#neat! i've always loved this parallel

[timothyslucy]

ik we're literally only two episodes deep, but this is such a fun season already, and i can't wait to see how it's going to play out now that bailey's back, and we're finally getting back to the major plotline of prison escapees oscar and jason.

[kalied0skull]

“ front and center, girly! ”

— “ yeah, I'm hearin'! ”

now playing: Hey Cowgirl — Mac Demarco ♪

★ ramble & extras under the cut !

it was only a matter of time until i got my grubby hands on cowgirl curtis, i have been running around grabbing EVERRYYY SINGLEEE trans headcanon and absolutely eating that shit UP!!!

shout out to @trevination & @broareweabouttoviberightnow because when scrambling around for ideas to draw her I've discovered that she is your guys' collective daughter and it feels only right to show her to you (so sorry for the @'s I'm not prone to tagging people but i take it you both wouldn't mind much 💀)

this is my little take on cowgirl! and AAAUGHHHH I LOVE HERRRRR I DOOOOO!!!! i am holding her so gently in my hands and brushing her hair with a tiny little comb ,, she's my gal. ..

soemthing about transfem curtis brothers makes my heart go wah, i love them really i do they're so lovely to me

I don't have many headcanons of cowgirl at the moment, but i am obsessed with the idea of calling her "girly" (thankyou to my memaw, who uses girly and inspired the idea) — like... pony / girly? the parallels... okay whatever I'm shutting up i promise /j+silly

anyways, whilst trying to make up a little design for her, i got a bit sidetracked and made this drawing of ponyboy and cowgirl sharing a cigarette and having a real short talk

the specific ponyboy i have there IS post-story, his bleached and overgrown hair making a weird appearance in the drawing. i dunno, i like to imagine post-canon pb would have a way more enamored response to cowgirl compared to pre or during.

he's really in love with the girl he becomes in another universe, even if it might not be him. he still loves her no matter what, and i think that's really neat :D

my favorite little detail of cowgirl has to be the little designs i put on her clothes, something tells me she is a girl who is in LOVE with embroidery. i think it might be one of the things she picked up when transitioning, because you always have to be a little punk in terms of being transgender in my opinion — and i take cowgirl to be quite crafty :3c

i just think she'd fawn over tiny flowers and spirals all over her stuff, because "they are so cute n' simple, right?! but they're so complex and cool!" and awawawahhh... she just likes her details in my eyes

anyways i really really REALLY enjoyed making this drawing, mostly digital though – the traditional sketch was a hit of a process, i accidentally made her too tall at some point and was like "??? nuh uh" 💀 but she's beautiful and she's such a doll and wahhh my babyy...

i hope all the transfem pb fans out there can appreciate another addition to the gallery, I'd also like to shout out GLORBIEZ' ART !!! who also inspired me very heavily to make my own version!

please please please go look at it glorbiez is an amazing artist and i really love their take on cowgirl /BEGGING, DESPERATE (/silly)

who am i if not to jump on a trend with a very niche headcanon amirite ;3

[vynxwave]

tf skybound issue 14 thoughts / analysis / connections n whatnot. spoilers for the issue 15 preview too.

absolutely gorgeous art

VERY G1 starscream vibes in some places xD... i could practically hear his voice

more of starscream's origin and a bit more of megatron! i like megatron's characterization in skybound so far plus the decepticon cause's. i think skybound's decepticon ideology's gotta be my favorite, it just meshes their violence with their believed righteousness in such a great way.

this issue gives starscream quite a different initial approach to morality than seen in previous continuities (iirc) where here in #14 he is against killing prisoners of war while being a decepticon (often he's with loose morals even before becoming a decepticon).

megatron has the ability to mentally coerce the one wielding him to bend to his will (painfully), which i think is a really cool concept.

this makes starscream's evil directly caused by megatron from prolonged exposure to his influence conditioning/corrupting him. as seen in the mini background panels, over time blasting many Autobots to scrap, starscream grows to enjoy it

i've personally always loved starscream's evil to be completely independent of megatron('s) (as it has been) so i'm a bit conflicted on this aspect of skybound starscream... but i do understand its purpose/role in the story though.

issues #13/#14 run a parallel between then starscream & megatron and present starscream & those humans: both purport to Starscream they want to help him, but in reality they just want to use him for their own benefit. with that then story running parallel to the present one, starscream's dialogue about those humans also reflects upon how he felt under megatron's control

megatron forcing starscream to wield him definitely felt like it was expounding upon a question one might have had watching G1 — "why would megatron let someone who openly covets his position wield him?" of course, skybound isn't g1 and takes the idea and angle quite differently than the show did. with this it also supplies the reason of why starscream resents megatron and wants to overthrow and kill him.

and of G1, the Decepticons siding with starscream are ones who have sided with him once in the cartoon — the Combaticons in Starscream's Brigade and Astrotrain in Triple Takeover (and of course, Astrotrain was also the one to crown Starscream in the 1986 movie).

with Soundwave having the Constructicons and Starscream the Combaticons, a cool fight between Devastator and Bruticus is sure to ensue (vol 3 [collects #13-#18 + the story from the 2024 special] is called "Combiner Chaos" anyway)

i will be delighted to see soundwave and his decepticons vs starscream and his decepticons.

soundwave looks to be a megatron loyalist in this continuity and shares a bit of his sentiments (a bit below).

neat how then starscream and present thundercracker both had objections to the treatment of prisoners of war.

not the first time there's been a similarity between them, here's panels (#1 & #8) that parallel each other:

and how they differ:

not 1:1, but megatron's words to starscream reminded me of soundwave's to thundercracker — a subordinate's objection met with a reminder of their place and that their objection is irrelevant to their superior.

also worth noting, soundwave keeps thundercracker by his side despite his continual disagreements with how things are going, which is similar to megatron keeping starscream (who resents him) by his side.

i'd guess these similarities serve to build up to thundercracker possibly eventually actively opposing soundwave (as opposed to just going along with it) — here in the #15 preview he gives the humans warning to flee before blasting the building

now, knowing megatron's gunmode has the ability to mentally coerce the wielder to bend to his will... looks like this is what's happening with optimus wearing megatron's cannon arm!! xD. "megatron's cannon arm is influencing prime" has been built up and noticed, but it's nice to have megatron's ability now explicitly shown.

In #5 Starscream comments on Optimus having Megatron's cannon arm, and Optimus has a bit to say to him before blasting him with it.

Many noticed the parallel between Megatron & Optimus's fight in the Energon Universe Special 2024 and Optimus & Shockwave's in #12 as well as his tinged eye color.

Now with #14 we can also see a a similar thing that happened to Optimus happen to Starscream — Megatron's influence practically forcing their hand, going against what they wanted. Note the green-yellow background gradient suggesting Megatron's mental coercion in Starscream's panels, and in Optimus's panels (above) when his eyes are tinged there's yellow or yellow-green used in the background.

[butch-with-a-deep-voice]

Long-Distance date/bonding ideas I've learned while making it work with my femme

Streamed Movie Night: Discord has a function that let's you stream video and gaming alike! I'd recommend Nitro because otherwise stream quality is gonna SUCK (and you need to do some weird fiddling to get services like Netflix to work) but you can enjoy movie night with your boo

Tabletop Simulator: If you both have about $20, and a computer with even a low budget graphics processor, this program is invaluable. The base games are neat but the real trove is in the Steam Workshop. Mod makers upload hundreds of boardgames from Catan to Azul to outright heavy ones like D&D and Warhammer. My femme and I now have a weekly boardgame night (she actively challenges me at strategy games and it makes me so happy to have a partner that does 🥰)

Coffee shop dates: Go to a place where the shop has wifi (or you have a really good data plan with your phone), pop your headphones in, and just video call. I promise you, there will be more people there who find it sweet than those who find it weird.

Spotify Jam Sessions: I don't know about other music apps, but we both have spotify and it now has a function that let's you invite others to a shared listening session. Music is really important to both my femme and myself, and the ability for us to literally listen at the same time and talk about the music is truly quite lovely.

Parallel crafting time: Admittedly, I'm Neurodivergent as hell, and parallel play baseline is big for me. But pop on a videocall and make some crafts together. Bonus points if you get similar materials and share what you've made together

Call every night: no seriously, even if you both are busy the entire day and can't talk, call for at least a half hour or so to round your day off. That lack of certain forms of intimacy means you need to be really on top of other forms. On top of affirming love for one another. If you're trying to make long distance work long term, calling to just. Be with eachother is so important.

Schedule Time: As an extension of the above, just because you're calling every day, doesn't mean ensuring you have dedicated time for eachother isn't important. I'm talking like. An afternoon/evening once a week type thing. Be together for a long period of time while you can't be physically together.

Technology has honestly made what I always thought impossible for myself feel possible. The advent of videocalling my femme every day helps so much of the potential pitfalls that could have happened, and the best part is its more or less free (I pay for discord nitro but I digress). Don't get me wrong I'm having my hard days still. The inability to hold her when I want to take care of her is particularly bad. I show care and love through things like physical touch and food so much. But getting creative, and being consistent have really made this feel possible and sustainable until we get to the "next stages" bridge.

If you have ideas you found fun/helpful please toss em in the replies, tags, etc. Always open to more date ideas with my girl 💕

[joejhang]

theories + predictions before tgr comes out

not in any particular order. spoilers for tsc and obv aftg. if any of these happen individually i will be insufferable. bonus if more than one of these ends up being true. feeding my god complex fr.

jeremy killed a sibling. either accidentally or on purpose both works for me. tho it would be a million times more interesting if it was intentional. obv there are a million and one jeremy theories floating around but something about jeremy being a repented murderer endears me to him the most. like THAT'S the nora sakavic kinda character i know and love. anyway yeah there is definitely something weird about jer and his siblings tho. cat mentions two brothers, but so far we've only heard about annalise and bryson. cat also hesitates before saying "two brothers" so we can safely assume something happened with one of the brothers. my bet is that one of them is dead, that's why she hesitated to say. jer probably (definitely) had something to do with it. annalise also says that he ruined the family. and references the fall banquet of his freshman year. but idk if the siblings stuff and the banquet stuff is actually connected.

bryson tried to kill jer/they had a huge ugly fight/bryson was just abusive in general. i get these vibes. jer was desperate to avoid him and mentions him like once the whole book. cat mentions that he's a "tool" and a "jerk" and jer's convo with lucas about grayson is also notable, but that last part might just be bc jer's a nice guy, not to do with his own sibling issues. but yeah i think this is pretty likely, like they always had tension between them, then after mystery brother died, all of it came to a head and they had a really bad fight and someone was badly injured/nearly died.

annalise dies. this isn't very likely but i think this would be a PERFECT book two plot point. just imagine how it would WRECK jeremy. all of jer's carefully constructed masks and facades and fake smiles and pretending everything's fine would all come crashing down and it would essentially force my long-awaited jeremy crash out into action. it would force him to confront family issues, his older brother, his parents/step-parents??? and also the fact that he is deeply Not Ok™. also it would be a neat parallel that both jean and jer would now have dead younger sisters. bonus points if she dies in a car accident. if this happens i'm actually god.

kevjean interview goes horribly wrong somehow. my delusional ahh NEEDS neil to crash it but i can admit that that isn't likely and that i just miss my shayla. whatever. i'm pretty sure it's confirmed that kevjean IS having an interview together???? and since kevin is confirmed showing up in tgr i guess this will be it??? ok listen. i know nora said in the ec that kevin and jean would never be friends again, but i still have HOPE for them ok. kevjean you INVENTED one-sided homoerotic yearning. anyway i have no real thoughts about how it would go wrong probably just an interviewer stepping out of line and either jean or kevin crashing out during it. if someone attacks jean, i honestly honestly believe kevin would defend him. kevin is NOT a coward, and especially now that riko's dead and tetsuji is out of the picture, and after the whole "i've never been skiing" thing i doubt kevin is gonna be living in fear and paranoia and secrets anymore. and if he's gonna defend anyone to the press, it's obviously gonna be jean. and jean would do the same for kevin. guys i'm holding out so much hope for kevjean it's gonna ruin my life.

grayson death. is this not like, confirmed??? whatever i just need to see it happen. or hear of it happening. and i'll smile contentedly knowing that neil ordered the hit on a napkin at a thai restaurant. GOD i love that man like nobody can. it would also be very interesting to see jean, lucas and the other trojans' reactions to his death.

gameplay!!! i will admit, neil made me somewhat of an exy junkie asw. i'm so interested to see how jean narrates exy games and how the trojans play in their comps. unfortunately i doubt we'll see any championship games in book 2 but i'm hoping for book 3 and we get to see the trojans become champions for the first time!!! i have mixed feelings about the trojan red card thing but i wouldn't be mad if it happened. i kind of think it seems unrealistic tho tbh. but it WOULD be fun. yeah ummmm and i need to see like a scene where jeremy gets hurt and jean realises he cares IDC i am a SIMPLE simple girl. also i'm curious to see how the exy storyline plays out w jean. it's confirmed he never makes court, but i'm interested to see if he ends up actually enjoying the game, bc i think it wouldn't be a fitting end to the trilogy if he continues to play but resents it. i do think it is possible for the trojans to teach him how to actually love the game, but we'll see.

someone in jer's life/past committed or tried to commit. maybe it was even jeremy himself. idk i definitely think jer has some dark past, whether it includes like drugs or violence or gangs or murder idk, there's just SOMETHING there i can smell it. something that makes jeremy "captain sunshine" knox the black sheep of his rich political family. also jeremy being "unexpectedly ferocious" when jean made a quip about suicide. noted.

jeremy family drama. idk this is just a general note for uncovering more info about jeremy's complicated family. i need to know like, what's up with his dad. his dad is either dead or out of his life, because he only refers to his mother and stepfather. also why jer doesn't like being referred to by his last name and what he did to tear their family apart. contrary to popular opinion, i actually don't think it has anything to do with him being gay. i acc don't think his family knows he's gay. i feel like otherwise they would've just cut him off completely. like why is he still involved in campaigns and shit???

jerejean almost-kiss. this is just me manifesting tbh.

jeremy crash out. duh.

[mushimatsu]

choromatsu handwriting post

compiled all of choromatsus handwriting that i could find bc i love him

i realize these were all made by different teams and have different sources (anime/games/webkuji/etc) but there are some similarities between them all and i think its cute. i'll try to make it easier for ppl that cannot read japanese too

(note: some of these may or may not be valid criticisms, im not a native japanese speaker but i got my bachelors in japanese. idk if this means anything to anyone im just pointing out things that im noticing and maybe it will be interesting to you. if you notice anything else interesting feel free to add)

commonalities i noticed:

sometimes will combine multiple character strokes into one (normal thing to do, i've seen some native speakers do this)

with a few exceptions (mt takao for some reason), generally neat handwriting. proper and easy to read. not too big, not too small, not over stylized, but not messy either. very choromatsu

letter in s1e24

very nice handwriting, legible and neat. this is closest to how i think i would picture his handwriting. i know that the staff across different ososan things probably don't care too deeply about keeping minute handwriting details consistent and that's why they're all gonna look different but i like this one best for him.

new years cards in s2e13

very cute, love the stupid drawing of himself. everything very nice and tidy. to me these characters look a much curlier and rounder than the ones in the letter.

for both the letter and the new years cards it looks like he was careful to properly write out all the strokes of the kanji, even for more complicated ones like 緊張 and 就職. we see in mt takao that his handwriting gets a LOT messier. i know the real reason is because it was probably different animators that did his handwriting, but i'm choosing to believe that in canon it's because both of these are more fancy/formal letters addressed to people, whereas the trip guide is just for him and his brothers and doesn't necessarily need to look nice.

also i adore his tendency to add little drawings to things, like this and the mt takao guide he's everything

trip guide from mt. takao s3e8. his handwriting here, for some reason, is exceptionally bad especially compared to everything else. he writes like a little kid and i love his shitty little drawings. he's so cute.

my teachers would always correct my kanji down to the tiniest strokes, if i wrote like this is class i would get scolded so bad. you can see him combining his strokes together for 記念撮影, this will continue for the other pictures too. cute detail imo

the 昼 in 昼食 is definitely written wrong, but the second kanji 食 might be a little nitpicky. technically that bottom part is three different strokes, not two crossed over each other

more of him combining the strokes together. i wouldn't necessarily say that's wrong, since i've seen people do that before; it's probably just a habit that happens over time. i do it in english too

HOWEVER, he did write the 日 radical in 撮影 wrong here. previously, i thought he was just combining strokes again so that it looked like three lines instead of two (note 3 and 4 are two parallel lines, he just didn't lift his pen up)

but when you look at this it's clear that he very much did write three lines this time. that's the wrong radical

anyway

another example of him writing a two stroke character with just one. again, this is fine, ive seen people write their characters like this. however it looks bad when he does it here

i love how he wrote "campfire" i love how for some reason he didn't keep the letter sizing consistent or straight. also his little campfire drawing

１９時

キャンプ

ファイヤー

also there's two ways to write そ, its just a matter of choice its not important but he writes it the second way. and he messed up a kanji again

these next ones are maybe less canon cause they're not from the show itself

Airport Matsu

very tidy, combines a couple strokes together. both 松 (matsu) characters look like he combines the last two strokes together instead of writing them as two separate ones

and he does a similar thing with the right half of 野 in Matsuno

nostalgic moments webkuji

this one he writes every stroke and doesn't combine them and that's probably because different people worked on these and the tiny details like this don't matter to anyone but me. or you could say that he wrote a little neater in high school and started simplifying things as he got older.

Rock School

he drew himself again lol

i think his handwriting looks very good here actually. idk how to describe it but i like when handwriting looks like this specific way in japanese. i've seen other people that have handwriting like this and it just looks so nice. like the characters seem to vary in size, but somehow it makes it a little easier to read imo?

like in the first bullet point (underlined in yellow), the す in 多すぎる is a little big, but like it looks nice. in the second bullet point (blue), the の in 世の中 is slightly smaller but it emphasizes the kanji on either side of it. the stroke on the side of the か characters are written a little longer than usual (red). like it just looks nice, everything is shaped really nice and whenever i see people that have this handwriting i always try to emulate it lol

Neetpro

this one is a bit messier than the others. the way he wrote チョロ just doesn't look as nice as the way he wrote it in airport matsu and nostalgic moments. the way the て is written is more curved compared to the others. also the 界 kanji (blue) is written in a way that looks weird to me, and kara from this same set also writes the kanji that way so i think the same person might have written all of them lol

also interesting is that he writes き differently in this one

i was told by one of my professors that you're supposed to write さ and き with the upper and lower parts disconnected when writing by hand. it's only in text that they're connected. but i've still seen some people write them in the connected way

in all the other examples, choromatsu doesn't write them connected like that, just this one.

sukiya app

my lovely boy and his nonsense words and lies. the handwriting here comes off as very cutesy to me, at least compared to the others. some of the ways he writes, especially any box-like shape, seems round in a way. he also connects the right half of 野 again.

overall writes very neatly, altho a lot of the kanji here seems like its very big on the top and smaller on the bottom, and a lot of the letters seem more rounded. all the other examples just feel like the writing is a bit more angular, with the exception of the new years cards.

extra: coloring book

the way he wrote his name here is messier than the other examples. i like that he added little commentary on his own coloring though ("looks good!" "the tail was black too i believe") maybe he colored this with a paintbrush????? the strokes look as if he was trying to write quickly with a brush as if it was a pen. so maybe that's why its a little messier

anyway thanks for reading. i love choromatsu

[just-some-sorta-person]

Can I ask, who are your top 7 favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc (can be canon or non-canon) and your top 10 favorite characters ever from any media? Why do you love them all? Thanks if you want to answer....

Sure!

Ships (in rough order)

Nagireo from Blue Lock

my current obsession, going on strong for like more than a year by now. Also the first ship where I actually interacted with fandom meaningfully for a prolonged people of time instead of mostly ghosting. They’re really special to me! I think something I like about them is how core their relationship is to their story, and exploring their characters. It makes fan content and AUs really interesting and fun. In my opinion, a lot of their issues would still exist without blue lock, and they’d have to work them out in any setting, and I think that’s neat.

Satosugu From Jujutsu Kaisen

my past obsession, I spent a great deal of time with them as well before moving on to nagireo. Something I think of when it comes to stsg is the idea of an unfulfilled love that’s not lesser or weaker by virtue of being unfulfilled. I really like the idea that Gojo’s last words to geto were “I love you”, said for the first time at the end for this reason. Well, I am an angst enjoyer. I also enjoy the concept of love not being enough. Gojo and Geto’s individual relationship to power and agency is pretty cool to dive into too, the roles they had to fill in society and such. Their diverging paths. A good ship can’t be made with bad/uninteresting characters after all and I like all the character study fics out there.

those're kinda the two big ones.

Yuudai X Taisei from Sakana

Read sakana here right this moment its very special to me

Ah yes the awkwardness of drunk kissing your coworkers bestie that you're certain is way too good for you. I love love love them so much. They're just very comforting to me. Anxious eel and silly octopus (all of the cast of characters have assigned aquatic organisms). The comic as a whole deals a lot with anxiety, which is really cathartic, but I think in general its really nice seeing Yuudai opening up to people. I also like Yuudai's pessimism and skittery abrasive personality being balanced out by Taisei's optimism and cheerfulness. They also just make for some funny interactions that I've really liked reading heheh

Vanoe from Vanitas no Carte-

It’s the great gatsby vibes, the sunshine character and the deeply traumatized character who doesn’t see themselves as lovable, etc. I really love them and may or may not have made a slide deck presentation on Vanitas no carte for powerpoint night with my friends and 1/3 of it was centered around them.

Ludovica X Luck from Tiger Tiger-

Since this isn't an anime/is probably more obscure, here's the link to Tiger Tiger! Independently published by the artist and free to read, though you can also buy the first book to read in bookstores and such. I genuinely recommend it so much.

Ludovica and Luck are just so funny together, I love them so much. It's an eldritch doomsday god and the hyperfixated-on-sea-sponges mad scientist said being wants to impress. what is there not to like? its chaos x chaos but 2 different flavors. Also the source material is great, and very queer. #stealing your brother's ship to study sea sponges and getting caught up in doomsday. Also him and his 2nd mate are in love but dont realize bc reasons. Its great.

Bachirin from Blue Lock-

grumpy x sunshine always gets me. Plus their parallels and the whole loneliness thing. It’s a great ship- though what really sold me was reading fics like The Sun Will Come up. They really have so much potential.

Kide X Coel from Project Novos

another comic free to read here except this one has.. been on hiatus since 2022.. cries. I think the author has mentioned getting back to it though. Project Novos fulfills my childhood friends to enemies that dont actually hate each other to lovers dreams. The plot follows a government conspiracy and uprising but the story centers around Coel and Kide's relationship, which I do expect to be carried out romantically despite not being explicit so far (in part because it is not a mainstream manga).

This too, also follows the more optimistic character x a more pessimistic traumatized character trope... I have a type ok

... the ship list kinda turned into a bit of a rec list, but with some exceptions, my enjoyment of a relationship tends to do a lot with my enjoyment of the story its in unless I get fixated so...

hmm other ships ive liked... narumi x hirotaka from wotakoi.. hualian from tgcf, bingqui from svsss.... wait actually, there's too many lets move on.

Characters

Let's limit it to one character per show/series/etc to make this easier and avoid me just being like "the whole cast of sakana" or "the whole cast of tiger tiger" or "These characters from Dungeonmeshi..." too many options...

this is in no particular order. Also you might notice a lot of these characters come from the ships above

Yuudai Tanaka from Sakana

I like seeing characters suffer from anxiety, especially in a more ugly way, because I suffer from anxiety, and while I'm a lot nicer than Yuudai, I get frustrated when anxiety is portrayed in a way that may seem "cute" because it really doesn't feel "cute" hahaha. I mean, being anxious can mean being shy sometimes, which I can understand finding cute, but it can also mean being avoidant, skittish, or less friendly.

Ludovica Bonnaire from Tiger Tiger

She's chaotic, she's sweet, she's adorable, she's remarkably intelligent, she's fixated on sea sponges and wants to learn more about them! I really love Ludovica. She feels really refreshing as a character- a woman of science who's bubbly, excitable, and chaotic. She's kind of naive, but not at all dumb or incompetent. She falls into the mad scientist category without it defining her character. She doesn't let anything stop her but isn't somehow perfect, and she's incredibly funny. She's just great!

Nagi Seishiro from Blue Lock

Just.. look at him. he has a cactus, that's like plus 20 points

I have a soft spot for characters that are more subtly lacking in life and struggling, but aren't conscious of it. Also characters that discover that there's more to life than they first thought. Nagi seems fine on the outside, but if you look at some of his habits, they're actually rather concerning - subsisting off jelly packets, thinking life is a pain, getting a cactus to practice talking to people because he hadn't TALKED in so long. One of the nicest/most meaningful things his parents said to him that made him happy being "Don't die".. I also enjoy his disconnect from other people, and how he doesn't really understand the world around him.

I also like the space he occupies within the blue lock canon as a “hidden path”, and the contrast he presents in comparison to the other characters. I think Nagi is made more interesting by being a side character to Blue Lock than if he was the true main character. Idk if that’s a controversial take to have about your fav haha but really I think being the main character of a spinoff is the best place he could be. His situationship with the most important person in his life that he met 6 months ago is great too.

Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist

I LOVE the concept of the friendship is magic character being greed itself. I like the idea of interpersonal love being related to greed. Greed is wanting things, and it is often villainized, but wanting things is the basis of so much more than what we usually associate with greed - and in fact, some of our deepest wants are related to love - in all the forms it takes. Anyways, Greed is very special to me.

Vanitas from Vanitas no Carte

I just love a character who hates themselves so much that they won't let themselves be loved, but they don't have a gloomy exterior to reflect that (making it harder to tell).

Geto Suguru from Jujutsu Kaisen

I think I just love a guy who put so much pressure on himself to torture himself doing the right thing that he crashed out and did all the bad things. I see it as kind of the downfalls of needing everything to be simple and solvable. Geto preserved his sense of control and the livability of his own life, at the expense of becoming a bad person. That's something to explore, to me.

Him being gay (for his bff) is also a plus

Hirotaka Nifuji from Wotakoi

I have a tendency to like characters I find relatable. I haven't watched Wotakoi in awhile but I remember really resonating with Hirotaka. Because I haven't rewatched in awhile it's kinda just a vibe rn tho haha I can't really explain it.. But maybe it has something to do with the muted/quieter way he tends to express himself, despite still having his own inner world.

Anya Forger from Spy Family

I don't really relate to Anya at all, and I don't have any complicated reasons for this. She's just a cutie patootie who deserves the world

Laios Touden from Dungeon meshi

I love Laios and its definitely because I find him relatable. His difficulty connecting with people, his fixation on monsters, his appreciation of food... And I really like how his difficulty connecting with people and him being a weirdo is paired with a genuine desire to connect with them, and do good, as well as leadership skill.

I wanna eat living armor too...

Mafuyu Sato from Given

Given actually got me through a really hard time at one point, so its really special to me. Mafuyu's journey in general is very special to me, especially as someone who has had trouble expressing/processing their feelings before too.

[freyadragonlord]

been microwaving this thought in my head recently but yoo jonghyuk and sung hyunjae have pretty neat parallels huh?

one is a regressor, trying to save the same world and same people again and again and again, and endless number of turns. burdened by the weight of hundreds of repeated lifetimes, always the only one to remember. always alone.

the other is basically a transmigrator, having seen the end of countless different worlds, meeting countless different people. always forgetting on each replanting, yet still weighed down by the discarded memories. not quite understanding why.

and then some plain looking twink with low self esteem and mental health issues shows up and decides to save them from their terrible fate.

poetic cinema.

I've thought about this before, and there's more!

Both are the strongest (and amongst the most handsome) fighters in their world.

Both are trapped in their respective hellish loop by an unknown mysterious god they know nothing about. A being who is all powerful and obsessed with them.

Both struggle between wishing for death and wanting to survive.

Both are exceptionally good at almost everything, but particularly cooking, and the MCs love the food they make.

Signature long coat.

The main difference is that Sung Hyunje has good social skills XD

[alexanderwales]

Pitchposting: The Waves

Here's the logline: a hero flits between universes where everything is different and yet all characters recur. The love interest is the same, whether she's a pirate captain, a cubicle worker, a bard, whatever. The villain is the same, whether he's a rear admiral, a corporate tyrant, or an evil overlord.

Multiverse stories are often about the path not traveled, the way that the world might be different. This would be a story about commonality, everything staying the same.

So there are some number of stories being told here, and the shape of all of them is exactly identical, all hitting the beats at the same time. A death in one means a death in the other, but our protagonist is only in one place at a time, so we see each beat only once and infer the rest. A car chase in one story is a ship chase in another. The climactic battle where soldiers crash against the castle walls becomes a climactic battle where the pirate horde smashes against the walls of a fort, and that turns into a modern cityscape where rioters smash against the walls of a towering skyscraper.

My vision here is that we do grand changes as we move between stories, only to find that everything is equivalent.

So what do you do with this? What's this sort of structure for? What cool stories or scenes does it lend itself to?

My first thought is to break it, naturally. If there are five or six realities that we're cycling through, maybe our protagonist can get just one of them onto a different track, one where fate has something else in store. I don't know how you would do this, there's this neat scene in my head where we go "all is lost -> all is lost -> all is lost -> all is ... wait, what's that?!".

My second thought is that having multiple realities moving in perfect synchronicity with each other allows for a way to really underscore a character, say something about them with thick red marker. The elemental thing that's supposed to define a tragedy is that the bad ending is something that came from within the character, right? Something that they could have stopped, if only they had been a different kind of person. The seeds of their downfall laying within them. So isn't there something nice about seeing that this is invariant? That the worlds are different, circumstances are different, but the choices are the same? You'd have to be incredibly careful with this (and the whole thing, really), because I think in constructing different parallels you might end up with something that the audience doesn't consider parallel. But it could work, layering the emotional beats on top of each other.

My third thought is what I think should have been my first thought: the story is one about mastery, coming to know and understand the rules, "winning" across all realities because of understanding, ideally with some kind of character synthesis along the way. I think this is ... well, difficult, given the rules as I've been talking about them. If there's a "twist", then it should be a twist that happens across all realities simultaneously. If there's something gained or lost, it should always have a parallel. I cannot immediately think of some clever way of breaking this system - something that the reader would understand to be clever or at least worthwhile. (I say reader, but this would be better in a visual medium.) Maybe "breaking it" in a different way is the ideal, pulling the realities into each other, swapping conceits and genres. But this, too, would take a lot of planning to pull off, and you'd need to be careful about these set pieces.

So if I were serious about this (which I'm not, this is pitchposting,) I would start out with our characters, then build some worlds around them, trying for maximum variation in those worlds. The plotting is also pretty vital, particularly the "standard" plot whether you're going to break that or not. I do really like the idea of having a single "mundane" world, a place of office buildings and stakes that are measured in lunch breaks and water cooler conversations. I want the swings to be extreme, but the parallels blindingly obvious when they're put in front of you.

To be clear, I'm not sure that this structure/gimmick could actually work. In a text medium, which is what I primarily work with, I think you'd have to spend too much time on blocking and descriptions and detail whenever you switched realities. Switching scenes can be rough even in the best of circumstances.

But it's an idea that I've had rolling around in my head, and if I can't do something with it, then I hope it can at least spark something in someone else.

[theerurishipper]

Welcome to me watching the Paris special, this time with commentary! I watched the special and wrote down everything here as I watched it and forgot to post it cause I'm a dumbass. Also, this is long asf, in fact, it's so long that I had to make a Part 2.

Okay here goes!

Ah, the Gabriel version of the theme. This really took me by surprise. It's fire tho.

Straight into the action, I like it.

Max and Markov aren't different people in this?

That's some entrance from Shady and Claw, really ups the stakes. Makes you wonder why Nino tried to fight them with a nerf gun.

Ubiquity is so pretty.

I might be the only one who liked the Gabe scene we got.

Feeling some nostalgia for the candy cane cosplay ngl.

And we get a good scene with Adrien and Plagg. I liked the advice Plagg gave about how not all destruction is bad. Neat.

Some Alya and Marinette. Marinette is going through some tough times and is in need of support, and Tikki takes this opportunity to escape from her and steal macaroons. No hate tho, you do you Tikki.

Though she does react to the people of Paris cheering for Ladybug. That was sweet.

Alya turns into Ubiquity, and then we get... Betterfly.

Betterfly? Seriously? Coulda just gone with Hesperia.

"I'm not sure there's anything to hope for from Ladybug." My poor baby!

Love the look of absolute confusion on Alya's face.

Hesperia's confusion about his evil counterpart is really funny ngl.

SHADYBUG

"There, you can have your boyfriend back~" love the delivery on that line lmao.

But also, CLAW NOIR

Not her just stealing his belt immediately.

Marinette hates Adrien Agreste. This truly is the reverse world.

But also, I love Claw Noir pretending to be his own fan to impress Shadybug.

Claw Noir sure does love using that Cataclysm.

For someone who just woke up to see her friend gone and a hole in the wall, Alya collected herself pretty damn quick. I would be freaking the fuck out in her position. Just another reason she's the best.

RIP Alya's phone. Gabe really did a number on you.

Shadybug makes a butterfly tracker, proving that she ain't no Gabe.

Hesperia is befuddled by our world, Part 2.

It's always gotta be the Eiffel Tower, doesn't it.

Claw Noir's pulling a Chat Blanc?? Hello??

Hesperia (I'm not gonna call him Betterfly) is apparently a gentleman. It's almost disturbing after 5 seasons of Gabe being the worst piece of shit to grace our screens.

I guess no matter the universe and moral alignment, it's Gabriel's fate to get beaten up by teenagers.

Not Tikki loredumping about parallel universes right now lmao

Times like this remind me that Tikki is, for all intents and purposes, a god.

"You'd die before I could ever explain all this to you," is actually a pretty valid (and disturbingly hilarious) justification for not having bothered to bring any of this up before.

The Supreme is someone I'd like to learn more about. I've narrowed the suspects down to either Fu or Su-Han. Watch it be Lila instead if we ever get that info.

I feel like the info about the timers is something we should have gotten way, way earlier. Like, a few seasons ago.

Ladybug's triumphant entrance!

"Whatever, pest." Queen.

I love Claw Noir's staff.

Shadybug took no prisoners at all.

CHAT NOIR

Destruction vibes, and right after that incident too.

Claw Noir is unhinged.

Claw Noir just fucking cataclysmed himself??? Guess Adrien is always gonna be self-destructive in every universe huh?

Welp, looks like Chat Noir is officially re-traumatized.

I want y'all to remember that this boy went through the whole special with a cataclysm wound on his person and did not falter once. Mad respect.

Chat Noir got tossed. Chat Blanc call back number 2.

Obsessed with the way Bryce Papenbrook pronounces "cockroach."

Finally, a villain who actually gets rid of the Lucky Charm. Hawkie, take notes.

"Who the cat are you?"

So Shadybug can create whatever Lucky Charm she wants, huh?

Someone's been listening to the fandom.

Not the time freezing lmfao

I don't like that Gabe is turning Adrien into an angel, even if this is a good version. Anyway, Chat Blanc call back 3.

"Kitty catty" "Later loser!" I love her.

Of course, not all bugs can fly.

He moved out of the way.

I fucking love Claw Noir so much you guys, he's so funny.

Well, he tried. Shadybug's just better than him ig.

Hesperia stores his butterfly in his cane. So it's just our Gabe that tries to keep multiple butterflies, I guess.

I think they should kiss.

So they're doing this in hopes that The Supreme spares them? Interesting, and pretty sad.

They're so scared of the Akuma lmfao

If I was Alya, I'd have given myself away by now. Actually, I wouldn't have had the presence of mind to even hide.

Guess the counterparts are from some dystopian world ruled by The Supreme. It tracks with the look we got at it in the opening.

"In order to get something I wanted." We saw the Peacock Miraculous in the opening too, and also Emilie died. So I guess Adrien is a Sentimonster in the other reality too. Damn it.

I guess this Gabe realized his mistake instead of descending into madness like ours.

She just broke Marinette's box like it was nothing. So much for that.

Claw Noir lounges around playing with dolls and mocks Shadybug for being lazy while she does all the work and he lazes around. Have I mentioned yet that I love him?

Also I am glad they stayed true to Adrien's character and had him play with dolls.

The whole part about Chat Noir... be still my Ladynoir heart.

Love how they incorporated the webisodes into this. About time those had relevance.

Shadybug really "hates" Claw Noir.

Marinette's having doubts, my poor baby girl.

Shadybug and Claw Noir have power, but not their strength. That's a really good line.

She's reading the diary and crying... baby.

This is such a touching scene. I don't say that lightly, but it really is.

SHE FOUND THE WISH

Marinette really wrote down every single world ending secret in this one poorly protected diary huh.

She literally took him down in 2 seconds. Bruh.

IDENTITY REVEAL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Shadybug managed to achieve in 2 seconds what Marinette and Adrien have not achieved after 5 seasons of Love Square drama which I admittedly enjoy but that's not the point.

Those strange... marks? Cracks? Scars?

Blots off... I'm dying y'all.

Reverse Love Square? Hello??? HELLO???

She literally just beat his ass, tied him up and took his Miraculous and this is his reaction once he realizes who she is.

He's down so bad.

They should have played Careless Whisper here.

CUTIE PIE, MY SON

The Supreme is such a fucking asshole, he gagged the Kwamis.

Emonette wants our Marinette's life? She doesn't know the half of what she's getting into.

The Supreme got to the wish somehow? What the fuck?

"Reality is The Supreme." I don't know who this guy is, but he is DELULU.

This shot... masterfully done. My poor baby girl.

These kids are not okay. My poor sweet babies.

Daggers out. Seriously, stop it, you two.

He's trying to comfort her. They're just... I'm in pain. I'm so sad for them y'all.

Gabe in his prototype Monarch outfit.

Good thing (for him at least) he had the Ox, or else this would be his second cataclysm of the day.

Ladybug and Chat Noir are back in action, baby.

I'm sorry, I would not be able to say Betterfly unironically without bursting into laughter.

AFTER 5 SEASONS, WE FINALLY GET TO SEE CHAT NOIR'S NIGHT VISION AGAIN

Not that they needed it lmao

Alya coming in clutch with the recording. Queen.

LADYNOIR LADYNOIR LADYNOIR

It's so so so nice to see Ladynoir on screen again after Season 5 killed it.

Hit the word limit, so continued here.

[fabiansociety]

I've been following your dicussion R.E Majima and Kiryu and I have a weird observation I want to throw into the ring if that's okay! Not so much a question more me rambling.

I think a lot about how Majima, in particular, falls in love and how this plays out in the games. So, I mainly have to take from Makoto and Kiryu (although....again Love is maybe not the word and I know I'm missing A Certain Person but we know so little about her). What I've noticed and what I really enjoy is that Majima tends to see echoes of himself in the people he attaches to. With Makoto there is a clear parallel between them (loss of sight and autonomy) and a desire for her to be free from it all but also not to be tainted by it. Kiryu as well is so interesting to think about with this.

I always think of that first big convo in K1 and Majima has this really serious moment where he says to Kiryu 'you know, if you keep this up, it's gonna kill you' (paraphrase I can't remember the exact quote dfgf) and coming off Y0 it seems obvious to me that Majima is seeing Himself from Y0 in Kiryu a bit? But crucially what I think it does is trigger this Protective Instinct which is obvious in Makoto but less so in Kiryu. Until I think about the Majima everywhere system a bit too long fgdfg The Majima everywhere system is Explicitly this - Majima making Kiryu stronger so he can survive, so he can Live. It's protection. The mad dog is actually a guard dog who knew fdgfd.

For me though it's not really K1 that swings the Kazumaji for me it's K2/K3 and the messy aftermath. It's the few times we see Majima try to haul Kiryu aside and have a direct conversation with him, offer guidance and advice. It's some of the few times he drops the mask and to me that means more than any flirting in K1 could. Because if Majima in K1 would hate anything it's being vulnerable and by the time your reaching 8 he's telling Kiryu "If you go I don't think my heart can take it".

What this all says about how Majima leans romantically or sexually IDK but I think it's a neat little comparison? For me I'd argue that the sexual element isn't really important and doesn't tend to hold weight? For a game about Yakuza Crime Men they are oddly. IDK. Sexless?

RGG seems to suggest they are bound by fate. The games keep pairing them off in different lives and different iterations and in each and every one Majima loses his shit over Kiryu (which...makes me ponder just how involved Nishitani is in a larger scheme of things)

Sorry I'll stop rambling now apparently I have more thoughts about this than I guessed.

no, yeah, exactly, their relationship is hard not to get kind of feral about if you spend much time at all thinking about it, because it's SO supersaturated with possible meanings and readings and then they just kind of… drift apart? like whatever their feelings are in yakuza 1 and 2, by the time you get to 5 they are mostly symbols for each other, the ideal of what they think a yakuza *should* be, rather than people with an actual relationship. they aren't estranged, they aren't exes, but particularly after 2 it felt like they both had what they wanted from each other: kiryu got to leave the way majima wanted him to, and majima got to protect the tojo clan the way kiryu wanted him to. i think they see a lot of themselves in each other, despite having such wildly different personalities, or maybe just their aspirations, and because neither of them has died they get to carry those messy feelings forward from game to game in a way that nishitani, for example, doesn't

they really should have made daigo a protagonist at some point (maybe in 6?), because the relationship he's supposed to have with kiryu just isn't on screen the same way kiryu's relationship with majima's is. i had honestly hoped that infinite wealth would be split between kasuga and his cast in hawaii and kiryu and his cast in japan, so that you could have party chats where the older folks actually get to talk to each other, you know?

[lylathewise]

Episode 4 first thoughts

I love the songs they play in order to cram as much exposition as possible, it's a really great move storytelling wise

Maddie, seriously?!?

Caitlyn could not look less enthused

Ok, so I am seeing Cait wanting ambessa to take the place of her mother

I love how Jinx looks so delighted with Isha, like I've never seen her look more happy

I kinda see a parallel between the scene with Jinx and Isha's beetles and Vi and Jinx making up monsters, except this time Isha won't ever be scared by this

I think Jinx will be a better parent than Silco was, not a high bat but still

She's being so forthcoming with Isha, it's so sweet

"You kind of remind me of her." What if I cried?

The handshake?!?

I'm on your bridge, Goatman, only thing I could think of when I saw him

Oh, they want hextech so bad it makes them look stupid

"Keep their name out of your mouth."😶

"How could I not secure the scientists?" Oof, not a good look

"She hides while you all suffer." Aww man, really poor choice of words

Waterbear grenades

The mirroring of Jinxs eyes over Caitlyns

"Fearless child, you never shy." I think Ambessa is trying to manipulate Caitlyn into seeing her as a mother figure

"Why is peace always the justification for violence?" Man, I just want to sit with that line

Stoking the embers of a dying fire as she talks about what's been lost

Is it just me or did Salo get a little fuckable? No? Just me?

Salo? Meeting singed? Weird

Not her forgetting she didn't have a middle finger 🤣

Man, mentioning both her father figures that she killed in practically the same breath 😬

I fucking knew it! If Jinx had a single true friend, none of this would have happened

I held my breath the entire time she was in Silco's office

That's... a different look than I'm used to seeing from Sevika

Please tell me they won't kill Sevika

Warwick is summoned by Singe's blood being spilled? That's pretty cool

3rd time Sevika has crawled to her boss with her arm fucked up

Singed is creepy as hell, but he do got grandfather vibes which I appreciate

Man, how must Vander feel seeing his old self?

That guard is bored out of his mind

THE FUCKING JINX READ?!?!

That guard can't even see her face and he wants to get freaky? Loser behaviour

Stillwater prison break? Please?

Sorry, Rictus knew that some random guy had blue hair under his hat, but Ambessa can't tell that the really scrawny Enforcer is weird?

Buncha cops are about to die? Oh nooooo

Cool, Ambessa does realize something is off. Still though..

The fear in her eyes, she's never had someone welcome her

The relief in her as she realizes she doesn't have to fear them

The underlying theme of the song Powder sang in the beginning

The hug 😊

Wait, Singed is planning to die in the prison? Neat

Warwick is genuinely terrifying

Isha is giving off some 'Frodo screaming Gandalf' vibes

Wait, Jinx is Gandalf and Warwick is the Balrog. That's really funny

Aww yeah, Vander remembers her designs

And again, the underlying Powder song

I was not expecting him to talk

[stygiansauce]

Hello there! It's me again lol,

So, reading the WIP for tipping point got me thinking: we know that Tango's bad habit is smoking and would never in his life allow Jimmy to start with him. (As much as he's fantasizing about what they could do together Which honestly you could slowly see as a long term metaphor.. They begin by sharing something innocent and sweet like candy and now they're here messing around/joking about sharing something as taboo as cigarettes. It parallels their relationship in an odd way at this point right? It shows how fast they're falling within each other and how it's quickly folding into something dirty.. BUT WHO KNOWS!) But back to the main point, does Jimmy have any bad habits in particular that would be considered unhealthy that we haven't seen yet? I remember reading a line or two about him being a nail biter, but I didn't know if there was anything a bit deeper?

And one final thing that's entirely unrelated! It came to me last night, mainly with Tango and Jimmy but I'm curious about everyone else too, what are some odd phobias that they have? And I'm not talking like deep deep phobias or fears, like abandonment or failure, just silly ones like spiders or butterflies!

Thank you for putting this lovely story into existence! And I can't wait for more :D

-Quill

HI Quill!!! This is such a fun analysis! I love seeing what you guys come up with when I post WIPs out of context. It's really neat :D

I honestly don't remember making Jimmy a nail biter? To be fair though, now that I'm blocked out chapter 16/17 (?) (Im praying we get MOE under 25 chapters, but alas we know how I am with wordcount...) there's so much stuff to balence, I wouldn't be surprised if I did write it somewhere and then forgot. If anyone can find it let me know so I can bring it back in newer chapters (Ｔ▽Ｔ)

Jimmy DOES have some bad habits, but most all of them are in the mental health category. I'll wait to talk about them till they pop up in the fic. Please don't be scared, friends. there is no gore or harm in the tags of MOE, his habits are not violent. I would also say that he proably has a caffine promblem. I mean Mr. I drink energy drinks out of necessity, is not doing it just out of necessity. As a person with a slight caffine dependency, I nod my head in solidarity (pun intended) at him.

I currently don't have any little silly fears for any MOE characters, and I would actually love if all yall would help me come up with some! I have an ask from Crow anon asking for shiny things that I've been holding onto forever now, I'll take my favorites and compile them all into that post.

Very lovely hearing from you Quill, it's always such a treat!!!

[pennyplainknits]

Four blouses

A year ago I bought a metre of some very lovely and expensive Liberty Tana lawn. It sat in my small sewing stash until I could find a pattern for it. Eventually I settled on the Perennial Blouse. I was drawn to the simplicity of the shape, which lets the pattern shine will still being fitted and not the giant sack with elastic waist which seems so common in Indie patterns and which I have many many bitchy thoughts about.

I made a quick toile and found that as usual I needed to take length out of the body. It's designed to sit at the natural waist and I have a rather short torso. That's why it looks like a crop top but I swear it's not, that's just how short my upper half is! For reference I am 5'6" (167cm) and yet need a 32in (81cm) inseam, I really am mostly leg.

I made the cap sleeve version, and it was a quick and fairly painless project that is really elevated by the beautiful finishing on the inside and the thoughtful pattern elements, such as a button hole guide and separate pattern pieces for any interfacing, a well as properly drafted armscyes (the amount of armscyes that are symmetrical makes me weep).

Here's some close ups of the pattern and the cap sleeves. I was very happy with the pattern. It's very economical for fabric, taking under a metre, and it really lets the print shine. In fact I was so happy I uh, went a bit wild

I had to give away almost all my handsewn shirts this year as my upper chest and shoulders no longer fit comfortable in them (swimming regularly will do that, and my high bust measurement has always been out of whack for standard pattern sizing anyway). So I wanted restock my handsewn blouses, and I knew I liked this pattern. So I made more.

This is a white cotton broiderie anglais, For this one I raised the scoop neck about 1.5 cm, and lengthened the body by a cm. I love the contrast of the orange buttons. I made the bias tape from some plain white polycotton because the embroidery on the body fabric would mean it was harder to use.

I've added pictures of the inside for this one. As you can see there are no raw edges anywhere in this blouse, which I LOVE. The seams are all french seams and the neckline/sleeve seam/armhole are all bound with an understitched bias facing. It makes the inside SO neat and tidy. So many patterns skimp on the seam finishing, instructing you to serge or overlock them (I don't have an overlocker nor any desire for one). And really if I wanted seams that were overlocked together, why would I bother making my own clothes. It's a seam finish I hate! I really appreciated the time put into the pattern to make the inside nice.

Next up is this fun orange number that I made as part of a Star Wars bounding outfit (I was BB-8). A lovely embroidered lawn which was SO lovely and well-behaved to work with. I cut it on the cross-grain so I could have the embroidery and cut work running parallel to the button bands

And lastly, this one in silk. It was a NIGHTMARE to work with. It's whisper-thin and slippery and semi-sheer. I gave it gelatine bath which did help to somewhat stabilise the fabric as I cut and sewed it but it also made it super staticky. I think I should have used more gelatine because although it was slightly papery it was still slippery and seemed to stretch and deform if you so much as looked at it wrong.

(Wait, I can hear you say. Gelatine? Like the stuff sweets are made of? Yes! It's a way of stabilising very find or floppy fabric. You mix gelatine and hot water (I used a ratio of 1 tsp to 500ml water), soak you fabric, and let it dry, whereupon you iron it, and cut out your pattern. It washes right out of the fabric when you are done).

The fabric fought me every step of the way. I was nearly done when I slipped cutting a buttonhole and ripped a tear in the button band. I had to do a small patch job and you can TOTALLY see it but I'm hoping the pattern makes it less obvious.

The finished blouse is wonderful to wear though, so light and elegant so I think it is worth it.

[buttastic]

watched madoka rebellion yesterday as the final official stop in my faustpisode so now I'm finally ready to do my autopsy of this thing. I've seen pmmm itself a few times through but this was my first time watching rebellion.

so like in the lead up to this I had kind of ear-marked some stuff I figured would be relevant, like homura's time travel essentially giving her necromancy capabilities and sayaka's orchestral mermaid motif probably being something of a doctor faustus 1937 thing, but that was about it. all I knew about faust as a story before the faustpisode was that it was a guy making a deal with the devil so in that sense I was like yeah pmmm's pretty faustian but that's about it

pmmm folds in some little mermaid (and possible doctor faustus, jury's still kind of out on that one) and a little bit of the early reformation era witch burnings that happened towards the end of the real faustus' life, but for the most part it sticks pretty staunchly to johann wolfgang von goethe's faust. in multiple scenes there's actual text from faust onscreen incorporated into the witch collages, which is pretty neat.

the only place we see something of christopher marlowe's faustus is in kyuubey, who's such a fun portrayal of a mephistopheles I'm giving him his own little section here. his cute animal mascot appearance follows from goethe's mephistopheles initially appearing as a poodle and that's just fun. he kind of operates in a weird middle ground mechanistically though, somewhere between marlowe mephistophilis' middleman-to-the-devil and goethe mephistopheles' Literally Satan For Real, while also eschewing religion entirely and instead being a colonizing hypercapitalist. that's interesting texture!

I can't say it's entirely new to have a faust adaptation deal with economics since goethe's has a whole bit where faust encourages the kaiser to start printing paper money and destabilizes the empire's finances (pretty funny) but pmmm really ends up hinging soooo much of itself on labor relations in the face of economic greed in a way that's really fascinating. good or evil or faith or despair have nothing to do with their fate, which is entirely about solving an energy crisis that has been outsourced to them to fix that they themselves have no stake in. that's meaty

the world itself not having a structure of evil in contrast to the people in it though is fun, I like the way kyouko's backstory of attempting to help her father's church and getting labeled a witch for it parallels a lot of the very real, very dire stuff going on during the protestant reformation in og faustus' real lifetime. very funny that this posits the heretical splinter cult as the one making deals with devils (fun fact: the original faustbuch pamphlets/chapbooks that started getting printed in the late 1500s were just straight-up anti-catholic propaganda)

the other interesting thing about kyouko is that her and mami are the only girls we see make wishes that aren't dubiously romantic to some degree. goethe's faust isn't gay but the og faustus was accused of sodomy and famous faust adapters hans christian andersen, thomas mann, and klaus mann were all queer men who all based their adaptations around dudes they were in love with so the shit with homura and madoka as a lesbianical faust and gretchen fits is an obvious evolution of that…it's so funny that sayaka's straight though. I love that they had to retcon that in rebellion because that bitch was NOT into kyouko the way kyouko was into her in the original anime lmfao

I've already talked about the sayaka/doctor faustus stuff a little before so I'm gonna skip that here except to say that I've decided sayaka is the leverkühn.

I have always found the original anime ending to be pretty weak and I feel like I finally have a better grasp on why, I don't really think the better future madoka was fighting for is different enough to warrant the amount of effort put into maintaining it. I made the point to my bf that most of pmmm is building up to ripping the head off this horrible, dehumanizing system of exploitation but then like Union Leader Madoka steps in and is like "don't worry I died for your sins so now you get safety gear and paid overtime". like those things are nice but they don't really fix the system

I like madoka-as-gretchen a lot more uncomplicatedly than I liked original gretchen though I will say. I like that she's not an object homura-as-faust had fun with and then discarded, her inevitable fall to ruin is the crux of the whole thing that homura's been duped into thinking she can prevent! wonderful. madoka even does the gretchen thing and folds herself into some kind of goddess of infinite patience to save all the would-be fausts from damnation. how fun

I kept scratching my head though trying to figure out if madoka was supposed to be just straightforwardly a gretchen/eternal feminine when homura's time travel tees her up so well to also be a helen of troy…and it turns out that's because that part is in rebellion!

so background info here goethe's faust is split into two parts, the first part is mostly just the tragedy of faust ruining gretchen's life and her getting executed for it, and the second part is more of faust kind of gallivanting around having adventures. the tone shift is wild. BUT in part 2 faust conjures an apparition of helen of troy of iliad fame and he thinks she's so hot that he has to necromancy her back to life about it and they have a son. their son inevitably kills himself and helen is so distraught she goes back to being dead. some time after this is when ghost gretchen returns and is presumably ok enough with all of that to still try and get faust into heaven.

let me just say that I think all faust adaptations should probably just flatten gretchen and helen into one character, faust having two dead babymamas feels a little bloated, so points to pmmm on this one. rebellion having homura conjure an elaborate dreamworld in order to forge a reality where she and madoka can be together again is chef's kiss. Beautiful. Now We're Getting Somewhere.

like faust though this reality eventually slips through her fingers, but where goethe's faust is destined to be dragged to hell at the moment of satisfaction because he like got into land development and liked it or whatever I'm glad homura's damning moment here is being with madoka.

something I do really want to mention here about goethe's faust that I have been unable to stop thinking about is that the reason mephistopheles can't collect faust's soul is because a bunch of sexy angels show up and make him too horny to stay on task. so like. that's the precedent for sayaka and bébé distracting kyuubey. madoka as gretchen/the eternal feminine coming to collect faust instead is also straight from the play.

I've been kind of stewing on how I feel about homura jilting fate to become Satan 2: The Sequel To Satan. on the one hand I find it more satisfying than the original ending but on the other it kinda just feels like these girls are gonna be stuck in an infinite loop of attempting to one-up eachother. idk. maybe that's the point

anyway I assume this is barely coherent but since when do y'all follow me for coherency

[melrosing]

Something a bit less hatering, if only 'cause I'm curious on your thoughts about Jaime/Criston and the Kingsguard in HOTD/ASOIAF, because I do feel that Criston's general trajectory is interesting, especially in contrast to Jaime (& his probable decision to go fight the dead v. Mr Annihilation) and the whole tangled up in the Targaryen self-immolation of it all

(uh. Pardon the pun. Anyways love your rebellion SparkNotes and Braimeposting, it's always great to read)

I did actually like the note Criston's S2 arc ended on, my only criticism was that it felt like we didn't really see all the workings that got him between point A (absolute kg jobsworth) and B (craving annihilation). like yes he did look about him in horror as the dragons laid waste to his army but that might've worked better as the climax of a more built out arc (like how Aerys' wildfire plot is the thing that sends Jaime over the edge, but is ofc preceded by a gradual breaking down)

but still as I say I did like it bc I think the KG is a really interesting institution to interrogate and it makes sense that Jaime wouldn't be the first to do so. and I like the neat little parallels like Criston functionally joining the KG for Rhaenyra (as Jaime did for Cersei) and thinking becoming a KG will lift him up in society whereas functionally it only makes he and Rhaenyra an impossible match and he's surrendered all agency to the white cloak. so he tries to make the white cloak his whole life, and ends up more lost bc of it.

I think they differ though in that whilst Criston gives more and more of himself away to the KG (I feel like S2 ends with him just accepting that this is both his life and his death now, he will never be anything more), Jaime is starting to look beyond the KG. I've said before I think he will in fact be removed from it, and that that will mean he has to continue reckoning with what true knighthood must mean, if it didn't mean the KG. it's a much more hopeful story, and I think having this idea of Criston's even makes it more poignant, in that we can imagine there have been many men who have been swallowed by the cloak, and here's Jaime carving a new fate for himself.

also thanks!! love me braimeposting. love me sparknotes