#once i get my hands on that book...

[diiwata]

the guy who was supposed to play jacob in twilight (krystopher hyatt) is who I'll be imagining as young!haymitch in sotr, btw

[marivanilla05]

In the middle of exams so here are just some higher quality versions of my last sketches!

(There will be no context for Menelaus dressed as a seal and Helen doing drugs. If you know, you know.)

[luck-of-the-drawings]

JUST ROLL WITH IT: PRIME DEFENDERS - EPISODE 12: FESTIVAL OF FEAR

part of a thumbnail project hosted by the lovely wonderful GREF (that link goes to the twitty post, heres the pdf for ur own viewing tho)

THIS WAS VERY FUN! THANK U FOR ALLOWING ME TO JOIN AND PLAY.

[rookflower]

One trait of Mapleshade that I find fascinating is the fact she *wants* to reveal the kittens are half-clan. She states that they will be loyal to both RiverClan and ThunderClan, as well as revealing the truth to the Clans (Not specifically the kittens?) I think Mapleshade is just interesting if you think about her as being this perpetual believer that everything will be okay, because StarClan loves her (She even states StarClan would love her children). She isn't afraid of them being rejected - doesn't even really consider that being a problem, because her children are special. Though I do feel this is a symptom of how the half-clan rule is just an ultimately cruel part of Clan-life, and Mapleshade unfortunately got caught in the midst of it. Especially seeing as her faith is kind of sad, knowing what will happen in the end - even as someone who dislikes Mapleshade.

yeah i think mapleshade's total faith in her own security mostly works to add to the tragedy. it's one of those books where no one really wins and i think serves as worldbuilding towards how fucked the warrior code is as a system but that either isn't intentional to the extent it goes or the writing team don't really want the readers to dwell on it. no matter how hard you try to appeal to the forces of oppression around you they will cut you down as soon as you are vulnerable and othered. they are not there to help you and cannot be won or reasoned with in a way that makes you truly immune unless you just are exactly what they want you to be.

mapleshade certainly has flaws pre-exile- she's self centred, rash, judgmental- but none of these make her an ontologically bad person or remotely justify what happens to her, it just makes it more of a gut punch for her when that sense of security and certainty is pulled out from under her feet. while a character like leafpool or bluestar is fully aware and fearful of the consequences for their transgression and will suffer in guilt and hiding until they are inevitably or resultingly punished for it, mapleshade does not have that understanding or sense of self preservation and is also, more immediately and directly, punished for it. no winning the starclan game!!

[why-the-heck-not]

making a new yearly bullet journal spread is serious business (I drew 72 mini calendar grids and my hand cramped)

[netmors]

Offer accepted.

Not as fast as other artists, but I tried. Stars, Lars' voice… My personal "ASMR" ////v////

[necrotic-nephilim]

bro come back we need your commentary more than ever. Jayhelena canon event

AHAHAHA I'VE BEEN LOSING MY MIND FOR DAYS ANON HOW'D YOU KNOW. perfect moment to show off the shitty meme i made based off a random message i sent in a discord server a couple of weeks ago.

jokes aside: i do have a LOT of thoughts on all of this, and even more thoughts on the reaction to it so ty for giving me the chance to rant.

as far as the comic itself goes: i am? cautiously optimistic, personally? hopes are high but expectations are grounded. Gretchen Felker-Martin is a *fantastic* trans horror writer (i highly rec her novel, Manhunt) but she's pretty new to the comics scene. she's written a single issue with Jason, a Beast World story that's pretty polarizing. most fans i know dislike it, my personal opinions on it are... it's a bit lackluster? i think some parts of it miss the mark on Jason's psyche, but the overall theme it's trying to convey about cycles of violence enacted on victims like Jason and police brutality are interesting. while it's not a great start for GFM with Jason, the Beast World event was so shit overall, and the whole concept of all these characters being "not themselves" mentally, i'm willing to overlook it. (idk if there are any good BW stories but all the ones i've read are shite... Helena's BW story has her literally being beaten by Cass using a laser pointer on her so... i will take *anything* over that personally lmao at least GFM seems genuinely interested in exploring Jason's inner workings, yk) it could go really well, or really poorly. i don't think we have enough info on GFM's writing to know how she'll handle an ongoing with these two, but my fingers are desperately crossed.

the main concerns i have about the comic are firstly the plot itself: which is described as Jason tracking down a cop-killer, and how that could so easily become copaganda. however, the Beast World issue GFM wrote was incredibly anti-cop. (and she even said on her bluesky that ppl shouldn't be worried about this run being pro-cop) so, i do think there's hope there. my other worry is the history of these characters GFM can't control- this story is happening right after H2SH which is frankly, a fucking disaster for Jason. and Helena's biggest Rebirth feature was Batgirl & the Birds of Prey, which was an even bigger disaster for her mythos. neither of these characters are standing on great foundations, and i haven't cared for either of their current characterizations for the past decade or so. it's an uphill battle for even a fantastic writer to try to meld good characterization with the current state of these two, and i could see it screwing GFM over, which rlly sucks she's not getting as fair of a shot as she could be.

all that said, the aesthetics look fantastic (tho, i'm not personally the biggest fan of either suit redesign) and i do love getting Helena and Jason out of Gotham, bc it means we won't have the everlooming Bat presence hanging over their actions. and as for the romance? i'm CACKLING. i've *always* suspected that if we ever were lucky enough for a Jason/Helena team-up, they were bound to end up fucking, and i'm DELIGHTED to be vindicated. this ship is one i do adore in concept (mostly as a hatefuck sort of thing) but could see go horribly. i trust GFM to write women, so i don't think Helena's going to get sidelined as a one-dimensional love interest, which is the biggest fear i've seen expressed. it's not *entirely* unlikely she'll be OOC (i don't think we know enough to comment either way atp, given GFM has never written her) but i do think she's going to be dynamic in this run. and honestly? with the shit content Jason has been getting recently (Robin Lives, the current fuckass Jaybin comic) and Helena having her backstory mutiliated and getting sidelined to hell as current comics don't seem to know what to do with her, i want this to go well *so* badly. i'm rlly hoping it will! and i do think the romance can absolutely work in a fun and interesting way. wouldn't be my top canon pick for either character, but i love the intrigue of it and how these two could (and hopefully are going to) challenge each other and find solidarity in their respective victimhoods.

that said, i certainly don't begrudge Helena fans for being pessimistic about this comic, or disliking the concept in principle. i'd far prefer Helena be getting a solo than be a supporting cast/love interest for a man's run. that said, i think calling this run a "power fantasy" and "wank content" (takes i have seen) is absolutely asinine. we don't have it in our hands yet, we literally can't say until it's out. (and tbfh- these takes are transphobic against GFM, even if unintentionally.) but at this point, i think anything is something for Helena, and i am not going to insult the concept until i've seen the story. if Helena fans don't want to read this bc they don't like Jason or just don't want to see her sidelined, i get that entirely.

beyond that, the take i am *not* a fan of is that this is bad bc Helena has been Dick's love interest. anyone who says *that* loses all validity to their argument for me. Helena has been a dynamic character long before she met Dick and to *only* view her as an extension of Dick and thus define every future relationship she has through Dick is the most ass backwards misogyny i've seen. also. it's comics, man. everyone's going to team up with everyone and fuck everyone. it's just the nature of these characters getting used over and over and over. it's so wildly degrading to Helena to pretend you're protecting her dignity and honor by not wanting her around Jason, or by treating her as just "Dick's love interest". (when she and Dick never properly even *dated* and have never been right for each other. that was sort of the whole point. but i digress.) i also think some takes from Helena stans about Jason are made in incredibly bad faith, just because some Helena stans find some sort of superiority complex in liking her and hating him. it has always read incredibly performative to me.

in summary: i have been deserpate for *years* for these two to interact, and i'm genuinely looking forward to reading this comic. i have reasons to be a little doubtful of some issues that *might* come up, but GFM is a great novelist and i hope that translates to her ability to write a great ongoing. did i ever *actually* want this ship to go canon? no, but under a queer woman whose pretty solid at exploring intersectionality and leftist politics in her works, i'm willing to hear it out.

and just so we're clear: the *second* this comic is out i'm putting the Robles variant cover where Jason and Helena are almost kissing straight on my wall. even if the comic is shit. i'm forever immortalizing it as a giant win for me personally, one of the few ppl capable of liking Jason Todd and Helena Bertinelli at the same time and being cool with the idea of them kissing, lol.

[fictionadventurer]

Potential March Reads

Wandering by Loren G. Warnemunde

Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Heir and the Spare by Kate Stradling (plus Maid and Minstrel and/or Brine and Bone)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Light Princess by George Macdonald

The Hunger Games trilogy (and possible Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins)

[deathandnonexistentialdread]

Two sides of the same coin!!

I tried to make them stand out while having unifying elements but idk if I succeeded but they look colorful

Merlin is night and Arthur is day and i love the symbolism of that as well as all the references of various eps in the colouring page

Colouring pages by @neptunesyellowsands !!

[freaky-flawless]

Well anyway...I finished Once Bitten Twice Dead.

...Can I be real with you all?

I kinda really liked it.

More under the cut, maybe some spoilers:

Yeah, just from an objective standpoint, the book is decent. Definitely very YA, but the writing is good, the story is interesting, and the characters were written very well. It did really feel like I was watching a genuine MH movie in my head at certain points. And while I don't love certain choices made, I was kinda impressed with some of the plot points the author came up with. Very bold of her to kill of Dracula in such a way.

The beginning was probably the weakest part, mainly because it throws so much at you at once, and it's a lot to take in, but it all comes together pretty nicely in the end. And maybe this is giving the author too much credit, but it kinda puts you in the same headspace as Draculaura who is dealing with a lot on er plate immediately.

This isn't to say I don't have some major issues with it. I'll never agree with the decision to break Draculaura and Clawd up to pair her with a mediocre normie dude, however, I think it was clever that the author drew parallels between their romance and Dracula and Draculaura's mom. I myself am also not a huge Lala fan (she's genuinely my least fave of the main ghouls) so reading a book focused pretty solely on her was gonna be a challenge for me anyway. That being said though, ghoulie went through it in this novel. She for sure pissed me off at points, but she had a lot of character growth that we never really saw in any of the movies. (Closest would be Frights Camera Action, but this book is more like if Draculaura actually did accept being Vampire Queen and taking charge) If you're a huge Drac fan, and you don't care all that much about her relationship with Clawd, then this book is for you.

You can really tell that the author was either an actual fan of Monster High, or at the very least did a lot of research. She managed to fit each main ghoul into the story in a way that felt natural and in character, which yes sometimes means being over the top (Cleo) Not to say they were featured a whole lot, after all Drac spent a majority of the book avoiding the hell out of them, but my favorite parts of the books were the ones they were in. Oh, and we got another Cleuce break-up!

The normie dude was fine. His and Drac's relationship was cute enough, but his name pissed me off. Poe. Dumb ass name. It was only ever used to compare how much he isn't like Edgar Allen Poe, like whatever man. And spoiler, but they ultimately don't end up together by the end.

Tbh the synopsis of this book does it a disservice. So serious that it's hard to take it seriously. Was it technically accurate? Yeah, but the story never got super dark imo. Darkest thing to happen was probably Dracula's death.

And honestly??? The snakestone thing was hilarious! I genuinely laughed out loud. The entire ending scene was so fun tbh. Deuce was also pretty good in this.

Anyway, if you have the means, I recommend giving the book a chance if you're interested. It's really not as bad as we all thought it would be. I promise its infinitely better than the Ghoulfriends books, and easily comparable to the Lisi Harrison novels (well the first 2...the last 2 are garbage.) And lets be real, as much as I love them, those books haven't aged the best, so there's definitely an argument that OBTD is better. All comes down to personal taste.

[bbutterflies]

ninoir…..

[stil-lindigo]

emily carroll has once again permanently changed my brain chemistry

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

What if I say possesion storylines are secretly about domination and colonialism and the way in which the whims of the capital dictates every single aspect of social relations, and SA, which in turn is also about colonialism

[the---hermit]

Not me adding annotations to a book to make it more accessible for my mom when she will read it

[grandwretch]

one of the many reasons I love Rachel's POV is that she just does not get Marco. Not at all. Jake and Tobias know hes putting up a front more often than not, and Cassie especially sees right through him, but Rachel buys the mask. She even thinks, originally, that Marco might be against fighting just to annoy them. I'm not even sure that Rachel ever really understands how deep Marco goes down the rabbit hole.

Like, I don't think she's doing anything that Marco doesn't want her to-- She isn't being mean or anything. I don't think it's because she dislikes him, or because they're constantly fighting. Marco is doing this on purpose. He puts on a mask with everyone, but Rachel, especially, and she buys it hook, line, and sinker.

And it really makes you think, like-- How long did Marco and Rachel know each other before his mom died? Is she basing her assumptions off a boy that doesn't exist anymore? Is that why Marco keeps up the front with her, or is it because she's the most popular, the prettiest, and the strongest? Did Marco have a crush on Rachel before his entire world fell apart? Is that why he's desperate for her to never realize it did?

[artem1sc0re]

If I had a nickel for everytime I redrew this scene, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?

BUT WHATEVERRR, ITS JOSH!!!!

(I got given a compliment whilst drawing the first one so that’s cool :D)