metal and shit like that, he loves Madonna and Wham and George Michael on his own; because that's what was on the radio, he even owned some of these artists albums; it's not that strange for somebody like Steve to also like these artists. Though, they may not be his immediate go-to.

He takes good care of himself; appearance wise. His hairspray is Farrah Fawcett, but it's a product he picked up most likely from his mother. He styles it on his own, right after he works out in the morning. He probably knows how to iron his clothes; considering he wears things like chinos and polos, those things need to look nice and crisp for the babes (and non-babes alike). I wouldn't be surprised if he has a signature scent—like maybe...Calvin Klein's Obsession? Considering his family's tax bracket (that house is insane), he'd probably use high-end salon level hair products. He's using name brand detergents on his clothes.

And, yeah, I'm not sure if he's still living with his parents post season 3, but I think it's safe to maybe assume so—I feel like his parents are more caring about their only son than we give them credit for; his mom seems like a caring mother, as evident with the call she shares with Karen Wheeler, it seems like she'd usually be somebody to know Steve's whereabouts, that sort of thing. His dad is probably the most strict of his parents and has high expectations that Steve fails to meet. Because the high expectations are high. And maybe Steve didn't care too much about school, maybe enough to pass and still make all the teams he wants, but not enough to get him a scholarship. And, honestly, he was probably not a top-tier athlete at Hawkins High; maybe great, but not pristine. Hence why he had to actually try to make it into college, his entry wasn't guaranteed. And when he got rejection letters, probably including rejections for scholarships, his parents most likely denied to pay for him to go through schooling. And if he really wanted to go, he'd have to take out loans or something.

He probably gets Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone magazines in his mailbox. He smokes Marlboros, the high-end cigarette. He keeps his pantry stocked with name brand snacks; Pringles, for example. Probably tries to cater to those around him, as that's what he saw his parents do for guests. He's not a terribly selfish person at all, despite having douchebag attached to his name. He probably was very flippant about the way he cared about things, he laughed at bad jokes, and snarked his way through Hawkins High. He very rarely threatened violence—my guess, considering he's a shit fist fighter.

The way his parents' marriage is going probably affects his view on love, too. He wants something better than what his parents offer to each other. He wants a true love, fairytale sort of thing. Steve probably thinks that he'll sense some amount of clarity with whoever he gets along with. He's probably a big dreamer. Probably lonely. Wants six kids, a wide and sprawling family because then, at least, he'll have people to always take care of (to prove he is not his parents), and people who (hopefully) will always care about him. He wants a lot with whoever he falls in love with (Nancy or somebody else). But not a lot in material terms; he wants a lot of love, he wants warmth, he wants constant and sweet attention. He wants love. Not whatever bullshit his parents had; and he tries really hard to not be that bullshit, but knows he still fails anyway. He doesn't want quick things, despite constantly dating or hooking up, he wants something to last—though, nothing lasts. That's why he probably leans a lot on Robin, she has a sort of platonic love to him that he shares for her; that platonic love is probably the first time he felt like he had something to cling onto because it wasn't going to just leave or find fault. He didn't lose with Robin because they just got each other in a way he doesn't know how to replicate with anybody else.

With work, he's not sure what he wants. He wants something that keeps his interest, but nothing really has. He seems really in tune with sports, history, and literature—as there have been several attempts of his to make connections to these topics showcased on screen. (Although, admittedly, those references kind of fall short.) He doesn't enjoy work like Family Video, but he finds it easy enough that it becomes a mechanical, mundane task that he can complete without thought. I think, also, due to his interest in sports, he most likely has a vague interest in statistics or math—I think he's accidentally really good with math, but refuses to acknowledge that because he hated math in school. But he has a knack for it, no matter how hard he denies. He's probably also wicked good at working on cars. His Beemer has been through a lot and I think he doesn't trust anybody else to work on his car, so he learns to do it himself, and with the guidance of his dad.

Despite complaining about being the party's babysitter, he quite likes it. Likes being the nurturing older brother that he never had. I feel like he'd maybe get a little bit insecure about it from time to time, though. Maybe he'd feel like he's not doing enough for them to consider him that way. Maybe he'd feel like he's doing too much and forcing his way into their lives. I think, if Max's letter ever comes up again, he'd let those insecurities fall away—I truly feel like she considers him an older brother figure, a real one, a good one. I think he'd cry over it, honestly.

I think he does cry quite a bit. Just not around other people. So it seems like he's sort of constipated in his emotions. But, realistically, he doesn't allow himself that chance to crack until he's in the safety of his bedroom. Because, honestly, I feel like despite the "ugliness" to his oddball room, he finds a sort of sanctuary in it. That's where his things are. That's where his smell is. That's his safe space.

And on the topic of his room, I think he definitely helped pick out 90% of the stuff he has. His wallpaper and curtains match because he looked inside the catalog his mom presented to him one day, and he likes things to match—so that's what he picked. (His mom bit back a sigh and tried to keep her expression neutral. She thinks it was an awful pick, but whatever her baby wants.) His dad sometimes takes him on day trips, and once when he was a kid (maybe middle school age, maybe even as a freshman), they went into some interior decorating store or something and he saw the car picture and knew he had to have it, so his dad bought it. (It jumpstarted one of a few interests they share: Cars.) The bedding was his choice. The mattress and bed frame were not. Everything else in his room was his pick. The bowling pin came from a birthday party when he was a kid, he won it at the prize counter in the little arcade area of their local bowling alley.

He's friends with whoever will spare him the attention he craves. Whoever will laugh at his jokes. Whoever will agree with the stupid shit he wants to do. Whoever will chant as he shotguns another beer.

He drinks and smokes because of Tommy. Steve and his dad had a big argument or something before his dad left for some business conference. So Tommy says they should get into his dad's alcohol and find somebody to sell them cigarettes as a way to rebel. Steve thinks he's being soooo cool (he's being lame). Next thing he knows, he's got a cigarette craving and knows how to shotgun a beer a little too well.

The pocket knife he uses on the beer cans is a gift he got from his dad, probably. One that he received as a birthday present for his 15th or something. His dad probably said something stupid like, "Every man needs a good knife. Never know when you'll need one." It's got Steve's initials carved into it and everything. In hindsight, it's pretty cool and it's custom to him—it's one of the only significant and caring gifts his dad ever gave him.

He doesn't cook like amazingly, but well enough that he could survive living on his own in an apartment. He likes spaghetti bolognese. And macaroni and cheese. He knows how to make a fire meatloaf. Could probably perfect rice and chicken in a heartbeat. But he does sort of rotate the same meals over and over because he procrastinates learning new things sometimes.

He's not stupid, he just takes a little longer to process all the information he's given. And on top of that, he needs the opportunity to ask questions so he can fully understand. He only feels stupid when he's denied the chance. And denied the opportunity to explain or connect. (Connecting like you would when taking margin notes in an article—Cornell style if you know what I mean. Like maybe some of the text reminds you of something in your real life, so you understand the text better by making that connection. That's how Steve connects to things.) So, yeah, I think he's probably a little bruised whenever somebody—yes, even his close buddy Dustin—walks all over him and treats him like a child when it comes to things unknown to him; especially shit that's D&D or Upside Down related, he doesn't know what's happening, but he'd like to know.

Lastly, and then I'll stop talking in your face, I think he would have the most off-putting, morbid sense of humor after surviving the Upside Down. Like sometimes he makes too strong eye contact and makes some crazy fucked up joke at you and then you just shut down. Like it's hard for him to get laughter sometimes because he'll just say odd shit. And then eventually, when people are done being stunned around him, they're like nervous giggling. All the while thinking, "Jesus fucking Christ, Steve. What the hell." He still feels accomplished even when the laugh is barely a sound, he laughs the hardest at his own morbid jokes. Robin, Nancy, Eddie, and even Jonathan think he needs some serious therapy; clock's ticking, might be time to get on that.

But uhhh, yeah. Steve needs to be more than a stiff board of cardboard, we need to do him justice because the duffers sure as hell won't.

[iamdispleased]

Deciphering the Black Book pt. 2

BLACK BOOK ART CREDIT: @thirdchildart

Part One.

It’s the table of contents, y’all! Let’s do this.

Spoilers: Hatchetfield. At this point, it’s just Hatchetfield. It’d probably be easier to list what I didn’t talk about or allude to.

I’m not going to, but it’d be easier.

Ment.: H.P. Lovecraft

This is will be broken into parts, and then my analysis will follow!

1.

Part One - History and [S?t_f_d]

[?]

theatre

Part Two - Into the black

[Th?]/Kingdom

oblivion

Analysis:

The word ‘theatre’ shows up three times and the word ‘oblivion’ shows up twice in the table of contents. The Starlight Theatre is obviously super important to point where I don’t really need to say anymore on that right now.

Not gonna lie, at first, I thought it said ‘Random’ and pictured Willabella Muckwab writing random thoughts. I’d really like to see those. I bet she has crude doodles. Anyways— Kingdom!

‘The Summoning’ - “We dance around the pentagram, and take all our kingdoms back”

‘Oblivion’ is not just a word, but a concept heavily explored by H.P. Lovecraft and Isaac Newton, and the musicals themselves.

To some, oblivion is the state of total blackness, a place where everything is and is not, it is nothingness, and the knowledge that something resides within it. Take your pick. The point is to find what that means to you.

2.

3.

(totally stolen from: @hatchetfieldtheories)

Part Three - the men

The contents of this section are the same as part four. It was just flipped.*

Analysis:

If it is ‘the men’, I assume it’s about the Hatchetmen. Maybe some family history and stuff like that. Weaknesses, favorite characters from Alf, your guess is as good as mine.*

4.

A[?]

1 - [?]

2. Theatre

3. rea[lm] of [?]

4. america

oblivion

Analysis:

Oop! Here’s ‘theatre’ and ‘oblivion’ again! Honestly? Shrug emoji. My closest guess would be places that are susceptible to the Lords in Black/the Black and White. Why? Because of the words ‘theatre’ and ‘america’. Let’s take a look at this simple snippet from Black Friday:

“Only in America could Wiggly take root ... You think that in the Netherlands, they’d give a shit about some toy? No, they’re too busy on their paid vacations and the free healthcare.” - Uncle Wiley (spitting bars)

Number one looks like the same scribble as the first bullet in Part One, though.* For number three, I see ‘r-e-a’ pretty clearly, so ‘realm’ is context clues based. We’ll mosey on over to Hatchetfield’s little bio.

“In a realm outside of reality, somewhere in the crossroads of imagination and nightmares, there’s a place— a small, mid-western town, where the forces of evil and chaos tug at the fabric of reality. Welcome to Hatchetfield.” - Nick Lang

5.

Part 4 - The Lords in Black

Pokotho

theatre

believe

[?]

never

[Nibbly/Nibbles(?)]

[Queen?]

[?]

[?]

Analysis:

The contents under Part Four are the same as Part Three, but were flipped by the actual artist to fill space (I assume).

Here is that word ‘theatre’ once again! Why do I think the word under it is ’believe’? Simple! In the song ‘The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals’, we get this line nearing the end:

“You gotta believe in something, Paul, gotta believe in stupid Paul”

It looks like ‘never’, it reads like ‘never’, and the word ‘never’ just fits the vibe.

Okay, wait— I was going to write about Nibbly and the Honey Festival, because while the Honey Festival wasn’t founded until 1945, Nibbly and the word ‘queen’ could still coincide for whatever reason, but even with that, the Lords are usually listed in the order of ‘Pokey, Blinky, Tinky, Nibbly, and Wiggly’, but that might be one of the outliers, but I just remembered the Queen in White and something about that made me excited. We’ll see. What I was going to write about Nibbly still applies, though.

6.

Help Me Don’t [go]

In The Black, Po[kotho?]

wants me to

Analysis:

Not everyone wants to tango with the devils. It might be ‘Pokey’, but it’s the same either way, and the person who wrote this was most likely not Willabella, considering she seemed pretty chill with the Lords in Black and it’s coloring is different. Still looks like it was written in blood though. When you dabble in the dark arts, don’t forget to take a pen with you.

Overall:

My question is— what counts as lore? I think this does. Anyway. Again. If anyone figures out what the fuck that word is after ‘History and ????” in part one, hit me up. I’m gonna challenge the word to a duel. What’s it gonna do?? Fight back?? Part three will be out at some point. Okay, bye.

* I assume the artist occasionally used the same art, but warped it to make it look different, so more space could be taken up, and there would be no pain of having to go through It All. I think Part 4 - The Lords in Black is the proper way to read it, though.*

Feel free to reblog and add to this post! I grant you my permission!!

[juiceedapplee]

Con-Artists and You: How to Get Scammed

Sampo x gn!reader

A new item has been added to the menu!

—Sampo has scammed and lied way too often to not be considered a con-artist. Being a con-artist has its ups and downs of course, you get money and meet people but you also risk getting your ass kicked. Thank god you’re around though, what would our dear old Sampo do without you?

Here you stand, wondering what went wrong and why you no longer have any credits or shields in your wallet.

Did you get robbed? Mugged? No, the only time you went out before right now was to get your mail and take a short walk around and you were pretty sure no one ran off with your purse.

Okay, then did you lose it? Of course not, losing money isn’t that easy when you leave your wallet in the same place everyday and keep track of your finances. So then you must have been scammed or bought something no?

Dammit. You recall meeting Sampo earlier, thinking you’d take a stroll since the weather was nice. Well how did he scam you? Last time I checked you were pretty good at detecting scams. Hey! It isn’t your fault that whenever Sampo shows up you can’t help but lose yourself in his eyes. It’s his for having those genes. And the way he laughs and talks with his hands, trying to get you to help him with something. “You’ll help me right?” Sampo asks you, a sort of desperation in his voice. And you, who have not really paying attention just nod and go “Mhm! I’d love to” “Wonderful! I’ll text you when I need ya! Welp, I gotta be off I have veery important business to attend to.” Sampo says as he waves good bye and walks off.

But if that’s not how you lost your money then how? Well, after Sampo sent you a text, you went out to meet him. And there he was, holding a few bags standing around, waiting for you to show up. “Ah! There you are, I was wondering if you could a-bla-blah-blah” Yep. You decided to tune him out in favor of staring at his lips move, occasionally nodding your head and saying “Yeah.” “Mhm.” “Totally.”

“Then I’ll be sure to treat you dinner to repay you, my dear friend.” Oh, is it a date? No. “Wow, I can’t believe we’re going on a date.” Is what you think in your head, muting that part of yourself that says that no, it isn’t a date and he literally just called you friend. “Alright then if you could just hand me the money than that would be great!”

What? Money? When did he? Oh. It must of been when you were tuning him out. Oopsies! What can you do other than give it to him now, plus, he’s gonna take you out to dinner! You pull out your wallet and hand it to him, telling him to “Just take what you need! I get paid soon anyway.” That’s a lie. “Wow, you really are so nice. Yknow, I like to think im just a hard working guy, someone who just wants to live his life but keeps getting roped into other people’s problems. Oh woe is me.” He says as he takes every bit of cash out your wallet. “Well I’ll see you around friend! I’ll text ya when I can take you out for dinner!”

Ah. So that’s how that happened. 😐

Well, in your defense, I guess you were so unfocused that you couldn’t have been able to know what would’ve happened, if only he wasn’t so pretty, and if only you weren’t so in love with him.

So here you are, standing outside, no money in your wallet and a craving for stone grilled olm. Well, at least Sampo will take you out to dinner, eventually.

This drink contains

A small cash grab: $5.00

A bomb shaped ice cube: ¢.25

A dash of delusion: $1.50

Total: $6.75

I decided to spontaneously start a new fic and it was gonna be “how to not get scammed” with reader kicking his ass but I decided against it, I also didn’t go in that direction anyway. But I thought why not make a fic about the man who inspired my theme (and my bbg)

[circlique]

hiiiiii

I love ur avatar ocs they feel so natural to the world, do u have any advice/tips on designing an avatar character??

thanks :)

Thank you! but I gotta give credit where credit is due: most of the OCs I'm drawing belong to IRL family and friends---but I did design them!

Honestly for most of these designs I just stole bits and pieces from characters in the show, usually minor or background characters. If you spend some time looking at characters from the same nation, you'll start to see design elements repeated. For example, the Water Tribes often have fur trim on the shoulders, fur tufts that occur in threes, and triangle or wave patterned trim. I used all of these in my design for Chai Li and feel like he looks pretty natural in terms of Water Tribe design!

@atlaculture has some posts just showing lots of background characters that I used a lot. If you're looking to make an OC that looks natural to the show, I'd recommend taking a look at those and seeing what design elements you see repeated for a particular nation and using those in your design.

Water Tribe (Complete)

Fire Nation (Royal Family and Military)

Earth Kingdom (Season 1)

Earth Kingdom (Non-Ba Sing Se)

Earth Kingdom (Ba Sing Se)

atlaculture also has a great repository of posts showing the cultural inspiration behind various articles of clothing in the Avatar world if IRL inspo is more your jam! Highly recommend basically any of their posts for reference, but here's their post index if you're looking for something specific.

The only thing with IRL inspirations I would caution if you're trying to make it look like it came from the show though is you're going to have to do a loooooot of simplification and stick to the established color schemes. Using water tribe as an example again, in the show we don't really see brown in Water Tribe clothing except as shoes, belts, and armor, and gray almost never. Blue, purple, and white remain the primary colors. You can also see from this comparison (courtesy of atlaculture again) the simplification of the inspiration vs. the designs in the show (on Sokka's especially). The show designs keep large sections of one color on the main bodice and reserve trim mostly for the extremities vs. having intricate furs and trims throughout like on Sokka's.

That isn't to say you can't stay more faithful to the IRL inspiration if you want! I've seen plenty of artists do great takes on those too portraying a more realistic take on the characters and they always look fantastic, but they definitely give that more realistic and less cartoony-straight-from-the-show feel. Just depends on what you're going for I guess.

[demonslayedher]

Things that went through my head while watching this episode: --Herein lies the biggest irony about Hantengu: His transformation into something reminiscent of a Buddhist deity; the sort of fierce and menacing kind that uses violence for justice. Zouhakuten is as convinced of his own righteousness as much as Hantengu is convinced of his own self-pity, and this is what Tanjiro is unable to stomach about him. Tanjiro cares about the strong defending the weak, so it's not just all the lives Hantengu has stolen, it's his blasphemy that makes him hate him.

--In a Kimetsu Kindergarten AU, I want to see Tanjiro and Rui and Zouhakuten all get into schoolyard arguments all the time.

--For as much as I've been appreciating the irony of Hantengu this time around, I do not consider myself well-versed enough in Buddhist iconography to do any detailed analysis of Zouhakuten's character design and name (yet), but suffice to this: The tengu references in Ki-Do-Ai-Raku's designs also borrow from the attire used in practicing Shugendo, because tengu are often depicted as and associated with Shugendo practitioners. Shugendo is a mountain ascetic religion with multiple influences, including Buddhist, and Zouhakuten looks like the sort of deity Shugendo practitioners might encounter in the mountains.

--But if anyone in this episode lives up to the Shugendo ideal, it is Haganezuka. That Taisho Secret with his extreme physical and spiritual preparation? That's what I mean, right there. That hyperfocus, though? If I were to diagnose one character in this series as neurodivergent, it is Haganezuka-san, and that maybe be part of where he gets his hyperfocus. Still, it's built into the plot that he prepared to put his life on the line for this endeavor, so I also give him credit for having also practiced spiritual mastery! For when it counts, anyway. Swords are the only time when it counts.

--Muichiro--both physically and spiritually-- was very vividly saved by Kotetsu's actions, but Haganezuka also deserves credit for having been the perfect person to exploit Gyokko's weakness--his pride as an artist. (You get a 'you tried' gold star, Kanamori-san--for now, because the sword you smithed saves the day later. Truly, everyone's actions are important!).

--Might I just say--OWWWW, Kotetsu's solar plexus might not have been punctured, but that's gotta hurt. And speaking of getting punctured, MUICHIRO FELL FLAT ON THOSE NEEDLES HE STILL HAD STUCK TO THE FROM OF HIM, OW OW OW OW OW OW OW

--The fact that Rengoku-san's tsuba was what saved Kotetsu is another why reason I really, really wanna see Senjuro and Kotetsu become penpals

--I like that even though Tanjiro and Mr. Tokito have a resemblance, Mr. Tokito sounds like a dad. But Tanjiro has so many bags around his eyes in comparison--Mr. Tokito is so much better rested! I guess he's resting in peace.

--I love this bitter side of Muichiro. It's not simply that he picked up a sharp tongue from Yuichiro, but instead, a utilitarian outlook on the world that makes him quick to judge others--or himself--as incapable. Mr. Tokito's words really were such gentle and chiding guidance. I wonder what Yuichiro's reaction to their dad was if he ever tried to have a similar teaching moment with him?

--Jumping back to the first half of this episode, making Tanjiro and Genya barely able to stand under the pressure of Zouhakuten is, well, sort of a convenient way of portraying "look he is powerful" and "now we have the hero converse with a demon." It's not quite as memorable as other times this happens in the series, but it is a signature part of KnY for this to happen.

--Another big difference between Tanjiro and Genya, at least in displaying their potential as Pillars (which Genya agonizingly recognized in the previous episode that he doesn't possess), is that while Genya spend a lot of time thinking "WTF!? W... T... F?!? WTF!!! WTFWTFWTFWTF!!!" Tanjiro is already back to rolling with the new situation. The fact that Tanjiro wasn't killed instantly by those wooden serpents was because he possessed the peace of mind to grab on and use his chances and move around to where there were pockets of safety. If Genya were in that position, he'd probably just take the hit and then flop around until his body regenerates. Likewise, Tanjiro's ability to sense unique demons, their locations, and how powerful they are is something he has continually developed, so he had a general idea how Zouhakuten came to be, but Genya needed to witness it. Again, like started in the last episode, Genya deserves a lot of credit for how hard he's worked and how much more he's able to do than just munch. Even in demon mode here, he mostly uses demon mode for the regenerative ability, and for offense he still reloads his gun and holds onto his broken blade.

--Nezuko, girl, you too. Just charging in and sacrificing limbs without a thought. Girl, you have gotten too used to this freaky regenerative speed of yours and the whole Corp sure is lucky most demons never achieve that.

--Again, I'm not a shipper, but I am tickled by the idea of reframing things with a Genya x Aizetsu angle (probably just one-sided infatuation, or even that they are exes but Aizetsu is still in love). After all, Genya knows Aizetsu's name, but didn't use the names of the other demons! Ohohoho! That sure adds more meaning to Genya witnessing Aizetsu's final moments of terror! (For the record, I do not see any of this in canon; it is simply funny.)

[cafalla]

Rainbow Brite Saves Spring (1984) Book Scans

Long time, no see! It's been a while since I last posted about a scanned project. The last time I posted was about an issue of Starlog Magazine back in February.

Most of my latest posts really focused on my reading goal for the year, though that has fallen a bit to the wayside lately. I'm still reading, but at a much slower pace of about one book a month. I've been playing more video games, which I mentioned in my last post, and I do want to post and talk about them sometime!

But for today, we are going to look at this little story book I scanned: Rainbow Brite Saves Spring (1984).

My history with Rainbow Brite is quite short and limited. My mom had many VHS tapes with randomly taped episodes of Care Bears that I used to watch. Sprinkled throughout were also the occasional episode of the Rainbow Brite cartoon. I think I also had a VHS tape with one of the Rainbow Brite movies that I would watch sometimes as a kid...but that's about it.

Aesthetically, I LOVE Rainbow Brite. I even bought an artist pin of her from a horror convention.

I'm so sad I don't remember the artist - it's been years and I no longer have the pin backing that came with it. I tried googling around and couldn't locate the art either. If anyone knows the artist, please let me know so I can include a link for credit!

Back to the storybook - it's a simple story about Rainbow Brite and friends saving the Rainbow Sprites from Murky Dismal and Lurky's gloom potion. After the gloom potion has been blown away, the gang run off to start work on making the first day of Spring vibrant and lively with color!

I'm going to be honest, I was kind of shocked when I flipped to this page.

They just casually drop that the Rainbow Sprites are slaving away in the MINES. I honestly forgot that was a thing.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Rainbow Sprites were the type to yearn for the mines...brb, making a terrible meme.

I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself. I have impulsive thoughts, a computer, and basic editing software...it gave me a giggle, at least.

And this sad realization isn't helped by the little art on the inside cover of the book of the Rainbow Sprites looking absolutely miserable.

Worked to the bone with nothing to boost their morale.

Someone give these little guys a Happy Meal! Do I gotta do everything myself around here?!

There we go!

(Ok, I promise to stop making edits for my own amusement, at least for the remainder of this post lol).

This artwork is actually in relation to the plot of the Rainbow Sprites becoming gloomy...but I like to think it's due to their abysmal working conditions.

The potential lack of Rainbow Sprite labor and lunch laws aside, here's some art from the book that I really enjoy!

Starlite is definitely my favorite character in the book - he looks so pretty and elegant in this art style! The kids look cute too, but they run the risk of looking a bit wonky at times. See Rainbow Brite's toad-like appearance and Red Butler's pog face in the above panel.

I'll be posting the above artwork and more over on my photoblog, nostalgiahime, if you're into reblogging art without all my words attached to them. I've been lacking on posting to both this account and that one, but I'll have them queue'd up here soon!

Also, feel free to take a look at and read the whole storybook here on my Internet Archive account!

Thanks for stopping by ♡︎

[dire-vulture]

🍇 🍋 🥝 my evil questions

🍇Share the “villain” or main antagonist of your clan and talk about them!

honestly that's a tough one..i definitely have some morally dubious dragons here and there, but they're generally either staying out of other's ways so as to avoid trouble, or they just have very specific rivalries. (looking at you, Warglobe.) for dragons that could be said to antagonize the community as a whole though...

Paragon's probably the strongest contender, he's a pompous tundra and a con artist lying about his fortune telling abilities, but he's also Tarragon's younger brother and he's more than happy to use Tarragon's innate protectiveness over him to his advantage, pushing around other dragons and facing relatively few consequences. I think he has somewhat chilled out since his earlier years in Florabrisa though. Like, other dragons definitely got sick of his shit and usually he'd just flee when things start to go south, but he already sort of came to Florabrisa as a last resort specifically for Tarragon's protection so dfgsdf with few other options he's mostly laying low now and is just a regular at the clan tavern. Other dragons at the tavern probably have lots of opinions on him though fdgsfd

i also just wanna give an honorable mention to my Pearlcacther Millisievert! She considers herself a pillar of the community, and in many ways she really is, but she's also a busybody and overly concerned with appearances, so bascially she tries to act like a self-appointed HoA for Florabrisa dfgsfd if you're doing something she disapproves of, she is going to let you know and has lots of words to say about it. dfgfd still, she's hardly evil. she's just not fun to rub shoulders with.

🍋What’s the most dramatic/emotional moment in your lore? Explain it, or write one short paragraph of prose set during that moment

ooohh..the most dramatic has gotta be Tamarind and Zaffre's divorce, which i 'summarized' here. Not great when two of your clan's four leaders have a serious falling out and one of their kids go missing dfsfdgfd Zaffre left the clan for half a year after that, before returning to her duties as leader.

and i don't talk about this all that much, but honestly i should and it is related to the above..Florabrisa's biggest victim (and really the only one thankfully) is Clash and I feel so bad for her fdgsfd She's Zaffre's eldest daughter, from her relationship with Kyurem years before meeting the other future Florabrisa leaders. Zaffre was a hardcore survivalist plague dragon who liked living on her own in the wilderness, far away from society, and Kyurem thought that was exciting and loved the adventure and the two fell in love. But then once they had Clash, Kyurem realized they didn't want their daughter to be isolated from everything and grow up with no friends or outside resources. Zaffre vehemently disagreed, believing Clash would have everything she needed in the Wilderness..so due to these different beliefs they split up (no divorce because they never married) and took turns raising Clash. The arrangement seemed to go well at first, young Clash learning lots of useful survival skills with Zaffre and getting more social benefits with Kyurem, but as Clash started getting older (like..6 or 7 at this point) it was becoming clear she wasn't really enjoying her time in isolated wilderness with Zaffre, and even in town with Kyurem where she enjoyed her favorite luxuries like candy, musicals, and indoor plumbing, she wasn't fitting in well with dragons her own age. Zaffre begrudgingly started letting Clash stay with Kyurem for longer periods, and then Zaffre herself decided she would start slowly reconnecting with society, starting by getting in touch with an old coworker/friend named Moraine, who introduced her to Tarragon and Tamarind too.

Honestly Tarragon tends to get the credit since he picked out the location and name, but in many ways, Florabrisa was actually Zaffre's baby. She had been burned by civilization and other dragons many times, but she always saw herself as a leader and she secretly wished she could start her own community. And she was really missing spending time with Clash too...basically after giving tons of pep talks to her friends who were all struggling with Dragon Capitalism in their own ways, she convinced them to start Florabrisa, in large part because she hoped this would finally be the right environment to raise Clash, and of course enjoy her new marriage with Tamarind and have a family with him too.

But then, once they all started getting Florabrisa set up and having to deal with leaderly duties and actually managing a community, Zaffre really didn't have all that much time to raise Clash, and in having a nest of eggs with Tamarind, then Moraine and Tarragon having their own kids too (including taking in Keiji when his parents suddenly died), they kind of ended up shouldering Clash with babysitting duties when she was barely a preteen fdsdgf Clash loves hatchlings, and wanted to be a responsible older sister, but it really wasn't fair to her. I like to think Tarragon, Moraine, and Kyurem did their best to make sure Clash wasn't having too many responsibilities put on her, but Clash tends to be very closed off and great at hiding her feelings, so they still missed a lot of things dfgsfd and there was still the problem of Clash not fitting in with her peers, given her odd fashion sense, stilted speech, and apparent lack of emotions, all of which other kids would mock her for. This unfortunately did not go away in Florabrisa. In fact, Millie up there in the first question is only two years older than Clash and for most of their teenage years was her biggest bully, since Millie (who of course cares so much about Florabrisa's well-being) saw the marital problems between Zaffre and Tamarind, and as a concerned citizen she loved throwing fuel into the rumor mill that Zaffre was cheating on Tamarind with her old flame Kyurem, with Clash right at the center at that,,, Clash had it very very rough growing up fgfdh

So yeah. Florabrisa's cruelest irony is that it was founded in part to be the ideal place to raise Clash, but then they all just. completely flubbed that part. i am so sorry Clash :(

sometimes i have to wonder if she should have even stayed in Florabrisa, but I think as an adult she's found peace and she's much better supported now. She has her wife Antikyra and they have a child who is going to get the dream childhood that Clash deserved!

omg. well, so much for one short paragraph dfgsfdg it's been years and i just finally needed to talk about Clash i guess xD;

🥝If you were to start over on your lore and remake it entirely, what would you change?

Kiwi time dfgsfdgfds. ummm lets see. give Clash a better childhood for starters sfdgsfd

For years I thought to myself if i restarted my lair, I would make it a swamp instead. but then i made my swamp tab and pretty much gave myself everything i wanted so dfgsfd i really don't know! I have thought before that if i had a chance to do something new with my progens, I would make them an M snapper and f bogsneak who are just friends instead of the typical married-progens-thing, but honestly i would never change Moraine and Tarragon and married progens are still fun regardless dsfgsfd having a snapper progen would rule though.

thank you!! and i am sorry for the length of this dfgsdfgdfg

[cerisetial]

making cookies with my love, i stir and mix! ft. xiao, albedo and kaveh!!

gn! reader

note :: not danganronpa or mystic messenger related but, genshin related (cause i'm ar59 who loves this game so much but is too scared to write for it)

alright. i'm very much in love with xiao, albedo and kaveh so this'll be about them!! also i literally JUST made chocolate chip cookies (i'll put a picture in a bit, they don't look TOO good though so don't get your hopes up 😭)

warnings! :: none, i think? oh right, might be ooc (most likely ooc but i'm doing my best TvT)

albedo

baking is a bit similar to his experiments

you mix certain compounds together and then the results can change depending on what exactly it is you've mixed together

so he kind of has a basic gist of baking. it's similar to what he does but just edible

would gladly assist you in baking if ever you are and he has time

you can trust him with measurements and he's quite precise about them, not a single gram over or under everything is perfectly measured out

says that even a small miss up could alter the whole thing

you two are making a cake :D

he'll let you handle frosting whilst he can handle the batter! as for the design, both of you are in charge of that

you two get to work and things go by very smoothly, hence why you're not really surprised when the cake comes out smelling and looking really tasty from the oven

you both leave it to cool for a while before getting yo work on the exterior features

albedo is an artist, so that combined with having you there giving him a good amount of inspiration and motivation makes the cake turn out super well

he's a sweet tooth confirmed. he'd cut a slice out for you and feed it to you, happy to see the sparkly look in your eyes accompanied with a "this tastes great, bedo!"

would share some with the knights, and leave some for you guys to eat together

10/10 baking partner, very helpful and is just so!! skilled!!!

"i'm glad that you like it. i was a bit worried that i might have messed up somewhere. oh? you'd... like to feed me? well, i don't see a reason to refuse"

kaveh

he's... not the worst in the kitchen. he can cook a few meals, not a lot of great ones, but good enough ones. however cooking and baking are two different things, and is he good at baking? yeahhhh— no. nuh uh.

he is a wreck in the kitchen when baking. the place is messy, everything's all over the place, did he put sugar, or salt in the batter? oh great, start over. anddd there's an angry alhaitham complaining about the mess

so when it comes to baking, whether you're good at it or not (but for the sake of these headcanons you'll be a good baker), you'll have to take charge

gotta give him some credit though, he's a very enthusiastic helper! if you're handling the heavy lifting, aka actually doing the baking, he'll handle the clean up like washing the dishes, wiping the tables and equipment as well as putting things back in their places

he'll enjoy watching you whilst you work, looking at you with that sickeningly sweet lovestruck look in his eyes

he'll wrap his arms around your waist as you move all over the place, talking about anything that comes to mind or anything about what you're baking

you're making sugar cookies with royal icing btw just cause i said so

now he may not have been a huge help with the actual baking process, but he can lend assistance with the designing! he's quite careful with his handiwork (he's an architect) so you'll have no problems about him producing anything terrible

he'll look very focused when he starts icing the cookies, his tongue poking out between his lips as he carefully coats each cookie with an adequate amount of icing and starts styling

in the end you two have a plate of gorgeous sugar cookies that kaveh begrudgingly shares with alhaitham (cause you made him share)

would ask you how it tastes and use the same old "you have some icing on your lip" excuse to give you a kiss and then ask you again how it tastes

overall, wreck in the kitchen but does his best to help <3 cutie, i want him c6 c'mon hoyoverse give me a chance please

"mhmm mhm! these taste great, you did so well, love! huh? share these with him? could i not? ... fine."

xiao

he would have no clue what baking is

nor would he know how to bake

all he really eats is almond tofu so, it makes sense why he wouldn't really be interested in baking

until he spots you in the kitchen of wangshu inn making— mixing??

usually he'd just leave you alone but, even adepti can be curious every now and then right? so he carefully approaches you as to not disturb you

he sees batter, and you mixing it, before putting it down and turning around to see him

kind of embarrassed you saw him but he makes no move of leaving and only asks what you're up to, to which you reply you're baking :D

you'll need to explain to him what exactly baking is before anything else though cause he has no idea what that is

but once he knows he volunteers to help, albeit he has 0 idea what to do so he'll just let you tell him what it is you need him to do for you!

needs a bit (a lot) of guidance but in the end things go by rather smoothly

you guys made regular chocolate chip cookies cause those always taste yummy :)

as mentioned earlier, the only food he ever really eats is almond tofu, so it might take a bit of convincing to get him to try out the cookies you made together

but when he does try them after a lot of convincing, he's pleasantly surprised! it tastes really airy and chewy, has a light crisp on the outside, the chocolate is sweet but the salt balances it out to make not be unbearably sweet

overall he really likes the experience. baking with you feels quite domestic, and he may not know what exactly to do but with just the right amount of guidance he's a great partner in the kitchen

"this... tastes quite good. hm? would i consider eating more of this if you ever made more? ... perhaps"

will i ever write for genshin again? i honestly don't know, but i'm willing to give it a try depending on how well this post will do sooo! likes and reblogs will be a THOUSAND percent appreciated <3! also i have like 5 drafts and i should really start on them soon hahaha

stay safe and healthy always, my stars!

— cerise

[allimocha]

I really love your fashion choice for your characters!!

How do you design the outfits on your oc, and what are your tips in character design?



Ooof~! I answered this one HELLA late (○ ⋏ ○)…

But here's the answer for anyone interested!

Read More ⬎

Tip Numero 1:

Have a clear description of your character’s personality and fashion sense. I guess this is pretty self-explanatory lol, but it’s very helpful! If you understand enough about how your character acts, you can get a pretty good idea of what type of clothes they’d wear~!

For example, my monster girly Amour and Peacock!

For peacock, I knew I wanted a bubbly cropped street look to match her personality. And adding rips and tears to give that quintessential zombie look added to how explosive her style and optimism can be.

Then we have Amour. She’s….. something alright! As a fallen cherub, I thought it would be cute if she wore a blazer to match the pure nature of where she’s from. But…. She is anything but pure. Despite this, I still gave her a cutesy pastel love core-esqe look, so it can be a bit of a subversion of expectations for her character. The type of person who looks like they wouldn’t hurt a fly, yet then proceeds to smash said fly into the ground with her weapon and keep beating it with a smile on her face even though the fly is far gone past tense- Ooop, got a little distracted there.

Tip Number 2:

What if you’re just character designing on the fly, and don’t have a concrete idea for this character yet? You know what helps? Drumroll please *drumroll*

PINTEREST~!

Now you gotta be careful with Pinterest since it’s notoriously known for taking people’s art and not crediting them. So if you’re using another’s artwork as REFERENCE (we’ll get back to this later) for an outfit, make sure to at least find them and give ‘em a follow. You can even put the artist’s name in the pin’s comment section.

Now back to the Referencing thing. When taking ANY pins from Pinterest, be sure you’re not straight up copying or tracing it, that’s not cool! What you want to do is find specific things that you’d like on your character, and very loosely reference it which means you’re gonna have to use that noggin and be creative~! I believe in you. Using color palettes online can also help spark inspiration

When you get your references, I usually put them in one place, using Milanote, which is an app on the AppStore. (If you can’t use that, just put the references on another canvas in your art program of choice). Here’s an example of one I made for my character Cyan:

Chippu Bango 3:

Trial and error. Look, you’re not always gonna get the winning design first try. Even to this day, there will be characters I made in middle school that I’ve redesigned 5 or more times to get it right. I mean… look at Peacock’s first designs:

Just don’t be too hard on yourself, character design is fun, but if it gets too frustrating, walk away for a bit and come back with fresh new eyes. You’re not gonna satisfy everyone with your design, but if you can satisfy yourself, that’s what counts~!

——————————————————-

That’s all I can say for now, let me know what you think of my techniques!

Byyyyieeeeee~! ( ꈍ ω ꈍ)ﾉ~ *:・ﾟ

[yandere-kittee]

Derrick Cohen (Yandere Playboy x Gn! Reader)

Contains: Isolation, Manipulation.

Derrick is rumored to have been in bed with the entire female population in the school, but what they don't know is that he's only ever dated one girl and only lead girls on because he doesn't seem to be in love with them at all.

Sure, he's pretty and all that but what else? They don't know him that well and neither does he, so why would he bed or be in a relationship with someone he barely knows?

He'd only be in a serious relationship if he knows that he can trust them and they can trust him. (Yes, I am implying he's demi romantic and demi sexual)

He can be flirty but he too knows his limits and boundaries, he's a playboy, not a home wrecking piece of shit.

He doesn't get attached to those he flirts with.

Though, you we're different.

You treated him normally and barely glanced his way despite his good looks and popularity, you two had been assigned to do this thesis statement and you two swapped numbers to have contact with each other outside shared classes.

You didn't try shooting your shot even though you could have the chance of getting close to him and maybe going on a few dates or something like that, but no.

You focused on your thesis statement, even helping him with areas he couldn't quite grasp or fully understand, you didn't belittle for it, at all.

Maybe cause you really wanted to focus on your studies and think that you'll focus on love when you got your while life together, but that's just the author talking.

He wanted to get closer to you since he genuinely wanted to be friends with you, who knew.

Who knee he'd actually fall in love with you, someone who didn't seem to have that much pressence.

He really wanted to get to know you but you had the biggest trust issues, it was hard letting your guard down on someone whose rumored to have been in bed with the whole female population of the school.

But that was it.

They we're just baseless rumors, so who we're you to judge? So you let your walls down a bit and gave him a chance, ACL chance for the two of you to get to know each other.

It was at first, weird, since he was so eager to get to know you, asking you so much questions that you couldn't be able or didn't want to answer some of them, he was very enthusiastic.

But you could guess that was apart of his charm, he looked better when he smiled, you also like it that he has two dimples on his cheeks when he smiles.

He was a bit clingy at times and would appear out of no where but you truly enjoyed his company, though it slowly became overbearing when he'd accompany you everywhere, not just at school but outside as well.

If you we're going to go out, he'd ask if he could tag along, if not outside then inside your own home, you had a little grooming kit in your room that had some of his clothes, self care items and a few stuff from his previous visits.

He's rarely seen hanging around with his usual group of girls and is now always seen next to you, he's willing to give away his play boy lifestyle for you to stay by his side.

Since you hardly interacted with other students, it was easy to isolate you from the rest and keep you all to himself, telling you how other students gossip about you behind your back, insulting you and overall saying how you're just clinging onto Derrick and don't know your place that well.

Buy don't worry, all you need is him and no on else♡

,★⌒ヽ(●＾､＾●)Kiss!

I hope you enjoy this one, I'm a bit sleepy and definitely need to sleep early cause I gotta wake up early but I got motivation back (Did I? I don't know...)

Picrew link (I lost the link, so if anyone knows it and has it please let me know so I can properly credit the artist.)

[jessequinones]

Writing Lesson: It’s okay to make mistakes.

I know as a writer I make mistakes, in fact, I’m certain if you go through this text you’ll find grammar and punctuation errors and that's ok. This text isn’t a book or a peer review essay. It’s a conversation from me to you about mistakes in writing.

When I was young, learning how to write, I created this.

***

2010, Wildcats: Civil War

“What are you saying?” A black tom said to a brown tom with anger in his voice.

Before he was finish Shadow walk away wan Deathclan was about to leave but what Whiteheart said next made Shadow froze in his tracks. “I know I can beat you.”

“Is that so?” Shadow said as he was turning around and was slowly walking back toward Whiteheart.

“That is correct.”

“Well then….let’s have a little battle right here and now then.”

Whiteheart could not say no, or back down now. He walks right it in this battle.

***

Yeah...it’s not good but the point is, even though I was a terrible writer, I never stole my writings. All of my terrible stories were original and that’s what I want to talk to you about today.

The word plagiarism has been going around the internet for the last few days and I noticed when people who plagiarised other’s works get caught they tend to say they don’t feel comfortable with their own writings and thought it was a good idea to steal. Assuming they’re genuine, let me say it’s okay if your writing isn’t good, that’s how we learn.

You write a bad sentence or a paragraph which doesn’t make sense, and someone will point it out. You’ll learn over time not to make the same mistakes and grow as a writer. Just copying from someone else won’t help you learn because you’re no longer making mistakes, you’re just copying.

I always hated the saying you gotta keep practising your craft to get better because there were a few times when I thought I couldn’t improve. I kept practicing but I kept making the same mistakes and didn’t know how to get better. For those types of situations, I find it best to ask someone whose more experience how to overcome your hurdle and let me be the first to say there are plenty of people in your craft who’ll be willing to help.

As for writing, here’s a trick I did to help me create stories. For practice, I took a book, like the Warrior series for an example, and copied their words. Before you say that’s plagiarism, first things first, I never published the stories I was copying, and secondly, I was figuring out how the Erin Hunters were creating their stories.

When artists learn how to draw for the first time, they copy someone else’s art style and maybe even do trace works until they become confident in their ability to create their own. I was still trying to learn what my writing style was, and I wanted to figure out how someone else created theirs. Over time I started to get an understanding of how sentence structure was made. I understood foreshadowing, and I understood when and where to add descriptions. I would start looking at lines in the books after I wrote them and be like...I could improve this. I started to see things I didn’t think were necessary for the story and after a while, I told myself I was ready to write my own Warriors fanfic.

Learning from someone else, being inspired by another. These are all things that’ll help you grow as a writer but you still got to do the work yourself. You can’t say you created something original if 90% of it was stolen, you’re only hurting yourself.

If you’re a new writer and have questions, even if you think they’re very basic, please feel free to ask me. I’m not the best writer. In fact, I don’t really know how to create informative writing, which is why I’m practising now, but I do know a few things and am always willing to help someone if I have the time and don’t forget. Keep trying and keep writing, your writing is better than you give it credit for.

[popmusic101]

Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar

DAMN.! Kendrick earns his third #1 single in NZ with his Drake diss-track 'Not Like Us'. I should have seen this one coming considering the music video was released last week and almost instantly racked up millions of views. Drake's gotta be in shambles right now.

This really puts the final nail in the coffin, huh? The crowd shouting out the "A Minor" line, Whitney and the kids dancing together in their living room, Kendrick's knowing grin. Absolutely brutal stuff.

No need to recap the beef I don't think cos there's plenty of other places that have done it (it even has a Wikipedia page!), but it's something I'm thrilled I got to see happening in real time. The back and forth tracks and the way Kendrick just systematically and methodically buried Drake was insane.

To give Drake some credit, his tracks weren't terrible. I actually quite like 'Family Matters' (and the line "Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a Grammy right now" is pretty funny, even if it mostly just reveals Drake's jealousy). His big mistake though was going up against an artist like Kendrick who's known for his wordplay - dude, won a Pulitzer Prize for god's sake! That's who you wanna have a rap battle with?! Big mistake!

It'll be very interesting to see if Drake can ever recover from this, in terms of reestablishing his chart dominance. He has a previous five #1 songs on the charts, and a total of thirty-three songs that charted in the top ten, but when a song calling you a 'certified pedophile' reaches the top of the charts, how can you just back to releasing music as if nothing happened?

As for Kendrick, this victory lap just cemented his status as one of (if not the) best rappers in the game. I get the impression he's never cared as much about the charts and #1's as Drake does, preferring instead to create songs that are more 'meaningful', but with 'Not Like Us' he proves that he can do anything. Can't wait to see what he does next.

[samobservessonic]

While uncredited, this story was also written by Kitching, though the art came from an artist called Bojan Djukic, according to the wiki. There wasn’t a page for Djukic on the wiki and my search results came back with a footballer who’s probably not the same person, but I think this is the only issue they do art for. At least, I don’t recognise the style from elsewhere

I also believe this is the first mention of Metropolis Zone, which goes on to be a staple location in StC and houses Metropolis City. It’s Robotnik’s main hub right now, but also includes locations like the Groovy Train. It’s basically the big city. You’ve gotta have one. I don’t remember it looking so… sci-fi, but it’s a big place, there’s room for a little sci-fi out the back

We’re now seeing the drawbacks of just anyone knowing about the Floating Island. Because as well as the Marxio Bros setting up camp there, you’ve got this guy, called Smirch, stealing the Purple Chaos Emerald. Why he only grabbed one of them, I don’t know. Maybe it was too risky to stick around for the jackpot?

Sonic, my guy. I know your heart is in the right place. I know you’re eager to impress your rival and crush Knuckles by getting back this emerald for him, but I think the guy wearing the green cape with the prominent knuckle fists had this under control

I was about to say that this bird man’s power is poisonous gas, but it looks like he’s just throwing it. And we once again see that the first thing on Sonic’s mind is helping the civilians. StC Sonic might be kind of a jerk to his friends, but taking care of the civilians is always high up his priority list

Yeah, what do you know about the emerald theft, not-Knuckles??

…Wow, looks like not-Knuckles was actually Knuckles! And he’s less than enthused about Sonic getting in his way, but Sonic’s still eager to help. He’s come prepared with a tracking device from Porker Lewis. Hey Knuckles, that Porker Lewis guy sounds handy, maybe he should come live with you at some point in the future? Just sayin’

Sonic’s smile on the second panel really gets me. He needs this banter in his life

Too eager to impress, Sonic once again spoils a trap that Knuckles sets for Smirch. I’m amused to see the term “nutter” crop up in StC as well. That’s like something my dad would say lol

The scans I’m using crop off a bit of the dialogue, but you get the gist of it. Sonic & Knuckles are distracted by their bickering and Smirch gets away

Damn Sonic, that was a low blow

Sonic tries to win this back by presenting Knuckles with the emerald, but Knuckles remains unimpressed

The story ends with Smirch getting away, but they got the emerald back, so that’s what matters. Since I was on the wiki to get the writer and artist credits anyway, I saw that this is Smirch’s only appearance. Imagine the bad luck of not only being a oneshot character, but being a oneshot character in a spin-off comic that most people probably won’t read

Anyway, this story was great! I already love the dynamic that Kitching’s made for Sonic & Knuckles in these early stories. They’re rivals, but Sonic also seems eager to impress Knuckles at the same time. He’s still a jerk to Knuckles like he is with a lot of his other friends, but Knuckles can fight him back on his own level and it feels like this gives both of them a chance to let loose? I’d obviously recommend this issue to SonKnux shippers, since it’s literally just a comic about the two of them fighting a villain of the week while bickering with each other

[penroseparticle]

1, 2?

Unironically I knew you would ask me the two best questions on this whole damn list, thank you Izzy for being the GOAT.

Song of the year? God what songs even came out this year. I don't think this year was a year where new music happened for me. (One of the biggest hits this year was... Fast Car. Do you remember that??? What???) I'm a little tempted to say Fast Car, but that's cheating on Ms. Tracy Chapman, who is unimpeachably the best version of the song (And wouldn't it kind of suck if the song of the year was just. An inarguably well done but ultimately less meaningful rendition of a song from like 45 years ago) If I can pick songs that I encountered this year but didn't come out this year, I could go on for a while. Lonely by Jamila Woods, All My Girls Like To Fight by Hope Tala, Get Down by Woozy. I think Van Gogh by Mette is great but not the song of the year for me, certainly. Rush by Troye Sivvy? It's more honest but doesn't feel right to me totally. Is It New Years Yet has new toy syndrome, AND it's a holiday song, AND it's a Sabrina Carpenter song that complains about overplayed music. Like. Self aware much? And also means it can kick rocks because that is NOT song of the year material. But I like music with a groovy influence, I'm a little corny, and I can't lie about this kinda thing. I categorically refuse to put Build a Boat on my top anything list, regardless of Spotify telling lies about my listening habits. (This is me lying about this kinda thing). I don't want to repeat a year in review song, either, which kinda makes this harder. I guess I gotta give it to You Wish by Flyana Boss, because it's the only song that's not 1. on my year end list, or 2. a song that had a reservation/caveat/well, actually attached to it.

Album of the year? My two top albums of this year were Something To Give Each Other and Jaguar II, but I have to give it up to Victoria Monet honestly- I didn't take to a piece of music this fast since when I saw Young Empires open for Reptar and fell in love on the first song of the set. I listened to Smoke and I was hooked- maybe it's the drug culture references but joyful and openly honest, maybe it's the slick production and variety on the album, maybe it's that it's not afraid to be goofy as hell ("I'm so deep in my bag, like a grandma with a peppermint" is quite possibly an all timer goofy lyric that still hits the right timber for the braggadocio it's placed as in the song, "It's a bisexual blunt it can go both ways" is just. so fuckin stupid, I love it.), maybe it's the features (Lucky Daye? EARTH WIND AND FIRE???), maybe it's the touch of old hollywood glamour at the end and the clear love of motown sensibilities juxtaposed with her talking about her 4K titties. I don't know man, it just rewired my brain but in a good way. More than that, Victoria made me cognizant of her in the stuff I already liked. Like. She has writing credits/backing vocal credits for Ariana Grande. I CAN HEAR HER IN THE SONGS SHE HELPED WRITE. She's goofy and sexy and has some fun production preferences, and I can hear her sometimes now even when she's composing/producing for other artist. I haven't been able to peg a pop writer this hard since good ol' jackie, and that's because he's everywhere and also in like 3 solo projects and also Taylor Swift's silver bullet. But like I can directly point to how much she worked on Thank You Next and the all time greatest Ariana album, Dangerous Woman. She helped write Body Count, Sin City, On The Way... all songs I liked by other artists, but didn't realize who, you know, helped make. This is not to say I didn't love Troye Sivan this year- and both these artists made my year end retrospective. I really dig Troye's album (Though I run into the issue I have with a lot of albums where I like but don't love the second half of it, which is why Victoria took the W.). Give the songs In My Room or What's The Time Where You Are a listen for sure. It's just. so hard to find an album you unironically vibed with. Unashamedly and openly. I honestly don't care if anyone else likes this album, because I loved it. I'll stream it enough for all of us, a bitch might buy it on vinyl Anyways sorry for running on so long, it's Jaguar II by Victoria Monet, because if we have to say Goodbye, let's make it a Good Bye is something I want to live by now that I've heard it.

[wifelinkmtg]

gotta get back. back to the present samurai jesent

*wh-cha*

I am ten goddamn sets behind but I have to catch up because we’re almost back to The Horniest Goddamn Plane In All Of Magic Canon (that’d be New Phyrexia, babes!) and if I don’t cover that in uncomfortable detail, then what was this blog even for? We got some ground to cover, so let’s get going.

CORE SET 2021

Good news! Unlike Core Set 2020, this one isn’t a complete wash!

Indulging Patrician (art by Miranda Meeks)

Meeks giving vampire-fuckers exactly what they want here. Rose-tinted diaphanous silks & equally-diaphanous bats, the delicate damask patterns, the bridal carry, the victim’s languid pose, the collarbones, the blood - but for me, it’s the contrast between the vampire’s self-possessed hauteur and the trickle of blood down her throat that really makes this work.

Liliana, Waker of the Dead (art by Anna Steinbauer)

Liliana almost always makes the list, of course, but usually she gets here through raw displays of power and dominance. Steinbauer’s taken a different tack here, though, constructing this pastoral idyll centered around Liliana as a Gothic heroine. Is that sharp-edged pensiveness hesitation? Regret? Whatever it is, it’s a vulnerability we don’t usually get to see with her. This is easily, easily my favorite Liliana. It’s also about forty percent more Audrey Hepburn than typical, which. Yeah, that works for me.

KALDHEIM

man i just really do not care for the art direction in Kaldheim if I’m being honest. “viking plane” has a lot of potential and most of the art here is well-executed i just can’t help but feeling like the briefs the artists were given were kind of half-assed. like they have gods of DEATH and FEAR and they just look like whole foods hipsters. still, though! couple of hot valkyries.

Eradicator Valkyrie (art by Tyler Jacobson)

You really have to appreciate when someone just fully commits to a vibe. She could have stopped with the corpse paint and the black and gold everything but she went that extra mile for the blue flame wings and the smoldering pillar of the damned.

Youthful Valkyrie (art by Anna Steinbauer)

Yeahhhhh, I knew I could count on Steinbauer to deliver something ineffably sapphic. Hot, broody warrior angel fits the bill. Thank you for your service as always, ma’am.

HONORABLE MENTION: Jorn, God of Winter (art by Magali Villeneuve)

I gotta give credit where credit is due: in one of the drier sets in a very neutered Magic the Gathering era, Villeneuve has made a god who one million percent fucks. This rules.

STRIXHAVEN: SCHOOL OF MAGES

You know, I figured there’d be more candidates at wizard college, if for no other reason than there’d be more girls with glasses - but no, not even Goth Entomologist House OR Bitchy Poet Vampire House produced a single hit between the two of them. Here’s what we do get:

Professor Onyx (art by Kieran Yanner)

Liliana Vess: MILF professor version. I don’t need to say more than this, the scenario writes itself. Still, I do wanna pause and note the shoulder battlements. This is a woman who knows the value of fortifying gun emplacements, by which, yes, I do mean her tits.

Dragonsguard Elite (art by David Rapoza)

Oh yeah this is genuinely horny. Big owl glasses, perfect facial features, picturesque windblown hair, a dramatic display of power, those curves. I’ve really missed art that manages to be self-indulgent but not boring. More of this!

ADVENTURES IN THE FORGOTTEN REALMS

I have a great deal of resentment about the D&D crossover sets in terms of flavor. You can’t make Lolth, Zariel, and Mordenkainen planeswalkers in Magic canon and then be like oh well but no not really it’s not like they can go to Ravnica or something like that. Motherfucker then they’re not planeswalkers! You didn’t even bother to make Lolth hot! That was a fucking slam dunk! Three different D&D sets and you didn’t even include a single marilith!

I could keep going, at great length, but instead I’m choosing to be responsible and talk about the hot girls.

Ingenious Smith (art by Nicholas Elias)

I’m going to confess to spending an unspecified-but-lesbian amount of time watching Simone Giertz build weird shit on youtube. This scratches that same primal dyke itch of wanting to watch a clever, funny woman make something with her hands, but with bigger biceps.

Djinni Windseer (art by Livia Prima)

Look, man, sometimes what you want is a hot blue lady in a tornado.

Kalain, Reclusive Painter (art by Justine Cruz)

Cruz is almost a complete newcomer to Magic the Gathering here, which is really impressive because Kalain is the clear stand-out of this set. I personally wouldn’t choose to paint in my finest red doublet, but obviously this is a deficiency in my commitment to the Byronic artist Aesthetic. Obviously I don’t glower intensely enough. Obviously I don’t dress enough like a mildly-genderfluid Prussian vampire. Rest assured Kalain will be making none of these rookie mistakes!

I genuinely have so much gender envy about Kalain, holy shit.

OKAY progress made. This was the tail end of the drought. We got two Innistrad sets next, and whatever else you wanna say about those sets, I’m pretty sure we get more hits in even just one of them than we did in the four sets covered here together. Next time we got: girls accessorizing with bones, girls accessorizing with snakes, Hot Crossbow Autumn, woman laughing alone with shovel, dog mom, and so, so many vampires.

[symeraid-s]

2023 Retrospective: Most Underrated Comeback

P1Harmony – JUMP/Fall in Love Again

P1Harmony seems to be stuck in this limbo of not being known, but also having many people advocating for them online. This year, I finally got it. JUMP and Fall in Love Again are both great songs that have been stuck in my head for a while now. It seems when they don’t do the typical 4th Gen noise music, they release nothing but bangers only. I hope they get their big break this year.

Honourable Mentions:

Shaun feat. Jeff Satur – Steal the Show

Gotta say, having a K-Pop artist collaborate with Jeff Satur was not on my 2023 Bingo card, but it’s not unwelcome. Steal the Show is a great song showcasing the strengths of both Shaun and Jeff. Though Jeff does hard carry the song in parts.

FORESTELLA – KOOL

Deep Sigh Does this song give me fight or flight? Yes, yes it does. But can I also acknowledge that it’s a genuinely well produced pop song with absolutely fantastic vocals? Yes, yes, I can. I can at the same time think that the chorus is really catchy, but also cringe at a professionally trained operatic tenor singing/rapping the line “Gimme that chilly, chilly, chilly, baby you’re so illy.” in front of the Paradise Diner. A part of me wants to believe that A.C.E dared them to do this, because two of the members are credited for the song and choreo, but thinking about it, they fully consented to this. Also, now that FORESTELLA has decided to do normal K-Pop, everyone else can just go home.

BLITZERS – Macarena

This song reminds me a lot of something Block B would release. It’s fun, it’s catchy and it has a lot of talent behind it. BLITZERS is also a nugu group that deserves more attention and I hope that they are able to get more fans in the new year.

Lee Seung Yoon – Pricey Hangover

So, this guy. I have no idea who he is, but he started out the year with a round house kick to my ribs. Pricey Hangover is an absolutely fantastic song and while I wish there was more like it in K-Pop I don’t think many people aside from him, WOODZ and Jaejoong can pull this sound off properly.