#I didn’t think I’d put so much effort into this o_o

[yellownote0-0]

caaannn wee get art of 15 pretty please :o)

shes so cool idk

Thank you for requesting!

I think Fifteen is really interesting. I wanna see her become more fleshed out!

Art requests won’t be this quality all the time, so take this as a lil treat :]

[vs-redemption]

I love Soft Saturday/Sunday! :3 I remember you posted a selfship of yourself and I wanted to try one for me lol so, here goes! It was a bit hard/weird because I don't think any of these wonderful guys would be with me ^^U It was still fun to do though!

1.) Belle x Todoroki, Shouto (Bellouto? Shoutelle? Belloroki?)

- I'd probably be very distant with Todoroki at first because of his cold demeanor. It would have to be Midoriya who would get us together.

- We would end up sitting together at the same lunch table, chatting with our group of friends. Eventually our love for noodles would bring us closer. I would buy him some different types of cold soba or even show him unique recipes to try out. If I ever see anything soba related, I'd text him and say "Look! I thought of you! It's your fave ^^"

- Once he opens up about his past, I'd probably get teary eyed and give him a big hug. I'd thank him for trusting me enough with his childhood memories and I'd also eventually open up to him about my own hardships.

- I would give him all my love without smothering him. I'd just want to show him the love and care he deserves especially since he didn't have much of it growing up.

- I think it's the little things that might make Todoroki fall for me. Things like bringing him tea when he's studying late, if he fell asleep before setting up his alarm, I'd put one on his phone and on my own just to make sure he'd wake up on time, praising/acknowledging all of his big and small accomplishments, getting his favorite food when he's sad/had a rough day, sending him cute text messages like "Good morning, handsome!" or even doing something like this:

Me and Todoroki: *studying intensely*

Me: *gasps loudly* OMG

Todoroki: What? O_O

Me: I love you. (´,,•ω•,,)♡

🙈

2.) Belle x Miya, Atsumu (Bellumu? Biya? Atsubelle?)

- I'd have to have known him for a long time before we'd date. Kind of like childhood friends to lovers? If I met him at an older age, I might think he was a jerk and wouldn't want to go out with him.

- I wouldn't be afraid to call him out. Like when Atsumu is having his "if you can't hit my toss then you shouldn't be on the team" moment, I'd probably punch his arm and scold him.

- I'd have to turn it around and tell him "what if someone told you that?" or "treat others the way you want to be treated". I think he'd like that I don't treat him any different or baby him.

- Since we're childhood friends, we're already comfortable with each other. We've also seen, heard, and been through a lot together. We'd know silly small things about each other like "Atsumu always listens to this song right before a game" or "His right eye always twitches 3 times before he sneezes"

- He's seen me go through some relationships and has seen how I've acted/treated the person I'm dating. Atsumu would see that I put in a lot of effort and the stuff I'd do for my previous boyfriends. I think that would eventually make him want to ask me out. It'd be something that he might want to experience, too. Like how it would feel to hold my hand or share a loving embrace.

- When we'd get angry at each other, it could get a bit loud, but we would resolve things quickly.

- Our relationship would also be fun and full of silliness and lovely surprises. He'd do something like honk the horn right when I'm passing in front of his car to get to the passenger side. Atsumu would also surprise me with a gift that I've been eyeing or even a spontaneous trip to somewhere!

3.) Belle x Kageyama, Tobio (Bellayama? Tobelle? Kagelle?)

- We met at a mutual friend's party in college. We'd probably talk about how we were basically dragged there.

-I love to party/hang out, but when I have something to do/ a goal, I strive hard to accomplish it. (ugh, getting some PTSD from nursing school lol)

-We would end up talking about our ambitions and what we hope to end up doing in our lives. After becoming friends for a while, we'd get on the topic of relationships. We'd both want someone who is patient and understands that when we're busy, we're not ignoring them. We're studying/practicing.

-I think that is what convinces both of us to start a relationship.

-We're both busy and can get stressed out easily, but we'd know what to do to ease the stress a little. Like giving Kageyama different flavored milk cartons.

-It would look like we don't spend much time together/don't really act like a couple, but when we have free time, we'd be spending it with each other.

-We'd get our nails done together. （〃・ω・〃）

-We'd both have to think about how great it would be when we get settled with our careers and that we'd have more time to spend together. Planning future adventures/vacations is our motivation.

-Even though I'd miss Kageyama dearly, I totally understand how it feels like when you have other obligations. I'd never want to get in the way of his goal so I would do my best to support him and show my love in any way that I can and that would be something he might love about me.

First off, all three of these amazing boys would love you to pieces! You are so thoughtful and kind and they'd be foolish not to fall for you! I accept no arguments about this. 😊 This got way out of hand so... gonna put my rambling below a cut.

Send me some soft headcanons

Let's talk Todoroki! Gonna be honest... I don't know if I trust Midoriya to play cupid 😂 Of course, meeting Todoroki through him makes sense, but you know who zeros in on how cute you two look together immediately? Yes, it's Mina! Thankfully she's not obnoxious about it, but she does have your back. She expertly manipulates every situation to give you and Todoroki a chance to interact. Somehow, thanks to her, he always ends up sitting/standing right next to you in class, at lunch, in training, on the bus, on the sofa in the common room... EVERYWHERE.

Poor boy would be so confused at first by your attention. Like, of course he doesn't mind being your friend, but nobody else texts or talks to him about his interests outside of hero stuff. He didn't even know anyone noticed he liked soba that much. And all the little things you do for him like bringing him tea or setting an alarm, he's not used to it. He doesn't hate it though. Actually, he kind of likes it. And I just want you to prepare yourself for the day when he takes the initiative and your phones lights up with a message from him for the first time with a picture of some random thing that made him think of you. *my heart would explode*

It's all downhill after that because he really likes the way you respond when he reciprocates your kindness. The flustered look on your face when he brings you some of his sister's homemade soba noodles for lunch, the cute emojis you use in your texts when he messages you first in the morning, and the shy smile you give him when he finds the courage to compliment you. He's never wanted to take care of someone the way he wants to take care of you before.

ATSUMU. You're totally right. I'm the same as you in that I would not trust this little shit for a while after meeting him. Childhood friends to lovers is nice because you there's no way you wouldn't know the real Atsumu. The idea of you knowing little personal things about each other is so cute too. Atsumu takes advantage of this and always gives the best gifts for birthdays and holidays. And he's always so excited to watch you open what he got because he KNOWS you'll love it because he knows YOU.

I'd like to say that he'd be into the fact that you treat him normally like anyone else, but something tells me he would actually expect special treatment since you two are close friends. It would surprise him a little every time you reprimand him for being rude to his teammates or fighting with his brother. He respects you more than anyone else in his life though, so he always straightens up his act just as soon as you give him that look. He hates when you're angry or annoyed at him, so of course he'll be on his best behavior for you. Honestly, he'd do anything to get positive attention from you. (He's already such a simp for you and he doesn't even realize)

He thinks he's just being a protective friend when he criticizes all your previous boyfriends. None of them are even that terrible but in his eyes, nobody treats you the way you should be treated and nobody would ever be good enough. He puts you on a pedestal to be honest. And yes, once you're together it would be full of teasing and giggles and he would absolutely take it too far and overdo it sometimes and get himself into trouble, but it's okay because you know he never means to upset you. He's just so excited and in love with you.

Kageyama's turn. Oh my god! This boy would be so awkward at a college party. He'd probably just be all tall and weird standing in the corner like 😳 what's happening? Thank goodness for you, coming over to talk to him ... but wait... you're so cute... WHY are you talking to him? Now he's flustered for a different reason and he tries his best to have a normal casual conversation with you but he stumbles over his words a bit but bless your heart, you pretend not to notice and continue smiling at him. He thinks you are SO PRETTY!! omg😭

A huge weight lifts off his chest when you start talking about your goals. He knows about goals. That's easy. The look on his face is kind of scary at first because it looks like he's scowling, but he is just listening very intently to you and absorbing every single word. He almost seems like a different person when you let him talk to you about volleyball. His whole face lights up and he's talking very enthusiastically with his hands. He apologizes for ranting at you afterwards, but is also amazed that you'd stayed and let him talk so long.

Being around you IS a huge stress relief. At first he's worried about not spending enough time with you or making you think he's not interested because of his awkward mannerisms. But you're always super understanding and patient with him. Plus, you're just as busy working towards your own dreams. He supports you as much as he can just as you do for him and falling into a relationship is just really easy and natural for the two of you.

Kageyama doesn't really know how to do big extravagant dates, so just being able to take walks with you, or do activities like doing your nails together is enough to make him happy. He WANTS to do more for you though. He would never admit to this, but he actually has a small list of things he plans to do once you both have more time. He pays attention to what you might even consider silly throwaway comments like "One day we should...." or "Sometime I'd like to...." He writes it all down because even if they aren't career goals, those are still things you want which makes them very important to him.

[blackbatpurplecat]

My Thoughts on Batman: Hush (the animated movie)

The story arc Batman: Hush from 2002 was one of the first Batman comics I have ever read and it quickly became one of my all time favorites. I would have given everything to get an animated movie based on it!

Then the adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke came out and changed everything.

I had to take a closer look at recent DC animated movies and realized their glorious days had been over for a long time. I stopped wishing for an animated movie. One came out anyway. So was I wrong? Was this another loveless adaptation with stiff animation and unnecessary changes?

Right at the start, we see a closeup of Gordon’s hand and he’s wearing his wedding ring on his middle finger so... yup, I’m sure DC invested a lot of money in the film’s production...

I’m gonna assume we all know the comic’s story. We know about BatCat giving their love a try, that Bruce reveals his identity to Selina, that Catwoman pushes Lois Lane off the Daily Planet to help Supes break free from Ivy’s control, how Bruce’s childhood friend Thomas Elliot is killed, how Clayface is mimicking Jason Todd which triggers Batman, that the new villain called Hush actually is Thomas Elliot who had teamed up with Riddler, that Riddler knows who Batman is, and that Batman breaks up with Catwoman because he’s still having trust issues.

Let’s just say the arc is PACKED with story and characters so it shouldn’t be hard to make a movie out of it, right? Sure, I was expecting some changes because of its packed-ness. Not every single subplot and every single character would make the cut, I get it. However, I still wasn’t prepared for what DC turned the story into.

So what were some of those changes and what did I think of them:

- replace Killer Croc with Bane. alright, more people know Bane, it’s fine - replace Huntress with Batgirl. ugggggh, okayyy... more people know Batgirl. I feel bad that this choice removed Oracle’s existence but okay. she had one scene, you already had the character design from that godawful Killing Joke movie and not enough budget to make Huntress, I can see past this - cut Leslie Thompkins. hmmm yessss okay, she wasn’t that essential to the story, alright, I can live with it - cut the entire involvement of the League of Assassins. I’m not the biggest fan of Ra’s al Ghul and co. so I didn’t mind that they reduced it to one cameo of Lady Shiva. HOWEVER she is the world’s best fighter! WHY NOT SHOW HER FIGHTING?! she could have been so much better but they chose to waste her for exposition purposes - make Amanda Waller skinny. yes, they once again turned the baddest bitch into a skinny woman because we can’t have fat people in a Batman movie, no one wants to fuck a fat Waller or jerk it over a fat Waller -__- just get over yourselves, DC you assholes! - Robin was cut entirely. wow. just wow. why do DC hate Robin so much? I don’t get it! - the shit stain rape result popped up in one scene for absolutely no purpose except for poorly establishing a fucked up “continuity” between all recent DC animated movies. something NO ONE in the fucking world wants or needs. just kill that little shit, he serves no purpose, he was annoying as fuck, he wasn’t even created when the original story came out, fuck him, delete him, stop shoe horning him into every Batman-related thing, he’s useless - cut the entire Jason Todd part. again, why the Robin hate?! it was one of the most emotional parts of the story, why cut it?! - cut the BatCat scenes in the cave, including Alfred telling Selina that he thinks the world of her. no words except for “what a disappointment” - change the entire ending and make it worse. S I G H

So Thomas Elliot was just a red herring for everyone who’s read the comics. Instead of Hush having a personal connection to Bruce and having more complex reasons to kill him, we get Riddler who wants to kill him just because he can. Cool. But seriously, who thought that this would make a satisfying ending?!

Kidnap Catwoman, make her the damsel in distress, have Batman come save her, and kill the bad guy - sounds like a quality script to me...

But apart from the poorly written ending, I have a major problem with what the movie focuses on: the Batman x Catwoman romance.

A huge reason why I love the comic is the BatCat relationship. It’s the first time, Batman kisses Catwoman back, it’s Bruce willingly revealing his secret to Selina to include her in his ENTIRE life and trust her with his life. We see them work together really well, we see how Selina loves Bruce but also doesn’t give up her independence. She’s willing to be by his side but won’t turn into his sidekick or change into a to him more “convenient” version of herself. And most importantly, she understands and appreciates and loves Bruce for his moral code.

DC being DC, they of course only half-ass their biggest romance.

While I did enjoy the added BatCat footage like Bruce and Selina in bed (I LoVeD that Selina sounded like they had just had the wildest most erotic experience ever while she was still wearing a shirt and he was wearing his boxers and both Selina and Bruce looked stiff as boards o_O ), having breakfast together, sharing kisses, taking down thugs together, and just the entire pacing indicated that their relationship grew over a longer time period in comparison to the comic, the movie fucked up essential points which I won’t forgive.

Catwoman was portrayed as a murderous, reckless villain. There’s no way around it. It was HER who threw Lois off a building and Bats chided her for it (IN THE COMICS IT WAS HIS IDEA), he has to hold her back from scratching up a bad guy’s face, she cuts the line holding Riddler so he falls to his death (CATWOMAN ACTIVELY KILLS HERE), and in the end, she angrily accuses Bruce of being absolutely insane because he has a moral code to keep himself from becoming what he’s fighting against.

What the flying fuck?!

That ending pissed me off SO MUCH! In the comic’s story arc, Batman breaks it off due to trust issues and it did seem a bit rushed and irrational just to re-establish the comics’ status quo of “Batman has to be single” but it’s a SO MUCH BETTER REASON than what the movie gives us! Catwoman has no problem with killing (one of the reasons I hate Nolan’s interpretation of her) and doesn’t understand Bruce AT ALL, she doesn’t get him as a person, she doesn’t understand that he wants to SAVE and PROTECT. He sums it up quite well, if there’s a chance to save someone, he has to at least try. That’s the hopeful Bruce we rarely see because DC fanboys are all about grim gritty edgy brutal.

And then they part on “maybe we’ll see things the same someday” a.k.a. Catwoman hopes that Batman will someday have NO problem with killing. Fuck. You.

So in this movie, Selina was a reckless murderess, a damsel in distress, and of course willing to change herself for a man and not for herself. Big round of applause for shitting on Catwoman.

Alright, done with my rant on story-related shit. What else was there?

Yes, the additional BatCat scenes were nice as well as the interaction between Catwoman and Nightwing. Just Nightwing in general was awesome. A true BatCat shipper.

The dialogues were bad. Best example is the post-sex one.

I can’t say much about the music, it was so bland that I have already forgotten it.

The animation ranged from nice to fucking bad. They had clearly put more effort into the fighting scenes when the movements were fluid and smooth - and then you get back to stiff, dead characters and nothing moves on them except their mouths. I couldn’t help but compare the shots to the comic’s pages: Superman and Poison Ivy, Joker on the trashcan, the big BatCat kiss - they all looked fucking ICONIC in the books but so boring and bland in the movie, with a color palette that covered mostly black and gray. There was absolutely nothing memorable about the adaptation’s look and style.

(also: yes, we totally needed ivy kissing catwoman so all the fanboys have jerk material again and harley quinn’s costume reveals her shoulders now? what a mUcH nEeDeEd change to the costume, yes, well done)

Also the pacing was weird, there were SO many awkward pauses in-between dialogues. I cringed way too often watching this.

Which brings me to the voice-acting. Did DC have so little faith in one of their most iconic stories that they didn’t even bother to get Conroy + Hamill? I guess so. Once Upon a Time star Jennifer Morrison did a great job at being Catwoman, her voice was a really good choice! Also Sean Maher as Nightwing was a riot. Jason Spisak was a surprisingly good Joker as well as Hynden Walch as Harley Quinn - but how do you cast Tara Strong and NOT give her Harley?!

The biggest dud however was Jason O’Mara again. He has no range at all, he keeps his voice as monotonous as possible ALL THE FRICKING TIME. There’s no Bruce Wayne voice, no Batman voice, he just grumbles everything without any emotions behind it.

Well, I guess that was it. I could go into more detail about every single thing they changed but I think this review is long enough as it is already. ;)

Would I recommend the animated adaptation of Batman: Hush? Maybe. To me, it was an expected letdown because DC’s animated movies are almost on the same very low level of the live-action movies nowadays, so if you’d ask me “should I watch it?”, I’d say “if you like BatCat, yes BUT read the comic first and don’t expect too much from the movie.”

[firebirdsdaughter]

Hey…

… Hey, wireless?

F YOU.

Okay. Thank god for common sense. I accidentally lost my post bc my wireless conked out.

HOWEVER!

I was wise, and copied the contents. so we have lost nothing but the tags. Which weren’t that interesting any way.

So here we go!

In no order: (also, I apologise for any typos my fingers decided they wanted to type a mile a minute… DX)

Aw, Naohisa (still thinking I’m spelling his name wrong) is giving them science lessons…

That Melto loves and Asuna doesn’t get… XD It’s okay Asuna, I’m not sure I understand, either.

Melto’s so starry-eyed, gods love him. XD

ASUNA.

Aw, Tyramigo. It’s okay, Melto, he doesn’t mean it meanly. ^^

They’re really cute though. XD

I guess Kou got the idea to see the world in his head from watching tv…

But I feel like there are better places to get into the river than jumping over this railing…

THAT LITTLE BLINK BEFORE HE SAYS ‘209’ XD

He’s clearly got no idea why that’s shocking. ^^

UI DON’T JUST ACCEPT THIS! DX

I guess she decided that she couldn’t really tell a 209 year old what to do…

This episode officially made me conclude that Ui and Touwa are the smols. They’re the youngest of the siblings. Kou is next, then Melto and Asuna are like… Twins who are slightly older than him. No one can agree which one of them is older. Banba is obviously the eldest and stuck managing them. Maybe until Gold gets here. Unless he’ll have to manage Gold, too.

Touwa’s fast, but Banba outweighs him… A for effort, though, sweetie. <3

To continue reading foreshadowing in everything… I wonder if Touwa commenting he doesn’t think Banba can lose in one v one means we’re eventually going to see just that happen.

Or, potentially, maybe Banba did once lose to someone in one v one?

Or both?

Touwa, honey, I just want you to know I very much support the concept of you and the others just tackling your brother. Like Merry and Pippin w/ Boromir. Just jump him. He could use the hugs.

Banba gazes majestically off into the distance as he prepares to be angsty.

Banba: ‘People will always betray you.’

Me: ‘Who did this to you? SHOW ME SO I CAN STAB THEM W/ THIS FORK TEN MILLION TIMES???’

I so want whoever hurt him like this to be an absolute dickwad and I want to see them get their asses kicked, esp by some truly pissed off little sibs.

By Banba, too, absolutely. But I would kill for an ep where the kids find out what this person did and go on a roaring rampage of protectiveness for their big brother. TT^TT DX

Touwa definitely doesn’t know what happened… DX I think he knew Banba was distrusting towards others and very much a loner, but he looks so sad and confused that I don’t think he knew it went this deep…

I wanna hug my little green gremlin son, too! DX I WANNA HUG ALL OF THEM!

Eh. I’m sure she’s fine.

Mook suit actors, the unsung heroes of any and all Sentai. XD

Hey, Green final slash! And Black again. ^^

XD Touwa. Banba’s just like ‘irritated growl.’ ^^

I’m… Pretty sure Ui just insulted this guy…?

Okay, here’s the thing. I don’t see nobody glowing green and losing life force. So… Did they just decide not to put that effect in, or… Or did the Minusaur actually come from someone else?

Like… Tall Cheese?

Ahem. Sorry. I mean Fita.

Though she’s not glowing either… Augh. I dunno what I’m saying.

Why would they chain up Ui, but not Kou?

Well done, Kou. ^^ Boy’s clever is a fight. XD

… What the heck was that boise and dramatic shot of her face? Where they just trying to remind us she’s an idol? I think it happened when the brothers find her, too… Does it mean something? Hmm… I dunno.

Kou’s reaction is hilarious, though.

Ui’s neck is gonna hurt later… DX

Okay, but later the brothers wake her up just fine? I guess the effects were only temporary… That’s probably why they chained them up, so that they couldn’t escape even when they woke up.

And… Kou’s sense ends here. Why didn’t you call the others, you dork? XD

Hmm… I miss Tankjoh, but I kinda like the new guy’s music…

I think he’s meant to be a drastically different personality. Where Tankjoh was surly and serious, this guy is bombastic and childish.

These are the most badass children I have ever seen.

Actually, that’s not true, but, they’re up there.

I’m wonder if it’s an effect of the brainwashing.

I love that girl in the lavender sweatshirt who just goes for the spinning kick. XD

Touwa probably bothered Banba until he agreed to bring her here. XD Which may have been easier bc Banba probably didn’t want to have to deal w/ her…

Melto thinking ‘oh, crap, she’s pretentious, the only way we’re gonna get her to talk is… *sigh* okay, someone has to take this bullet, it might as well be me…’

Honestly, though, I think the only other person who would possibly be willing to do that is Touwa, and probably not. Asuna wasn’t taking well to getting ordered around, and Banba would never kneel to anyone (… Well… Actually, no comment). My interpretation is that Melto realises she’s rather high and mighty, and that she’ll respond to an act of 'reverence’ like that, and he knows no one else in the room is gonna be willing to do it w/out complaining. So he just steps in to save them all the trouble. Mom friend to the rescue.

Honestly, it’s very sensible of him. ^^

I need to write more w/ Melto… DX

Banba is the back modelling. Bc boy can’t be in a single scene where he isn’t posing in some way at every opportunity.

XD I WAS RIGHT. ^^

Sorry Short Cheese, Banba doesn’t care if you think he has manners (I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to ditch her in the forest earlier XD). Touwa looks slightly miffed, but I think he’s less effected by it coming from you. The only one you’re offending is Asuna. And, actually, I’d advise against that.

Hey, isn’t Asuna also technically a noble?

Asuna’s like ‘First off, how dare you? Second, how dare you? And third… How dare you?’

XD This is even funnier bc of one of my casual ships. ^^

Melto hates this so much, but he’s willing to do it to find out what’s happening. XD Poor baby.

Oh, okay. So the mind control is just his thing.

This is so vague I can’t trust it… I mean, I guess most of it could be on the level, but… Hm. I gotta wonder if they were allowed to escape… And what exactly he’s got on them to have them still be doing this? (Bc next ep pretty much reveals they’re trying to trick the team) Is Short Cheese mind controlled? Is Tall Cheese? They repeat her ‘I would risk my own life to save her’ twice this ep, so I’m guessing Tall Cheese/little sister’s life is still in danger somehow…? I dunno. I guess we’ll learn this weekend.

So… What, you can just teleport? Why didn’t you do that when you were running before? SUSPICIOUS?

Also, I’m not sure I trust these flashbacks either, bc they’re from Short Cheese’s point of view, and next ep indicates she wasn’t being on the level w/ the team. I mean, she’s holding that orange rock in a bottle… But… Did it come from her planet? Is it something they stole from the Druidons? Or is there a part of this story that was left out (actually, that much is obvious bc Short Cheese didn’t mention the rock at all), where the Druidon gave it to her? Too many variables, even if I didn’t know they were up to something.

I should note that it’s pretty obvious they’re not actually evil and are being forced into doing this. They’re only here as guest stars and they’re being promoted as being idols (exhibit A, the abrupt song sequence coming up), so I HIGHLY doubt they’re gonna pull out the rug and make them outright evil.

And, anyway, the next ep preview practically confirms that. XD

Girl in the lavender sweatshirt is ready to kill something, I swear.

I also like the boy in the burgundy and white sweatshirt. XD He’s paying such good attention. ^^

Asuna’s offended, Melto’s somewhere else thinking about Wyzul, Banba doesn’t care and Touwa’s in. XD

Touwa clearly here thinking ‘dear god, I know I never want to go through that… O_o’

Honey, I am so sorry, but I make no promises. DX

That’s a very direct question, but no less then I’d expect from Banba. Though also… Kinda odd? What are you trying to establish here, sweetie? Why are you asking this?

This line is very important, clearly. They repeat it twice. Pretty sure it’s to make us understand that whatever is going on next ep, it’s bc the sisters are trying to protect each other. Like I said, I’m presuming that Tall Cheese is actually still in danger somehow.

WHAT WAS HE TRYING TO ESTABLISH W/ THAT QUESTION? And then he just accepts her answer? I’m confused…

I really can’t tell if he’s finding something odd w/ this, or if he’s accepting it bc he’s sympathising w/ her… DX Tatsuya is being unreadable too well! DX

And then she… Just starts singing? Like, I love this show, but… There could’ve been a better lead up to that.

Though I do love Naohisa reacting to the lights. XD

So… Was this just a random musical interlude, or… Was she doing something? I guess it was so that Kou could hear it and make the connection, but the execution could have gone a little better.

Banba takes that extra moment to pose. XD

Untransformed fight! ^^

I love how Banba just delays transforming to take off. :D

I needed to use a new emoticon.

Kou’s little ‘Ah!’ and pointing when the kids show up! XD

Girl in the lavender sweatshirt is going to cut something.

See, this is an effective use of the singing.

Uh… What. Melto, what does that… Whatever. Sentai logic.

Now he says ‘Okay, Tyra!’ instead of just ‘Tyra!’

SOMEONE TEACH HIM TOUWA AND BANBA’S NAMES!

Banba would be SO AWKWARD. XD

Oh, NOW you transform. XD Well, we wouldn’t have had that beautiful weapon toss if you had before. ^^

See? We bring up the line again, and there’s a weird sound cue? Does it mean anything?

Touwa sees the other smollest sib and must immediately go help her. XD

I do like the improve mobility of this mech. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adored the clusterfuck of orbs that was the Kyuranger mecha, but… It’s nice to seem something more dynamic once in a while?

Kudos the new suit actor, too. Whose name still escapes me… DX

Convenient train tracks. XD Sentai logic.

Actually, just Toku logic.

I love MirNeedle and his honk and his spinning attack. XD

Could you be more tsundere in one sentence???

Touwa’s just like ‘stages of realising your brother is a tsundere, stage 3: acceptance’

Kou doesn’t mind, though. XD

I do think Banba is starting to kind of like the trio, but boy is very damaged and the concept scares him, so he’s trying to fight it as much as possible, even though it’s just kind of a slight, vague fondness at this point.

Like, eventually, he’s going to end up adopting them, it’s going to happen, he’s going to have at least four younger sibs, actually five. But we’re not there quite yet.

I would love a ‘we’re not each other’s only family anymore’ sort of thing from the brothers. Or maybe one of the trio telling them that. XD

One day, a Mosasaurus will be in that empty spot, I bet.

Melto and Banba on the same wavelength. ^^

So… The Minusaur host is dead now?

This is cute, but I already know there’s more to this.

XD Oh, Banba. You’re starting to like them, I know you are. You’re not getting out of this. Though I do get why you really don’t want that to happen.

Though I do think his getting emotional next week is a partially due to it. ^^ Like, yes, there’s the fact that he’s mad at Kou for being too trusting, and that it might be dangerous for all of them/earth, but… I dunno. Probably overthinking.

But I’m gonna wax on about that shot in the preview later, don’t worry. XD

Or worry, if you don’t want to hear my rambling. In… Which case why would you even be reading this.

Melto on point again. XD I really need to write more w/ you… DX

Though on the other hand, I guess there’s a possibility that she could have read it in Naohisa’s papers at the house, or he said it to her. But she didn’t seem interested in the research, and they could just ask Naohisa if he mentioned it.

Hm… Maybe they’re waiting to update the ED until Gold gets here.

Why does Kou have the inflation Soul activated?

… That sounds like he knows way  more about economics than he actually does. XD

As far as the preview, I like the drama that seems to be happening. ^^ Maybe they’ll finally give us some slightly more concrete info on what happened to Banba. Or just… Anything about the brothers’ past? And what about that hooded person? The sisters are up to something, but they’re obviously being forced into it somehow, Wyzul is definitely the sneaky type. We’re also heading into May, which means DimeVolcano and possibly Gaisorg/Gaisoulg? Though he wasn’t in any of the scans so even if his figurine is releasing, we likely won’t be seeing him until the very end/month after.

Pleasedon’tbeGoldpleasedon’tbeGoldpleasedon’tbeGold.

There are so many better possibilities. DX I know who I want it to be (even though I don’t strictly know ‘who’ that is XD), but there are other possibilities too.

And while I would like to see next ep, I am also curious about the arc coming after it. I really wanna know if my crazed visual analysis madness was right about it only being the kids who are trapped in Wonderland and Banba is trying to get them out. I wanna know.

Hm… Does anyone know where the ‘newspaper summaries’ come from? Like, we got the ones from 5 to 7… Are we gonna get ones for 8 to 11 at some point?

I am an impatient baby. DX ^^;

That’s all folks! Virtual chocolate eclairs for anyone who read all that. But, actually, that’s not all! I still wanna ramble about something—namely, and silly personal theory/hc of mine.

Bc of this face:

Okay, so. During that conversation where Banba did the whole ‘Kindness can make one weak’ thing, I mentioned that I found Kou’s reaction interesting? Bc it might’ve been in his characterisation to get mad and insist that kindness does not make people weak—esp since he clearly still doesn’t think that. But instead, he just looked a little hurt, and looked sad? Like… It seemed to me he was more saddened that Banba thought that way at all than being offended by the statement. Not ‘how could you think that?!’ but more… Like ‘that’s so sad that you’ve been made to believe that?’ If that makes sense? That somehow, Kou caught on that Banba has this view bc he was hurt terribly in the past? And then there’s this face here. Boy looks like a sad puppy. It’s totally my skewed interpretation bc I had that thought before, but to me it looks like he’s looking at Banba like… Empathetically? Like he pities him? So now I’m falling even deeper into the idea that Kou doesn’t find Banba’s distrust of others insulting of offensive in anyway, but is just sad for the fact that someone could come to think that way. Realises that Banba is like this bc he got hurt and is scared, and is just heartbroken by that? That someone could get hurt so badly that they lose faith in nearly all goodness in the world? I might like it if there’s a moment where Kou proves he’s more thoughtful than he seems (like, he can be thoughtful, he has his moments—though he is still an impulsive, goofy doofus) by, like, outright asking Banba what happened to him. That’d def throw Banba for a loop, I think. This is, of course, just my overthinking and incoherent rambling. But I do like the idea. ^^ Last note: my god Tatsuya has pretty eyelashes! DX

[petestark]

dad!tony:

- is 9047% okay with peter making a ‘video diary’ of his trip to berlin (even holds the camera for him for a brief moment in the car when they go to drop him back off in queens)

- hugs peter (that was a god damn hug fight me) and then blatantly lies to peter about how it wasn’t one, saying “we’re not there yet” (no one opens the fucking door like that, tony)

- makes sure peter has a parachute even when tony DOESNT HAVE ONE AND HE’S THE ONE THAT FUCKING FLIES

- monitors peter all the way from india and sends a suit to save him approximately .3 seconds after he was in serious danger

- not so subtly hints at the fact that he listened to every voicemail and read every text peter sent and not only that, REMEMBERED THEM TOO (“like that lady that bought you the churro” “i thought happy said you quit band six weeks ago”)

- put a heater in peter’s suit (y’all know he actually had to SIT THERE and think of these things. He got into Full Mechanic Dad Mode and made this suit specially for peter)

- like five minutes after saving peter’s ass he talks to him about college

- names protocols in peter’s suit “training wheels” and “baby monitor”

- MAKES 576 WEBSHOOTER COMBINATIONS????

- calls peter “mister parker”

- compliments him multiple times on his work (“nice work, kid” “nice job, kid” “you did a good job” “nice work in DC”)

- “MY DAD NEVER REALLY GAVE ME A LOT OF SUPPORT SO IM JUST TRYING TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF SHAME™” THE WAY HE SAYS “MY DAD” LIKE TONY HIMSELF IS ALSO A DAD. LIKE TONY IS PETER’S DAD. I CANT BELIEVE TONY IS LOWKEY REFERRING TO HIMSELF AS ONE OF PETER’S GUARDIANS AT THIS POINT WOW !!!!!!!!!!

- calls the FBI as soon as peter hangs up on him and immediately gets into his own suit and flies from wherever-the-fuck he is to where peter is (and assuming tony immediately left after peter hung up, it took him four minutes and twenty-four seconds (YES, i did the math))

- “don’t cut me off when i’m complimenting you” 1. either he’s just putting on that Public Tony Stark™ persona or 2. he’s making it seem like his compliments are worth a lot so when he DOES compliment peter (which is, again, relatively a LOT), peter feels Extra Good about himself

- “i think you’ve done enOUGH” MAD DAD™ TONY IS HERE AND HE IS ANGRY BECAUSE IF ANYONE DIED HE KNEW PETER WOULD FEEL GUILTY AND IF PETER HIMSELF DIED TONY WOULD HAVE THAT ON HIS CONSCIENCE AND GOD KNOWS HE DOESNT NEED ANY MORE GUILT IN HIS HEART

- (also i’d just like to appreciate the dialogue in between vulture and one of his workers- “so that’s it? you’re just gonna run?” “feds were waiting for us- now we’re on iron man’s radar? yeah i’m running. you should too.” like i’m so proud of my son striking fear into criminals)

- “if you even cared you’d actually be here”

tony: *is here*

peter: (งO_O) ง

i’m totally here for Intimidating Dad Tony who has so much fear for this kid’s life that it comes out as anger and scares peter

- “did you know i was the only one who BELIEVED IN YOU everyone else said i was CRAZY” TONY BELIEVING IN PETER SO MUCH THAT HE TRUSTS HIM MORE THAN WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE SAYING LIKE DAMN THATS DANGEROUS I KNOW BUT HOLY SHIT TONY! BELIEVES! IN! THIS! KID! SO MUCH!!!!!!

- “THIS IS WHERE YOU ZIP IT AIGHT THE ADULT IS TALKING” that’s just. a dad thing in itself.

- “AND IF YOU DIE-“ -whispers because he can’t even talk in a normal voice when he says this*- “-i feel like that’s on me... i don’t need that on my conscience.” AGAIN, TONY PHYSICALLY CANNOT HANDLE THE AMOUNT OF GUILT PETER’S DEATH WOULD CAUSE HIM

- “i was just trying to be like you” “and i wanted you to be better” okay but imagine what’s going through both their heads??? peter is probably thinking ‘how in the bloody fuck can i be better than iron man’ and tony’s probably thinking ‘c’mon, kid, it’s not that hard’ because tony only sees himself through the mistakes he’s made and peter sees tony through his achievements

- literally grounds peter by taking away his suit- like if that isn’t the most dad thing he did this entire movie

- “IF YOU’RE NOTHING WITHOUT THE SUIT THEN YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE IT” PASSING ON SOME WORDS OF WISDOM™ TO HIS NEXT OF KIN- TRULY A FATHERLY THING TO DO

- “god i sound like my dad” TONY IS JUST SO AFRAID!!! FOR PETER’S LIFE!!!! TO END UP LIKE HIS FATHER!!!!!!! THE ALIENS!!!!!!!!! HIS EX-TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!! HE FEELS SO TINY AND THERE’S. TOO. MANY. THINGS. THAT. ARE. TOO. BIG. FOR. HIM. TO. HANDLE. LET. HIM. REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- peter: *is sad* i don’t have any other clothes

tony: *sees peter is sad* okay we’ll sort that out

tony: *gives him a souvenir shirt and hello kitty sweatpants to try and make him feel better which probably just ended up making peter feel humiliated but A++ for effort babe*

- HAS SUCH AN IMPACT ON PETER THAT PETER LITERALLY HAS A FREAK OUT AND THEN REMEMBERS TONY’S WORDS OF WISDOM™ AND THEN WOW PETER CAN SUDDENLY REMEMBER HE CAN LIFT A FUCKING BUILDING JFC

- gives peter that shoulder bump thing while smiling at him fondly idk that was just so cute

- puts his arm around peter’s shoulders, which he can just barely do because they’re literally the same height- rdj is 5’9 and tom is 5’8 (we all know tony wears high tops and high heels. he totally rocks them)

- asks for a little privacy with peter and then immediately apologizes for taking his suit

- “TOUGH LOVE MOMENT”

- sighs contentedly like he’s just so proud of peter that he has to breathe and take it all in. “my son did that. he fuckin Did That”

- mentions peter can be on the team and then when peter is all like “to the-to THE team?” he’s all like “ya lol anyway-“ like it’s no big deal. tony i know you’re fucking ecstatic inside to have someone on the team who loves and appreciates you as much as you love and appreciate them, don’t you try and cover that up

- MAKES PETER A NEW SUIT????? 1. IF IT WAS ALREADY MADE BEFORE TONY TOOK AWAY HIS OTHER SUIT, TONY DIDN'T THROW IT AWAY. HE FUCKIN KEPT IT. 2. IF IT WASN'T ALREADY MADE, TONY KEPT WORKING ON IT??? 

- smirks when peter isn’t looking because he’s a VERY proud dad

- gives peter a room???????

- PURSES HIS LIPS A LITTLE WHEN PETE SAYS “i’m good” AND U CAN TELL HE’S TRYING NOT TO SHOW IT BUT HE’S DISAPPOINTED (not in peter ofc but in his response because tony was just so excited to have peter live with him) and then his immediate “HOW ARE YOU GOOD WHAT DO YOU MEAN”

- is AN EXTRA FUCKING PROUD DAD™ when peter explains he’d like to stay on the ground and look out for the little guy for now. I SWEAR TONY LOOKED AT HIM SO SOFT AND THIS MIGHT JUST BE ME BUT I SWEAR TONY’S LIP TWITCHED A LITTLE BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING NOT TO SMILE

- FINALLY SMILED AT PETER WHEN HE WAS WALKING AWAY BECAUSE HE WAS SO PROUD

- anyways ya tony loves peter have a nice day

[kagetsukai]

Dragon Age Questions

I was tagged by @skyholdherbalist. Thanks boo! :)

01) favorite game of the series?

Favorite to play? DA2, hands down. It doesn’t require me to sit with a strategy guide or trying to figure out how to get somewhere *side-eyes DAI*. I have a soft spot for DAO because it’s what got me into the games to begin with.

02) how did you discover Dragon Age?

Back when I lived with my bestie, she found out about this game that was supposedly right up her alley. Watching her play, I fell in love too :D

03) how many times you’ve played the games?

No idea. I played DAO the most, but I finished it only a few times. DA2 comes close second. I only played DAI once because jeebus that game is huge O_O

04) favorite race to play as?

Human. Bring on escapism, bitches! 

05) favorite class?

Dual-wielding rogue. Which is a problem in DA2 because I love Isabela and it’s silly to bring two dual-wielding rogues in a party. So I generally opt for two-handed swords :D And have contests with Fenris about who’s sword is bigger. 

06) do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time.

I make most of my decisions about the same. Unless there is a trophy to get, then I’ll save, do the thing and go back. Yes, I’m THAT person :P

07) go-to adventuring group?

I don’t have a particular set of people I travel with, but I do make sure to have a healer with me at all times. Cuz my style of play is “run into the fray and hope for the best”.

08) which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

Garrett Hawke. Possibly. I’m a weirdo who doesn’t care about the vessel I play with. I’m more interested in how people react to said vessel. 

09) favorite romance?

Cullen, probably. That smirk kills me every time, goddamnit. Isabela is a close second. I don’t really have a favorite romance in DAO, though I usually end up with Alistair.

10) have you read any of the comics/books?

I read the first two novels? Ya know, about how Maric can’t keep it in his pants and has a thing for elven women? Yup, those two. 

11) if you read them, which was your favorite book?

Neither. Gaider is NOT a good novelist and I only read them to get more insight into the world. Stolen Throne more happen?

12) favorite DLCs?

I don’t have a favorite DLC. I’m sure I’d love Trespasser, but I haven’t played it yet. By the time I got a PS4, RDR2 came out and my bf has been hogging the system since.

13) things that annoy you?

The Chantry, mostly. Also, certain developers and their opinions. And a certain voice actor. Oh, retconning is ridiculous too. Should I go? I didn’t think so.

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Ferelden. From their cuisine to the climate, everything about Ferelden screams like home. Also, have you seen how much cheese they have everywhere? So into it. 

15) Templars or Mages?

Mages. Templars are pretty to look at, that’s about it.

16) if you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

Hmmm... have several characters I write about, but I’ve never really played them? Well, I have an Ellana Lavellan playthrough, that’s about it. And no, the characters aren’t in the same universe. 

17) what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

Once I found out about “Barkspawn” that was it for me.

18) have you installed any mods?

No. I am exclusively on consoles.

19) did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Taraji? Fuck no. She wanted to be a “pirate” just like her mom, but Rendon Howe made that impossible.

20) Hawke’s personality?

Purple. Always purple. I do have a red Hawke as a character, but I’ve been keeping her under wraps. She makes @skyholdherbalist cry >_>

21) did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

Nope. Too much effort. I really don’t care about aesthetics of the games :P 

22) if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

That’s a mean question to ask of ANY Hawke. Taraji would love to go back and bitch slap Duncan for not telling her ANYTHING. Ellana is relatively regret-free.

23) do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

Sorta? Not really. I prefer to take canon and enhance it instead of outright changing it.

24) are any of your character(s) based on someone?

Ellana was based on my bestie, but with a completely different personality.

25) who did you leave in the Fade?

In game? Stroud. In stories it’s a whole different ballgame :D

26) favorite mount?

Whatever horse is available. I really don’t care. I collect them, I don’t ride them :P

[templehill]

Finally attempting some coherent thoughts about the Christmas special

Damn but it was all so sadly predictable. I need to say first up that I think giving daisy any credit for a brave attempt to create a bi character is giving her 100% too much credit. Alfred has been portrayed as gay from the off ep 1 series 1 “I had no idea russians were so handsome” whilst ogling grand duke Alexander. There’s not been a hint, not a single one that he’s attracted to women in any way. Marrying him off is just a convenient way to tie up a plot that’s over & done with. ‘Yeah we did the gay thing, ticked the box, moving on’. I also find it particularly hard to swallow because in my job I work with older lesbian & gay people, people in their 60s/70s/80s who grew up at a time when being gay was illegal, you couldn’t be out & proud.Many many of them got married and they weren’t doing it because they were bi, they were doing it to fit in or to try & ‘cure’ themselves or because they were lonely or because they wanted a family & it was the only option. So much sadness that they went though :( it therefore sticks hugely in my throat to see daisy being given credit for creating a bi character when she’s literally put no effort into doing that at all. I mean she did at least put effort into creating a gay storyline. There was no attempt to show any sexual attraction to Wils at all, no developing of the relationship beyond that of good friends which they already were. The kiss was played for romance which is exactly why it jarred to me esp contrasted with his immediate expression afterwards. It was like frievds friends friends, woah sexiness, crap what have I done? this could be a very bad idea, lalala nothing to see here I’m fine. Just all wrong plus frankly if being prepared to get married is all it takes for daisy to get credit for creating a bi character then Drummond was bi cos he was getting married (ya know before being hideously murdered)

Secondly it was as many ppl have already pointed out way too rushed. I don’t want to see lord alfred grief stricken for ever, Christ knows he’s suffered enough but on the other hand, he & Drummond’s relationship deserved more than half an episode. He did love Drummond despite what the duchess was saying (srsly what the actual fuck?) and expecting us to swallow he’d be over it enough to propose (and change sexual inclination on the way) is insulting our collective intelligence. I mean even the telegraph (staid right wing middle class newspaper) commented it was only ok provided you didn’t think too hard. If even the telegraph is o_O you have a problem!

So actually what I’d like for series 3 is for Alfred to be written out. This is not because I’m a bitter drumfred shipper who can’t move on, it’s because I can’t see any decent storyline for him & wils. Think about it

Option 1 they are goofy sweet & happy with loads of kids - all very nice but we got vicbert doing that already and it’s quite dull. 2 couples doing that will be snoresville. Victoria’s ratings are dropping rapidly, they need good storylines otherwise one more series is all they’re going to get!

Option 2 one of them falls in love with someone else - highly unlikely as they are desperate for us to buy into lord alfred being happy and forgetting the gay thing but if they do that then it’s lord alfred is unhappy AGAIN srsly give the man a break

Option 3 alfred tries to honour Drummond’s memory by going into politics - yep sweet kind adorable human oil on troubled waters lord alfred as a convincing politician. Not going to work the way they’ve portrayed the character

Option 4 - they can’t have kids showing the heartbreak befalling women who are infertile to contrast with Victoria popping them out constantly . Lord alfred had 14 kids irl so yet again it’s huge historical inaccuracy plus if they do that, alfred is unhappy again as is wils and she doesn’t deserve it either

Bascally what creates good drama is tension & generally that needs people to be angry, sad, ambitious, lustful or unhappily married. I really can’t be doing with another series of lord alfred woobieing about!!!

There will never be another plot line for Alfred like drumfred & Jordan is far too good an actor to be wasted on standing around in the background with a few lines which is all he’s going to get.

So yeah, someone commission son of dyke & let lord alfred move onto pastures new

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Tokyo Treat Feb 18

Hello Cuties! Here we are with the February Tokyo Treat- but before I begin I thought I’d let you guys know that the Tokyo Treat family has recently opened up Tokyo Haul! An online shop full of items and goods found within these crates; as well as special items available in prize form, and items that haven’t appeared in the crates too; from toys to snacks to makeup

There are also several ways to earn points upon signing up and purchasing items, so if you see anything you wanna try I recommend you check there!

(As you can see, they returned to the booklet format starting with this one, but again we’ve lost our favorite Mascots DX)

Personally I can’t wait to cover the DIY item ♥ Pretty Cure is yet another series I grew up with it and I really really liked KiraKira Precure~

Okay, so first up will be the special Strawberry Shortcake Pepsi you see in that first pic. It is a special Japanese Pepsi that comes out around the winter season- as I’m sure you can tell from the package. It also has 43kcal O_O

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

With promises of tasting a real shortcake I was pretty enticed by this strange Pepsi. It’s essentially a white, stronger version of a Vanilla Pepsi, if you have ever seen or tried that before. It tastes pretty good, and I have to agree- when I picture or see a shortcake this is the taste vibe I get (•’╻’• ۶)۶

Although... I don’t essentially taste any strawberry. I taste a bit of coconut, and I can’t say it’s a drink I would want often. But it isn’t bad. I can see enjoying it during the season when it’s out.

(Sorry for the relative in the background~)

I thought I’d switch things up by starting with favorite items- and due to the romantic sweetness of the Holiday, we were limited to two. A bit of a bummer but I’m still happy regardless.

First up is this large (but don’t be fooled by the size) bag of Koikeya Sour Plum Chips by a popular brand I’ve only tried once or twice honestly. Sour plums (or Ume) and Sakura flowers go together to create a lovely motif befitting of the pink sprinkled on the chips

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

When I took my first bite I wasn’t sure what to think about these. But they’re good if you like sour things; they reminded me a lot of those Salt and Vinegar Chips- which I like but usually avoid eating, since it usually burns my lips and is overall unpleasant ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ But the flavor of these is lighter, and I didn’t feel any sort of pain while eating them.

Our other item is this Umaibo - Shrimp Mayonnaise flavor. I love Umaibo but so far I haven’t been a fan of fish ones. For a while I was on a shrimp kick and enjoyed eating it but as of late I haven’t touched any. But I do enjoy mayonnaise and I’m always up for trying a new Umaibo :3 so...

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I’m not sure if it tastes as good as real Mayonnaise Shrimp- but this was very good; so good in fact that I think this might be my new, second favorite Umaibo!

Next is our chocolate category :D Or at least part of it. It was pretty big this month.

First we have some Strawberry Barley Puffs, which I have reviewed ages ago so I’ll just summarize my first review on them; they’re kind of strange in taste and the strawberry shell doesn’t change it too much. But they’re not bad.

Another item I’ve tried before on the right-hand side is the Chocolate Wafer, which featured One Piece last time. This time it featured a series I know nothing about called Ultimate Muscle. I remember seeing and finding it very unappealing as a young girl- no offense if you like it though. Again I’ll summarize because these chocolate wafers usually do not change.

However- this one I didn’t like nearly as much as last time. I don’t know if it’s because I got to it a few months late (which I don’t think should matter because it was sealed), or if my taste was off. It just wasn’t as good as I remembered.

Next up is this came broken item that wasn’t listed in the book, known as Chocobar-Z (I think). It’s basically a chocolate Umaibo.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It being broken hasn’t deterred me from it’s taste. It’s really good x3 It has a crispy, slightly bitter taste but it’s also a little creamy~

Our last item in the picture is not actually on the plate. I kept it in its package- and it’s like a prior item I had before as well known as the Ice Cream Lolly, this time in Strawberry. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s basically a Strawberry Ice Cream Chupa-chups lollipop- but that isn’t bad if you like those

Now we’re onto the strawberry-chocolate! My favorite~♥

We’ll continue going in order, so first is this interesting box of Ginza Rusk in Strawberry. Rusk is essentially a dried dough or bread-like product that is usually covered in some type of flavoring or fried and coated in sugar.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

As much as I love strawberries, I wasn’t too crazy about this one. It’s packaging is neat, and I love it’s creamy-crunchy texture, but the flavor itself as a teensy-bit off putting to me.

I had higher hopes for this next item: Maroyaka Milk Chocolate - Strawberry Party Pack. Look how sweet they look, and look at that packaging~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Not only do they look irresistibly kawaii and sweet, but they taste so good!! It tastes exactly like a strawberry dipped in chocolate, and while you taste strawberry chocolate, you also get the tartness from an actual strawberry. They’re also very smooth and melty; just how I like my chocolate~

Our final item is another object not in the booklet. I think this is because it was a last-second replacement for the Lotte Pie No Mi we were originally supposed to get. Something happened with it, I don’t remember the details but I got an email months ago about it .

Anyway, instead we have this really cute package of heart-shaped Strawberry Pocky. I’m not a huge pocky eater but I do love the strawberry ones, it also included these adorable illustrations of this boy I do not recognize. I wish I did though, he’s such a cutie ♡ 

The back of the box (visible above) also featured a profile on him. From what’s on the box, I guess he’s from a manga or game called Love With Pocky?? If anybody knows anything about this please let me know right away!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I don’t really have special feelings for pocky- but how can you go wrong with the strawberry ones? Plus I adore this person, whoever he is so call me biased if you must~

Lastly are our unique items- including two cola products; my most favorite of favorites~

Our first item is a popular brand known as Sour Long Gum, a dagashi snack known for its sour take on sweet flavors.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It tasted good, but oddly enough it wasn’t actually sour. It got sweeter after a few minutes but I did not taste anything sour. At all.

Speaking of sour, we also have a 5-pack set of Cola Gummies. I know you’re recommended to share these but who am I kidding. I’m willing to share but I will be doing most of the eating ;3

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

They taste really good, I love them! But I also like the fact that they are soft gummies.

Our final item (and probably the most unique) is this elegant box of Rose x Berry Glamatic Tablets made by Lotte. These are perfect if you’re preparing for a quick smooch or suffer from last-minute bad breath- and they just make your mouth feel nice~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

They taste like their name, Berries and Rose. I know rose is a flavor people either like or don’t, but I’m one of the people who does generally enjoy it so these taste really nice to me. The flavoring/effect lasts a few minutes in the mouth once you chew/dissolve the tablet, and due to their small size you’ll probably want a few to make sure they actually work.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality - 4 out of 5. I liked everything, although there was damage done to the choco Z-thing I got. I can’t really fault them on that though because I know damage happens. I can fault them for this continued trend of lessening items to give us a share pack set though. I mean if you actually have people to share with or like the item enough then great, but for someone like me who was drawn in due to the amount of items, it’s a little bit let down.

Content - 4 out of 5. I generally liked everything, I’d say maybe better than the prior months box. I was a bit displeased to get a handful of repeat items though.

Theme - 5 out of 5. Not only did the items fit the Valentines Day theme it went for, but they put extra effort in the booklet as well to make each item feel Valentines special~

Total Rank: 13 out of 15 Cuties. I do miss our cute toys/bonus items they would give us, which hasn’t been happening as of late unfortunately, and I’m not found out these 5-pack singular item gimmick either; but I still really love the box. I’ve never really come across one that displeased me yet.

♥ Cutie’s Scale of Yummy ♥

1. Cola Gummies - As much as I liked things, this was no contest. 

2. Strawberry Milk Chocolate thingies - They are perfect~

3. Umaibo - I didn’t know if I would like this but it ended up pleasantly surprising me :3 

4.  Sour Plum Chips - They taste good, and they make a fun prank chip for people who don’t like sour things.

5. Rose x Berry Mints - I’m used to mint-mint flavors, so I really enjoyed this. I usually don’t buy them lately so I take when I’m given.

6. Shortcake Pepsi - It was good but I wouldn’t drink it frequently, even in season.  

7. Cola Gum - It was good, but I didn’t taste the sourness and the flavor was overall lighter.

8. Choco Thingy - It was a little bitter but I like dark chocolate. I loved it’s crispy texture~

9. Ice Cream Lolly - Nothing too special. A different type of strawberry cream chupa-chups. 

10. Barley Puffs - They seemed stale; not like before...

11. Wafer - This one was skimping on something- it just wasn’t as good as I remember.  

12. Strawberry Rusk - For some reason I just did not like it much.

13. Strawberry Pocky - It’s my favorite flavor, but I was more attracted to the boy and the lovely packaging then a snack I’ve eaten a million times.

Alrighty Cuties, we’ve come to another end of another Tokyo Treat Crate! I recommend checking this brand out if you like what you see or read, and remember you can check the online stores as well for any specific items :3 next I’ll be covering the DIY product so stay Cute!

[purge-that-urge-rhackathon]

Fanfic Author Interview

I was tagged by @dokt0rgunn​ and @thirtysixsavefiles​ awww yissss baaaabes

1. What inspires your work most? (The show it is based on, the actor who portrays a certain character, maybe the character itself…? It could even be an experience.)

No. Fucking. Clue. My own neediness to read things I can’t find? That’s the whole reason I’m even in this fandom ya’ll (and why I’m getting into some Fallout fic writing). I’d say the biggest inspiration comes from tiny tiny things. Like a turn of a phrase in someone else’s work, or a random word or sentence. The whole reason I wrote Efficiency was because I saw an AU imageboard/gif thing (idk wtf its called-- I saw a single gif) for a teen wolf thing (i don’t follow that show so I dont know about it) but the gif said “Look at him. I’m gonna have his babies” and i was like YUP OKAY WE’RE DOING THIS THIS IS HAPPENING. 10 fucking chapters and 70k words because of a sentence on a gif. That’s pretty common for me.

2. What is your favorite fandom to write for?

Borderlands yaaaas. Also I may or may not be getting into writing some Fallout fic... I have a soft spot for MacHusband and cynical liar-face mcgee in a hot polyamorous relationship with the ss yep. So that’s happening.

3. Which perspective do you prefer writing in? (First-person, third-person)

Always third person. Can’t even read first person unless the writer is like insanely good.

4. Do you prefer writing reader fics or OCs?

I had to look up what ‘reader’ meant, cuz back in my day we just called it self-insert/2nd person AHAHAH JFC i’m old. I’ve only done the reader thing once, never finished the fic, half of it’s on livejournal from the grand migration, and I still get emails asking about/for the rest of it AHAHA...I need to just post that shit.

5. Do you prefer writing longer works or one shots?

I prefer one-shots if only because I have a very short attention span, and I also think I can stay truer to characterization if I go one-shot. I get lost pretty fast if I go longer and start doubting myself. But I’m a HUGE slut for comments and if I think I can get more comments (or if I’m having fun with the smut/relationships) I’ll write longer pieces. It’s about the reward system for myself haha. Once I start to lose interest in a longer piece, it’s only the comments that keep me going. Ahahaha I.M. A HACK.

6. Do you take requests?

Always, but I don’t do all of them just because I’m a hack and don’t put any effort into things I write so if it requires brain power then I sometimes turn them down just based on that xD I’m also picky about what/who I write about, so I’ve gotten some really good prompts but just haven’t been my cup of tea, but I’ll always acknowledge them! Fic writing is my escape right now so I’m less-inclined to do things that’ll be challenging (AKA I’m L A Z Y).

7. Do you enjoy getting random Asks?

YAS fuck yeah I do. I don’t get them often though. If they’re requests, I leave ‘em back here with me a while to ruminate unless I know I won’t fill it. If it’s a random ask, I generally get to stuff same day cuz I love that shit. I was the kid that used to get excited over spam in the mailbox growing up HAHA

8. What inspires the names for OCs (or extra character names) in your works? Do you pick them from real life or just select them at random? A mix?

I just try to think of a name that’ll sound good, and then question if it’s giving the feel of the character the right...uh, feel. Haha. Like if I call ‘em Melvin, they’re a nerd (apologies to any Melvins out there haha). Sometimes no names work way better though.

9. If your story(ies) have OCs, are their appearances based on real people or celebrities? If so, who?

Any background characters I write I try to leave intentionally vague because a lot of meaning (this person being described as gorgeous/handsome/etc) is subjective person to person so unless they’re important, they don’t get much of even a smear of an idea from my brain. I also try to be generic-enough with descriptions that people can picture background folk their own way without forcing my own white ethnocentric view on that shit even subconsciously. I like diversity in my fic bitches, I’m just a lazy fuck.

10. How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Geez we’re coming up on 15 years now o_o started late in high school doing round-robin type things with friends haha I was writing original stuff much longer though. Fun fact: I’m the one to have exposed my freshman-college-year English professor onto fanfiction. She didn’t know what it was and was intrigued.

Hope you’re doing well Professor Nava hahaha

I tag @thethespacecoyote, @bigevilshine, @frog-batter, @ofstrangeshadows, @feralprince, @erinchu and anyone else who wants to (say i’m the one who tagged you, betches <3).

[kosmicdream]

Flight or Fight Drawing mode

for me, i think there’s always this restless feeling that comes when working on comics. That feeling that time is running out or not being utilized to its fullest degree. You are aware of how much more there is to go in your story and can calculate the progression of your journey, but only the present. As you keep going on your story, the circumstances change, and it is always this fluid process you cannot fully accommodate and plan for.

I know in the few years since I started drawing FFAK my expectation for myself and my work has changed tremendously. Its something i reflect on a lot, since i forget how not too long ago, I felt like i was somewhat incapable of producing a comic because of the way i enjoy to write and explore stories. I still think fundamentally, FFAK reflects that raw unedited version of my writing and creative skills in a unique way that I doubt will be replicated again (in the same manner) even as i explore and work on other stories. FFAK just carries this certain kind of momentum of forwards and backwards both at once. You stretch all over the place and peek through small doors to go in strange places. Growth is difficult to gauge because of the way time is handled in the story. Goal points seem endless and bleed together from my perspective. There’s always so much more to go and so much planned that when you make accomplishments they feel sort of like a bunch of tiny small steps in many different directions. And honestly, No one is more impatient than i when it comes to waiting to share this story than me. I am always biting my nails and wanting to get it out faster SOMEHOW even though I work on it constantly as it is. FFAK is no longer just.. a random comic idea i started on a whim that I felt i would only dip my toes in and never actually attempt making. and now it really has consumed my mind like a wildfire. it is also my fireplace and my home in my heart and my peace. I don’t even think I could ever fully be prepared for and handle such a thing but I am glad to have it in my life. But as the haze.. shock? of starting this project starts to fade i find myself fully committed and trying to evaluate the steps and process i take for this comic as a whole. I think its interesting how 2ish years of planning basically gives me enough time to know what sort of story I’m doing. But I am in no eager rush to finish it because my excitement for it only grows and feels more satisfying the more i write and plan. Part of me gets upset I don’t blast pages out the “same” way anymore, even though i appreciate the exploration of ‘putting more effort’ into my drawings. Instead of drawing thru 20 pages a night I’m polishing like, 2.. or 4 a work night. Its kind of annoying!! because I’m not really one for polish and editing (or maybe I just never believed myself capable of doing it in a way i liked? lol) but.. it just feels like the right thing to do right now. it feels almost impossible to ‘rewind’ myself or go back to like, thinking things in a different way than what i try to do now. by attempting more things visually it kind of makes some things easier too. im often pretty surprised like “hey alright that came out ok. i guess i can push myself a little bit more next time to make it look better!!” I think about my early eggshells pages a lot and how i labored over like.. 15 pages over an entire year and felt miserable and in the end, often over rendered + lost clarity and energy and now i just get what i was doing ‘wrong’ to make it not fun for myself. Like, even when i was offered advice at the time I wasnt so welcome to it nor did i understand it, its like I had to suffer a bit before I was able to understand what I needed to do with myself lol. The lesson feels much more impactful after discovering it for myself too on my own pace imo. SO i am thankful for how that turned out! Then i broke down my art to its most base level (earliest ffak pages) and i’ve just been rebuilding myself back up since then and now I’m attempting things I didn’t even think I’d be able to do -- or be interested in. (like color, for example, has never been something I was too interested including with my comics but like.. blammo here i am doing it anyway now.) anyway. its really cool, this art journey thing. i kinda wonder how long ill coast on this certain part of it before i like, end up doing an unexpected detour again. Maybe I won’t..? i dont know!! FFAK is so raw and alive it makes me happy i get to make it and do whatever i want in it. I always wanted to make a comic that I could contribute to on a day to day basis rather than something you just make so you can get it done asap and move onto the next thing. When ffak does eventually finish I wonder if it will be really hard on me. I look forward to its ending because its really neat but it is not a world I want to let go of so quickly. Even tho i have several other stories I’d like to do.. (and have started a couple already LMAO) I think about that expectation with ending stories a lot and completing projects. Most of my very favorite comics have yet to end despite going on for decades.. and when i think about that too, it almost feels very strange. Readers generally want closure to reflect on their experiences reading something so endings are that important ‘release’ from that fake world and  time you participated in it. But when i ask myself what I want to do for endings to my story, i try to contemplate  my favorite endings to stories ive read/watched/experienced to figure out what i want to do with my own. Since.. its my story and my satisfaction with it is really going to be reflective of what I like. Everyone interpretes ‘good’ endings differently and like, clings into diff parts of what makes a satisfying story so its important to isolate what elements you find are important to try to replicate that in your own work. But like.. its hard to see what kind of ending you’re going to make before you make it???? And making the story is a difficult thing to let go of vrs just being funneled all the stuff. Maybe my ‘ffak reader’ half of me will be satisfied but will my ‘ffak creator’ side be happy? Will i feel fufilled on both parts? I mean an experience is going to just be an experience.. i cannot manufacture or control it to be anything than what it will be so to think about it too much is probably only going to go in circles. It certainly has changed me a lot as a person and an artist. WHich is disorienting b/c im also introducing my work to everyone while not also knowing myself completely. (not that is ever fully achievable but, its been something i get forced to confront a lot.) When I work on this project I fight so many demons of my own life, chase ghosts of my heros that i feel are so beyond my ability, and stare down the illusion of my own reflection of what kind of artist i want to be every time i draw a new page.. I’m never going to really be that reflection, and my heros will always be my heros and they’ll always do things I cannot, but I wonder what kind of creator I look like from the outside?? from a person who isnt me. I cannot experience myself as a ‘reader’ but I try to pretend I am seeing myself as one. And the most exciting thing about myself, from that outside perspective, is that I am not sure what I will attempt next or what strange journey i will write about. I am happy that despite every difficult thing I have been through, I am still excited and having fun with my art like I have only just first attempted to draw. Soon FFAK will be three years old and (likely) 4000 pages by then.. I still havent gotten to write and draw out things I planned the very first day, but now I know roughly how the story will end (without actually getting to draw it yet, of course.) And i’m just anticipating the future while knowing  that...i have no idea what it will bring!!! O_O (one thing is for certain i hope to fuck my house doesnt burn down again because, istg, that fucking SUCKED!!!!!!!!) Wooh.. well. i just felt like sharing some thoughts since i just got done re-reading some of ffak and feel a bit overwhelmed with emotion.. Thank you all for sticking around and experiencing this comic with me..! :’3 -kosmic

[semirahrose]

That Chuck/Sam gifset from s4 reminded me of how odd I had found that exchange when I first saw it. Because I was VERY sympathetic to Sam's decision to take in more of the thing he thinks of as a disease and make something good out of it. I understood why Sam NEEDED to do it. All his reasons. And Chuck must have also known exactly what drove Sam to that decision. Hell, he was writing about it. I remember thinking, you could disagree, sure, but you think it would make him seem unsympathetic?! o_O

Oh my gosh, wonderful Anon, yes. Right on the money.

That conversation always just seemed weird to me, and it was kind of hard for me to puzzle out why. My first assumption was that it was just hard for me to stomach the criticism of Sam. I adore him, so of course I’d feel uncomfortable with a character criticizing him.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that wasn’t necessarily the case (I mean obviously a bit of it must have been, but it wasn’t the only thing).

You’re absolutely right. If Chuck really knew everything, how in the world could it have seemed to him to be unsympathetic. He could make an argument for it being wrong, of course, but not unsympathetic. More than anyone other than Sam himself, Chuck had a front-row seat to the spectacle of Sam’s shame and desperation to do something good with the crap hand he’d been dealt at 6-freaking-months-of-age. Of course, using the blood to kill Lilith was not the right choice, and becoming addicted was not good for Sam, but that whole season was trying to play it like Sam was doing something ~truly evil~ when he... really wasn’t? The story the show tried to sell viewers re: Sam, demon blood, and the Apocalypse was blatantly misinterpreting the facts.

It was the same thing with Chuck as it was with Pamela: familiar, “trusted” character condemns Sam’s actions. Their accusations are nebulous and not based in fact. It would have been more meaningful if these “warnings” didn’t smack of heavy-handed foreshadowing. The only thing truly horrifying about Sam on demon blood was the manipulation his addiction made him vulnerable to (and the fact that it was a dangerous addiction with lethal withdrawal symptoms). While Dean was freaking out about Sam not being his brother anymore and Sam ~dying human~, Sam was exorcising demon-possessed people and making sure they received medical attention. He did nothing more terrifying than the Winchesters have done with Ruby’s knife. But, no. We needed characters to condemn him. For Plot™.

But then again, I’m not giving Kripke enough credit. That conversation with Chuck was really layered and meaningful. The way Chuck saw that part of Sam’s motivation came from the fact that he maybe felt in control of his life and destiny for the first time in (maybe ever?), and the fact that Chuck parroted things at Sam like, “I thought [killing Lilith and stopping the Apocalypse] was Dean's job. That's what the angels say, right?” Which, of course, was funny, because did Chuck know all along that the angels were manipulating Dean just as much as Ruby was manipulating Sam? And then that bit where he pretty much acknowledged that, the way the story was going, everything would rest on Sam’s shoulders.

Also like. Seriously. How much did Chuck know? I enjoyed the early-seasons character of Chuck Shurley-as-prophet, but the way the later seasons utterly botched their portrayal of “god” (not even gonna dignify that with a capital letter, haha) puts “Chuck’s” actions in an interesting light. I mean, one could argue that he was subtly pushing Sam to exercise his free will and resist Destiny, but... that takes more effort and inference to be anything other than fanon theory. Season 11, thank goodness, makes Chuck’s preference to allow people to make their own choices quite clear, and I do respect that. I would have been disappointed by any deus ex machina crap. But Chuck’s actions in s4-5 seemed less like a benevolent sounding board and more like... well, an alcoholic author who literally tried to go out with a bang (an orgy, to be specific).

But that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, I know my brain is mush and I can’t actually make any sense but you are wonderfully concise and, in short, I absolutely agree. Thanks for taking the time to send a message, Anon! ♥

[armory-rasa]

Hello Gabriel! First of all, I want to say I really love your work! It's really inspiring and detailed! I wanted to ask how you set up your own business, because it seems really hard to start working and then actually get costumers. Did you make a portfolio, or was it word of mouth? I don't know if you've written about this before, so sorry if I'm just asking again. :)

Short answer: lol, I started my own business because I’m really bad at convincing people to hire me.

Long answer: STRAP IN! (This is probably more backstory than you wanted, but I promise I’ll have some advice about the how-to at the end)

So I mentioned that the first leatherworking I did was for the Hawke cosplay, and that came out reasonably well. Then a friend of mine was like, “Hey, you should use your skillz make me some leather handcuffs” and I was like, Hokay. So when people ask “How’d you get started selling kink gear?” my smartass answer is “Because D-rings come in packs of ten not packs of two.” I made a pair for my friend…. and then made four more pairs, because else what was I going to do with D-rings? And then I made an Etsy store and put them up for sale, because what use had I for four pairs of handcuffs?

…and people bought them. o_O I was like, Can you guys not see that I have sold ZERO things before? Why do you trust me to actually deliver the goods? What makes you think I have ANY idea what I’m doing??

So that was a thing that was going on in the background – I added a basic collar to my inventory and started making them in colors that you don’t normally see kink gear in, which a lot of people quite liked, and it was a nice bit of side cash, enough that the hobby was paying for itself.

Then my lawyer (who was not at that time a lawyer) moved out to California for law school and she was like “You should come to California with me, because it’s better than Texas” and I was like, Hokay. And everyone was telling me, Ohhhh, but the job market in California is so bad!, and I was like, Nah, I’ll be fine, yo.

…Aha... ahaha, about that. I wound up in a totally above-board but very sketchy-sounding arrangement with one of her professors in which my official job title was “houseboy.” We met at a gay bar called Headhunters where he was like–

The professor: “So what do you do?” Me: “I’m looking for a job.”The professor: “I’m looking for someone to clean my hot tub! I’ll start you at $12/hr.”Me: “Hokay.”

So between running his odd jobs and the money I was making selling kink gear (about $2000 over the course of that first year), I was keeping myself afloat.

Then The Hobbit happened.

I saw the posters, thought Kili was hot, decided to take a stab at his bracers. I finished the first one just before we left to go see the movie, tossed it up in the shop – and it sold before we even got out of the movie.

That was when the floodgates opened and practically overnight, leatherworking went from being a sideline gig to being my fulltime job. (To wit: I made $250 in December 2012 and *$3,500* in January 2013. That’s more money in one month than I’d made doing leatherworking the entire previous year.) People were buying Kili bracers by the dozen, and flooding me with inquiries asking, Can you do Fili’s bracers? Can you do Thorin’s bracers? Can you do Thorin’s belt? Can you do Kili’s quiver? Can you do Legolas’s bracers?

And I was like, Hokay. (The professor was bemused, and only slightly grumpy at how I suddenly had less time for him.)

Granted, that kind of boom doesn’t last, as I would learn subsequently. There’s a rush of interest when something is new, but nothing sustains that level of demand forever. I got really lucky because I happened to jump onto the Hobbit bandwagon right as it was kicking off, so my bracers were out there first, the first thing people saw when they went googling for Hobbit cosplay. Relatively few other costumers ever even bothered to make the pieces that would be competing with mine, since I’d already done them, and done them very well, (and was doing it really cheap since I didn’t know the value of my labor then), so for a while I was about the only game in town when it came to dwarf leatherworking.

Dwarf costumes kept me fed for about six months before interest started to wane, by which point I’d diversified into MCU Loki armor too. That’s been the story of my business since – keeping an eye out for new fandoms with cool costumes that are in my skillset, and being on the ball about getting them done and posted as early as possible. I cannot overstate the advantage of being the *first* one to do a costume, because there are few fandoms that have truly long-term staying power, so you have to be there when the hype is highest. (Dragon Age, Zelda, Star Wars, etc, have a core of dedicated fans who will cosplay it until their dying day, but those are low-volume markets. My Dragon Age items are not my highest sellers, they are my labors of love.)

I often start with making a small, inexpensive item from a fandom, just enough to put me on the radar when people start googling for their cosplay – like a hook to reel them in. Customers will frequently ask if you can do other pieces from the same costume or the same universe (I started with the Wonder Woman tiara, and built the rest of the set as people asked for it; likewise, the Aquaman armor grew out of a single bracer; people who have seen my Loki stuff have commissioned Enchantress and Scarlet Witch), but they won’t usually ask a Lord of the Rings leatherworker if you can do stuff from, say, Game of Thrones. (Even though I totally could if anyone ever asked for it.)

I will say that specializing in cosplay puts you at the mercy of whatever’s trending, and the lulls between fandom booms can be deadly – when your income suddenly drops from a couple thousand dollars a month to a couple hundred, you best hope you’ve got enough of a cushion to ride that out until the next boom comes along. The more fandoms you’re in, the more diverse your portfolio, the less hard those bust cycles will hit you.

My shop pretty much is my portfolio, because I don’t take anything down (except when I stopped selling kink gear) even after interest is long gone, since it still showcases the styles and techniques I can do. I have a deviantArt with my stuff, mainly because I’ve found that dA – for whatever reason – indexes in google image search faster and higher than any other social media platform. It wasn’t until about this time last year that I finally got a facebook and started making a more concerted effort to maintain a social media presence and promote my business. It’s… coming along. I’m slightly better at remembering to post these days. >_>

I think it’s less about word of mouth than about whether people can find you when they’re googling. (~Search engine optimization~ or whatever.) There are tricks you can do to get yourself ranked higher, but I’ve never tried any of that stuff, just made sure that my listings, etc, are tagged with the right keywords to get picked up when potential customers go googling.

It is hard work (I work… a lot….) but it’s also a lot of fun – there is no job I would rather be doing, and I consider myself very lucky that I’ve been able to turn my passion into my career. (Which is like the most cliched thing to say, but it’s true – there are Etsy sellers who would KILL to be able to quit their day job and focus on their hobby full-time, so I’m aware that I’ve been quite fortunate.)

Anyway. I hope you enjoyed the novel I wrote for you. :D

[hgfstreamchats]

Bendy and the Ink Machine/Among the Sleep

Welcome to the 'highglossfinish' room. Thenightetc: Oooo?  Starting soon? Knock Out: Oh yes! Knock Out: How's the picture? Thenightetc: Looks fine! Firstclu: Looks good here! Knock Out: Excellent! Thenightetc: (...I might have to leave at some point for dinner, but I'll come back after.) Thenightetc: ...So it's an abandoned animation studio? Knock Out: Apparently. Knock Out: Alright. Onwards we go!

Thenightetc: "There's something I need to show you... your grave!" Thenightetc: How...ominous? Thenightetc: The floating stuff, I mean. Thenightetc: (whoops, afk.  dinner) Firstclu: do the drawers open? Knock Out: O Knock Out: *I'll check. Knock Out: Has anyone spotted a book or a doll hanging about? Firstclu: I haven't so far Firstclu: go back Firstclu: I saw the doll Firstclu: it was on top of the drawers Knock Out: Thank you! Smokescreen: Woojit! Thebes: Hello!  Have I missed anything? Smokescreen: ... this isn't a horror game is it Smokescreen: /LOUD BEEP/ Firstclu: nahhhh Firstclu: it's cute Smokescreen: are you sure Shockbox: Hm. Got the stream to work for games, I see. Thenightetc: (Back!  Did I miss anything spooky?) Firstclu: yep, see it's got these little critters dancing and stuff Firstclu: and happy music Smokescreen: Shockbop! Shockbox: Oh no. Smokescreen: :O Shockbox: ....Do not stare in such a manner. Smokescreen: :I Shockbox: |<o>| Smokescreen: :D Shockbox: |<o>| Smokescreen: ;) Thenightetc: I have to say, it kind of bugs me that they clearly reused the floor texture for the ceiling.  Despite the floor texture having "planks lying around" bits Thenightetc: Oooooo?  You got something working? Smokescreen: ... Okay who glued planks to the ceiling Shockbox: Yes, it doesn't look natural. Smokescreen: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaa Smokescreen: KNOCK OUT WHY Knock Out: Because. Knock Out: And hello, Smokescreen! Shockwave. Shockbox: Greetings. Smokescreen: thats it Shockwave's my NEWbest friend Shockbox: What....led you to that conclusion? Firstclu: congratulations, Shockwave Smokescreen: because knock out scared me Knock Out: Breakdown has all the thoughts about my sense of direction and cowardly yelps. Knock Out: Don't listen to him. Firstclu changed their nickname to Immortalspark. Smokescreen: you trying to AXE someone a question here knock out Shockbox: ....You do no believe me capable of doing so as well, if I felt inclined? Smokescreen: Nope! ... Well, not in the same way. Shockbox: Hm. Fair enough. Smokescreen: Hey Shockshock shocky Shockers hey hey Thenightetc: ...wait.  Credits?  Is that the whole game? Shockbox: Oh. Short game. Knock Out: The Pit? That game cost me five stolen dollars! Thenightetc: That was... underwhelming. Immortalspark: I fail to be scared Shockbox: You needed something, Smokescreen? Knock Out: I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed. Knock Out: Hmm...is anyone in the mood for the Horror Castle? Thebes: I could go for that Thenightetc: Horror Castle? Shockbox: Sounds riveting. Knock Out: Excellent! Smokescreen: Shockytoot hey you wanna make friendship bracelets Smokescreen: ... horror castle? Knock Out: The Caroline human's gift that we never finished because a bed got stuck in a hole. Immortalspark: that sounds good Shockbox: Participating in arts and crafts is no simple matter when one has but a single hand to work with, Smokescreen. Thenightetc: Oh!  Amnesia? Knock Out: That's it! Thenightetc: Yeah! Smokescreen: I can help you if you need it, Shocky. Shockbox: The most likely course of action will be /you/ making both bracelets alone. You would then go to hand one to me, and I will then dispose of it while you are not looking. Thenightetc: *snickering* Smokescreen: ... I promise you'll help with it? We can make one both of us like! Can you draw a design? Shockbox: I am afraid I will have to refuse. Smokescreen: Aww. Maybe we can play a game sometime, then? Is six lasers a thing again over there? Thenightetc: ...so, these wails and such in the distance.  Is there actually someone else there, a ghost say, or is the player character hallucinating? Knock Out: Of course, the one time I need a monster, there's none to be found. Smokescreen: it's so dark, I can't see the walls. I consider that lucky Knock Out: One klik. Let me look this up. Shockbox: I have little time for recreational activities. It takes enough effort to attend a stream. We should reserve interaction for interdimensional social media instead. Smokescreen: Awww... I'd love to hang out with you, though, new best friend. But you're busy with a lot of science stuff, right? Thenightetc: ...is this Fallout Knock Out: No, a game I played three years ago that didn't have the courtesy to remember my progress. Shockbox: Yes. And no, before you ask the inevitable, you cannot be my assitant. Shockbox: This game is called Among the Sleep, I believe. Thenightetc: Ohhh. Shockbox: Artistic. Rather somber end, however. Smokescreen: hhhhhhhhhhh Thenightetc: *leans waaaaay back* Smokescreen: please shocky? I can assist! I know science! Shockbox: Why is the audio quality so....painful? Shockbox: Oh, that's better. Knock Out: Better? Shockbox: Yes, my thanks. Shockbox: You would need to go to great lengths to prove such a thing, Smokescreen. Thenightetc: This just gets less and less ominous Smokescreen: Okay! I can do it. Give me a challenge, and I canprove it! Knock Out: I remember this game. We used to play it as newbuilds before the caretakers made us stop. Shockbox: Your challenge is to thoroughly impress me. Thenightetc: it'd help if Mommy weren't so uncanny-looking Shockbox: ....It's still day time. Immortalspark: Mommy doesn't understand about time zones Shockbox: That too. Knock Out: "Time for bed. Mommy needs some quiet." Smokescreen: :O! Okay! So- I can balance chemistry equations? Bet you didn't expect that, right? Shockbox: Demonstrating the ability to make calculations, invent something, or conduct an experiment would not be enough. Shockbox: No, you would have to sacrifice more than that. Smokescreen: Really? Like what, exactly? Shockbox: Your current set of beliefs. Your sense of morality.  Whatever loyalty you have left to the Autobots. Shockbox: I would guide you, yes. But you must realize, unprofessional conduct is not to be tolerated. Thenightetc: ...is someone under the bed? Thenightetc: I'm sure I saw a face Thebes: It's possible Smokescreen: Dang. You ask all your assistants to do that? Smokescreen: nonononono Smokescreen: NO NO NO Thenightetc: so I DID see a face. Smokescreen: put that face away Smokescreen: why are there feeet Smokescreen: And- of course I'll be professional, Shocks. Shockbox: The only 'assistants' I've had for the past 2.5 million years have been drones. Thenightetc: o_o Shockbox: Your conduct would be required to extend to your online presence. Smokescreen: What? Why? Smokescreen: I'm perfectly professional, anyway- aren't I? Thenightetc: (That song she's humming is weirdly familiar...) Shockbox: ....I am inclined to disagree. We appear to have very different standards. Shockbox: It is sure that such a change would be unnatural for you. You would not fit the role without compromising your ability to work efficiently. Knock Out: Baby's first monoxide leak. Shockbox: Ah, good times. Smokescreen: I can do it, Shocks! Really! Think about it when you need an assistant. Shockbox: Your offer is acknowledged. Shockbox: What are you looking for, Knockout? Knock Out: Something to open the baby boiler. Knock Out: Or whatever that door leads to. Shockbox: Hm. I remember the bear's paw being used to open the door. Shockbox: .....Hm. Knock Out: Ahh, there we go! Knock Out: Much appreciated! Shockbox: /Nod. Thenightetc: Are those eyes Knock Out: Now, see, we never did anything fun like this when I was a newspark. Immortalspark: Really? That's a shame Knock Out: Always "go to berth, share your datapad, memorize the names of all the sinus cavities." Knock Out: It really was. Shockbox: As enjoyable as this has been, Knockout, I must be leaving. Thank you for the stream. Knock Out: I mean, did you ever get to have adventures with shadow beasts? Knock Out: My pleasure. Thank you for stopping in! Thenightetc: Goodnight! Immortalspark: See you Shockwave! Immortalspark: Shadow beasts were a mainstay for my childhood Immortalspark: I thought everyone had them Knock Out: They build character. Immortalspark: indeed Smokescreen: Awww, night Shocky! Smokescreen: Wait really? I'm glad I missed that part of being a bitlet! Thenightetc: Maybe the shadow beasts stole your memories of them. Smokescreen: ..... Immortalspark: That does sound like something they'd do Smokescreen: noooooo Immortalspark: they like to pull pranks like that Smokescreen: no no no no Thenightetc: They're such playful creatures. Smokescreen: knocky hellllp Thenightetc: :) Knock Out: Oh, don't worry. I'm sure the shadow beasts will return your memories eventually. Thenightetc: After they've had their fun with them. Knock Out: They're "that" type of friend. Smokescreen: no no nnnnnnooooo Thenightetc: They might not be in the same shape after you get them back, though. Smokescreen: you're all the worstttt Knock Out: What? We didn't say they'd be *harmed.* Knock Out: Just scuffed. The edges folded down. Knock Out: Maybe a copper stain or two. Thebes: And that's assuming JUST the memories of the shadow beasts are missing Thenightetc: Don't worry, I'm sure you're safe from them these days, though. Smokescreen: what??? they took other things too? Thenightetc: Quick question: you don't have any shadows in your room, do you? Smokescreen: I. How would I know? Immortalspark: is anything in your room casting a shadow? Thenightetc: I'm sure it's fine. Smokescreen: ... Any shadow? Everything casts a shadow~! Smokescreen: NO NO NO Immortalspark: No reason to panic at all Immortalspark: or make sudden movements Smokescreen: if I don't recharge at home I'll be fine Thenightetc: ? Thenightetc: Why would it matter whether you're at home? Smokescreen: ... Aren't they just at my home? Thenightetc: *awkward silence* Thebes: I mean.  If they were a unique phenomenon, *maybe* Smokescreen: wait what about my own shadow? Smokescreen: are they in here Thenightetc: Well, I'm not in the room with you, Smokescreen.  How would I know if there were a shadow beast there? Thenightetc: gosh. Smokescreen: can I send pictures Thenightetc: The glowing eyes on the horse thing are a nice touch. Thenightetc: Not unless you want to multiply them. Smokescreen: what?? they multiply with pictures? Smokescreen: ... am I taking pictures of them- multiplying Knock Out: Make sure you ask if that's what you plan on doing. Thenightetc: I thought everyone knew that Knock Out: Not everyone's into that. Smokescreen: what Thenightetc: What? Immortalspark: snickering Smokescreen: hhhhhhhhhhh mommy is terrifying Thenightetc: Probably reminds you of something. Immortalspark: that bear is what creeps me out Immortalspark: those big soulless eyes Immortalspark: the constant stating of the obvious Smokescreen: no no no Thenightetc: What?  The bear *is* pretty creepy. Smokescreen: no i mean what you said- and I refuse to think the bear'll be evil. no no no Thenightetc: What?  About mommy reminding you of something? Immortalspark: even if he's not...I don't trust relentlessly cheery things in un-cheery worlds Thenightetc: Usually when something's inexplicably terrifying, it IS because it subconsciously reminds you of something. Thenightetc: Even if you don't necessarily remember what. Immortalspark: this is true Thenightetc: ...that looks like a giant, wounded spider crouching in the middle of the room Knock Out: WELL, THEN. Immortalspark: no it's dead it's a dead spider very dead Thenightetc: What've you got against spiders :/ Immortalspark: not me Immortalspark: aw look that tree is waving at us Thenightetc: I think I saw one of those shadow beasts again Thenightetc: Not that tree, a different one, further away Thenightetc: ...Where *is* the bear at this point?  Is he walking around behindyou? Knock Out: On its back, I believe. Immortalspark: he is hanging onto the kid's back Thenightetc: ...Ahhhh. Immortalspark: radioactive sentient teddy bears, standard for every toy store Knock Out: I'm not sure I understand what this memory is supposed to represent. Knock Out: That time mommy did a stint in a Scooby Doo-esque haunted house? Immortalspark: that time when Mommy was a vampire? Thenightetc: Camping trip gone wrong? Knock Out: That time Mommy ferried the dead back and forth? Knock Out: Did they go camping because Mommy had to tie stones to the feet of a snitch? Knock Out: This place is awful. Immortalspark: it does have quite an...atmosphere Thenightetc: Is it just me or does the bear sound like Winnie the Pooh now Knock Out: You can hear it whenever he's distressed about something. Knock Out: Or stating the obvious. Smokescreen: I'm gonna have to head off- thank you for the stream, Woojit! I gotta get rid of all the shadows in my home Knock Out: Best of luck! Give them my regards! Thenightetc: Just remember, every light you turn on makes more shadows! Immortalspark: See you later, Smokescreen! Smokescreen: what?? but. I'm covered in biolights Thenightetc: Oooo, hard luck there. Smokescreen: hhhhhhhhhhhhh Thenightetc: woah what Thenightetc: welllllll have fun with that, I guess. Thenightetc: So what's with the well, wasn't that in a picture with someone standing beside it? Thenightetc: Is someone going to crawl out of there Immortalspark: another bear?? Knock Out: The Boot Lady who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago? Immortalspark: I'm glad you rescued that Thenightetc: I'm glad you didn't fall in. Thenightetc: ...I saw something moving Knock Out: Where did you see it? Thenightetc: Dunno.  But it looked like a sort of light humanoid figure walking hurriedly past Knock Out: That frightens me more than anything that's actually happened thus far. Thenightetc: (I'm afraid I have *no* sense of directing when watching someone else play.) Thenightetc: Well, it seemed to be going *away* from you... sorta. Cardinal: Greetings! Cardinal: Uh oh, one of THESE games. Thenightetc: You missed all the fun! Knock Out: Hello, Cardinal! Cardinal: Hello alternate! Cardinal: Also, awww. Thenightetc: Smokescreen went home to turn on all the lights.  Or possibly turn off all the lights. :) Cardinal: Is the moon after him again? Knock Out: Oh, I wouldn't say you missed much. Just a mysterious figure and Smokescreen's education on shadow beasts. Cardinal: Bless that boy. Thenightetc: I wonder what that weird tentacle-shaped thing is Thenightetc: I keep seeing it in the background. Knock Out: ...Interesting! Thenightetc: ...VERY INTERESTING Knock Out: DEAR SWEET SCRAP. Immortalspark: !! Thenightetc: Hey, I think it's that picture again! Thenightetc: And it... changes when you go up to it? Knock Out: Well, frag me flying! You're right! Thebes: Well that only has good implications Thebes: certainly nothing horrifying about this Thenightetc: What a lot of blood.  I'm sure nothing awful happened here. Knock Out: I liked the Swamp Mother more when she was an imaginary thing we made up to frighten Smokescreen. Thenightetc: Maybe our ~imagination~ made it real. Knock Out: ...I refuse to take away a lesson from that. Thenightetc: I'm busy imagining that she's going to go away and never come back. Immortalspark: teddy bear isn't saying "this place is unsettling" anymore Thenightetc: So when this happens, does it mean she's close, or Thenightetc: I hear humming again Thenightetc: Wait, are you sure the book isn't something you're supposed to pick up? Thenightetc: Yeah, that one Knock Out: ...You do it. Thenightetc: Just, it looked like the picture you went through to get here was of the mother reading a book to the daughter Thebes: It did look like that Thenightetc: ...Huh. Thenightetc: ...is the bear plotting to murder the mother Knock Out: "Child" my tailpipe. *I* shouldn't have to go through all this. Thenightetc: because I'm getting that feeling Thebes: that does seem to be what it is aiming at Thebes: ... 'aiming' Knock Out: I was going to suggest packing it in, but it looks like we're almost at the end. Knock Out: Should we try for it? Thenightetc: Yeah! Knock Out: That's the spirit! Immortalspark: go for it! Thenightetc: what the heck Immortalspark: ...what Knock Out: This couldn't have less to do with childhood. Immortalspark: I have very little frame of reference and even I was questioning that Immortalspark: though I imagine I would have had a lot of fun with a really long conveyor belt thingy with sheep on the side of it Thenightetc: ...picture of Swamp Mother? Knock Out: Or some variety of root vegetable. Thenightetc: You can see the resemblance, though, right Knock Out: I was going to suggest packing it in, but it looks like we're almost at the end. Knock Out: Should we try for it? Thenightetc: Yeah! Knock Out: That's the spirit! Immortalspark: go for it! Thenightetc: what the heck Immortalspark: ...what Knock Out: This couldn't have less to do with childhood. Immortalspark: I have very little frame of reference and even I was questioning that Immortalspark: though I imagine I would have had a lot of fun with a really long conveyor belt thingy with sheep on the side of it Thenightetc: ...picture of Swamp Mother? Knock Out: Or some variety of root vegetable. Thenightetc: You can see the resemblance, though, right Thenightetc: well, that sure is a shadow of some description Knock Out: Wasn't it just? Thenightetc: Why are there marks on the floor and ceiling there Knock Out: I've been wondering that myself. Immortalspark: hanging baby clothes Knock Out: Well, I'm stuck. Knock Out: ...And tempted to spend the right of my life in the closet. Immortalspark: green cabinets? yikes Knock Out: *The horror.* Immortalspark: truly Thenightetc: O_O Thenightetc: more drawings Knock Out: This had better nor turn into a Tattletail scenario where those drawings matter. Knock Out: *not Thebes: They probably do though Knock Out: And how is this infant humant scaling narrow boards and knocking down bottles with fruit? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most humanlings have trouble directing their fists to their mouths? Thenightetc: Possession? Knock Out: That works. Thebes: plus what if this stuff just... isn't actually happening? Thenightetc: Yeah, it did start when the toddler went to sleep Immortalspark: seems like some deranged nightmare thing Thenightetc: what IS all this black stuff everywhere Knock Out: Smears of the teamwork that brought us this far? Thenightetc: It's kind of like something squeezed into the corner between the wall and the floor and left those behind Thenightetc: Is this going to have something to do with the elephant the bear hid and made you find at the beginning Thenightetc: nnnnnnope Thenightetc: wait was that a death Immortalspark: that one was in a coat Thenightetc: what HAPPENED there Thenightetc: what the Immortalspark: oh Knock Out: Oh indeed. Immortalspark: the bear got it Thenightetc: ohhhh dear Knock Out: ...Well! Thenightetc: Well indeed Knock Out: That was an experience that brought no one joy. Thenightetc: Well put-together, though Cardinal: Yet we survived. Cardinal: Right? Knock Out: We did. We really did! Cardinal: Or did we. Immortalspark: do not fix the bear Knock Out: Was that a thing we were supposed to do? Immortalspark: the voice at the end said he would Immortalspark: ominously Thenightetc: ...I found what the song she was humming apparently was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIiuaXEZodE Immortalspark: I am left feeling that this is a bad idea Knock Out: EUGH! Thenightetc: ...Hey, that was the link in the thread, don't blame me. Knock Out: Well, at least it's a nice song. Knock Out: And the troll appears to be a better mother. Immortalspark: it does Knock Out: So! That was Among the Sleep. Knock Out: I wouldn't say that's a *good* place to leave it for tonight, but it's...a place? Thenightetc: I thought it was good.  Very atmospheric, resisted the temptation to kill the player every two minutes Cardinal: A place it is. Knock Out: Thank you all for coming and experiencing...that? With me? Thebes: Certainly can't argue that Thenightetc: ...and much better than the ink thing Immortalspark: much better Knock Out: Much, much better. Thenightetc: Thank you for the stream. :) Knock Out: Always a pleasure!

[firebirdsdaughter]

Well…

… What better thing to do when you feel like absolute crap in the morning and it’s starting to get too hot again? DX

Watch Ryusoulger! ^^ Subbed! XD

In no order and w/ many typos bc I am a dumb who stayed up to late and I have a headache. Also it’s almost eighty degrees here and I hate everything:

Aw, Asuna is playing games for snacks. ^^ Definitely think she has a very high metabolism.

This super cute, too, the kids hanging out and playing carnival games. Asuna asking Melto for advice. XD Ah, my babies.

Aw, it’s sweet that everyone claps.

A year’s worth of snacks is that little? I think they might be underestimating Asuna’s eating speed. And mine.

Melto’s pouting bc he feels like his advice wasn’t needed. Aw, don’t feel bad, sweetie, she wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t want to hear it.

Okay, this is fine. Could have been… Hm, but Asuna clearly wasn’t afraid at all, and looked annoyed, which is in line w/ her character, and Mori jumped in very quickly—which is what I was hoping for, bc no way you can make me believe Asuna actually needed saving, but it makes sense that someone seeing the situation from the outside would want to assist someone they thought was in trouble. In fact, I’d say that Mori just saved those guys’ lives. Like, pretty sure she’d’ve cold cocked on herself if he had been a little slower. XD

And then he starts fighting them, and Asuna’s just like ‘oh, okay, I guess this is happening now. *shrug*’

Honestly, he didn’t seem to need help, so I don’t blame her.

She knows what boxing is? I mean, not the strangest thing.

Aaaaaand… Crayon the mushroom man makes another entrance.

Every time we watch the opening, I’m reminded that we still don’t know who hooded man is… I mean, they’ve got time, but I’d love some more hints. And while we’re at it… Actually, never mind. I think everyone knows where I was going there. XD

That scene where he approached the brothers is really getting at me, though… Like, not even Touwa has mentioned it? Which makes me very curious/suspicious.

Honestly, I like the troll Minusaur’s design…

Did you two try to call the others?

Kou, you doof! Though I guess he didn’t know Mori was there.

I really like that Crayon has trouble controlling the Minusaurs, it’s a nice touch and usually leads to funny hijinks.

I guess it was the force of the explosion that sent them rolling like that. That’s what I’m going w/. No way a Ryusoulger would get detransformed from rolling down a hill.

Aw, she’s so sweet. I’m love her.

I really like how she can be silly, but also a really cool, strong sort of ‘big sister’ at the same time. Anky Mom raised her well. ^^

Touwa, don’t be so defeatist!

Kou! DX Honestly though, that’s kind of in character for him to so… Hyper-focused, I guess?

Asuna’s face, though! Honey, just grab him by the ear and pull, okay? That’ll shut him up.

Not you, too, Melto! DX Asuna, grab both their ears! Just smack them!

I’m glad the point here is that they were wrong to ignore her.

I don’t so much blame Banba and Touwa there, bc they were just kinda… There? They could’ve called the other two on it and didn’t, though.

I am now going to hyper obsess about a single line in regards to my ‘Banba becomes everyone’s rock’ view. Bc he totally just kind of ‘reground’ the discussion there. XD

Touwa and Banba don’t even go here. XD It’s okay, I don’t think Banba plans on eating anything. He just got up bc everyone else did.

Aw, Tyramigo’s trying to comfort her! You’re right, sweetie. Good to try and be proactive. I say, like a bloody hypocrite.

It might have been wiser to go back in and smack them, but she’s justifiably annoyed at them so it makes sense she wouldn’t.

On the one hand, that drawing looks pretty good from where I’m sitting, on the other, I’m a perfectionist, too. And maybe the issue isn’t that it’s not ‘good,’ it’s that it’s not what he ‘wants’ it to be?

Asuna here w/ the very direct line of questioning.

Don’t tell him that! Though I do appreciate that the whole ‘she says the wrong thing/speaks too bluntly sometimes’ thing is more subtle. Like w/ what she said to Melto before and here. It’s not there all the time.

Other thing I like about this, is that it’s not ‘the girl can’t beat the Minusaur alone.’ It’s that ‘no one can beat the Minusaur.’ Yes, they fare a little better when there’s more of them, but it’s not bc Asuna is a ‘girl’ or at all ‘weaker.’ It’s that this Minusaur is quite strong. It wasted Kou and Melto before, too. Also the fact that it’s just reflecting their own power back at them (multiplied, too, I believe), means that it’s using their own strength against them. So the stronger the attack, the more damage the reflection does. After all, Asuna does absolutely fine on her own later, and even frightens the current General, and it takes three of them and the Kishiryu and some strategy to beat the Minusaur (and some of Asuna’s luck).

A plus mediation, Kou. You guys can discuss this later.

Crayon should really learn to watch his mouth w/ the Generals…

Wyzul’s incurable need for theatrics will become his undoing. By pissing off Asuna.

The fact that Banba does everything just slightly slower than the others, from drawing his sword to charging the Minusaur, just to be that much sexier is vexing and I love it.

Wonder what varsity jacket did to make Mori so pissed at him? Or… Is he a coach or something? If he’s a coach, he needs to be fired, though.

Wait, did art boy offer to punch a dude for Mori so that Mori could fight in an upcoming boxing match, but someone would still punch the dude? That’s so sweet, oh my god. DX

Nah, man, Asuna’s right. I think you’re overreacting a little. I say, like I don’t overreact every day of my life.

I’m sobbing. Anky Mom raised a good girl. Asuna is a princess and a damn wonderful big sis. She’s still dad friend of the trio, though.

Banba is dad friend of the whole team.

Melto is mom friend no matter where he is.

I feel like these three’s reactions are telling of their personalities. XD Kou just takes one to the face, Touwa dodges a bit the ducks for cover, and Banba blocks a little but stands his ground and somehow manages to avoid being hit by… I dunno, sheer power of sexiness?

I think I regret getting used to that word.

This is very much dramatic irony. It’s pretty obvious to the audience that it’s Wyzul—but Mori doesn’t know about Wyzul at all, or that he can shapeshift, Asuna knows about Wyzul and that he can shapeshift, but has no reason to think he’s here. I mean, sure, Minusaur, but Crayon has gotten left to his own devices before. And they haven’t seen him yet. Asuna isn’t the suspicious type, either.

Where they just letting Kou wail on it while they watched. I mean, I guess more eyes are likely to notice something, but it’s just funny.

Ah, it’s her injured wrist, that probably made things harder. It does seem like she makes conscious decisions when to put her whole strength into things, most of the time, w/ only the occasional slip ups.

Hey, not a bad plan, Kou. MistSoul is pretty noncombative.

Yeah, but not all the attacks went through his… You know what, I don’t care. In the positive way. I don’t care for positive reasons.

I love how they just let Kou wail on it again in Kishiryu Oh. Though I guess they couldn’t form anything w/out Asuna and Ankyrose.

Asuna here w/ the princess carry. True knight in shining armour. ^^

The new mecha suit actor is really good. The torch has been well passed. ^^

Also, pour one out for the miniature city set designers and builders! Technically physically possible, whatever! That was impressive! And how many times must they have had to build and test everything. And then there’s the effects. O_o I salute you, folks.

Oh, yeah, and… It’s HAMMER TIME!

Asuna for one of the best big sisters ever award. DX

I love Naohisa and his ‘ah! places!’ reaction to Asuna coming in. XD

They made a sign? And why is Ui wearing a helmet? I’m so confused. But this is so cute, gods love them.

Not all of them are smiling, dude. Banba has to keep glaring, it’s in his contract.

No it, it’s not. But he’s def not smiling yet. One day he is gonna smile, though, and I am going to implode.

 Okay, but has DimeVolcano just been wandering the forest giving deadly quiz shows? Is that what’s been happening?

Kinda like how the preview is like ‘yeah, new power next week!’ right off the bat instead of being all ‘mysterious’ about it or something. XD

Okay, who implemented a quiz into a Kishiryu? Why? Why does it rampage if you answer wrong? This seems like poor seal design, Ryusoul predecessors…

And apparently he can talk. They taught the Kishiryu to talk so that it could give quizzes. This seems like a lot of effort.

And the fact that the quiz thing is apparently such a thing that it’s featured in the historical writings that were found by palaeontologists.

Also they got my boys in the house again—I don’t know why I love that so much, but I do—and I just noticed Touwa is holding a mug. For some reason this is so important to mea, I will be including a picture at the bottom

Really curious as to how the quiz scene goes down, bc there’s shots of what seem to be Crayon and Myzul trying it, and shots of the trio trying it, but… What happened to the brothers? They’re there on approach, and there’s a shot in the online preview that seems to indicate they’re there in the scene where they’re talking to DimeVolcano, but they seem to disappear. Very curious what the actual scenario is.

That’s all, folks! Virtual fondu for anyone who read all that. I liked this episode very much, Asuna is wonderful and I love her to pieces. I was a little apprehensive when I first read the summary, but I think they handled it fine. Asuna did get to call the boys out for not listening to her/taking her seriously, which was nice. Sad we didn’t get Anky Mom, but there’s plenty of time for her to come back at some other point. Find it hilarious that Banba insists on sitting w/ his back to everyone during discussions. I am totally over obsessing over minor things, but I’m choosing to interpret that tiny moment (where he was like ‘but first, we need to figure out it’s weakness’) as something to indicate he’s becoming the ‘rock’ of the team. Kinda like Hikari? W/ the whole ‘anchor’ thing? He’s the most sort of… Like, ‘down to earth’? In a way? Like, they all absolutely can focus and be ‘serious’ and sensible about things, but they can also kinda ‘wander off’? Kou, Touwa, and Asuna will rush into things, each in their own way, Melto overthinks, so on and so on. Goodness knows what kind of nonsense Kanaro will get up to. And Banba can be the grumpy, stubborn, often taciturn rock that supports and anchors them. Did any of that make sense?

Bonus:

Touwa holding a mug. Bc it’s somehow funny and cute to me and almost implies the boys came over for lunch or breakfast or something.

Have also remembered my random thought about the possibility of Wyzul masquerading as one of the team this ep. I feel like the new info makes it a little unlikely, but not impossible. They’ve got a hostage, yes, but Wyzul does like to be tricky—case in point, last time they had a hostage. So it’s not impossible.

[firebirdsdaughter]

When you wish you were asleep…

… Watch raws! XD

Actually, I still kind of wish I was asleep. Maybe I’ll grab a nap after this. (-_-)

But on to my children!

In no order and w/ many typos:

Okay, look. Wyzul’s not ‘weak,’ he’s just meant to have essentially the opposite style of Tankjoh. He’s a ‘planner.’ The manipulative, cunning ‘evil genius type.’ Doesn’t mean anyone has to like him, or think he’s a good villain—hell, I promise you I already miss Tankjoh, too—but he’s not ‘weak.’ He just has a different style. His plan this week was actually rather clever.

Sorry. Wanted to get that off my chest. I miss Tankjoh, too, but I actually like that they followed him w/ a general w/ an opposite style, that the one time Tankjoh kind of tried it, it got him killed (the plan w/ the Cerberus Minusaur).

XD TOUWA. Oh, honey. Who put you in the back? ^^

Knowing the twist makes this whole thing all the more hilarious, somehow.

Though this plan was actually rather clever! If Cardena hadn’t had a few slips in her words… Though admittedly, she was so clearly anxious about it that Banba and/or Melto might have caught onto something anyway, but… It was close.

Banba’s become naturally suspicious, so he may have doubted them anyway, but… It could’ve worked.

Poor Touwa’s so short. And even Banba is kinda hiding in the back there! XD

Other facts about Banba: Google Earth, always taking pics.

Ah, yes, we’re sneaking in. Let us yell, loudly! XD Ah, Toku…

Odd place to keep things, honestly…

There’s something incredibly goofy about the fact that this confrontation is taking place in a cramped stairwell…

They forgot the little men for Banba and Touwa’s transformations. XD

Everyone else is in the middle of fighting a Drunn. Banba has alreday freaking killed his. ><

I think Touwa just asked Wyzul to repeat himself bc they didn’t catch it the first time. And Asuna just figured it out? Uncertain.

Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. I guess it’s Pink??? But she looks purple???

Curse my inability to put an image in the middle of a bulleted list! Curse my attachment to bullet points! DX

I’ll put it at the bottom?

Touwa here, stealing the monster’s lines. XD

Rip unnamed Drunn.

I’m confused as to whether Cardena was trying to tip them off, or just conflicted and getting anxious. Most likely the latter, as she didn’t seem to understand they’d figured it out later.

My watching experience is foiled once more by how INCURABLY BEAUTIFUL TATSUYA IS! DX

Now she’s getting the hairy eyeball from both big brother/dad and mom. XD Deception check failed.

Is that a thing?

They are dunking on this man so hard. I mean, he doesn’t seem to mind, but…

I really hope that smirk really was just Tatsuya and wasn’t planned. I like how they had trouble getting the ‘towel scene’ (a line ad libbed by Simon Pegg) bc Zachary Quinto kept laughing, so they just went w/ a scene where he jus barely smirks and they cut away real fast. This is smaller, scale, of course, it’s very low key and I only noticed it bc I am almost always watching Banba in any given scene, but it’s funny to think it was unscripted.

Aw, I thought Dad was an alright singer. Also, love Ui’s face here. ^^ And she tries to comfort him, such a sweetheart.

Aw, Touwa also looks like he’s finding it cute, too. ^^ I’m still thinking of Touwa and Ui as the ‘babies’ of the fam. Resident youngest sibs. :)

Nah, Banba doesn’t trust this situation enough to start stabbing people, don’t worry, Kou.

Pretty sure he’s just looking for an excuse to leave, actually.

Melto takes the opportunity to go full mom friend.

Banba’s like ‘so one of you was paying attention.’

There’s never any indication here if Touwa figured it out, too. I’m inclined to think he didn’t? But I don’t know.

Why must Tatsuya persist in being so attractive??? DX

Okay, guess it’s confirmed they can call Ui from the braces. … How. Did they program her number into them? Is there some frequency that they tapped her phone into?

Also, largely unrelated, but Ui is really pretty. She really is. She makes goofy faces sometimes, but this actress is really beautiful. I’m love her. ^^

She’s jack awful at lying, though.

Though it is justified that no one caught on, here. How would Wyzul know how modern human technology works? And Cardena’s an alien. And neither of them know Ui very well. She could be like this all the time for all they know.

But also… Did Melto text her? How did she know to leave her phone?

I say Cardena didn’t catch on bc she doesn’t seem to have realised that they knew later.

Tall Cheese seems to be having a good time hamming it up, and that is valid of her.

Really, though. There’s no way they would have actually released Tall Cheese, if this had worked. That’s not Short Cheese’s fault, she didn’t have many options, but I highly doubt Wyzul intended to honour any sort of deal.

I realise I shamefully remembered Short Cheese’s name in the rest of this post. Whoops. I’d go back and fix it, but now it’s funny… ^^;

Oh, yeah. And this explains why Tall Cheese was looking so evil in those photos.

So… Was Wyzul actually just sitting chained up in the park the whole time?

But also… Wyzul is a shapeshifter. Toei, would you mind…? >:)

Synchronised staring at Kou. XD

Oh, yeah. Moment of appreciation for Tatsuya sitting on the bloody playground equipment like a freaking model.

Banba going for a low blow, there. But he has a point.

And… Kou hits a button. We’ve only really seen Banba be this angry when yelling at Crayon the Mushroom Man about curing Touwa, I think… Makes me wonder if the betrayal he suffered happened in a situation like this? He took a risk for someone in a similar fashion, but it turned out they were lying and stabbed him in the back? Like, loosely similar, maybe. Like… Kou’s reaction clearly hits a nerve.

GAH! Toei, give me more to go on! DX

He backs down, though. Either bc he’s still soft for sibling relationships and can’t help it, or he’s getting soft about Kou—or both. This makes me think even more that he’s never killed anyone before. For all his apparent willingness to do so, in the end he can’t got through w/ sacrificing someone like that.

Esp not when considering it while staring into Kou’s sad puppy eyes.

As Touwa mysteriously vanishes from the shot, despite being exceedingly close by a moment ago.

Though… Banba seeing the fact that Kou et al. being willing to sacrifice what’s important to them for what’s important to others… And seeming kinda effected by that… Is kinda fuel for my ‘he ends up trying to protect their innocence/kindness’ idea? In, like… A ‘I’m the expendable one’ kinda way? Not exactly, but… Augh, explaining is hard. I’m sure I’ll think of one later. DX

Like… Could lead to a moment later where he tries to sacrifice himself/something so that they don’t have to? Or forcibly decides to be the sacrifice for something.

Oh, boy, that sounded weird.

Tyramigo is adorable, and will be the death of me.

Tyramigo be like ‘Is this the bomb I’m meant to eat?’ Then checks w/ Kou just to be sure. ‘Eat the bomb? Okay, eat the bomb!’

Him going ‘aaaaaaaah’ like a little baby, he’s so cute. DX

And how it awkwardly cuts out when she says ‘don’t.’ XD

HOW DID SHE NOT CATCH ON? Either her lysing skill improved significantly, or she completely misunderstood Kou’s nod here.

HOW DID HE SWALLOW HE HAS NO THROAT. O_o

They are dunking this poor man so hard… But, like, he’s listed as a special guest star, so I guess he doesn’t mind, and he seems happy, but… XD

Banba in the back: Google Earth, always taking pics.

Actually, that’s him at any given moment, really.

So… Were those copies of them, too?

Kou, you do not get to call people ‘baka.’ You are the baka!

I don’t actually know what he said. Could have been a different word.

Where were they hiding? Did they hang off the edge of the roof? Stairwell?

Banba not only refuses to smile, he sighs like he’s only there under duress.

He maintains his carefully practiced grumpy face for the whole scene, too. XD

Aw, I think Touwa just said ‘we barely did anything.’ Honey, I watched the flashback, you were the other person making copies.

Synchronised brother head tilt. Seriously, they’re at exactly the same angle. Ah, family. XD

Touwa loves it, Banba is required by contract to keep glaring.

His little awkward looking at the ground after, like ‘shit they’re cute’ what do I do??’… ^^ XD <3

They did do great, though. Plus he knew they’d never leave him alone if he didn’t do something there. XD But he is getting fond of them. Will probably be in denial until something happens and then have a freak out. Maybe it won’t even be that big, maybe it will just be Gold shows up and he finds himself getting protective. But I like big. ^^

Oh, please let Gaisoulg be who I hope it it… >.<

Aaaah! They’re so pretty! DX

So… Is it still a Minusaur if it didn’t come from a human?

What’s this? Minusaur is evolving!

Wait… So so they all turn into dragons when they complete????

I guess they didn’t tell her how Minusaurs actually work.

MAH BABIES!

How did we get down on the ground? Who knows. Toku.

The others go w/ proper combat Souls. Touwa and Kou use the balloon Soul and the shiny Soul. At least one of those kinda makes sense.

Aw, she’s self conscious. ^^

What I think I love most is that she’s clearly putting conscious effort into being out of tune. Which she can do bc the actress actually knows how to sing. XD

Asuna playing the drums is SO CUTE. I’M GONNA DIE.

I love how Melto explaining implied the brothers asked.

And the fact that you can just hear her in the background through the whole scene.

I realise it was Wyzul impersonating her, but it seems like something he might pick up from the real her to make it more believable. Plus Short Cheese had a a name for it, making it more likely.

Gods love her, she’s putting so much effort into it.

Banba briefly checking on Touwa when he rejoins them. ^^ I love this family.

Short Cheese thanks everyone, and the kids smile, but Banba gets embarrassed. XD

Oh dear. Wyzul knows we’re in a TV show…

Ui playing the demanding voice instructor is ADORABLE. XD

Kou and Melto in the corner imitating Banba. XD

Next week, looks like Melto is piloting Kishiryu Oh alone, Biker Dad returns (as an illusion), and the kids get stuck in Wonderland when Banba turns his back on them for five minutes.

I’m kidding, I don’t actually know if his subplot is at all related to Wonderland. All it says is that he’s dealing w/ an ‘antiques dealer.’ I have this wild theory that what the summary means is that ‘Wonderland’ is inside a box (the chest that’s referenced in the title and is the goal of the ‘attraction’), and then Banba also ends up chasing it around. Alternatively, he could just end up in a situation where he’s wandering around like ‘have you seen five brightly dressed dork children? I left them right here, but I looked away for one minute and they all disappeared.’ Or he doesn’t know at all. The magazine did say something about him doing things alone… Maybe he’ll get himself into trouble and they’ll have to come save him in episode 10. I mean, we know he’s gonna get a plot about not doing everything himself eventually.

I’ll leave everyone w/ this thought: the shapeshifting Druidon general now knows where the Tatsuis live.

That’s all, folks! Virtual rock candy for anyone who read all that. Excited for next week. I hope we get episode summaries for the next few eps, soon, as that might give me more of an idea as to whether I was actually right. I like the idea of Banba chasing a box that may or may not have his younger siblings in it around the city and drama that could ensue. But they could go other ways w/ this subplot. Like… Maybe the antiques dealer is the hooded person? Or Banba is trying to investigate the hooded person? Or it’s Gaisoulg (please be who I want you to be, Gaisoulg!)? Or an early cameo of Gold? Or a Druidon? Or a completely inconsequential side character. Who knows.

Oh, yeah! Purple chibi!

Though… I guess it’s Pink? It… It looks purple, though… Wait. Could it be… Magenta?

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: NMNL April 19

Welcome to our next April review!

So uh, moving wise.... still no clue what’s going on. But for now let’s just focus on what’s in the box.

“Whether you’re busy with school or work, It’s important to take a break so every now and then. And because everyone deserves to have a relaxing evening, April’s box includes beauty products that are just what you need to pamper yourself. Exfoliate, moisturize, and relax with your face mask, it’s time to have a spa night!“

Contest Prizes

This month, the winners can get a hatomugi cleansing foam and Shiseido Elixir anti-aging sleeping pack in Sakura.

Glam Gift

This month the glam gift includes some cutesy items from Holika Holika and The SAEM, with the Holika items based on the Peko snack brand and includes things like face masks, lip balm, eye shadow, and a milky bun puff. The SAEM has lip tint, hand cream, and a highlighter in multi-color. 

Meanwhile, this months horoscope is a Japanese or Korean 2019 trend recommendation. Mine, Libra, suggests orange lipstick- which I really honestly don’t think I could pull off at all. I barely think I can pass with coral shades.

To-Plan Shea Butter Body Lotion & Morning Surprise Hand Cream

For our first item we have this cute little bottle of body lotion made from shea butter and several other nourishing ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, olive oil, and collagen to seal water into the skin to keep it moisturized. It’s also fast-absorbing, so it’s perfect to use after a bath or shower.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It smells very lovely~ I’m not really sure what scent I’m picking up, but it reminds me a lot of what my cucumber-scented Num-Noms smell like ♥ In terms of the quality the lotion has a creamy-fluffy texture and it does absorb really quickly. I do see a tiny hint of greasy residue on my fingers if I rub where I applied it, but I noticed its not leaving streaks or smears on anything I accidentally bump, like in the case of some other lotions. Not sticky at all.

It’s very soothing to put on, and I did use it after my shower recently and I think it did a great job x3 my skin felt so good all day.

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Next up we have another lotion product but this is a hand cream. It was available in Monroe Peach or Princess Snail (who looks like Snow White, might have been intentional, I don’t know). I was a bit conflicted over which one I wanted, because I’ve already had Monroe Peach (it’s really nice and smelled great), but... the idea of using a product with Snail in it seemed kind of strange to me. Like, I thought they might hurt the snails to get it and what was what worried me, but most snail-based products use their “excrement“, like the slime or something. Which is still kinda weird, but not harmful to them.

So anyway as you can tell, I got princess snail. Like our previous item this also includes olive oil and shea butter, but with the addition of snail extract or peach (depending on which one you get).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I never really have a problem with these hand creams, they usually all do their job and smell good. I loved my Monroe Peach so I didn’t have any doubts this would be that different besides the scent, and I was pretty much right. It feels really good on my hands, they feel soft, and the scent is pretty good, in an odd sense. I can’t really identity it or compare it to anything.

Peking Opera Sheet Mask

Next we have a face mask by Berrisom, based on the King and Queen roles of Chinese Opera. The Queen mask features red wine and adenosine and focuses on improving skin elasticity, radiance, and hydration, while the King mask features pearl and arbutin and focuses on brightening, treating blemishes, and hydrating the skin. Both masks are made from 100% cotton (which reminds me of Scream 3 every time I hear it :P), making them a good choice for sensitive skin.  

With my skin problems usually just being dryness, both make a good option as they focus on hydration.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Initially I was a little concerned over how this would fit because of it being a thinner mask, but it opened easy and I had no trouble getting it on my face. It actually fit really good too and clung to my face the entire time. My face felt really nice after using it too.

In terms of scent... it was kind of perfumey, but after I took it out of the package and used it, I could pick up a bit of a... mineral, charcoal-ish smell? It was pretty light and not overbearing at all.

House-Shaped Makeup Sponges

For on the go or just using at home (see what I did there? :P) we have a set of extremely popular sponges from Japan. Not only does their shape make them really versatile for getting the harder spots of the face, but they don’t overly absorb product. The booklet suggests using it damp for things like liquid foundations and creams, but dry for powders.

These were available in pink, or a peachy skin-tone color.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Despite getting makeup sponges I tend not to use them, like at all. I don’t know why, I just tend to go straight for my fingers or brush (the one that I now have 2 of, I reviewed it a long time ago). But for the sake of review, I moistened the sponge and used it to test both foundation and blush (that side left dry of course).

I actually really like it :D it did take me a few minutes to moisten the sponge but it was practically a miracle worker. The foundation really was easier to apply, and it feels like it soaked into my skin fairly quickly, so my face isn’t greasy or sticky or anything- it’s seriously making me reconsider the sponge. I didn’t have any foundation streaks that I had to fix, and the sponge does a good job of lining those hard spots. My face actually feels nicer than it did before I put it on oddly enough.

However, with the blush... I feel like it was less successful. It might be because I use a light shade, I’m not sure, but I felt like it was way more effort and kind of un-necessary. So I will probably, exclusively just use these for foundation and such.

(Just a warning, if anything resembling blood triggers anyone I’d suggest skipping the next picture~)

Water Candy Lip Tint

I was really excited to get this :3 I love these cutesy facial products and I’m so happy we get them now. I’ve seen this several times (especially for slime coloring. It works really good) and of course I really wanted one (I say that a lot but its the truth).

This is available in several varieties and flavors/scents, but the box focused on 5 different red-themed ones; like cherry, watermelon, apple, etc. I would have been happy with any but I got cherry. The booklet says these are matte, and its essentially right once it begins drying on the lips, so you could put a gloss over them if you wanted. These also moisturize the lips with hyaluronic acid and honey extract.

Now, before I rate it I have a little bit of a funny story. Right after I took the picture I noticed this dripped on the carpet o_o but surprisingly, this color blended in very well with it. I used the next item to clean up the few drops and in no time it cleaned them up!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Because of my pale my skin is (it looks darker in these pictures), I always worry that vibrant red wouldn’t look too good on me. But I can’t say I hated this, I think it looks pretty, and when partially rubbed off it has an even prettier pink hue. By the time it dries it also looks pinkish.

Now as a warning, this cherry scent... smells a lot like cherry medicine. So if you’re triggered by that or have any issues with cherry medicine you won’t like this. I actually like the smell though, I can’t say cherries or cherry flavoring was ever ruined for me either. It has a bit of sweetness on the lips, which by the way, feel a little weird after putting it on. I’m not sure why.

But obviously there is that little problem. Because this is a lip tint, it took it about 20 minutes to completely dry and stop staining. So if you’re impatient or need something quicker I’m not sure this is a good choice.

Stress Relieving Pureful Cleansing Wipes

Next up we have these cleansing wipes by the brand Ariul. Besides being a nice, refreshing wipe, these also moisturize the skin and remove waterpoorf makeup, micro dust, etc. These are also good for sensitive skin and use nothing artificial.

As I mentioned above, these also remove makeup from the carpet. They have a... sort of cleaning lemon fizzyish scent.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Well first of all I love the scent, it’s amazing and such a pick-me-up~

My skin feels cooled and refreshed, and it removes makeup pretty good too. Definitely better than just using a regular wet wipe.

Foot Scrub Sponge & Konnyaku Face Sponge

Our second to final item is this foot scrubbing sponge by Lucky Wink. This sponge is double-sided to fit both uses of exfoliating and healing dry or cracked skin, especially around the heels. It’s a lot easier on the skin than a pumice stone, which can sometimes scratch the skin or irritate it. It can be used wet or dry.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I had a particular rough Monday and was on my feet for most of it- so they really needed this. Initially I wasn’t that sure if it was helping, but I can start seeing one after using it a few more times. I love it! 

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Our final item for the box is this face sponge made from Konnyaku (asian potato) to exfoliate and massage the skin while using it, removing dead skin cells and dirt from pores to leave the skin feeling smooth. Just make sure you wash it well before using the first time. It’s 100% natural.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I don’t know, I never really feel much of a difference using these types of sponges. They feel pretty nice, and it’s really fun how bouncy they are; but eventually they shrivel up and dry out.

It’s okay...

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. Everything is practical and I love most of the items; everything did its job, I didn’t really see any sort of quality problems or issues or anything.

Theme: 4 out of 5. Everything about these items screams spa night- but the lip tint and house applicators aren’t really spa NIGHT in my opinion, you don’t put on makeup when you’re preparing for bed or just pampering yourself with relaxing items you know? They’re more or less for the next day.

Total Rank: 9 out of 10. I’m not sure if I liked this box less than or about the same as I did the last box, I kind of feel like I liked it a smidge better. As I said, the items are fit with the theme exception for 2 of them, but I thought they were all pretty good and work checking out if any interested you. The online shop for these boxes usually has in the beauty items, including some they don’t even put in them ;o

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Body Lotion - Probably the 2nd best smelling thing in the box (next to the wipes), I love how my skin feels after using it.

2. Stress Relieving Wipes - The smell is so pleasant, and I really like how useful and compact these are. I can pop them in my purse or just keep them in the car if I wanted to.

3. Foot Sponge - I was pretty surprised by how decently this has been helping my heels. I really like it. Plus it comes in a cute shape.

4. House Makeup Sponges - Not only are they cute, but it worked very well! I’m impressed and I seriously plan to start using makeup sponges more often!

5. Water Candy Lip Tint - I really like this, but at the same time its a bit of a nuisance... I find the smell to be intoxicating~

6. Face Mask - It smells really good, and it was pretty soothing. I think it was really nice.

7. Hand Cream - I like it and all, but I already have a whole bunch of hand creams at this point and in terms of smell and feel, I’d say its average.

8. Konnyaku Face Sponge - Probably the item I’ll use least out of everything honestly. It’s not bad though, and I think they’re neat to look at and feel.