#Best Picture flub

[articlesminer]

The Oscars and That Flub and the Rare Power of Shock

The Oscars and That Flub and the Rare Power of Shock

Last year, the comedian Marc Maron brought the author Chuck Klosterman on as a guest on his WTF podcast. The two discussed many things (including Klosterman’s then-new book, But What If We’re Wrong?, which he was there to promote), but one of them was sports—and the particular thrill that they offer to audiences. Sporting events, Klosterman argued, promise that most dramatic of things: an unknown…

[kikker-oma]

hi friend!

idk how you phrase this but like

How do you draw bodies

because your art style is so good and I’m trying to find mine but people just don’t make sense to me 🥲

but aside from that, how is your day been?

Line of Action - best for figure drawing practice

@mellon-soup - has an INCREDIBLE repetoir of pose references. Here's their insta handle!

PROKO - has a lot of really great drawing fundamental resources on their YouTube channel for free. They also have paid online courses that go more in depth!

PoseManiacs - I used this when I was trying to learn and practice poses as well!

@miyuliart - on Twitter (or X , whatever it is) has a lot of great posts regarding pose study and anatomy! She even has some books for purchase too.

Lovely Blare, you are so sweet!! I'm glad you like my art style ❤️ it's definitely still being developed and I'm no master, but. I'm having fun building up my skills!

See below the break for more info cus this is kinda long lol

Above I've listed just a few of the many many many resources out there to study poses. These tend to be the people I look to most for references, tho they aren't the only ones!

If you're looking to practice and get better at anatomy and the fluidity of your poses, I would suggest starting by drawing actual people first. That way you know how real bodies move and twist and turn and what masclues go where. It makes simplifying and stylizing easier down the road!

Something I did a LOT, and honestly still do a lot, is find pictures of people or art of characters whose poses I like and just try to draw what I see. I have sketchbooks fuuulll of poses I copied just to practice! Tracing can definitely have it's value as well when you're learning!

I utilize Pinterest a lot to creat difference boards for reference photos I may need, and it's come in handy quite often!

I can show you how *I * draw bodies in general, but know that I kind of flub around until something starts to feel right haha. I'm still learning and practicing as well! How I draw bodies may now work for you and that's chill! Its all about trying out lots of different styles and seeing what you like best, or what methods make sense to you.

Fair warning: this probs isn't the most accurate tutorial, I just kinda threw something down as a general example hehe. I'm preaching about references but didn't want to use one at the moment cus I'm tired haha

Often my sketches are much messier and I just make lots of lines so I can find the "right one" lol.

These are some sketches I did for Peggys fan art!

Basically, just keep practicing until it eventually starts to look right lol

[widowshill]

How do you think Dark Shadows would differ if made today? Would it still be the cult classic or is that kind of writing lost to us?

with the disclaimers that I don't think you can set out to make a cult classic, and also I only know as much about the entertainment industry as the next person, and also I don't really think the writing in Dark Shadows is that good, I do think it's an interesting question! I'll do my best.

To start: for me, the lion's share of the show's enduring appeal is in its earnestness, and part of that is the palpable shoestring budget. things like flubbed lines, camera man and mic shadows in the shot, and other genuine mistakes are part of what you watch the show for, they do not detract but add to the experience. this contributes a similar sense of watching live theatre (paired with most of the core cast being new york theatrically trained and bringing that acting style with them) because you know you're seeing something usually done in one take, where the mistakes bleed through, where who the actors are as people is alongside them on the stage. they flub, and recover, and this is part of the story: so too do the Collinses make vast mistakes, and go on. it is an imperfect world riddled with faults.

This is not something you're going to get in the current media landscape from one of the big networks like ABC; I find it almost impossible to imagine a daytime show being produced with the kind of natural errors Dark Shadows contains. To capture that same kind of poor theatre troup earnestness you would have better success as either a) actual serial theatre, b) a webseries / tiktok series / etc, c) a low-budget independent or college tv station, or d) a miniseries, possibly. If a major network took it on and purposefully put those mistakes in, it would not feel the same. I'm a bit bored of the constant insincerity/irony in a lot of 2020's media, and I think it would rapidly veer into that genre of work.

As far as being a daytime serial, specifically, I don't think the current media environment is exactly right: part of the reason they aired a gothic horror soap opera to begin with is it was part of the broader cultural conversation, next to television like Bewitched, The Addams Family, I Dream of Jeanie, The Munsters, The Twilight Zone, etc. American entertainment in the late 60's had a love affair with the occult (with witches, monsters, ghosts, the works) and this permeated broad aspects of arts and culture: The Haunted Mansion opened at Disneyland in 1969, Monster Mash was number 1 on the Billboard chart in 1962 (and #91 in '70, and #10 in '73). Pair that with prominent artists like John Zacherle's discography, Vincent Price's film credits, 70's gothic horror comedies like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Phantom of the Paradise, and of course the wild popularity of gothic romance paperbacks in the 60's and 70's. This isn't everything, of course, but just to broad-strokes the landscape.

It's not that we don't have supernatural media today — horror is one of the highest performing movie genres, and there are shows like Ghosts and WWDITS, and Watcher Entertainment — but it's not quite the same explosion of culture (in my opinion). Making a gothic romance-horror-vampire serial would be more at home in the 2010's among the love affair with Twilight, True Blood, The Originals, the dominance of horror game Youtube, the height of Supernatural, Crimson Peak, What We Do In the Shadows 2014, etc. One imagines this is why the 2012 film adaption came out when it did; the cultural moment was conducive, overall. Most nighttime network television today (and I am generalizing) is dominated by legal, medical, and police drama; current soap-operas (especially General Hospital) reflect that, and there are only three soaps getting aired, period. Nothing is impossible: but a soap in the Dark Shadows vein (ha) getting green-lit today seems unlikely, vastly unlikely with the ebb in vampire fervor.

What I will say that works better in today's production moment for a potential series revival (revision?) is we're starting to see an embrace of practical set building / prop making / etc that was lost to us for a little while, especially among the horror genre. For example: Blumhouse's FNAF utilizing the Jim Henson creature shop, the beautiful set work on Haunted Mansion 2023, the use of practical effects in Beetlejuice 2. This is something that to me feels integral, for making Dark Shadows. You may disagree! But I don't think the heavy dependence on CGI did 2012 any favors. The magic inherent in the show (curses, ghosts, whatever you want to call it) is supported by movie magic and the invisible (or sometimes visible) artisanal hands crafting the world for us.

Moreover, with Bridgerton, especially (but also Emma, Little Women, The Gilded Age, The Great, etc) there's been a bit of a renaissance of lush period pieces. The current fascination with historical romances (and anachronism!) lends itself very well to a dive into 1795 or 1897. My best guess is that if we produced a revival right now, there'd be a very heavy focus on one of the alternate time periods (probably 1795), and they would lean on anachronism (and sex) very heavily, and the present year would be a very very minor presence, if they bothered with it at all – and maybe they wouldn't!

As for the writing, specifically? There's nothing that extraordinary about Dark Shadows' writing, to me, what is extraordinary is the characters and the actors' management of them (and Lela's direction) and what they are able to do with the script (aside from a few standout moments of memorable lines). There are brilliant television writers out there who could write a lovely gothic adaption. Some of our priorities in terms of storytelling are different: one thing you would have to acknowledge that the original show rarely dealt with and never performed well on is race. However a lot of the dominant concerns in the cultural landscape do reflect the issues at the forefront of the themes in the writing: especially women's bodily autonomy (Barnabas' hypnotism and forcing Josette's identity onto the nearest brunette/the inherent violation of biting and enthrallment, the way his victims are 90% of the time poor women, or sex workers, or the criminalized and otherwise vulnerable); women's economic position (Liz running the house and business, Victoria and Maggie's subject to endless horrors for a wage, Carolyn free to kick getting married down the road because she's economically secure) and the rigid dominance of the hetero-nuclear family structure as it is entwined with economics in America, and its subversions; and, especially, the way that the American houses (architectural, economic, genealogical) are built on the exploitation of those beneath them, often demanding the physical sacrifice of bodies and blood.

If I had my choice — and this is not what I think is probable, what is probable is a lean into the literal vampires and witches and sex associated in a modern-day setting — a current version of Dark Shadows would lean heavily into those themes, and take the reflection of the literal monsters (Barnabas, Angelique, Quentin, Laura, etc.) on the metaphorical monsters (Elizabeth, Roger, Burke, David, etc.) seriously. Preferably I'd want it set in the 1960's-70's again, because, like Collinsport, we seem to repeat the same sins over and over again, currently we are engaged with and reversing much of the progress that was made by social movements of that era, so in some senses we are returned to that time, culturally. Preferably I would emphasize the mystery? the permeation between the boundary of human and monstrosity? that dominated the early supernatural arcs with Laura and the beginning of Barnabas; and emphasize the terror, especially the terror of violence contained within the charming, and genteel, and refined, and beautiful. Above all I would not begin any first episode of anything with Barnabas, who should be first and foremost a reflection on the family so ready to accept him as like kind.

cult classic? I don't know. I think there's an appetite for earnestness; for long-form storytelling; for the quotidian — to learn about characters as they eat breakfast and bicker, as well as fight monsters. and theatre-trained enunciation that you can hear. I would hope, with sufficient intimacy training, the kissing and sex scenes would be a little better and not make me so very miserable.

[pyropsychiccollector]

Shiro Harem: Holy Grail War... of Love 2/7

As you guys know, the poll ended up being a 3-way tie... Technically. Although, based off the accidental "first" poll where Artoria had more votes tying her with Sakura... I'm gonna be generous and throw the King of Knights in here as an "unofficial" winner. It's the only poll that changed drastically enough, and I feel bad for flubbing up the first time. XD

... So, uh. Yeah. I'll be writing up 4 posts before posting anything. Be sure to cycle through my posts to find your favorite girl(s)... The official winners are Rin, Sakura, and Luvia. I'll be getting to Mitsuzuri, Illya, and Reines later. XD

The Beginning

Let's just jump into #2 now~... (人◕ω◕) Sakura-chan is... She's an interesting one. I like her supportive dynamic with Shiro, but for my own peace of mind I'm tweaking things... Mostly for Sakura's sake, but a bit for Shiro's sake as well.

But first, the disclaimer:

Fate: Stay Night is all about branching timelines. As such, to cater to all seven members of this harem in a single worldline, we'll be looking at an AU separate from the canon ones, regardless of how similarly events may play out. Just a forewarning.

With that out of the way... I do need to stress this is where we begin to look at the divergences in the timeline. Because even if she didn't show up often in Fate Zero, you could argue she had an important role even back then... The Fourth Holy Grail War is where her life began going down the crapper, and the war's conclusion shattered Shiro as a person. You could argue that the divergences in the Fourth War play into why the Fifth War panned out so differently in this AU. Both wars are intimately connected~... So I'm gonna go ham here. Apologies for those who might prefer a more broken Sakura... But that's too angsty for my palette. I won't allow it. (人◕ω◕)***

Let's start with the big one. Sakura had an Uncle Kariya who meant the world to her. (人◕ω◕) Sakura was born the second daughter of the Tohsaka family, and her father Tokiomi being the brilliant man that he is... He decided to judiciously follow the laws and traditions of magi families - that there can only ever be one heir that inherits the Magical Crest of the Tohsaka's. And instead of letting Sakura choose her own life, her own path, Tokiomi decided because Sakura had so much potential that she should be given away to the Matou's, an ally mage family. So that she could be groomed into their heir, since they didn't have one. Not a proper one; Shinji was too weak to be considered an heir.

Seems "reasonable", yeah? Just give Sakura away to an ally magus family. Give the "unnecessary" child up for adoption... (人◕ω◕)*** Unfortunately, Tokiomi is a fool. It's one thing to want what's best for your kids... It's also one thing to follow traditions zealously because that's always how things have "always" been done, not all cultures encourage reflection and adaptation... (人◕ω◕)** But this guy gave his kid away to a veritable vampire and didn't know it. Of course Zouken hides his longevity pretty well... On top of how he's stayed alive for centuries...

It was a pretty big mistake. But that's what it was: A mistake. Because for all that I can harp on Tokiomi's idiocy all day, he didn't do it maliciously... He did want Sakura to thrive and come into her own as a magus. Even if that meant competing with her sister Rin one day. ... But you know what they say about good intentions, the road they pave... (人◕ω◕)

Still, this is when Kariya enters the picture. Just as the Fourth Holy Grail War is entering the final phases of preparation, he returns to Japan from some trip around the world that took a while. His lifelong friend Aoi Tohsaka, Rin and Sakura's mom, is used to him being away for lengthy periods and is simply happy to see him back. Rin is happy enough to see him, too... But when he opens up the can of worms that is Sakura, mother and daughter grow despondent. He learns about Tokiomi giving Sakura away to the Matou's, the family that he's distanced himself from because he can't stand being around them... Particularly around "grandfather"...

But Kariya can't let things be, no matter how much Aoi begs him. Aoi was the woman he loved, and still loves... And he treasures her daughters just as much. Sakura was especially fond of "Uncle Kariya", and that's why he goes to confront Zouken about the adoption. Because he knows the Matou family magic will break Sakura, it would break anyone. The Matou's really only exist for Zouken's benefit...

... Unfortunately for Kariya, Sakura was already thrown into the worm pit, and has been down there for days... Already broken and traumatized. Kariya is beside himself, and instantly tries to strike a bargain with Zouken: He'll win the Fourth Holy Grail War, and when he does Zouken will release Sakura. Return her to the Tohsaka's. Zouken isn't exactly keen to hedge his bets on Kariya, but it gives the old fossil a chance to torture Kariya and make him suffer... So he tentatively agrees, insisting Sakura will continue her training until Kariya returns with the Grail.

... In one timeline, Kariya dies failing to save Sakura. He dies with Aoi believing that he killed Tokiomi... And he severely wounded her in grief and outrage.

This timeline goes better. ... For the most part. During the war, Kiritsugu's assistant Maiya encounters Kariya. She's about to kill him, threat of Berserker be damned, but he winds up begging her for an alliance. Kariya asserts that his life doesn't matter - he's got an unruly Servant, and his body is rapidly deteriorating... Kariya intends to keep fighting even if he expires in the process, but his ultimate objective is to save Sakura. Maiya and whoever she works for is under no obligation to help him, but he begs them to save Sakura... Kariya's willing to offer them his Servant's power for however long he has it, as long as they follow through on their end of the deal.

Maiya contacts Kiritsugu about Kariya's offer... And while he'd sooner just kill Berserker's Master and be done with it, his wife Iri talks him into the alliance. She points out that Kiritsugu should be able to understand Kariya's pain, wishing to save a child that he cares for dearly... And Kariya is rather bedraggled and barely functioning as it is. What's the harm in helping a dying man?

So Kiritsugu agrees to meet with Kariya. They hash out what makes Zouken so damn near "unkillable", and they agree to go to the Church about the matter. Kirei's father, Risei, knows of ways to deal with corrupt magi such as Zouken, and as the matter is not related to the Grail War directly... he agrees to put the war on hold to deal with Zouken Matou.

Zouken attempts to flee the Matou estate with Sakura, unwilling to lose his best chance in the next Grail War... But gets taken down by Risei, Kirei, and Tokiomi, who is repulsed to learn about the truth of the man he entrusted his daughter with. The "vampire" doesn't die so easily... But he is exterminated. And Sakura's body is purged of all the crest worms that defiled her body.

Kariya is offered the same treatment, but he refuses. He knows that he will die whether they deal with the crest worms or not... He needs what magic they can offer him to keep going in this war. Because even with Sakura saved from his monster of a "grandfather", Tokiomi is adamant about giving Sakura away to a different family once the war is resolved... Kariya simply refuses to allow that to happen. He continues to fight for Sakura's sake... striking a new deal with Tokiomi that should Kariya survive the war, Grail or no, he'll retain custody of Sakura for however long he lives for.

Tokiomi isn't so enthused to accept any "deal" with Kariya, a waste of a magus like him... But he's also a father. And he is well aware that Sakura will need a... grace period to recover from her trauma. He figures that whenever Kariya dies, he can negotiate with Kariya's brother to take Sakura back. With this strategy in mind, Tokiomi "accepts" Kariya's challenge.

... To his own detriment. In the end, Kirei still kills Tokiomi. He loses the chance to torment Kariya, as the Matou representative honors his word and keeps fighting alongside Kiritsugu and Saber... But it's still the same old, same old. Kiritsugu still kills Kayneth. Saber takes on and defeats Iskandar, and Gilgamesh annihilates Lancelot because of his "weak" Master. Kiritsugu fights Kirei to the death, and Saber is forced to "destroy" the Grail... which brings about calamity, anguish, and despair.

But Kariya... He manages to survive those events, similarly to Kiritsugu. It's nightmarish, wading through what would later be known as "the Great Fire", but they manage to find and rescue Shiro. Kariya leaves the boy in Kiritsugu's care, once they get him to a hospital. He returns home to the Matou estate and hashes some things out with his brother, who's leery and uncertain of what the future holds for them now that they don't have Zouken breathing down their necks...

For a few years, Kariya manages to cling on. They're not entirely happy, Sakura can tell her Uncle is seriously ailing and worries over him... But moreover, she just struggles to... accept that "grandfather" is gone. That she doesn't have to be tortured anymore. Deep down, she's bitter that she suffered at all, that her father gave her away like that...

But Kariya helps Sakura to reconnect with Aoi and Rin. He gives Sakura the choice to return to them now that Tokiomi's gone - and yes, that was an ordeal working out what happened to him; Kirei had no one to easily pin his teacher's death on, and so the man denies knowing anything at all, plays the part of the "aggrieved" student who happened to discover the body - and Sakura turns the offer down. She's... conflicted about her mother and sister, who allowed her to be given away. Though Kariya insists that they love her, and want to be with Sakura again... She just can't bring herself to fully believe him. Sakura wants things to go back to the way they were... But her initial year with the Matou's was hell. Even if she starts talking to Rin and her mother again... It's just not the same. It can never be the same. And besides... she's deeply worried about Uncle Kariya, and wants to spend as much time with him as possible. She has a terrible feeling about his deteriorating health...

A few years pass them by, and Sakura slowly goes back to the sweet, kind girl she used to be. She buries her trauma and heartache, managing to reconcile with her mother better, but Rin... It's still a little difficult. If only because Rin keeps asking if Sakura wants to learn magic, and Rin just... she keeps assuming, and... Sakura doesn't like it. After her horrifying experiences with the Matou magecraft, Sakura has grown to... hate magic. Or at least, Sakura herself wants nothing to do with it. She has no opinion if Rin practices it.

Aside from the brittle connection with Rin, Sakura has also established a sibling bond with Shinji. He's not the nicest brother ever... But his father, at Kariya's insistence, tones down Shinji's worst qualities and punishes him when he steps out of line. Shinji does try getting Sakura to be more assertive and less of a wallflower... But to his frustration, Sakura's not keen to change her ways. Especially with Kariya's rapidly failing health...

And then one night, Kariya passed away in his sleep. No warning. For a little bit, it seemed like he might be recovering... Sakura got her hopes up, and then they were dashed. She was... inconsolable for weeks after Uncle Kariya's passing. After the funeral. She spent a lot of time alone, even with Shinji, Rin, and her mother checking in on her...

Around that time, Kirei also... "checked in" with Sakura. Technically, Rin was the only one he was supposed to take on as a student... Tokiomi made no contingency for Sakura. However, with how free-spirited Rin was, she was never going to be easily manipulated. Kirei had plans to raise Rin up only to crush her later, but Sakura was... vulnerable after Kariya's death. It was all too easy to take her on as a second reluctant student. Kirei relished the opportunity to destroy both of Tokiomi's children after molding them to his liking...

Unfortunately for the sadistic priest, not all goes according to plan. A couple of years after Kariya's death, Sakura met Shiro Emiya. (人◕ω◕) They attend the same school, with Shiro being in the same year as Rin, a year above Sakura. Shiro is... He's a lot like Sakura in that he's not very outgoing. Doesn't like to impose. He's a kind, gentle soul that just tries to help everyone... And Sakura really falls hard for the boy.

It doesn't take long for her "training" with Kirei to get severely behind schedule as she spends more time with Shiro before and after school, discovering that Shiro lives by himself with only Taiga-sensei checking in on him. ... Well, to say that Shiro's alone would be a vast... understatement. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;; After the Fourth War, Kiritsugu went to rescue Illya from the Einzbern's. Meeting Kariya in that war inspired Kiritsugu to power through his own injuries and rescue his daughter and bring her back to Japan. So... Sakura also meets Illya, who's a year above Shiro in school... And Illya is very protective of her little brother. (人◕ω◕);;; She's grumpy the first while that Sakura visits, but eventually gets over it when Sakura helps with chores around the house. ... Illya hates manual labor. (人◕ω◕)

More than that, however... Sakura discovers that Shiro technically has an adopted mother, named Maiya. But she's rarely home, as she's working all the time. She says it's to help put food on the table, but... Shiro and Illya know there's more to it, and Maiya's just not explaining herself.

The Middle Act

Over the next several years, Sakura grows close to Shiro (... and Illya, to some extent). They settle into a routine of Sakura coming by before and after school, the routine only broken up sometimes by Kirei who grows... impatient... with his second student. (人◕ω◕)

Before they know it, the Fifth Holy Grail War arrives. ... 50 years early. (人◕ω◕) Sakura receives a set of Command Seals, marking her as a Master... And she just doesn't show interest in participating. Not when Rin is definitely going to be fighting, too. Nevertheless, Kirei tempts her with prospects of the Grail, which has the power to bring Kariya back to her. And it's not like Sakura herself has to fight to kill her enemies... Certainly, there will be participants who will take advantage of her naivete, but it's up to her how she conducts herself in battle.

Sakura's not eager to throw herself into any kind of war... But with how the last one ended, she's worried about Senpai getting impacted and wishes to protect him. ... And if she can revive Uncle Kariya, that would just make her so happy... With Sakura onboard with joining as a participant, Kirei arranges for her to receive a relic to summon a spirit - Medusa, who is summoned as Rider Class.

... Shortly after the war starts in earnest, Sakura's devastated to hear about Senpai getting grievously wounded after stumbling on a battle between two Servants. But when she goes to check up on him the morning after that attack... It's a very awkward breakfast. (人◕ω◕) For one: Senpai apparently managed to summon Saber and become a Master. And Saber picks up on Medusa's concealed presence around the home. (人◕ω◕);;;

For two... Illya is also a Master. And she summoned Berserker, of all Classes...!

Sakura-chan is very anxious during breakfast, you understand. She and Saber both are. (人◕ω◕) Illya's not bothered in the slightest. If Sakura makes a stupid move, Berserker will smash. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕) Shiro plays peacemaker as usual, and it's really only his cooking that manages to keep everybody calm. He explains to Sakura that Rin is also a Master, and her Servant is Archer. Shiro doesn't feel good about blabbing about Rin, but Sakura deserves the head's up, especially since they agree to be allies in this war. Sakura's rather... eager... to agree to any alliance with Senpai. ... Even if Illya would rather deal with her now. There can only be one winner, after all... (人◕ω◕);;;

Unfortunately, Sakura and Illya hanging off of Shiro in the early part of the war makes Rin rather... distant. Unwilling to add to their alliance when that's four of the seven Servants right there. Even three of seven is overkill... It makes Sakura, Shiro, and Illya pretty easy targets. None of the other participants want to drag out that alliance... Caster makes a move first, figuring that taking Shiro hostage and attempting to steal Saber from him would tip the balance of the war in her favor...

Sakura and Illya don't let that stand, however. (人◕ω◕);;; Sakura leaves Medusa to take on Assassin at the gate, while Illya and Berserker race right in to wreck Caster's crap. (人◕ω◕);;; Medea wasn't too happy to see Heracles again, and she proves no match for him. Her Master is similarly dispatched when he tries to avenge Medea's defeat... Medusa manages to defeat Assassin.

... This does leave Rin in a regrettable state of affairs. (人◕ω◕);;; With Caster and Assassin dealt with, it's literally just down to her and whoever Lancer's Master is to deal with the... alliance. Archer is particularly determined to kill Shiro Emiya, and willingly agrees to work with Lancer to keep everyone else off of Shiro...

That... could have gone a lot better. (人◕ω◕);;; Lancer's Master reneged on the deal, leaving Rin and Archer alone to tackle the alliance. Rin had absolutely no chance, going up against Sakura, Illya, Rider, Saber, and Berserker. There was just no way. Sure, Archer tried to corner Shiro, but that proved detrimental to him as Rin grew angry about Archer trying to kill Shiro of all people, and using Command Seals to make him go strictly after the Servants.

Archer does try to sever their contract, but it proves inadvisable when he's up against Berserker, Saber, and Rider. As much as he has faith in his Unlimited Blade Works... Going up against all three at once is just too much. Archer gets a severe thrashing, and has a bitter exchange with Shiro before passing on.

That's when Gilgamesh makes his move and takes down Berserker, whimsically leaving Saber and Rider alone when they prove to be resilient. He kidnaps Illya, counting on her to be the Lesser Grail, and so wishing to cross swords with Saber once more as he elaborates on the Grail's true nature.

It comes down to a fight between Shiro, Sakura, Rin, Rider, and Saber up against Lancer, Kirei, and Gilgamesh. Rin finally comes around and helps Shiro able to get enough magic to access his Reality Marble.... Something that Sakura isn't too eager to let happen, as Rin has to be very intimate with Shiro to share her crest... But it's for the sake of rescuing Illya, so she allows it. (人◕ω◕);;; But she'll be having words later...

Medusa gives Lancer a hearty battle, and he loses. Shiro defeats Kirei, with Sakura and Rin for backup. And Saber defeats Gilgamesh. With the Grail just short of completion, they go after the Greater Grail, using Saber's mightiest attack to destroy it.

... And somehow, after all that, Saber and Medusa receive new mortal bodies. How... fun. (人◕ω◕)

The Future

... So how do you suppose this all ends, anyway? (人◕ω◕) I gave a bare-bones synopsis of the Fifth Grail War, and I apologize for devolving into that... But the bottom line is that Sakura was faithful and loyal to Senpai throughout the whole thing. (人◕ω◕) Despite other interested girls popping up, despite battles getting intense... Sakura-chan fought hard to protect her man. (人◕ω◕) For a while, she almost didn't care about resurrecting Kariya... Like, of course she wanted to bring him back... But if it cost her Shiro to do it, then it's not worth it. Trading one soul for another. Much less when the Grail wasn't working as intended, and Sakura-chan was very angry to hear that the tainted Grail was responsible for how her beloved Senpai became so scarred on the inside...

It was touch and go, keeping everyone alive... But even Artoria and Medusa got to stick around, how delightful is that? (人◕ω◕);;;

Sure, by the war's end she's pretty much patched things up with Rin-neechan, getting over her past hesitation and bitterness. They're a family. And families share. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;; Yes, share even boys they like... Sakura isn't so coldhearted as to turn Rin away when she and Shiro have a deep, intimate bond now. But Sakura isn't so keen to give up either. She won't let Illya hog Shiro all to herself, either. Or Artoria. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

But Rin knows Shiro isn't all okay... Archer was a piece of work, and she doesn't want Shiro turning out like that. Sakura agrees with neechan, and grudgingly allows Rin to take Shiro on as an apprentice and study at the Clocktower for a few years. Sakura doesn't like it, and understands Artoria and Illya's objections... But Senpai needs to clear his head. Figure out what he wants to do. And besides, Sakura doesn't have any affection for magic, no desire to study at the Clocktower herself. She'll patiently wait for Senpai's return... Sure, Rin will be in the doghouse after they get back, hogging Senpai for years...

But. It's. Fine. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕) Before Senpai departs for London, Sakura gives him a very special gift... Her virginity, to be precise. Is it extreme? Sure. But all these other girls around Senpai, Sakura-chan didn't have a choice. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. Everyone else will just hafta deal. (人◕ω◕)

In the meantime, she, Medusa, Artoria, Mitsuzuri, and Illya will watch over the house... and later explain everything to Maiya when she gets back, flabbergasted at the developments. (人◕ω◕);;; They have a looooooot of splaining to do~...

Shiro's in for a rude awakening when he gets back to Japan. Sakura will be at the forefront of the pack, wanting another round and wanting baby Shiro's... But that's a story for another time. You know that Sakura-chan will have proposed to him within days of his return. Cuz Sakura-chan knows what she wants. (人◕ω◕)

The bottom line with this ship is that they're not perfect. Shiro still lost Kiritsugu, and Sakura still lost Kariya. The latter just got a better childhood, and wasn't a pawn of Zouken. ... Not for very long. (人◕ω◕) Shiro still has his hero complex, wanting to protect and keep Sakura happy... And Sakura's about the same as him. She wants to support and care for Senpai, to bask in his warming presence~ This Sakura's just learned to stand on her own somewhat. ... And there might be some stuff to work through with Rin because of Kirei whispering in Sakura's ear for several years... But by the end of the Grail War, Rin showed herself to be reasonable and nothing like Kirei said.

The crux of my enjoyment of this ship... is that I can understand the criticisms that remark how Shiro throws everything else away, just to be with Sakura... I get that the Heaven's Feel route is... heavy. That's why I decided to entertain a Sakura that's a little less broken. She's still got bitterness and uncertainty about the Tohsaka's, and that's understandable. But she learns to move on with her life, and she's allowed to move on~... She's not at Zouken's mercy. That's just my two cents about the Sakura x Shiro ship. It's pretty cute and wholesome overall... Just don't have Shiro abandon everything else for Sakura. That's just me. XD

[yamatonikado]

i will say however that after reading the manga i need to start putting more respect on bon's name because he's like so ??? i dont even know how to describe him he's so !!!! ok i will start with smart even though i don't think smart does him justice (under a readmore bc i start getting rambly)

like bon has an incredible amount of discipline and talent? like my boy memorizes arias in no time flat? like during the kyoto arc his dad is on death's door, he's resolving some internal trauma himself, and yet he's able to memorize a (idk what its called right now the words escape me so im putting a loanword here) sutra that he's not aware of? like multi-tasking king here. during that game with lewin he had memorized other world language verses to summon certain demons? lewin didn't even expect him to know those summon chants and yes he ended up flubbing a bit towards the end but that's just a character flaw he has (known to not always see the full picture during situations). he's a history freak. he has such a clear grasp on topics that he's able to teach them to his classmates (good teacher). he wrote that report for lighting on the train while some sort of catastrophe was going on in japan. this boy is so efficient. OH YEAH I FORGOT BUT HE WAS GOING TO DRAGOON CLASSES TO MEISTER IN THAT even though it's mentioned to be difficult to be an aria and dragoon.

ANYWAYS IM JUST SAYING that ryuji is like....it's like he's a master at focusing. not only does he have this insane amount of brain power, but he is also able to stay calm during it. like his brain is able to move and maintain focus stressful situations.

also the biggest thing i want to say is that, ryuji is driven to be this disciplined because he wants to help others. a lot of his character ambitions are externally focused, due to this heavy sense of responsibility he feels for everyone around him (since his social network is very large and he is the inheritor of the myodha and also he is the bon LOL). bon maintains this level of discipline because he's doing what he thinks is right or admirable for the sake of others.

and i know yukio is here in universe achieving more (being an exorcist with two declared meisiters [and probably a third or fourth], also like the school valedictorian, a teacher, and school commitee) BUT THE KEY DIFFERENCE is that yukio is doing this all out of a spite due to his self-inflicted superiority complex. like yukio's only doing this because he HAS to prove to himself that he's the best/a winner so he takes on any sort of responsibility to appear like a normal high functioning person in society despite being a mental trainwreck.

i fully believe that if yukio saw a therapist he would not be anywhere near this level ToT and im saying this outta love <3 yes yukio is chasing after father fujimoto and rin, but i feel like it's because he fundamentally dislikes his personality and temperament (something he can't change) and wishes it was more like theirs because he really really admires that.

i think Bon is the sort of prodigy he wants to be (when it comes to outside successes) and you could insert a narrative here between the two of them. like if yukio was just a student in class, he would be competing with bon for the spot of top dog, or he would see bon as competition and as someone to beat (yukio would be looking at the top scores and be number one but then see bon at number idk 2 or 3 and ball his hand in a fist and go "suguro..." like timmy turner's dad saying dinkleburg qwkdsakljkj). meanwhile bon would be like "yeah im nothing compared to yukio tho that guy's a beast. i admire him tho"

tdlr:

bon is just as capable as yukio (and could be a second yukio if yukio didn't have trauma and such a large inferiority complex). bon is able to achieve all this success because he's very altruistic, while yukio is able to achieve all this because he's extremely self-absorbed and egocentric. also i love bon and think he's a very special boy. a very mary sue-esque character (joking but also not).

[roughentumble]

ok, thots on Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare:

-kind of baffled and upset they cast someone without any jewish heritage for marjorie, who is a Real Woman and who was(importantly, prominently) jewish. like it informed a lot about her and was pivotal to her person, and the picture at the end showed she was pretty visably jewish, but the casting there totally flubbed it. im sure the actress is a nice enough lady, but was the wrong choice for a loosely-historical film featuring a real woman who was real and jewish

-had many of the Guy Ritchie Film Problems. there were scenes that repeated that didnt need to repeat, it held your hand through segments of coded dialogue that were already obvious and didnt need explaining, it thought its dialogue was a little more elevated than it actually was making some scenes tedious

-there were scenes that truly just Felt Cheap. special effects that fell short, water physics that looked very "made on a computer for ten bucks". perhaps they spent their budget on stars and explosions?

-it felt kind of like a video game in the first half? especially when they were taking out the compound. ive done that exact compound seisure in that exact order with a bow and arrow in far cry 5. beat for beat. again, they even used a bow and arrow. the bear guy is a man after my own heart and i loved it but perhaps not the best tone to emulate in your quasi-historical action film? idk i did enjoy it so my complaints are weak

-henry cavill carried the scenes he was in, and the Shitty Effects Boat And Explosions Scene was sold 100% solely on his facial expressions grounding and making real the otherwise poor action

-he played it gay in the first scene and i loved it

-i wanna watch him and the bear guy get oiled up and wrestle each other

-it was, despite any complaints, fun! it is a Romp, of sorts. henry cavill's mustache is soooo curly and cute. we got a butt shot. he looked nothing like the real life man whose photo we saw before the credits. i loved him

[that90sshowgoldencouple]

were there any cute behind the scenes moments you saw at the tapings you attended? :)

0o0o0o0o

Thank you so much for the question! Love talking about attending the tapings of the show, they were some of the best nights EVER. I miss them so much, I was really hoping to attend one over the summer.

Anywoo back to your questions yes! I saw a TON of cute moments between the cast. I'll admit I was most of the time watching out for Kurtwood Smith and/or Debra Jo Rupp but I caught plenty of moments with the kids too. Couple of things I saw for my first taping which was the Rave episode and one THE best night of my life.

-The split scene with Leia and Jay at the beginning was filmed in front of us and had to be timed just so. I honestly thought that was done as a preshoot or later edited together so that was fun to see and lots of bloopers there!

-When Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith took the stage for their first scene together (watching Law and Order) the announcer guy had us cheer for Kurtwood and Debra Jo and Kurtwood waved at his turn and when Debra Jo’s name was called he kinda did the claw thing behind her head, probably teasing about messing up her hair lol It was adorable.

-Kurtwood and Callie high-fiving each other a few times especially during that scene in the kitchen before Gwen and Leia leave for the Rave

-During that same kitchen scene, Kitty was serving banana bread and after the first take of that scene Debra Jo was packing up the used pieces to be taken away and this girls wanted some, so you could see Kurtwood stop Debra Jo and tell her the girls wanted some so she handed it to them and they were so happy. It was really cute and Callie even offered Kurtwood a piece and he shook his head.

-That kitchen scene was one of my favorite because of more stuff that happened between the scenes there but I don't wanna post everything now cuz it'll turn into a huge post. But send another ask and I'll share more about it!

-I did see plenty of bloopers too, and it was entertaining to see Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith sorta flub or forget their lines. It wasn't done in a way that would make themselves crack up or the other crack up but they'd acknowledge they forgot something or confused something and just quickly reset and sometimes get help from the other--and sometimes not too much help and instead just comments from the other. Their banter is so great, it was very much like what you see in interviews with the two of them.

Thank you so much for the ask! I loved sharing this with you all and hope I get more questions about the tapings so that I can share more, like I said I don't wanna make the text post too long. I haven't even shared the part I was SO tempted to take a video/picture of (and no, I'm not talking about the moment when I got to talk to Debra Jo Rupp, there was something else too)

My inbox is like The Forman House, it’s always unlocked and open! Stop in anytime 😀

[uncaaj]

Fanfic: Catchphrase (Bluey)

READ NOW ON AO3!

This Bluey bonus bit is called “Catchphrase.”

+++

Chilli Heeler opened the dishwasher and wondered why she ever got her hopes up. Every dish packed inside the two racks was clean, yes, but they were all still there. This meant that the burden of returning them to the cabinets fell on her since Bandit and Bluey were, conveniently, out shopping at the moment.

Well, it didn’t fall entirely on her.

“Bingo, can you help me unpack the dishwasher?” she called to her youngest pup.

Bingo’s small bark echoed from the den. “I’m coloring a picture!”

Chilli leaned against the cabinet and crossed her arms. “Come on, Bingo, it’s gotta be done.”

“I’m not interesting in that!” Bingo complained.

Chilli smiled. Was the little flub she always made with that word charming? Yes. Did it help this situation? No. “You could do with a new catchphrase. Now, let’s go. It won’t take long.”

Bingo sighed. “Okay, mama.” 

Chilli nodded and grabbed a plate. When she turned to the kitchen doorway, there was Bingo, a puzzled look across her snout. 

“What’s a…catchphrase?” said the little heeler.

Chilli handed her a bowl and stopped to think for a moment. “Well, er, it’s like a phrase that you say all the time so it becomes your trademark, how people know you by.”

“Like how Bluey likes to say ‘for real life’?” asked Bingo.

Chilli set down a stack of plates. “Yeah, just like that. Or when your dad says-“

“Aw, biscuits,” said Bingo in her best dad voice. She slouched to emphasize her impression.

Chilli laughed at her daughter’s show. “That’s good, Bingo! You’ve got it.”

“I learned something new!” Bingo picked up a plastic cup from the top rack, tail wagging all the way and the two settled into a rhythm with their work.

After a little while, when they were almost done, Bingo set a bowl down on the counter. “So, mum?” she asked

“Yes, honey?” said Chilli.

“Is your catchphrase, ‘Unpack the dishwasher’?”

Chilli fumbled a mug and it splashed into the sink. She turned around, eyebrow raised at Bingo. The little pup covered her snout to not overwhelm herself with giggles. A moment passed before she let the laughs take her over and took off. “Come ‘ere, you cheeky dog!” Chilli called, running after her.

[wankusbonkus-gt]

There’s Magic in Thy Enemy

Summary: ‘Theon has grown sick and tired of Snow tailing after Robb like a lost wolf cub, and decides to get rid of the bastard for the young Lord Stark's ease of comfort. (And because he's jealous.)’

Content: Unaware Tiny, Cock Vore, Tiny Jon Snow, Giant Theon Greyjoy, Rape Elements, One-Sided Attraction

A/N: Ashamed to say the title is from bastardised Shakespeare. Specifically, "there's magic in thy majesty", from his play, 'Winter's Tale, Act 5, Scene 3'. Though if I'm being honest, old Willie would have loved to know his work is being used as a title for a microphilia smut fic. Mans basically wrote a lot of flowery dick jokes.

This is based on Anon's prompt: "Tiny!Jon Snow gets cock vored, unaware, by Robb Stark or Theon Greyjoy". I'm basically doing this over, because I stuffed up their prompt *twice* already. I got the cock vore part down, but managed to flub up the "unaware" bit? Twice? In the same day? Anyway, this is me making it up to them lmao

Also, in regards to my hiatus--I wouldn't say it's over, necessarily, but I was hit with a bout of motivation after having written another smut fic (not macrophilia, sorry to say) and wanted to write more. If this trend continues, I'll accept it with grace, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Regardless, please accept this humble offering!! (link to AO3 version)

~

Theon watches from behind his cup as the bastard stumbles away from the table. He fingers the vial of sleeping draught he filched from Maester Luwin’s stores carefully, watching it take effect before his very eyes. Snow’s eyelids are droopy, and he looks like he can barely keep himself upright. It must’ve been a very potent one, to work so quickly. Theon only slipped the potion in his drink a few minutes ago.

‘I should head off to bed. I’m suddenly very tired,’ Snow explains, with a slur to his words, to Robb’s immediate whining.

Theon clenches his fist around the vial so tightly it might crack. He repeats the plan in his head, letting the repetition calm him down before he does anything stupid and give himself away. Drug him, wait for him to fall asleep before slipping away from the feast, stick him in your prick. It’s like a chant, and Theon’s fist slowly loosens.

Snow successfully leaves the Great Hall. Even without the bastard there, Theon is still on edge, although for a different reason entirely.

Robb pouts for a while before getting progressively deeper into his cups. Theon, despite Lady Catelyn’s likely reprimanding tomorrow, encourages his friend, making sure he always has a drink in-hand.

Eventually, Robb and the rest of the feast are drunk as anything, the noise level rising to almost unbearable heights for Theon’s sober ears, and Theon can slip away without anyone noticing.

The door closes behind him, already muffling the noise, and the deeper he goes into the Keep, the quieter they become, until it’s silent. He knows where Snow’s room is, so he doesn’t waste any time in his journey. Best to get it over with quickly lest Snow wake up.

~

The bastard makes an inviting picture, spread out naked on top of his furs. All pale, rouged skin and relaxed limbs. He doesn’t stir even as the door closes firmly behind Theon.

There’s a trail of clothes leading towards the boy like a stone pathway. The rest of the room is as drab and grey as can be expected for a bastard as sullen as Snow. Although a banked fire cackles in the fireplace, blanketing everything in gold.

Theon dutifully follows the strewn vestments until he’s standing by Snow’s head, the light making him glow. Theon feels a throb of equal parts envy, arousal, and hate. Snow always manages to look pretty, even passed out on his bed, even beaten down in the dirt by his betters. Maybe that’s why Robb likes him so much—would like Theon, if his lips were a tempting red and his dark, sooty eyelashes fluttered against his fine cheekbones. The thought turns Theon’s already boiling blood to liquid fire, and the desire to strangle the bastard until his luminous eyes pop out of his head, to bury his sword in that delicate, swan-like neck almost overwhelms him. Unfortunately, getting rid of a body is harder than what Theon already has planned.

Throughout this entire violent tirade, Snow remains in repose. He doesn’t stir one bit.

Dipping his hand into his other pocket, Theon pulls out another vial. It’s filled with a clear, watery substance which Theon was promised would turn its drinker thimble-sized. He half-doubts the seller’s word, but they swore by it. Theon figures that if they were lying he can simply sneak back out to the great hall and get roaringly drunk to forget his failure, and try again another day. Before hunting down the lying fuck and gutting them.

Theon uncorks the vial and bends over the boy, tilting his face back until his plush mouth falls open. His heart pounds in anticipation as he brings it over Snow’s parted lips. The liquid pours into his mouth smoothly.

He sets the container aside and begins massaging Snow’s throat, to encourage swallowing. He remembered Maester Luwin doing the same to an unconscious Robb, who’d gotten a nasty injury in the training yard. The hard nub of his neck bobs once, twice.

Theon rests his hand against the hollow of the bastard’s throat for a moment, imagines squeezing it until the life leaves his body and the air his lungs, then straightens up, standing menacingly over the side of the bed. If anyone were to walk in right now, they might think Theon were trying to rape the sleeping boy. He’s certainly pretty enough for it, but his blood is so dirty Theon wouldn’t dare.

The truth of it all might be even worse.

This thought has barely passed through Theon’s mind before movement catches his eye. He focuses on Snow’s body, as his flesh undulates and stretches grotesquely. His limbs lengthen and shrink, and his head wiggles on his shoulders, before everything condenses all at once. His limbs grow back into his body, his neck closer to his shoulders. He goes from taking up most of his small cot to drowning in his furs. Theon can only watch in shock as the boy disappears into them.

He stands there for a moment, no longer able to see Snow. He, for all intents and purposes, appears alone. The bastard of Winterfell Jon Snow has become no more fierce than a mouse.

He springs into action, then, diving for the bed and searching until he finds Jon’s small body among it. He’d lost him, for a moment. The realisation strikes something odd within his chest, but he pushes it away. He has a job to complete before anyone comes looking–mostly likely a drunk Robb, wanting to spend the night warming the furs of his bastard half-brother.

Growling, Theon undoes his trousers with one hand, the other holding onto Snow, and takes out his cock. It’s flush with blood. He’d gotten half-hard just from watching. This makes it easier for him to stroke himself to full-mast. He’s so taken by the thought of what will happen next that he barely feels his hand on his cock. He positions the small bastard by his pisshole and begins to let him fall.

The feeling is … weird. The closest thing he can compare it to is using a too-heavy arrow: it sits oddly, and you second guess the whole thing by the time you are ready to shoot the damn thing. But there’s no turning back now, unless he wants to shoot the bastard out of his cock and drown him in his seed. What a way to go, the kraken drowning the white wolf!

Theon huffs a laugh, jerking his cock as he feels Snow descend into his balls. He resists the urge to finish himself and focuses on the feeling of Snow travelling through him, becoming a part of Theon. The bastard would be no more distinguishable from Theon’s cock than the seed it produces. What would Robb do if he knew? Would he lick and suck every inch of Theon’s cock to rescue his poor half-brother? Would he take Theon into his mouth, swallow Snow by accident, too caught up in the act to care about some bastard too cocky for his own good?

The thought makes Theon’s cock jerk in his fist. He squeezes himself once, twice, and realises he can’t feel the body anymore. It must have reached his balls, where Snow would have drowned in his seed.

Theon, with strength he did not know he possesses, does up his trousers. He takes the empty vial from the rickety bedside table and stores it in his pocket. The clothes are gathered up and the bed made, until it looks like Snow never made it back to his room.

He leaves the small, dingy room behind, keeping an ear out for any wandering servants, but everyone is still preoccupied by the feast. Theon stops by his chambers to deposit the clothes to be handled later, before returning to the great hall. Robb welcomes him with a messy cheer, bringing his arm over his shoulder and tugging him forward, their sides pressed together. Theon thinks of the bastard in his balls, a problem solved, and takes a chug of Robb’s mead.

Tonight he celebrates!

[iravaid]

Art tips I beg of you share your wisdom

Oh god oh fuck I'll try, a lot of my art process is vibes only, i kind of just zone out and Draw and a picture appears

I have to stress that practice is the most important part of art, even if said art looks shit and you feel like the world is ending because you're not doing well/making tangible process/it's not turning out how you want. Gotta push through that by accepting that hey, sometimes your art turns out looking Janky, so what? You still took the time and effort to make art, and you're more of an artist than you were before starting the piece. You can sit back and figure out how to constructively criticise yourself without destroying your own self confidence for the sake of a viewer who isn't there. Practice being neutral about noting the parts you dislike - 'this anatomy is awful and I'm shit at it, why do i bother' isn't going to help as much as sitting back, going 'damn that looks weird, lol' and then looking up reference photos similar to what you'd been hoping to draw and figuring out where things went wrong.

When starting with a drawing, person or animal, I find myself focusing on the silhouette initially. Sometimes i might play around with a solid colour, or focus on the outline with a thin-ish pen. It helps to be aware of certain curves on a form and how it relates to other features of the body proportionally. Look at the empty spaces on the piece and look back to those in the reference, or your own intuition, flip the canvas etc, and see if it looks 'right'. Get funky with it when in the draft stage

Tracing for practice and reference also helps - but don't trace blindly, instead use it as a chance to figure out how the lines of a person/animal/construct move, and how can you replicate that in art. Make guidelines and notes on how things are proportionate to each other, isolate singular lines and practice them over and over to build up the muscle memory.

kind of like the above, where I used photos of an oc's faceclaim (Andy Lau) and traced over them, isolated certain features, made guidelines, and so on

When figuring out how to draw faces, I use a couple little anatomy tricks to keep things in line before tweaking some of the features to make things more unique:

Corners of the mouth tend to align with the top of the jaw. The corners of the mouth also align with the pupils if a front-facing figure is looking straight on. The inner corners of both eyes align with the outer nostrils. Top of the ears align with the top of the eyelid and earlobes align with the bottom of the nose.

This can change depending on feature size etc, some people have bigger or smaller eye or theyre close together or further apart, or they have large earlobes or none at all, or their nose is small or big. I just use it as a guideline to make sure features are in order because. Uh. I keep forgetting to draw in the guides during the draft stage.

Variability of the human face lends well to avoiding same face syndrome as you can stretch the features quite a bit. It may feel weird or wrong drawing a face with different features to how you're used to, but that's the point of practice and progress.

For rendering I found using the colour zones of the face (shown below) adds a lot of oomph and depth after finding my own rendering attempts falling a bit flat.

(above, from Gurney Journey describing the colour zones of the face)

(below, by ArtofYorugami on twitter)

I make the three colour bands, blend them to the contours of the face, then set the layer to multiply and lower the opacity to around 10-20%, and make further tweaks there to where it best suits the face being drawn.

Other little things

Eyes aren't totally white, make them a touch grayer and also add a little bit of blue to give it some depth. Same with teeth but I've yet to figure those freaks out

Hands are the devil but draw them enough times and you can flub your way through them until they feel normal. Would recommend having at least one finger in a different position to the rest, as our hands naturally rest with the index finger away from the rest. Again, use a reference, trace for research and building muscle memory, be cognizant of the muscles and bones at play in the hand and wrist. There are reference compilations on pinterest I've found in the past that have been helpful, and taking a photo of your own hand is an option as well.

A hand's palm width across is also the height of your lower face. That sentence doesn't make a lot of sense - but if you put your hand over your mouth, the top will be touching the bottom of your nose, and the bottom of your hand will align with your chin, more or less. Again, this can change from person to person but is helpful when eyeballing proportions.

Reference sites like x6ud is very helpful for angles of people and animals. Apps like Handy are helpful with figuring out how certain angles of light interact with the face. Videos like this one and this one are also good lighting references. Just looking up 'face under different light angles' on a search engine or pinterest will also be fruitful. Books like Michel Lauricella 's Morpho - Fat and Skin Folds is also very useful and you can find free pdfs online with enough safe digging. And there are a number of tutorials by tumblr artists on a number of desired topics

For expressions, it can be difficult to word the search right to find the specific look and angle you want as a reference. If you're willing, I'd recommend taking a photo of yourself making the expression at the intended angle. No one but you has to see the photo lmao

Uhhh. Multiply, overlay, add (glow) are your friends if you use CSP, play around with pens and layer effects until you get ones you like. I'm partial to the CSP textured pen for lineart and the watercolour pen for rendering

I think that's all i have ahjfjdks 😭 sorry, hope this helped a little bit!

[sootandfangdiary]

you mentioned being "blurry" and that made me realize that despite having many system followers and mutuals I don't really have any idea what it's like. what's talking to headmates like? is it just like "thinking" it to them like you would speak to a external person? what does it mean to be "blurry" and what does that feel like? I can only imagine it's impossible to explain if you haven't felt it for yourself but I'm still intrigued.

It is very hard to explain but I’ll try my best!

(PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ALL OUR EXPERIENCES AND OTHER SYSTEMS MAY SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!!)

1. Talking to headmates works differently depending on who’s talking. Most often it is ‘thinking’ back and forth in words (for example: I’ll ‘think’ something like “what should we listen to while doing the laundry” and someone will respond with something like “can we listen to some my chem.”) Sometimes though we communicate through images and emotions (to play off the earlier example if I were to ask the same question then the response might be something like a specific album cover picture of the band) or through actual spoken words (this one can work in multiple ways! If I say something outloud someone can respond outloud as well or through thought and visa versa.). I would say the most important distinction between normal thinking and headmates talking are A. Alters have different voices and they rarely match my voice when we’re speaking through thoughts and B. They don’t feel like your thoughts. Which is weird and this is the part where I’m probably gonna flub my explanations but. I’ve had intrusive thoughts before and those feel like they come from my own personal ‘bubble’ y’know? Headmates exist outside that bubble. Idk once again I’m not that good at explaining. In the end though, it is a lot like just talking to another person.

2. Blurry means our sense of identity is just that: blurry. We can’t pin down who we are at the moment because we might be nobody or multiple people. For us it mostly happens when we’re dissociated and kinda in the passing period between alters, but once again there’s also times where too many people are up front and that causes us to be blurry too. It’s not too pleasant and is often some level of distressing (especially before we knew we were a system) but we’ve gotten better at dealing with it!

I hope this did a good job of answering your questions and if you have anymore let us know! Once again, these are just our personal experiences so don’t take our words as the one and only system experience or anything like that.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Human Tornado (1976)

Dolemite is back and he’s… better than before? worse than before? Hard to say. One thing’s for sure, The Human Tornado is not a good movie but it sure is fun to watch. With great quotable lines, cartoon characters for villains, a self-deprecating sense of humour and plenty of technical flubs for you to poke fun at, it’s continuously enjoyable and always in new ways.

After Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is caught in bed with the racist sheriff’s wife, he is framed for her murder. On the run with his friends, they head to California to meet Queen Bee (Lady Reed), a succesful club/brother owner. The local mob boss, Joe Cavaletti (Herb Graham) isn’t too happy about his diminishing profits and has kidnapped two of her girls. Dolemite and his impossible charm & virility is just what she needs to find out where they’re held.

You might consider this a better film than “Dolemite” because the script is better organized than its predecessor's. Moore’s trademark rhyming standup is still here, but instead of the plot coming to a screeching halt in a parking lot so he can impress people who just happen to be there, we get a scene setting up his newfound success as a comedian before the plot kicks off. His patented expressions and speech mannerisms are peppered throughout as ways for him to express his disdain for others (you rat-soup eatin’ mother f#cker!) or his surprise (b*tch, are you for real?!) writing them down does not do them justice. His delivery is hilarious. Something must be said about the film being perfectly aware of what it is. On one occasion, Moore/Dolemite breaks the fourth wall and re-plays one of the film’s “better” stunts to prove to us that he really did do that jump. The racist Sheriff on his tail is so racist and so over-the-top he might as well be an R-rated Yosemite Sam. It’s hard not to laugh at him or at the scene where we learn why Dolemite is called The Human Tornado.

Everything that made Dolemite a bad, but enjoyable picture is here too. The fight choreography is awful. Kicks and punches obviously miss by a mile and scenes are clearly sped up to make them seem more dynamic. Anyone with eyes can tell Moore could never, ever defeat the enemies the way he does in this film - martial arts training or not. As for the writing, "amateurish" is a generous term. When Dolemite and his buddies get to California, the film wastes time by having them wander from one place to another, looking for Queen Bee. It’s almost as if the clubs they visit are only there because they helped pay for this shoddy production. It makes you wonder how much of what you see was made “bad” on purpose, which makes it delightful. There's a psychedelic sex scene during the second half whose setup is ludicrous. I’ve seen more realistic scenarios in XXX-rated films. You think it’s just a gag but the follow-up is trying to be artsy in such a weird way it kind of makes you want to see the whole thing again, just to determine how you should feel about it.

There’s A LOT of nudity throughout, which might make some viewers uncomfortable. I say if you can’t be good, be sleazy. It makes up for the lack of over-the-top and shoddily-created gore I usually like to see at this level of filmmaking. Some of the intentional gags get tiresome pretty quick, however. Dolemite doing fake screams while revving himself up for a brawl is smile-worthy - at best - the first time around. Whenever he does it again afterward, you start reaching for the tomatoes.

I must also speak to you of another scene, one of my favourites because it unintentionally sends the wrong message. Dolemite and his (mostly useless) buddies are hitchhicking to California. They realize no one in America will stop their car to pick up this many Black men at once. It’s a harsh truth. So what do they do? All of them but one hide in the bushes and when a car stops, they pull out a gun, hold the driver hostage and force their way in the car. Guys! THIS is the reason why people don’t stop their cars to pick up Black hitchhickers!

With stereotypes aplenty, too many bare breasts to count, action scenes that’ll have you howling, a ridiculous plot and genuine enthusiasm from people who really wanted to make the best, most entertaining film they could, The Human Tornado is a great movie to sit down and watch at with friends. It’s what Moore would’ve wanted and he probably wouldn't even mind that you're laughing at the film, rather than with it. (April 9, 2021)

[sylviegunpla]

Gunpla: Completed Collection of Minis: Part 5: The Rest: Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Evangelion, Amaim Warrior at the Borderline, Sakura Wars

The final set of minis! Only a few more to go! I feel like i just did the pokerap after writing up these blog entries. Anyway, the two images above are roughly contiguous in real life, just at slightly different scales (Heero Yuy on the left is right next to the Peach amiibo on the right)

MG Sandrock: Quatre Raberba Winner

Another figurine finished with nuln oil. Also i believe this was one of the last figures i painted before i started using the magnifying goggles. Still turned out pretty decent imo. And of course, we have a pilot figure!

And of course, we got some shots of him in the cockpit. Realizing you can see some hair and dust in these images, alas. Nothing i can do now to fix them (I mean, i'm not getting into photo editing just for that, i think it kind of tells the human story of the conditions these mechs sit in too: out for months collecting dust. These were even dusted off before i photographed them but i guess i wasn't as thorough as i could have been!) Anyway this kit is pretty neat, and will also someday maybe get its own post. More below the cut

HG WF-02 Shenlong Gundam: Chang Wufei

So this is a kit i do not own, but the figure was given to me by my friend's partner (who i believe i have now hung out with enough to also call a friend). They must have had this kit years ago. Anyway, i made the base stand myself again too! This figure was kinda interesting to paint. The dragon pattern on his tank top was actually part of the sculpt. That being said, it was really hard to match, and i wasn't yet using the magnifying goggles top assist. I did have aqueous gold paint however. And surprisingly, there was an ANCIENT color guide for this kit! I did the best i could to translate it and it seems like it was still using paints that Mr. Hobby still sells today. Or at least, close approximants. Small flub: the eyes are kinda asymmetrical. Also, the way i finished him was i gave him a semi-gloss coat, then masked over (broadly) the gold part of the shirt, and then finished him with a flat coat. That way the flat coat doesn't ruin the sheen of the gold paint. This was definitely a fun one to paint. A much larger scale than i was used to!

HG OVA EW-2 1/100 Wing Gundam 0 Custom: Heero Yuy

I DO own this kit (but pictures will NOT be forthcoming. Maybe one day. it's currently in "storage"). This was one of the first larger figures i painted. There was no color guide, so i had to take my best shot at mixing colors. so I mixed the paints using some of what was leftover from the PGU mini painting and from the Spiricle Striker Mugen figurine painting (i need to write a blog post about that, as it's vaguely relevant to these mini painting posts!) I hit this boy with some super clear gloss, panel lined, then flatcoated. Badda bing bada boom. I do not know what scale this guy is at, i could not find anywhere it's stated. I'd guess maybe 1/24?

HG Spiricle Striker Mugen (Claris Type): Clarissa "Claris" Snowflake

This whole kit deserves its own post, and tbh i didn't think i was gonna include it here, but then i mentioned it above and now here we are. She was painted in Fall 2023 but she turned out better than most of the minis. The eyes are Water Slide Decals though (which means i successfully applied water slides over a painted surface!) I followed the color guide pretty well but i wasn't really sure how to paint some of the details. I struggled with "detail loss" through the paint here, but i think i managed to make it appear as good as i am gonna make it in the end. I also primed her in White, which made the detail loss worse (because it seems the white primer pools as it dries moreso than gray primer). BTW, this is 1/24 scale

Moving on to planned figures for this post:

HGLM 003 Evangelion 00: Rei Ayanami & Gendou Ikari

These have been finalized since the last time i posted them, mostly by applying Flat Coats. Rei has been panel lined though, which her suit kinda needs. Gendou's outfit is already dark and doesn't really warrant panel lining imo. I suspect the scale here is 1/24 but i cannot confirm. Also, there was no color guide so once again i winged it. I think it turned out pretty okay for winging the palette! Also, i like and know things about Evangelion and i know Gendou needs to stay far away from Rei. i'm kind of appalled they put him in the same box as her!

Full Mechanics 1/48 MAILeS KENBU: Amou Shiiba

So i will admit, i know nothing about this series. "AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline" is what it's called apparently? BUt that's a weird localized title and its japanese name is just "Warrior Machines at the Borderline" when translated literally?) But this is the protagonist. This is another kit that i don't own, but my friend asked me to paint the minis for this kit. This particular standee is actually two peices. I painted them separately, then glued them together with tamiya extra thin, and then painted over the seams as best i could. TBF the camera angles hide the seams pretty well here, but i betcha can't tell! Anyway, since i don't actually own the model, i actually got to keep this standee! I think not panel lining this makes it look a lot cleaner. Also, i'm surprised the eyes came out as well as they did. He looks like he's looking off to the side a bit.

I also painted the cockpit pilot figure! So i got some photos when i brought the boy over to my friend's. Honestly this kit has some really cool poses and details and i kinda want one myself. I love that the stock of the gun fits into an open space on the arm, sometimes it's really hard to pose a gundam wielding a gun for this reason. I wound up digging through my friend's box of mixed plamo to find all the missing pieces for it, too, just so i could disassemble it to put Amou in. yes, the disassembly was NECESSARY to put him in. Believe me i tried otherwise lol. I'm glad i put in that work though! Now my friend's model kit has a little some extra special inside it and that makes me happy. This conclude my tour of all the minis i have painted over the 3/4 of a year. Wow! It's been a lot! I'm sure i'll come across more minis in the future (hell, i still need to paint that one Mystery Pilot Figure That I Think Is Kira Yamato!). When i do, i will probably cover them in future mega galleries grouped by "however many i can fit into a post at once". But i don't plan on buying any more plamo anytime soon, so at this point i'm at the mercy of people who want to give me more minis to paint. I'm sure I could scrounge up some from my friend, but finding them and/or extracting them would absolutely be more trouble than my friend is willing to put into displaying her models (currently). if you've taken the time to read through all my posts, thank you so much! This has been one of my biggest hyperfixations recently and i'm really happy to be able to put it all into a gallery and show others. I am here, and human, and shout into the void to prove i am alive.

[cherryblossomshadow]

EnvelopeGate (Oscars 207)

[hsforlife]

Controversial Wins

The most common source of controversy over Oscar winners is that viewers believe there were better contenders that year. While the Academy Awards can be criticized as predictable by viewers, some award winners pulled upsets that put the voting process by the Academy into doubt. Awards season campaigning has been prevalent in recent decades, leading the cynical to believe that the Oscars are given out as a result of producers shaking hands with voters behind the scenes rather than objective quality.

1986: 'Out of Africa' wins Best Picture

With a director with the pedigree of Sydney Pollack and stars like Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, "Out of Africa" seemingly had all the right ingredients for an Oscar-worthy picture. But upon release, the romantic drama film ended up with more of a lukewarm reception due to a long running time and for Redford's performance. Even today, critics are baffled by how "Out of Africa" took the top spot that night, especially over Steven Spielberg's adaptation of "The Color Purple."

2017: 'Moonlight' wins Best Picture after presenter flub

The win for Barry Jenkins' coming-of-age drama "Moonlight" wasn't particularly controversial, but rather how the win during the televised ceremony came to be. Initially, presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty accidentally announced the winner of Best Picture to be the musical film "La La Land." However, that was the result of a mixup by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, who was in charge of tallying up the votes and handing envelopes to presenters. "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz announced the real result to the confused audience. The musical film had been previously predicted to be the winner but was criticized for its whitewashing of American jazz.

1999: 'Shakespeare in Love' wins Best Picture over 'Saving Private Ryan'

Steven Spielberg's war drama "Saving Private Ryan" is considered by critics and viewers to be not only one of the best war films of all time but one of the greatest films period. Imagine their surprise when period romantic-comedy-drama "Shakespeare in Love" pulled an upset win for the most prestigious film prize. The win is attributed to producer Harvey Weinstein's aggressive campaign for the film, which has set the tone for Oscar campaigning since then. But the win didn't age well due to the accusations of rape and sexual harassment toward Weinstein that garnered much attention in 2017.

2003: Roman Polanski wins Best Director for 'The Pianist'

When Roman Polanski won the Academy Award for Best Director with "The Pianist," he did not walk up on stage to accept the trophy; in fact, Polanski was not in the United States at all, as stepping foot in the U.S. would have resulted in his arrest. Even after his guilty plea for statutory rape, Polanski's peers in the filmmaking community supported him at the time. In the wake of Time's Up and Me Too, however, Polanski's work and accolades have been reexamined. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled Polanski from its membership in 2018.

At the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith took home the prize for Best Actor for his performance in "King Richard" as the titular Richard Williams, the father and longtime coach of tennis superstars Venus and Serena. Smith's acting had earned him acclaim in the months leading up to the awards, but during the ceremony, before the Best Actor winner was announced, Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock who'd made a joke at the expense of Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The show went on, and Smith apologized during his acceptance speech, but the fallout came in the weeks after. Smith ultimately resigned from the Academy and was banned from attending the Oscars for the next decade.

While Smith's win was immediately met with backlash, other Oscar wins may not have been controversial at the time but become questionable in retrospect. Sometimes the wrongdoings of individuals involved in decorated films are later unearthed or are resurfaced after such a win.

[seokjinsonlyone]

so i got on tiktok for more than five minutes for the first time in like a month the other day and i saw they was doing this trend where it’s sorta like fmk but like husband, boyfriend, or sneaky link and i just wanted to add my two cents

namjoon:

this is your boyfriend

i know you may be thinking ???? boyfriend???? not husband??????????

but yes boyfriend listen we all know this man is brilliant; big brained and big bodied; cognitive skills off the charts; he knows a thing or two about a thing or two

however, he just ain’t there yet 😭 he don’t even got his license y’all gon flub on the contraceptives once or twice and next thing you know you strapping your kid into the basket of his bike so he can drop them off to school 😩

and his cooking……….. like watching this man with a knife gives me anxiety

he has a bit of growth to do but that’s why you date before getting married 🥳🥳🥳

y’all would go on the beeeest dates i’m talking museums, picnics, hikes, and yes bike rides

and like he’s just so sweet and thoughtful and he tries his very best to be gentle despite his destructive nature so it would just be so cute and fun for him to be your boyfriend

seokjin:

it goes without saying that this is your husband

to be honest ion even really need to elaborate on this one like…

he cooks; he cleans; he’s thoughtful, supportive, silly, will do anything to make you happy…

everything you could ever want and need in a man is manifested in kim seokjin

so just lemme tell you what this ^^ gif is this is like three months after you’ve given birth to your second child

he got home from work way later than expected he was tired exhausted really but still helped you with your new baby taking turns tending to them on and off all night

you had just gotten into a really good sleep when your alarm went off signaling it was time to get child number 1 up and ready for school

you groaned sitting up but before you could even get out of bed he was wiping the sleep from his eyes and telling you he was going to take care of it

“but you got off late last night and you helped me too”

he reassured you that it was fine and that he had it he knew how hard you worked all day everyday and you never got the opportunity to clock out

it was his day off anyway so he kissed your forehead and told you to get back to sleep

which was a bit easier said than done bc those two were like bulls in a china cabinet there was whining and scuttling all around a few disagreements on which outfit your child should wear and what they should eat for breakfast

but soon enough you looked out the window and saw jin adjusting his shorts and a few seconds later your child bobbling out after him backpack a little too big for their body before they walked hand in hand to the car

that’s… what that is… that’s your husband

and when i say your i mean mine that’s my husband

you can keep scrolling 😗✌️

yoongi:

husband <33333

like jin this man is the total package

he cooks, cleans, is loving and supportive, will take care of you emotionally, and on top of that he’s handy! extensive knowledge about interior design!

like if you want some pictures hanged or a shelf built or something this is the man for you

your lil bob the builder <3

like idk what it is with this man but something about him is just so soft and makes me want to love and be loved by him

like if this is not your husband this is your long term boyfriend you are dating him for no less than five years and when you part way you ain’t gon know how to live without him

so don’t leave

bring the documents he already said so

hoseok:

boyfriend 100%

hobi just seems so partnerable

i look at him and i see movie nights and pillow talk

i see cuddles and late night facetime calls

your own personal hope on the streets when he wants to loosen up or practice or relieve stress😩

you go to a restaurant and each pick a dish and share it with each other like he’s very much giving one milkshake 2 straws

or you two cook together side by side he’s chopping vegetables and cleaning while you’re sautéing and stir frying and what not

you go shopping with him and critique his outfits when he tries them on and vice versa

i don’t even know man i just see hobi and i think he’s flawless i want to give him the world

and i think about that time when he said one of his personal goals was to become special to someone 😭😭😭

so like girl get your boyfriend and just give him all the love he’s searching for all the love he deserves

jimin:

….sneaky link

look at him smh caught in 4k sending a “you up?” text at the tender hour of 3am

idk what to tell ya man he just ain’t bout it rn

he ain’t looking for nothing but fun

atm it’s just him and his bros

every once in a while he’ll go searching for a connection for a night or two

there may be a few repeat offenders a string of flings if you will but never anything serious

i can see it in his eyes everyone can really bc he flirts with every living and nonliving thing in sight

taehyung:

husband

now you may be thinking… is he not on par with namjoon when it comes to practical skills???

and like yes perhaps but he definitely is not as much as a liability

like i think i can trust him to open a packet of barbecue sauce without risk of ruining my outfit and like i know i wouldn’t fear for my life if he was slicing a hard boiled egg

which is not to say that i wouldn’t mind getting stabbed by joon there are certainly worse ways to go but that’s not what we’re talking about

what we’re talking about is tae and how i just know with him you’d be safe physically mentally and emotionally 🥺🥺🥺

and idk if it’s bc i done seen him in slacks one too many times but something about him just screams commitment

like he’s giving 401k he’s giving life insurance he’s giving condo in florida where you spend the winter bc your bones get too cold where you normally live

but you know what he’s also giving passion like you will 100% spend the rest of your life in love with this man

like in that picture it’s giving you’ve been married for three years it’s wednesday and he’s off so he asked you on a date

it’s taking you longer than anticipated to get ready you wanted to look pretty for him bc truthfully you don’t get to go on dates often as much as he’d like to

your hair and makeup is finally done so you find him and tell him you’re almost done and you’ll be out as soon as you slip on your outfit

he lazily turns his head to you and tells you to take your time there’s no rush and he’s just looking at you with absolute hearts in his eyes

you’re not even fully ready and there’s hearts in his eyes 😭 it makes your heart race and you can’t keep the smile off your face as you get ready for your date, for the rest of your life together with him

jungkook:

i know y’all gon hate to hear this one but… sneaky link

^^ that may be your boyfriend but you ain’t his girlfriend 😭

that is the face of someone you called and told that you wanted to stop messing around bc you was getting attached but he convinced you that it didn’t have to be all that and acted cute until you changed your mind

listen this man is in his prime he ain’t tryna settle down

the moment you try to commit is the moment he jumps out the window

and this is not to say that he’s not a good boy but like i’ve known jungkooks i’ve been friends with jungkooks and the second you try to take things farther than what they want that’s when they stomp all over your heart

however i do firmly believe that jungkook ain’t like them others he’s more than a good boy he’s the best boy

and if he like idk heard bells when you walked by or was pulled by the red string of fate or like felt the yearning or whatever it is that he done conjured up in his head he’d be everything and more 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰