#wouldn't be hard to draw conclusions from that. unfortunately

[jennycalendar]

i had to block that sunnydale rumours account cuz one of the posts suggested that the students of sunnydale would have assumed that giles killed jenny cuz her body was found at his house- oh my god

ok are you going to block me too if i say that i have no idea who made that post but i totally agree with that post & that that's actually a long-standing headcanon of mine.....

[batsplat]

Wait what's this about Casey, Marc and getting kicked out of honda

ah just a fun bit of old gossip. to clarify in case the phrasing in this post was confusing, we're talking about casey's role as a test rider with honda after his retirement, so 2013-15 (not casey's initial retirement from his honda ride, which was ofc entirely his own choice)

so! first of all! from the moment casey retired, everybody was going 'when will casey be back'. this wasn't based on anything casey was actually saying - it's just how people are about retirement announcements ig, the disbelief at how early casey retired, wanting to see him race again, refusing to believe he might actually properly be done. when the riders were asked about it in pressers, they usually gave very neutral 'sure that would be nice' responses. when casey was asked about it, he was generally pretty firm in going 'I'm not interested' and also 'stop asking'. but in 2015, dani made the decision to pause his season to get an operation for his recurring severe arm pump issues. he ended up missing three races, and inevitably people went, 'hey you know who would be fun to have back for a few races, you know who also happens to be familiar with the honda bike'

and this time casey WOULD have been up for it. except, according to him, SOMEONE didn't want him to race:

now fwiw, we have zero proof that this 'someone' was marc, although ofc that was something people speculated about at the time - the idea being that marc wouldn't have wanted to be undermined by casey outperforming him, especially in the context of a tricky start to the 2015 season. (funnily enough, the phrasing does echo the "somebody inside Yamaha didn't want me there" thing; a topic for another post but I'm pretty unconvinced valentino was involved in blocking casey's yamaha deal.) and... given this is the same interview where casey talks about his belief that marc forced him out of honda (which we'll get to)... I mean, he must have at least known it's a conclusion people would draw

marc was asked in pressers about casey racing as dani's replacement, and he basically stuck to 'it's not up to me'. some more casey quotes:

I like to think 'I would've won that' was one of casey's main takeaways from sepang 2015

anyway at the end of 2015, casey left honda to join ducati as a test rider. here is an excerpt from a piece about it at the time, saying marc had complained about casey's performance level as a test rider:

you'll note the HRC sources disagree with casey on how good casey's pace was; unfortunately we'll never really know either way. (in any case it's not particularly great form for sources to 'let slip' that your test rider's pace is poor, even if it was true, but there we are.) and ofc there's the assertion that marc felt 'threatened' by casey and/or didn't think casey's feedback was valuable. here's a screenshot of the piece from speedweek being referenced:

again, a lot of this is obviously hearsay. we don't really know how hard marc pushed to get rid of casey (if at all), and certainly not for what reasons - whether it was casey being too slow or the quality of his feedback or marc's ego or whatever else. we do know casey thinks marc wanted him out because marc felt threatened by him, as he's very helpfully said as much:

casey does make it clear he doesn't have any proof that marc (and his entourage) felt threatened by him, but, well. either way he did believe it. this story dropped in january 2016 btw, so at a time where press coverage of marc was not exactly at its friendliest anyway. marc hasn't really ever responded to these assertions afaik - but when casey ended up leaving ducati again at the end of 2018, he was pretty lukewarm about the idea of casey returning to honda:

here too there's nothing from marc's side to suggest any real antipathy, but of course we also don't know whether he's being honest about his reasons for preferring the distinctly unthreatening bradl. and finally, casey has more recently (aka start of this year, 2024) said that he left honda because they only listened to marc:

which is also obviously relevant now in the context of honda's long-term decline and marc's decision to leave (criticised in some quarters by those who feel marc is at least partly to blame for said decline)

anyway ofc this is all very he said she said, so who knows what really happened - but the fun bit is that nobody can quite agree! all a bit messy isn't it. it's very low stakes beef, kinda nice... but it does also fit in with casey's whole outlook towards the sport, where he often feels like he's being unfairly treated. and (this cannot be stressed enough) a lot of the time he was right, he was being unfairly treated, so it's absolutely possible some underhanded stuff was going on here too. believe what you will! who knows!

[valcuda]

Selfie on the Grass

- Description

Jasmin taking a selfie with Quinton and Elizabeth on the grass.

Elizabeth is used to being outside, so she's happily waving to the camera, while Quinton is more nervous about being outside, so he's getting staying closer to Jasmin, nervously waving at the camera.

- Now for your Regularly Scheduled Ramblings!

I think this is my new favorite render, by quite a bit!

Anyway, back when I originally drew "Cloudgazing with her Little Siblings" and "Picnic with Big Sis", I came up with the idea for this scene! And put hours into planning it! Unfortunately, I never got around to drawing it, cause I never finished the reference scene! The back looked too empty, and I didn't know how to fill it. I solved that, by adding cloud shadows, and the HDRI I used just happened to have a tree there, further filling in the space. (That was pure luck, I don't know how to rotate these)

The second I remembered this scene, I couldn't wait to make it with the models! Unfortunately I only remembered it while working on the basket scene, meaning I did it last... (The Normal Map decision made me delay the "Huggin her Little Brother" post, hence how I referenced this ones existence)

- The Phone

Now then, you'll notice that the resolution of this one is different from my typical resolution. That's because this is meant to have been taken by a phone! The phone I based it off of was a Galaxy Note 4, since that was my first drawing tablet, and is even what I designed Jasmin on! (I've since upgraded to a Tab S4, cause the Note 4 stopped working due to its age) Because of that, it just has a special place in my heart, so I based Jasmin's phone off of it.

Anyway, Jasmin is actually holding the phone! And there's even a rectangle meant to simulate the phone, so I knew where to put the camera. Unfortunately, I messed up, and based the actual camera off of the outer cam, which has a different focal length and aspect ratio than the inner, so using it would mess up the composition.

Because I like having high resolution images, the top one is double the resolution of the Note 4, and has higher JPG quality. But I did render out one at 1080p!

So this is more accurate to what you'd get on a Note 4. I didn't go into the colors or anything, cause I don't understand that crud unfortunately, but maybe I will sometime in the future, when I understand how to do that.

- Normal Map Rant (Conclusion)

Anyway, (I say that a lot, don't I?) this render doesn't use the normal maps either, since they caused the same shadow issue as "Hugging her Little Brother", so I'm thinking, I'm just gonna scrap them. 3 renders in row, they've caused issues, meaning I've only successfully used them once.

To add to this however, I did an experiment with "Cloud Gazing with her Little Siblings 3D" after realizing I turned off shadows from the environment map. During this experiment however, I disabled all the normal maps, and this was the result!

While I do still like the version with normal maps, I think this is the final nail in the coffin for the normal maps. 4 out of 4 scenes look good without them, and 3 of 4 had issues with them, so I don't see any reason to keep them around.

- Cheating the Arms

Changing the topic again, did you notice how good those arms look? That's cause I cheated! The friggin arm bones rotate the clothes! Which isn't what happens IRL, so it causes the clothes to be noticeably twisted! To get around that, on Elizabeth and Quinton, I rotated their upper and lower arms both 45 degrees, instead of just rotating the upper 90, minimizing the twisting. For Jasmin, I didn't actually rotate her arm at all. Unfortunately, this means she isn't actually holding the camera, but the camera is positioned as if she was!

I'm debating manually adding a twist bone to everyone's arms. They're not actually connected to the clothing, so it wouldn't be too hard, but that's easy to say when you haven't even tried it yet!

It's kind of annoying that something as simple as the arms have animation issues with something so simple, but I'd rather this over not having the models at all. There's honestly quite a bit of cleanup work that needs to be done with them, and unfortunately, it's my job to clean them up...

- Future Plans

And with that, my backlog is FINISHED! Unfortunately, that means I'm out of ideas, so it'll probably be a while before you see any more renders.

I do plan on modeling some environments and objects for future renders to use, but what exactly, I don't know. I know I'll definitely model Sophia's house though, and maybe Hellen's as well. (I might have an idea for that actually)

I also plan on using more characters than just Jasmin, Quinton, and Elizabeth. I have models for Sophia and Rossel, which I've updated the materials for, so they're ready to use, the current renders just haven't unfortunately.

I also plan on finishing up Hellen's and Trisha's models in VRoid, as well as making ones for Tithon, and Young Jasmin. (Quinton and Elizabeth are 10 years older than Jasmin, the shrinking process just stopped their aging.)

Still tho, it'll be a bit before you see new renders.

- Conclusion

Anyway, that's all for now! Hopefully it won't be eons before the next render, cause I really enjoy making these! Plus they're absolutely adorable!!!!!

Seriously, that is my biggest motivator! Just how adorable they look!

[valleynix]

The Fool. As in, the tarot card?

(With that "you have to remember" all I had in my mind was the "remember who you are" from lion king lmao)

"They’re right in front of you-

But they’re not real. They’re gone."

Can you stop?? I need a safe word.

"You won’t let her destroy more and more realities or worlds or whatever.

It stops now."

Yes, that's the spirit! Let's go!🎉

"It seems as though Cassandra has the most control over her urges after she drinks blood from a fresh source"

But little miss Bela will be out there saying she's managing it better than her sisters😭

🥺 Cass draw Reader and Daniela sleeping???? Pls that's so cute.

I wonder if she drew some more moments of her family spending time together. That'd be like family pictures :')

Idk if they have cameras out there so

There certainly must be something wrong with me, because Cassandra is extremely attractive when she's threatening the Reader.

My lil rainbow heart was at its limits doing all the Cass paragraphs 🥴

Reading with Bela 🥺

That would be such a nice experience I bet, her voice is so soothing like she could be talking about how she cut open a manthing in the cellar and that would be like a bedtime story.

Need her to talk to me when I'm anxious <\3

Yhm yhm nvm once again giving me a slap on the face with the sweet moment followed by nothing but pure pain.

Lunatic kinda fine tho 👀 I like their evil mind, games and plans.

Mmm mmm evil people who ruin the lives of others (if only it wasn't Reader's life ). It's a love-hate relationship 😭 we gotta learn self love

DANIELA 💘💝💖💗💓💞💕💟❤

I knew sth bad would happen once again 😩

The way they argued with Bela anyway, about leaving the castle. They couldn't escape it.

Gosh I hope the Reader won't fuck up with the timeline too much this time 😭

And for now I don't trust the woman from the cellar.

And damn what killed those maids from the castle. A mystery that is yet to be solved.

i love that i saw this just as i was about to start writing again hehe

The Fool as in the tarot card >:) i'm glad someone picked up on that sdkjfhskj (there's a shit ton of symbolism that i so far haven't really seen anyone mention just yet, but hearing this made me happy :D)

*THE SAFE WORD COMMENT LMFAOOO

*can't give up hope in these trying times >:)

*listen Bela just likes to think she has that control- little miss Bela "perfect daughter" Dimitrescu is struggling BAHA

*Cass 100% has a little stash of drawings no one will ever be able to find, and it's just sketches of her family doing things she can remember or that mean something to her :')

*also tbf Cass is just attractive no matter what she does. she could threaten to cut out my tongue and i'd be like "wow say it again" LMAOOOO

*so real of you </3 Bela strikes me as someone with a voice that literally everyone loves and wants to hear (cue Daniela begging her to read just because she finds it soothing for her nightmares)

*HEHEHEHEHE, i'm trying to get better at just comfort and not as much pain following it </3

*Lunatic is honestly really smart sdkjfhs, there is a method to their madness (also have you seen the fanart done of them?? bro is cool as FUCK)

*(i promise you will learn to like them more <3)

*IN CONCLUSION: DANIELA <3333333 (i'm on my laptop so no emojis but imagine i spammed hearts)

*some things are just set in stone, as we'll see more of >:) that's the unfortunate reality of fate; no matter how hard we try, sometimes we just can't escape what was already destined to happen at some point or another

*about that...

*i definitely wouldn't! she does mean well, but... yknow... the village is a scary place, and sometimes it gives life to scarier humans forced into a certain role by the horrid shit going on

*i think chapter ten briefly implies who/what killed the maids?? if i'm not mistaken? it's often difficult to know every little thing when we only see things from one POV >:)

i hope you're still enjoying it so far, though <33

[estrel]

I think I just pinpointed why Cas wasn't in the finale, and, um, sadly, it's not good. And I think it was because of Covid AND homophobia. See, the thing is, in the original plan, they were going to have a big crowd of people in Dean's heaven, right? So of course Cas could be there, just in the background, with everyone else - and we'd be able to draw our own conclusions to the story. It would be a good excuse for Cas to be brought back but Dean not to have to address his feelings - because he can't in the particular moment we're shown, not with everyone else there.

BUT once the crowd scenes are banned, it gets more complicated. Because if it's just Dean and Cas, there's no longer any excuse. If, say, they'd had Cas instead of Bobby in that scene where Dean gets to heaven, it would have been really difficult for them NOT to address their feelings. They wouldn't have been able to keep any of the ambiguity that would have pandered to both us and mainstream fans. And I think THAT'S the real reason Cas wasn't in the finale and it all felt so weird. (They might even have decided at the last minute to cut him from the episode, once they realised they couldn't have him reuinite with Dean alone and NOT addresses it). They were trying so hard to keep both sides happy, and with the limitations of Covid, that was no longer possible.

(sorry to bring you more negativity, this just makes so much sense to me that I wanted to share it with someone)

mMM. unfortunately you make some very good points

[weaverlings]

god i need to sleep a bit before work but i'm just thinking about how like. weird hornet's sense of parental love is?? like pk is his own can of worms (wyrm) but even just w/ herrah from the bit that we hear like

it is appropriate, i think for parents to give up at least certain things for the well being of their children, or at least to be prepared to give things up for them, to protect them or provide for them and yet in hornet's case her Existence is kind of. predicated on hornet's mother no longer being there with her. and she Knows that

there is this one, great, defining sacrifice and now hornet exists but soon after that herrah... well, she won't, for all intents and purposes. she sleeps for hornet - herrah's primary motivation, her personal motivation - and for hallownest. and while we don't hear about this exactly, if hornet did interact w/ the pale king much i think he would have emphasized that part. the greater good herrah gave herself up for, hornet included but not Just hornet

and like let's be honest the pale king has no place to be talking about sacrifice because the primary sacrifices he made. no he didn't. it was his kids, taken as an extension of himself. but uhh that's even more conjecture as far as how that would impact what he would have imparted on hornet and what conclusions she could draw from that.

anyway. herrah. and hornet, left alone with like...

that's so much of what hornet knows of parental love? just the sacrifice part. she would hardly have got anything to balance that out. so to hornet, the whole idea of parental love as something protective and giving and devoted is so. dominant? because she wouldn't exist without it right? that's why she's alive, because her mother cared about her (and her kingdom) enough to make her happen (to ensure they would have a queen) and even though she would have been provided for up to a point, she wouldn't have actually EXPERIENCED any of this all-encompassing since she was very young. she just has what it left behind for her. just the very intentional sacrifice, none of the taking care of her through hard molts or helping her after her first solo hunt or whatever bug parent and child bonding things are (or depending on what age things happened. herrah presumably did miss out on most of hornet's life and that would have been painful for her too but it was a choice she nominally understood)

and idk idk all of this to say like... she was chosen and abandoned in the same moment. her mother gives up everything for hornet and gives hornet up with the same decision. is she allowed to be hurt by this? maybe she doesn't know, maybe she thinks she isn't, at least, most of the time. she is worth so much. she is worth a queendom exactly.

but not worth staying with. and that's the thing maybe, of course unfortunately parental sacrifice that resorts in long term or permanent separation from children happens but what is ppprobably more common is a parent giving up something for their child to protect them from a negative experience or provide them with a positive one but the parent is there for the child, supporting them.

hornet does not get that part. at all

[nightswithkookmin]

JIKOOK IS WILD'N BEHIND SUGA- AGAIN

It's official, Jikook don lost their minds- or they is madly in love- whatever y'all kids call it these days. Chilee, can't even tell the difference any more at this point. Sigh. When I tell you Jikook is real. Please Jikook is real.

Remember the thing they used to do behind suga in interviews when they were teens? Holding hands behind Suga and what not? They. Are. Still. Doing. It. Again. In. 2020. y'all

I can't with their asses.

I've said this before, I don't do these kinds of analysis- video analysis I mean. I literally can't do it. Lol. If I could I would. Y'all don't know how many days it's taken me to work this simple video edit. And even that I still had to solicit the help of my bestie- I'm starting to think she's more delusional than I am at this point. Lol. Bless her.

Anywho, we went through all that trouble falling on the video editing skills we don't have- well I don't have, I think she did great; not because of Jikook sneaky ass holding hands behind unsuspecting Suga in the the dynamite MV shooting sketch video- which Suga, It's been seven years and you still don't know what goes on between Jikook behind your back?? Jikook are smooth criminals but I'm starting to think Suga in on this. Smirk.

Suga is an accomplice y'all. Enabling these shenanigans as if he don't know. He knows!

Since my last post on VMinKookJoon's tensions, where I talked briefly about the subtle tensions that I've been noticing between Tae and JK throughout this year, it's come to my attention that Tuktukkers are running around the internet claiming the tension between V and Kook, in one of the clips I pointed out, had been because JK had been mad and Jealous over Jin wrapping his hands around Tae...

I respect their hustle. I really do. Plus, I don't like to meddle in other people's delusions- it brings me no joy whatsoever.

But...

Jk wasn't jealous over Tae shit- In my humble opinion. Was he mad at Tae? Yes. Did Tae notice JK was mad at him and hence drew a sad face? Yes he did. The video evidence is there. All of that happened.

If you've not seen the moment I am talking about please check my previous post to see what I'm talking about. I said I was going to delete it- well I lied. Lol.

The tension between Kook and Tae in that Dynamite Shoot Sketch wasn't because JK was jealous that Tae and Jin were flirting and playing around behind him, it was because Tae had almost accidentally exposed Jikook flirting behind Suga- Something, I assume JK thought V had done on purpose. Hear me out.

Tae was sad because, he genuinely didn't intend to pull on JK's shoulder the way he did causing JK to toggle slightly away from Suga- I wish I could show you this in a video analysis. This is frustrating! But I suck at tech stuff. Ugh!!!

What had happened was:

At the start of that scene, Jimin it seemed wanted to be close to JK- by close I mean he wanted to touch up on JK, feel up on him, kiss up on him, love up on him, hold him, slow dance with him, make love to him- Uno, horny grown up couple stuff. Lol.

Don't mind me.

I don't know what was going through his head in that moment but clearly he was craving some form of physical connection from JK hence why he initiated that contact.

You could see the progression of them drawing closer and closer to eachother, trapping Suga in between them.

Listen, JM is scary when he is high on adrenaline! That's when he starts rubbing JK's thighs and foot and- sweet lord he is wild. Chileeee!

He placed his hand in his pockets and pushed his body against Suga's but once he does that he takes his hand out and tugs on JK's arm or something- smooth criminal this one.

JK noticed what JM was up to so he did the same thing- pushed his body against Suga and held JM's hand. Then there was a cut.

It's hard to spot except for that the two had ended up after the cut sandwiching Suga in between them. Had it not been for Tae that moment would have gone undetected.

Whatever they were doing behind Suga, it seemed Tae had clocked on. He turned his gaze in their direction briefly and looked away suspiciously- Tae... How that man is great at acting but sucks at hiding his feelings beats me. Lmho.

This is the same person y'all swear is hiding a relationship in BTS? He mustn't be feeling emotions for this person then. Chileee.

Dude glanced at JM and exchanged what I could only assume was a disapproving stare at JM in the process. I bet he wanted to scream, 'let's not hold hands behind our hyungs' in that moment. Lol.

I think JK noticed Tae glancing at whatever they were doing with their hands behind Suga but kept his cool- so Jikook, y'all did all of that with a straight face? Damn they slick!

Unfortunately, Jin pushed Tae- I don't know if that was by accident because Jin was just playing around with Tae. However, because Tae had his hand wrapped around JK, he had ended up dragging JK along with him- That's when the Taekook saga began. Lol.

I believe JK had assumed Tae had done that bit on purpose because as I've said it is part of Taekook's dynamics - Tae is constantly teasing and shading JK and even sometimes passive aggressively exposing Jikook's antics as seen in the dynamite MV reaction VLive.

Remember in their earlier dynamics, that moment when JK wanted JM to stand next to him but Tae was in the middle so he kept poking at Tae's ribs to move? And JM too was low key pulling on Tae's shirt to move at the same time but Tae deadass wouldn't move?

I'M DEAD🤣🤣🤣🤣

Tae is that friend! Chileee. I just love him to bits!

I think Jk found it ironic that Tae should place his hand over his shoulders when a few seconds ago he had attempted to separate him from his man which is why he had that look on his face when he glanced at Tae's hand on his shoulder.

Frankly that thing is something that I feel irks JK a lot. Not just when Tae does it, but when RM or Hobi or Suga or anyone else does it.

That's what most of these Jeonlous moments are about really, especially in recent times.

For example, him elbowing RM to get his hands off Jimin in their recent Home performance wasn't because he was jealous. It's more so he was annoyed. If you paid attention to the 'fan service' bit Jikook did in the bedroom scene it's clear they had been given a talking to- to keep things PG, just as RM had indicated in JK's bdae VLive when he said they had all agreed before filming not to do and say certain things.

I could see then why it would irritate JK if anyone else would freely do skinship with JM but then censor him if he tried to do it with Jimin too- know what I mean?

Most of these 'jeonlous' moments are just JK basically saying, let's all be held to the same standards- if I can't do this with Jimin, atatatatatat, neither can y'all.

Gotta keep the same energy.

This is what I mean by stress. You can hide a relationship but you can't hide the stress that comes with keeping that relationship a secret. These kinds of tensions are bound to arise as a result of keeping Jikook a secret.

I mean there is a reason Jikook try so hard not to look like a secret. There is a reason they play off some of their interactions as 'fanservice'. They do that to take the edge off because keeping secrets is hard.

And so when you look at that moment, and you see how freely TaeJin were 'flirting' and having fun openly, but JK and JM had to sneak behind Suga's back to have a moment; and to have Tae pull on JK like that- I get why JK would be triggered. But honestly Tae didn't do it on purpose. Not this time around. Lol

Chileee, JK! You scare me! Lmho. He out here scaring people for no reason! Had Tae looking like he about to call Jimin to arrange a heart to heart meeting with Kook again. Chileeee.

It broke my heart watching that bit because Tae honestly didn't do that bit on purpose. I can vouch for him, JK. It is why Tae had that look on his face. He hadn't intended that bit.

This does not mean however that each time or all the times that Jk has pulled away from Tae when Tae has tried to hold his hands or do certain things with him like in all the times I've mentioned or during the recent On:e concert, that it's because he felt V was trying to sabotage his moments. That's a silly thought.

I can pull out a list of all the times there's been tensions between those two especially this year and I can tell you only a hand full of those moments have anything to do with JK's relationship with JM.

Some are about him trying to enforce his personal boundaries which he does with all the members as well, among other things.

Taekook have their own issues going on which has nothing to do with JM. Whatever falling out they had had in the past, Tae has been really trying to rebuild their connection- they both have been putting in the effort and I hope they can fix things and go back to the way that they were before because I kinda miss the old them. Sigh.

Anywho, when JM noticed what had happened- that Tae had pulled on JK's shoulder , I think he too thought Tae had done that bit on purpose. He dropped his hand from Hobi's shoulder and composed himself. I think he tried to take his hands down but JK wouldn't let go of his hand. Lol.

So when the music started playing and they were all dancing, JK and JM were the only once dancing with Just one hand each and you could see JM's shoulder inches away from Suga- Yoonminers I see you. I love y'all but JM wasn't holding Suga's waist. Don't get any ideas. Lol.

When they started moving away at the end of the video, that's when you can clearly see JM's hand drop down from behind Suga.

Listen, Jikook are smooth criminals but they ain't slick. They tried it. All that body pressed up against Suga, chilee I thought they were going to crash that man.

Jikook have been pretty sneaky this comeback. For good reason I guess. Jk throwing the boy with love sign at JM after JM kicked him during the second day concert, and this moment right here amongst others so far are my favorite.

I love it here.

Please go watch the original footage for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

My conclusion is, 'Jikook gay, Jikook married' Jikook is real, keep supporting them.

Signed,

GOLDY

[sanstropfremir]

oh my god i am SO in love with lord of the dance. however i never think about michael flatley first when i think about it because in my mind gillian norris is the most important and iconic person in that show.

i used to have it on a dvd when i was little, i must have watched it like two times a week and never got bored of it. it was the original 1996 dublin stage, the only version i enjoy to its maximum capacity. fun fact, they came to bucharest in 2014, and i wanted to go, but ultimately didn't. and thank god for that. i found clips on youtube after that and everything was worse: the music, the outfits, the acting.

fortunately there are clips on youtube of the 1996 dublin stage too, as well as the whole show. i still sometimes watch them. and after much consideration, i have come to the conclusion that fiery nights, warriors and gypsy (however unfortunate the name) are my favorite numbers, in that respective order.

fiery nights wouldn't be what it is without the soundtrack, that fucking saxophone. i saw somebody say that that is what sex sounds like. i have heard the same thing said about ateez's desire outro. these things are so unrelated right now but i honestly can hear it and feel it for both and it makes so much sense to describe them that way. gillian norris is so mesmerizing, so captivating, like i am fucking seduced through the screen. and when she starts dancing with the guy who plays don dorcha and gives him that smile you can only see a brief second in shitty 360p quality? i am positively passed out. after they leave the stage the rest of the performance is kinda meh because the other girls don't give me any passion, much less the guys. they're lucky the choreography is so tight tho.

warriors is a fucking experience from start to finish. the "oh shit it's going down" vibe right from the beginning, the intensity of the dance, the speed, the accuracy, the synchronization, the piercing looks of don dorcha - i am both horny and intimidated. today's warriors number doesn't even come close to sparking up the same kind of heavy feeling the original did. it's so... cartoonish.

and finally, gypsy, which was my og favorite. i really wonder how i did not turn out bisexual, because gillian norris definitely made me question some things. i was always impressed with her elegance and power of seduction, my dream was to be sexy like her but also to jump as high as her for my birdies. sadly i never did learn irish dance. also i really wanted her hair.

special shoutout goes to breakout tho. i don't even know if i love the first half of it or the second more. bernadette flynn as the leader all the other girls follow, girlboss moment. her unspoken duel with gillian, exchanging those fucking murderous looks, i was SO there for it!!! again, watching today's version, it's like watching a bad disney channel series. there's no seriousness to it, no commitment, it's like putting on a puppet show for kids, which this musical is so not.

ugh, i'm probably gonna go and watch some scenes again. thank you for letting me rant in your inbox!! i've only really shared my interest and love for this show with my parents, who only like it a moderate amount (not because they think it's bad but because it's just not something they're passionate about) and my ex, who couldn't care less about dance and acting and who wasn't really interested in it.

if it's okay, let me ask, how did you get interested in stage performances, dance, theatre, all that jazz? for me, it was because i did cheerleading and dance for 5 years when i was little (then i quit because i thought i had it hard in school in 5th grade). i regret not continuing with it so much. and i daresay i was pretty good at it too. oh well, at least the passion for dance remained. it's the main part i got into kpop!!

it's no problem at all!! like i said, this is my virtual pub please come talk about about random things while i serve you a pint!! i love reading about other people's passions, this was lovely!

i only think of michael flatley because he's top billed and also one of the producers so his name is always on it, and also i haven't actually seen the whole show since probably 2005 because it didn't much strike a nerve with me as a kid. i think it was probably because i watched waaaaaayyyy too much cirque. i won't say very much on it but i will say that adolphe saxe knew what he was doing when he unleashed the saxophone on the world and we are still dealing with the repercussions (i say this lovingly as a saxophone player). i'm also a horrible person and i cannot watch any fiddle + flute based musical and not think of the the lord of the rings musical, because i love the lord of the rings musical.

well i got into theatre kind of unintentionally because i thought it might be fun to try doing stage crew for the musical when i started high school and then a year later i was the stage manager. my tragic flaw is that i need to be in a position of knowledge and authority at all times, but i’m slowly getting over it. i liked it so much that i decided at like 14 that it was going to be my career and here i am over a decade later. but i also watched a lot of perfomance and art programming as a child because my parents were weird hippies, so lots of cirque du soleil, a lot of classical ballet, and also shows like toy castle (do not click on this is you are in any way afraid of clowns or frogs) which is mildly horrifying in the way all children's content is mildly horrifying in hindsight but as a child in 2000 i ate that shit with a spoon. i also dated a contemp/ballet dancer in high school and then had a very weird and ethically dubious affair with another ballet dancer in undergrad. it's a long story. it helps that i'm truly obsessed with performance and art in pretty much all its forms and i'm one of those awful people that draws in art galleries and watches shows that i know are going to be bad so i can analyze them and avoid making the same mistakes in the future. kpop was a thing that just happened as a byproduct of being friends with lot of first gen asian immigrants as a kid. i've been around and aware since 2008 but i didn't get that deep into actually following releases until first lockdown because i just didn't have the time. but i'm glad i did, because it's been a really nice hobby!

[afoxysunny]

Jives as High Duke

So Jives gets a second pick and oh my G did i struggle with choosing this one. In the end I'm pretty happy with the decision to give him the Monkey Miraculous

The whole story for how he ended up with having to pick a second time is already on the post about Stingy, who gets the Turtle from Jives, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much

So here are the references for this design

This design came out a lot simpler than it probably should be considering that it's based on the Chinese Monkey King but Jives isn't one for overly flashy and elaborate costumes in my opinion

Also, yes, again, his eyey should be blue but making colour changes to coloured pencil drawings is really hard, I'm sorry

Again, i just did what felt natural to me and in no time this was the outcome. Conclusion: drawing Jives comes very natural to me and i appreciate him for that

Design Notes:

Chest Pattern - i wanted to make the chest pattern here resemble the one he had as Grinder Turtle, this was also a big factor that sold me on giving him this Miraculous. I just think it looks really cool and it connects the two designs in a vague sense

Beanie - my boy Jives always wears some sort of hat, this is no exception. The Monkey Miraculous is a Crown and here it blends in so it now replaces the brim section of the beanie. On second thought it might be a little basic to choose a beanie but it just really suits him, i couldn't think of a better fit. Especially because it goes along really well with the headshape of the monkey i based him on

Toque Macaque - I'll be real with you, I'm not a huge fan of monkeys which makes them one of the few animal species i don't love and also makes the biggest reason i wasn't immediately happy to give my dear Jives this Miraculous xD I'm shallow i know. Anyways. I may not know a lot about monkeys but i knew enough to pick this macaque because the colours go well enough with the Monkey Kwami Xuppu and i liked the markings it has. [coicidentally this specific kind, the Toque Macaque, happens to share its natural habitat with the peacock ;)]

Tail - on his back you see how the rope detailing from his chest and pants combine into the belt and eventually the tail. I wanted the markings to kind of resemble a harness for climbing, i don't think it comes across too well though

Hair - the little bit you can still see of his actual hair coincidentally blends in almost seamlessly with the colour of his costume, that wasn't planned but i like it a lot

Reasoning:

At the point in time where i made the decision that Stingy would take the Turtle Miraculous from Jives i already had most Miraculous assigned to most other characters, in fact i was only really missing one for Ziggy. So spoiler alert i guess for him. I fudged around for a while between the Mouse and the Monkey, both would've worked well with either but in the end settled on the Monkey for Jives for multiple stupid timy reasons. For example the chest pattern i already mentioned, my ship-trash side going "a monkey and a peacock fit together way better aesthetically than a mouse and a peacock would", he and Xuppu would have a funny bro dynamic together etc.

Story:

I already explained why and how Jives loses the Turtle Miraculous to Stingy in my post about the latter so I'll just give a short summary here before moving on

As per usual Jives didn't eat much throughout the day and ends up fainting. This time it's a much bigger deal though. Usually he doesn't actually fully faint, just sway a little, maybe collapse but for the most parts he stays conscious just really weakened. That day the team of new heroes is fighting an important battle when he full on passes out in the middle of it. Luckily Stingy is able to step in to build their defense up again.

Obviously, instead of saying "i eat as little as possible because i have a problem" Jives just shrugs it off and goes "guess i didn't eat enough again, my bad guys, sorry" and thinks it'll be fine. He didn't expect Álfurildi, aka Sportacus, to take this very literal and announce that he planned on having them eat in his airship as a whole group anyway gor team moral and to make sure they're all healthy enough to actually handle a Miraculous. They deduce that must have been the reason Jives full on fainted this time, while going by his usual life he obviously didn't need as much energy as he now needs to be a superhero so the simple solution is to just eat more.

He makes excuses to not eat with the others as often as he can but one day he'd have to actively leave the others to do so as he already is in the airship with them when they start preparing to serve the next meal. That day he actually snaps at Sportacus that he just doesn't want to eat. Unfortunately, thanks to being such a gentle soul and also sensing Jives frustration and hunger Sportacus tries to comfort Jives with the worst thing he could've said. "heroes gotta eat well, so you can become big and strong" to which Jives absolutely loses it. He snaps at him "I'm already too big without eating anything, can't you just leave me alone!" and just jumps out of the airship. By now he already has Xuppu as his new partner so of cause he makes it down unharmed to run off into the forest. Sportacus wants to follow him but Robbie stops him. Robbie, who so far was pretty quiet and reclusive when the teens came to visit, says he will go find and talk to him taking Pixel with him as he is his best friend after all.

I'll spare you the unnecessarily details i cane up with and just say this is the moment Robbie gets to explain how the powers i gave him work and we get to see that he does really deeply care but just can't really express it. They find Jives and thanks to Robbie being able to relate to him about some of his insecurities and Pixel being a great friend he ends up confessing to them about his eating disorder. He never wanted to be the odd one out but never managed to fit in with the others. It's hard to hide you're different when you're towering over your peers so he figured if he just stopped eating he'd stop growing and though it had no positive effect on him he just couldn't stop doing it even after realizing how bad it had gotten.

Going back to the airship together once the situation calmed down a bit and with Jives' permission they let Sportacus in on this secret. As Robbie figured, the local health expert knows exactly what foods wouldn't upset such an empty stomach too badly and they start the process of finding a few good things for Jives to eat so he doesn't break down again.

Name:

Quick, something more lighthearted

When Jives gets his second pick for a Miraculous his eyes fall on the little Monkey, Xuppu. The two pretty quickly get along thanks to Xuppu being a jokester and Jives liking how bro-like they can talk and poke fun at each other. This turns out to be a great pick as this Kwami of Jubilation not only like shouting random noises around just like Jives but is also sassy and straightforward enough to remind him to eat every once in a while by poking fun at him using something Pixel once said to him "I'll not let you eat less than the Kwamis" (yes this part should've technically been in the reasoning section but you kinda need the context of the story for it so i put it here)

So Trixie explains that Xuppu's transformation and powers are based on the Chinese Monkey King (she knows that from the Guardians) but Jives really isn't one for flashy costumes and important titles so not only is his costume more basic than it probably should be but also he wamts to name himself "Duke". Stingy immediately objects "A duke is about as royal as a prince! You're completely underselling this concept. You have to trade with me! You get yoir turtle back. Let me be King!" Xuppu and Wayzz look at each other and roll their eyes, Xuppu then steps floats forward to say "well, he's not entirely wrong. Wouldn't you like to pick something higher?" so Jives chuckles and goes "High Duke". Again Stingy is outraged by this disrespect "that's ridiculous!" but Xuppu laughs and says "no, i like his style! Let's do this!" and so their new duo is established

Look, don't judge me, everyone headcanons Jives with growing not all legal things in his garden so now that he's actually a teen in my au I'm keeping it xD

Thank you so so much for reading so much of my rambling. You're so cool for taking the time to read this!

[forgottenroisin]

Since she was a small girl, Roisin had been clear on a single point: of her stepfamily, Valentina was unquestionably the worst. After all, she had raised the other two, had control as lady wife to their father, and frankly all of this had come down to her doing in one way another. However, more recently, these scales had come to shift as Cassimir began to pay more and more unwanted attention to Eithne, her opinion of him soured more and more with each passing day and, in all truth, her opinion of him had never been terribly high. Even as a child, he'd been a lout and a bully and that was him at his best in her own opinion.

Roisin, however, had her own quiet revenges, and one of her very favorites was even now about to unfold. With an eye for fashion and a talent for sewing, she had long since become the resident seamstress, giving her not only access to everyone's clothing but control of it. Often, she would introduce stains in unfortunate locations to clothing in the hopes this would not be noted until they were being worn and entertaining guests. Yet, Roisin had anticipated that the fashions to the upcoming ball would be gone over and over and over and thus no stains could escape inspection. No, this would prove a more insidious plot.

First, Roisin had sewed the clothes just an inch or two too small, which would doubtless cause them to draw conclusions about their lifestyle over the past month or so, as Roisin had taken their measurements a few weeks before and made something of a fuss of it to help drive this home. Would this make more work for her, as she'd have to take out seams in order to make them fit? Of course! (Though this did have the fringe benefit of likely causing Valentina to wish to diet somewhat which would, hopefully, also cut down on Eithne's workload, if only slightly.) But each repeated stitch would be well worth it to make her stepfamily feel even a touch self-conscious which, at least in Valentina's case, Roisin had little doubt would stand out in the forefront of her mind throughout the entirety of the ball.

The second prank was, however, even more rewarding, as Roisin had carefully curated colors, fabrics, and styles that were technically fashionable -- but would prove profoundly unflattering and, being just this side of fashionable, would also make them look very strange indeed. Now, her only job was to sell that these changes were indeed style innovations everyone else would be wearing a week from now. This wouldn't be hard, as Roisin was known to have her finger rather squarely on that pulse. She'd also been quite obvious in her search for all the latest trends, and had been sure to let her stepfamily observe this. Of course, her findings would go to serve her sisters and herself, while ridiculing her stepfamily, but they tended to prove obligious to these matters, so Roisin felt sure she could get them to wear something she wished. Indeed, Roisin was confident, just now. She could convince him. Her enthusiasm would be genuine: she was all anticipation to see them strut about in these outfits.

Cassimir's countenance was one, she noted, of self-satisfaction as Roisin entered the room, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything. No, she must sell this. She would not let his arrogance put her off, not now.

"I brought an assortment, so you may choose what you like best, and the rest can be used when there are guests to dinner, so there's no waste." Indeed, watching him attempt to court Guinevere in one of these would prove, she had little doubt, delightful, not to mention it would likely prove something of a national service, if they looked as off-putting as she prayed. "Because," she added, allowing a whiff of her own self-satisfaction to shine through. "I believe you will find each piece more suitable than the last. I've made quite a study of court fashion, and I daresay the Varmonts, themselves, will find this clothing remarkable." Indeed, she was counting on it.

An Ill-fitted Fitting | Cassimir & Roisin

Cassimir tended to evade Roisin and Brigit both, if possible, for their interactions tended to be strained (at best) and he knew that anything worse greatly distressed Eithne -- which was something Cassimir cared to avoid.

Of course, this was not always feasible and today was one such. He was prepared, as he had her summoned to him, that he would be calm throughout their entire encounter, so that it might pass without incident, however even Cassimir recognized that Roisin had a rather annoying habit of managing to get under his skin and make him feel as though she was laughing at him (something Cassimir's pride would not tolerate). And when it came to Cassimir, once his temper had been at all ignited, it was nearly impossible to douse.

There was something satisficing in seeing her reduced to a servant in what had once been her own home and the image of her entering his quarters on his own command, did manage to lighten his mood.

She had been updating his wardrobe, specifically for the ball that was to be held in the fortnight, and the garments were now far enough along to be fitted to him.

"Come, let's see what you have brought me," He said, simply, when she arrived, "I shall not waste time by trying anything that does not suit."

He had more important things to attend to.

[madat-55]

I just read your tag regarding Gigi. "your natal venus is in Aries" I didn't check her chart Virna but she does act like the man in all her relationships. Although I wouldn't blame Aries too much. Does she have a Neptune hard aspect to her Venus? She is very desperate to please the man, in all her relationships whether real or fake. (I don't know about her relationship with Cody or Joe) She is the one doing all the relationship work of impressing, worshipping and glorifying the man.

My Anon! You’re in my heart!!! 

Gigi was born on April 23, 1995, in LA, and her time of birth is not published anywhere (which does not allow me to set the houses as I cannot calculate the Asc). BUT we have enough data from the rest of her chart. 

Venus in aries does not make a woman behaving like a kitten (as we have seen gigi trying to play coy - totally sscripted), but more like an amazon! It gives very strong, resilient and indipendant women but It’s not a good placement for venus, as it is in exile (I have it too and have first hand knowledge of how it works, but mine trines mars, which helps a lot).

Now if you are asking about hard aspects wiith Neptune thinking that she might be gay, I have to tell you that in a woman’s chart we tend to look (among other things) for hard aspects between Venus and Uranus, while on a man’s chart we tend to focus (taking other things into consideration) on the mars/ neptune aspects.

Her Venus (Aries, 1.57′)  forms no aspects with Neptune (capricorn, 25.32′, in mutual reception with Saturn in Pisces, 20.38′). but it does form a sextile with Uranus (Aquarius, 0.25′). Don’t forget that venus is not just emotions and love life etc, but also money as it shows all our basic needs. So this soft aspect helps her a lot get the business deals that she wants. But in psychological astrology venus also shows in what kind of environment in our home we grew up. So, venus in mars means that she perceived the atmosphere in her family as a war zone... And if you add that her moon is in aquarius (her mother was not exactly the maternal type) is opposing her mars, you can draw many conclusions.

Which brings me back to venus and the hard aspect (sesquisquare, 135 degrees) formed with mars (leo, 17.55′). Since Venus/Mars is the main axis of sexuality, passion, and of blocked sexuality expressed and art, this hard aspect shows problems in this area and blocked sexual energy, which is enahnced by the position of her Venus (unfortunately I don’t know the houses, or I would have been even more specific).

Bottom linemy Nonnie, when I see/hear Gigi in interviews saying “my boyfriend this & my boyfriend that...”  and “he tought me, he fed me, he did this for me etc”, I know that she is lying through her teeth 9as this isn’t who she is), trying to sell us this “relationshit” (not a typo) and by extension, trying to seel us all the PROMO DEALS this is about.