#this is actually for something rotating in my head

[fragranticareviewers]

As someone who doesn't know a thing about perfumes, reading what you have to say about them is so unbelievably cool!

If I may ask something, what would a magical girl use, but not the pink main one, maybe the orange/yellow one?

ive been sitting with this for a little bit rotating it in my head... this will be a long one

so im putting my answers into two different categories:

one is for the Orange Magical Girl Archetype, which is how i was thinking of the first one. in my head, the orange ones are usually sporty, energetic, and have a sun or fire theme going on, while still maintaining a lot of that youthful sparkly fun vibe. (i also personally associate them with citrus, because, well, orange) so i was thinking of that. this will be my first category of answers.

olympea solar by rabanne - yummy! white florals and mandarin orange.

h&m sunray - golden warmth by h&m - straight up smells like summer. sunscreen, coconut, slightly floral?

orange ice cream by colornoise - i have no idea if this one is good or not to be honest. but it looks like it should fit. i trust it. i believe in it.

dr. botica poç��o da criatividade by o boticário - ok pause. i have never seen this mentioned before by anyone and found it by accident. what is this. this is ridiculously cute. how do i get my hands on it? the bottle is so cute! it has a star for god's sake

sundrunk by imaginary authors - "oh noo it's so linear" "it doesn't smell like a city on fire or bull's blood" i don't care. smells like artificial orange flavoring followed by neroli. yummy

...so this was my first thought.

then i started thinking: what about the actual orange magical girls from things i've watched? what do i associate with them?

and then i realized: WHERE ARE ALL THE ORANGE MAGICAL GIRLS?? i can think of, like, 5 total! all of them have completely different personalities! everyone's always like "ohh toei hates making green magical girls, we're starving, please feed us more green magical girls please" as if there is not currently a CRISIS of MAGICAL GIRLS WHO WEAR ORANGE in their series even greater than this...

with that said: the 5 magical girls i can think of who are primarily orange all have completely different associations for me, so i figured it'd be fun to pick a perfume or two for each of them.

cure soleil from star twinkle precure - i think they technically classify her as yellow so she might not even count. that's stupid. she's orange. being blonde does not change the color of her outfit.

for her, i pick aqua allegoria nettare di sole by guerlain. it has solar notes, which are critical for her IMO, along with beautiful white florals, which i think matches with her association with flowers.

hazuki from ojamajo doremi - ah, i'm struggling with this a bit.. she's very shy, naive, and studious, with an interest in things like violin and ballet. i was hoping i could find something with maybe a light varnish accord, but no luck. instead, i looked for things with an old book/paper smell without being overly dark or old, and i'm stuck between these 2...

gion by fantome - powdery rose tea with honey and books. light and cute.

morning room by solstice scents - you thought i was gonna do a recommendation post without mentioning solstice scents huh? huh?? *beats you up* this is another powdery and light floral, this time mostly based on violet instead of rose. and, of course, there's a paper note in here.

cure sunny from smile precure - i'm realizing that, in my head, she is the prototypical orange magical girl. i may be biased because she's also my favorite. i want to find something that evokes fire without being overly smoky or autumnal.

beach bonfire by alchemic muse - a firey gourmand with a little bit of nice sandalwood and amber, nice!

fire opal (orange 2; natural) by dsh perfumes - planning on getting a sample of this. bitter orange that people are complaining is "too masculine"

sailor venus from sailor moon - oh god. is she orange? anyways, i think i'd associate her with like, makeup accords, like the way lipstick smells. but fun and silly. it'd be cool if i could find a light and fun fragrance with a hot iron accord because she has a chain attack and all that, but no such thing seems to exist

iris crush by jimmy choo - powdery floral lipstick. yay!

nagisa momoe from puella magi madoka magica - is this even a question?

cheesecake by arcana wildcraft.

anyways, to be transparent, a lot of the time i don't answer fandom/character requests because it's always things i've never watched/read/played/etc. before. but mahou shoujo... well i've heard of it

[yothatshitgas]

The Dress | Part 2

Note: Work of fiction.

This is part two. Part one. I lowkey want to turn this into a whole series but thats just a commitment that I'm afraid my job wont give me time to do. So I'll stick to oneshots for now. __

“I get first shot,” Azzi said, flashing a grin full of challenge and charm as she strutted toward her spot near midcourt.

Paige didn’t argue. She just stepped aside, lips twitching with amusement as she watched Azzi settle in at the edge of the sideline logo. Azzi set her feet like she was lining up for a real game. Her shooting form was textbook perfection, even in a casual round of horse. The ball arced through the air with beautiful rotation and dropped through the basket - all net, no hesitation.

“Alright, your turn,” she said, casually stepping back with a smug glint in her eye.

Paige retrieved the ball, dribbled it twice and walked to the exact same spot. Her gaze locked in on Azzi the entire way. She didn’t break eye contact as she pulled up, raised the ball above her head and let it fly.

Azzi’s eyebrow lifted, “shot got better,” she said, a teasing tone in her voice, “guess rehab gave you time to fix that weird hitch in your release.”

Paige jogged after the ball and passed it back with a smirk, “jealousy isn’t a cute look on you, Az.”

Azzi caught it, already turning toward the wing, “I was hoping you’d miss,” she rolled her shoulders, “got some hard hitting questions I’ve been saving for years.”

“Oh yeah?” Paige followed, hands on her hips, “like what?”

“Well,” Azzi said with a shrug as she lined up a corner three, “you’d have to miss to find out.”

The ball left her hand in a high arc and dropped through the net again.

“I never miss,” Paige shot back, eyes narrowed playfully as she chased the ball down for her turn, “you, on the other hand, are looking real nervous.”

The game picked up intensity. Corner threes. No look bank shots. Over the backboard tosses. Behind the back layups. Both of them trying to outdo the other, digging deep into their bags like it was a championship skills challenge instead of a friendly shootaround. They were trash talking and laughing through the effort, but their focus was razor sharp. Neither was willing to give the other an inch.

The scoreboard of their silent game was stitch at zero.

Until Azzi paused near half court. She spun the ball in her hands, glanced once at Paige and squared up.

“Alright, lets see what you really got,” she said, and launched the ball.

It soared through the air in a perfect arc, Paige followed its path with wide eyes, heart thudding as it hit the glass then dropped through the net.

“Seriously?” She groaned.

Azzi just grinned.

Paige walked to the half court line, cradling the ball in her hands. She took a long breath, then dribbled once, bending her knees as she stared down the rim. The shot arced high, hanging in the air like it was deciding whether or not to give her grace. It clipped the front of the rim with a heavy bounce and veered sharply to the left. . 

Clang.

Azzi’s voice rang out, sickeningly sweet, “H.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s hear it. What is this hard hitting question you’ve been dying to ask?”

Azzi’s grin softened into something else entirely, something more careful. Paige recognized it, it was actually a look that she personally hated seeing on her. It meant Azzi was thinking too much, but then it changed again, her smile turned more honest. It had Paige feeling flustered, a slow heat crawling up her neck and to her cheeks. She looked away too fast, suddenly aware of how loud her heart felt in her chest.

Azzi stepped forward, closing the space between them like she had every right to. Her voice was quieter now, “Paige,” she said, treating the older girl’s name like a well kept secret, “how come you never asked me to come to UConn?”

“What?”

“You heard me,” she said, “answer or you get O.”

“Look, it’s not like I didn’t want to. But you were so set on UCLA, you talked about it like it was the only place that made sense. I didn’t want to get in the way of your dream,” Paige paused, swallowing down the hesitation tightening her throat, “I wanted you here. I did. I still do.”

“You really didn’t think I’d drop everything just to spend the next four years playing next to you?”

“You shouldn’t have to,” came the reply and without thinking, her hand reached out and found the other’s, “that’s what I’m trying to say. Why would I ask you to be a shadow when you could be great on your own?”

Azzi laughed softly, gaze flicking down to their intertwined hands before drifting back up, “you’re thinking too highly of yourself again, Bueckers,” there was that smirk, “what if I came here to steal your spotlight?”

A breath caught in her throat.

“God,” she murmured, lips twitching into a slow grin, “that’d be so hot.”

That response earned her a shove, a gentle one but it was playful. Azzi scoffed and pushed away, retreating a few steps before snatching the ball back up, “come on,” she called over her shoulder, “it’s getting late and I still gotta beat your ass.”

“Confidence looks real good on you, Fudd,” came the reply, “kinda into it.”

“Kinda?” Azzi repeated, raising a brow as she walked back toward her next shot.

A shrug, then a jog forward. That dumb, happy smile was back. The same one that hadn’t left since the first shot of the night, “fine,” the blonde relented, “very into it.”

The game resumed, and with it, the air between them shifted back into one that was competitive, playful but still laced with something that hadn’t quite settled just yet. 

After that first question, the rest stayed easy. Safer. Azzi kept her tone casual, her questions framed in the comfort of familiarity. She asked for updates, the kind that sounded routine but between the two of them, it carried more weight than either of them let on.

O - “How’s your mom?”

“Still thinks I don’t eat enough.”

R - “The knee?”

“Better. Stronger. Rehab was rough but sitting on the sideline was harder. I just wanted to play, the court was so close yet it felt so far.”

They moved through those topics like old friends slipping back into rhythm, passing the ball between them as naturally as the conversation. But, then came one that landed a bit different. A little too pointed to be casual.

S - “Did you ever date anyone?”

Paige blinked, caught off guard, “what?”

Azzi turned like she hadn’t just dropped a question that reached back through years of distance and silence, “you know, in those two years we weren’t talking, anyone serious?”

There wasn’t a clear depiction of jealousy in her voice. No. But there was a trace of pure curiosity, it was vulnerable almost. Like Azzi didn’t actually want the answer, but needed it anyway. As if knowing wouldn’t hurt as much as a continuous wonder.

“No,” she said after a moment. Simple.

“Why?”

Paige looked up, a slow smirk forming on her lips as she cradled the ball in one hand, “that’s another question, Az,” she said, dribbling once, “you’re gonna have to wait your turn.”

She stepped back to the top of the key and rose into her shot, the kind she’d taken a million times in every gym from Minnesota to Storrs. Her form was clean. Shoulder square. Release smooth. But the ball hit the rim, rolled indecisively for a moment, then dropped off the side.

Miss.

It bounced twice on the hardwood before Azzi jogged over and scooped it up, still grinning.

“I’m gonna start thinking you’re missing on purpose,” she teased, making her way to the same spot Paige had just vacated. She took the shot as if it was second nature and the ball sailed through the net without even grazing the rim.

She turned, victorious, “there, another try.”

Paige chuckled under her breath, catching the rebound as it bounced back in her direction. She walked to the top of the key again, shoulder rolling back with ease as she prepped for the shot. Only, she didn’t take it. Instead, Paige let the ball roll off her fingertips.

“Ask me,” she said.

Azzi blinked, surprised but she stepped forward, eyes locked on Paige’s and asked again, gently this time:

“Why not?”

“I’d never wanted anyone else more than I wanted this girl who lived thousands of miles away,” she said, “someone I only ever saw once a year, but she lived in my head like she’d moved in, rearranged the furniture and left her sneakers at the door,” Azzi’s breath caught slightly as Paige stepped closer, hands finding their way to her hips with familiarity, “when we agreed to focus on our stuff, I thought I was doing the right thing. Choosing the grind, the game. The future. But the longer we stayed apart, the louder it got. The voice telling me there was something I wanted just as much, maybe more than basketball.”

Azzi tilted her head, her voice barely audible now, “and what was that?”

Paige smiled, slow and shy, “yeah,” she murmured, brushing a thumb just above Azzi’s hipbone, “I wonder that too, Az.”

[spotsupstuff]

How do you make your drawings so expressive, especially in the facial expressions? I want to make my character drawings more expressive and I'm not really sure how to do so, so any advice on it, especially with expressions, would be very appreciated!

Great timing, right when I'm having a crisis about my abilities. -face in hands- I will Attempt to explain my processes around expressiveness to my best ability, however.

• What helps expressions quite a bit is asymmetry. I realized this some years ago, before I would be maticulously trying to achieve perfect symmetry.

One eye bigger than the other, adds to dynamicness of the expression, along with line of flow to the eyebrows.

• I'm fairly convinced even the smallest details can affect an expression.

• Lack of information is an expression, too.

Aka, leaving large amount of expression (if not whole) up to interpretation of the audience, but setting the general vibe by other means, OR using it as a set up for a funny reveal because lack of actually seeing the face gives it all an air of seriousness, usually.

• Imperfections and anatomical nonsensibility spawn their own specific feelings.

She has no business having that giant or small eyes, the mouth is too big, she doesn't have shark teeth like in the first picture, she doesn't have a tongue. He's got a mouth outside of the boundaries of his face. Those things help to say something, though.

Good example are also meme emoji drawings. These kinds have hyperspecific expressions, which is what sells them as memes, even if the reposter of the meme doesn't consciously picks up on it

• Posing, angles of camera, details within the anatomy, tiny adjustments within the facial features, add greatly.

To note here: slacked shoulders, different rotation of the torso, different angle of the torso (from below vs. more head on), neck squished by the shoulders vs stretched by the relaxation, mouth placed unrealistic more to the side vs placed more realistically and slightly open, eyes squinted on their bottom (flexing of the cheek muscles) vs relaxation [giving a more ,,In that moment, his expression fell", quite literally thanks to the relaxation], less extreme frown - the eyebrows are more leveled than arched - this gives more "concern" vibe than "anger" vibe.

-- example of posing:

-- example of angle:

In the case of characters with limited facial features (like Iterators, just eyes), one has to rely more on posing, anatomy details and angles. Exaggeration with both their lone facial feature and posing is a good idea, just gotta find the right balance between It and your desired weight of reality in the scene.

Outside aspects like the little anime expression signal thingies help out, too.

• And ofc also looking into animal behaviour to apply them to inhuman features boosts expressiveness.

Anatomical notes: jaw is hinged to the rest of the skull, meaning lowering it, moving it side to side and clenching it helps an expression come more alive.

Lips have their own volume, sticking them out from profile is Good. Shoulders are like another joint in arms- by which I mean the true root/anchor of an arm is more the point where clavicles connect to the sternum than the shoulder itself. They can be moved forwards and backwards. Moving them forwards for example boosts the feeling of curling in on self.

Here's an older compilation of Euros having a shit day for analyzation if you'd like.

[charity-angel]

Hey look, something about Cal I actually understand!

So, a "proper" breast stroke, which is what he tends to do, should be symmetrical. Instead, Cal does what I used to* - he kicks stronger with one leg (his left) than the other, and he ends up rotating slightly. It's called a screw kick and, according to my bro back when he was a swimming teacher, it's fairly common, but not good for your back so they try to train it out of you.

I thought it was a nice detail in the animation, tbh.

(There's also the incredibly weird thing where he drops his head so that he's looking backwards at the camera, but I think that's a glitch in the animation rather than on purpose.)

* these days, my right leg does practically nothing. Literally just my left leg kicking. It's incredibly disconcerting, and I need to actually go back to a class and learn to swim all over again. But that sort of involves money 🙁

Someone should give Cal swimming lessons. Anytime I see him swim I just stare in despair

(Also your art is great!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDD)

i don't know enough about swimming to know what's wrong with his swimming but NONETHELESS if someone can escape FORTRESS INQUISITORIUS by swimming from THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN with A STAB WOUND and only HALF AN OXYGEN AND A LOT OF STUBBORNNESS i personally consider them the bestest swimmer ever

[stormvanari]

brain is screaming at me to make Underground and Paranormal Rescue Teams (URT and PRT) from the RCP summoning circle

help /j

[waterfallofspace]

something about a breathless "sorry-" uttered right between the last sneeze they've barely finished, and the next they're already starting to hitch for~

[blue-wolfe]

YOUR BODY, MY STOPWATCH

[alackofghosts]

vierapril day 15 - alternate universe

[bunnyboy-juice]

i may not be into fauxcest but i am absolutely a friend of the family

[saltwater-sloth]

I... I just realized that the Fount's keyhole brooch thing is a hexagram.

We've had the Fount's official design for how long; and I've only now googled what shape it was cuz I'm bad at geometry????

tldr; apparently, I'm an idiot who can't spin shapes around in my head.

[camgoloud]

he still has his tonsils. by the way if you even care

[odysseys-blood]

i think its very fun to consider the mc as another king like obviously not the same way as the devil kings but in two ways: one being that you are the descendant of the wise king, solomon, and what he had has been inherited by you, but also as in the mc having rule over a very small, but wholly devoted kingdom.

and by that i mean minhyeok.

sure it was a kids game, him swearing his loyalty to you and you ordaining him as your knight, but that kids game became his reality. he is your only subject but he will never leave you. whatever he can do to protect you, he'll jump to it in a heartbeat even if in the end it costs him his life. but a king cannot be a king with no one to rule, which is why when it was your turn to save him there was no hesitation to literally make a deal with the devil to keep him alive. and he will wait as long as it takes until you return and he can be by your side again

[measurelessdreamer]

Okay, but what if in the movieverse Scott somehow travelled back in time to the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and he would meet Logan at some point and through the journey they would fall in love and then it would be terrible because Scott knows Logan has to lose his memory at some point because he's not supposed to remember any of this time of his life and Scott doesn't know what does it and it's devastating because it's possibly inevitable and Logan in the present doesn't remember and so Scott is left alone?

Alternatively:

Scott could still travel back in time (again, somehow) to the point right after the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and deal with freshly amnesiac Logan who doesn't have a place in the world and of course that no interference is preferable because, after all, this Logan is supposed to find his way to them eventually no matter how bleak it seems, but the thing is that there is something inherently wrong about staying away and one thing leads to another and they happen to fall in love in this one too and then the whole system's in mayhem because what about the present???

[awesome-cookies-and-cream]

I haven't read the LN yet but from the posts and spoilers I see, ah duo and the emperor's relationship keeps me up at night

[trees-to-meet-you]

God. What if Pandora didn’t want to open the box. What if she was manipulated, her hands tied to and guided by strings she couldn’t shake off. What if when she released the horrors out into the world, Hope chose to stay with her, in the box. What if Pandora couldn’t rid herself of that guilt. What if Hope couldn’t convince her that not all was lost, and that she wasn’t responsible for the strings around her hands. That she wasn’t a monster.

What if Pandora and Hope found a way to trap everything in the box again. What if Pandora couldn’t do it. What if she didn’t want anyone else to feel the guilt she did. What if she thought that trapping the horrors in the box would just doom everyone into the same cycle. What if she felt she had to break it by bearing the suffering of everyone else. What if Hope tried to convince her that it could be better. What if she wouldn’t save herself. What if Hope had to kill Pandora for a chance to save everyone, including her. What if they both were sealed in the box. What if no one ever knew what happened to them. What if their last words to the world and to each other were “I love you.”

What if the world ending was never Pandora’s fault, but in her guilt and grief she blamed herself for it, and the Hope that voluntarily stayed by her side had to take her life to save it.

What if?

[the-lavender-clown]

COWBOY CASSATELLO IS INFECTING MY BRAIN AGAIN