#Obligatory Back To the Future reference

[luminacerin]

The cast of PIDW could not handle Shen Yuan shredding ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ on the guqin.

Honourable mention to Shang Qinghua on vocals.

SY: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it.”

[beefjumper]

Life Series but beefburgered

Hello my tumblr 👋 I'm not dead, I've just been fandom jumping then felt the urge to make somewhat of a reference sheet for the lifers for future use. Yap session about the designs below:

Grian: Very standard Grian. You can smell the Cherrifire influence in this one. I imagine the turtleneck being wide enough to hide his mouth behind as he stares menacingly into the distance. His eyebrows are practically fused with his eyes but it's probably best not to think about it too much. I have considered placing a literal waffle on the back of his head but it might be tedious to draw continuously.

Scar: Everytime I draw Scar he looks weird. It might be because I'm not too good with longer faces, but that's how I'd imagine the character looks like. I think I'll switch up this design a lot as his eyes and hair bug me sometimes. Maybe experiment with the scars too. Artists make him look really cool as an explosion victim.

Mumbo: The slicked back hair looks right. Extra strand sticking out to make him look a bit disheveled. I wonder if I should commit to making him look more goth/vampire-like. He gets a tiny mullet because it fits.

Jimmy: Wanted to make him look a bit bird-like so I tried to express that with the back of his head. I hope he looks pathetic enough.

Joel: Fairly shrek-like. I wanted to make him look grumpy so he has a shorter and broader build. Also decided that one green hair streak wasn't enough for my satisfaction. His brown coat has a honeycomb pattern, but that's not too obvious. Also, he is shorter than Lizzie.

Scott: Pretty sparkly guy. I wanted him to look quite friendly. He actually has thick eyelashes here instead of eyeshadow but I'm not against that idea either. Kind of miss his Last Life skin.

Impulse: I don't watch Impulse too much so this design was based on some common interpretations of him. The horns are a cute idea.

Skizz: Very standard Skizzleman design. The ripped sleeves and the arms are probably my favorite thing. Maybe I should add more hair on the arms.

Tango: People tend to draw him really different, so I took aspects from designs I liked and put it here. Both his sclera and shades ended up being red, but I thought the sclera was iconic and the design looks more interesting with shades on. I'm not sure if I'd prefer for Tango's hair to literally be made out of fire. I tried making it resemble fire instead.

Etho: Attempted to make him a contender for Top 10 Hottest Anime Men. I'm always interested to see how people work around his definitely unrecognizable Minecraft skin (sarcastic). Like other designs, I think I'll add a maple leaf on his clothes or something.

Bdubs: He looks more terrifying than I intended but that might be the point. Might change his hairstyle here. I'd like to draw his white-haired skin at some point.

Cleo: Very standard ZombieCleo design. The hair was based on their VTuber but I decided to use the clothes from their Minecraft skin. The stitches are the fun part. I might make her hair curlier.

Martyn: Very standard InTheLittleWood design. You can smell the Cherrifire influence in this one ×2. The little beard is a wonderful addition I think.

Ren: Picking between black or cyan shades was tough. He also gets an obligatory ponytail because uhm. Tail. Dog. Get it? I also took a good while figuring out how I should go about his ears. I wasn't satisfied with human ears but I needed the shades to fit somehow. You can smell the Cherrifire influence in this one ×3

Lizzie: Yes, I have watched Empires S1 and S2 and it shows. Whoever first decided to give Lizzie cat-like buns should be given an award. I like the idea of heart-shaped buns too so maybe I'll alternate on that.

BigB: Very standard Bigbst4tz2 design. Don't let his friendly interaction with Lizzie fool you but he tends to stare into your soul for uncomfortably long periods of time. The highlights in his eyes come and go.

Gem: Very standard GeminiTay design. She probably has my favorite skin among this batch. I heard there was a shortage of elf Gem (there isn't) and I have decided to contribute to that (because there's no such thing as too many elf Gems).

Pearl: Inside Pearl are two wolves and I decided to draw the one that's sopping wet. Her hair has a few crescent-shaped curls. I'm definitely looking forward to drawing her more intimidating side sometime.

Overall I was hoping to make the designs simple and mostly accurate to skins/pfps. Nothing too special, other than a few pointy ears I sprinkled around here and there. I might add more to the designs the more I draw them.

[flawseer]

3000 AS character drawings

(Clearsight, Listener, Thoughtful)

I suppose this might be a new collage? Probably not a complete one, but I would like to draw some of the characters from this time period that I liked or found otherwise notable.

I wanted to include Clearsight's parents in this post, but the prospect of drawing five full-body pictures of dragons in one post filled me with some kind of emotion, so if I do that, it'll likely happen later.

Clearsight

The mother of pantaloons herself. She is described as slender, beautiful, and as having purple eyes. The graphic novels so far have one depiction of a Nightwing using future-sight and it shows her eyes glowing an eerie white while she does it. Clearsight's method of using her clairvoyance is very unorthodox, but I like to imagine she still gets this effect when she looks ahead at future events. Only in her case it looks less ominous and much more casual. I picture her sitting at the dinner table with her eyes lighting up every few minutes, until her mother finally goes "now dear, we've agreed; no future-vision during meal time." So she sighs and silently continues eating her beet salad.

Also, obligatory mention that the silver scale in the center of her forehead is, once again, a reference to my partner @flamebringer0 's theory about Nightwing powers and indicates the presence of prophetic powers, like eye scales would mark a mind reader.

Listener

Clearsight's bestie is described as large, long-necked, and curvy, and seems like a good extroverted foil to someone who spends most of her time cooped up inside her own head. She comes across as a bit of a romance-obsessed airhead, but some of the things she tells Clearsight are actually pretty reasonable, and I like to think Clearsight becomes more appreciative of Listener's ideas and influence once she departs the continent and they are separated.

Apparently she later writes a scroll about Clearsight being the most brilliant prophet who ever lived. I would like to know how that affected her life, considering the Nightwing tribe probably remembers Clearsight as "that lady who was fawning over the crazed warlock we all ran away from". Did Listener catch push-back for publishing a laudatory script about someone like that?

Thoughtful

Here is glass boy. The book describes him as handsome with circular glasses. I accidentally drew him a bit more chubby than I intended, but honestly, I think it suits him. He looks very pleasant and friendly, which seems to be in line with his general character. I am actually very happy with how this drawing turned out.

Also, he is not bipedal in this picture. He is resting his weight on his two hind legs and tail. I think of this as "tripod stance"; it's a body posture a dragon can assume to free up their front legs to do precision work. It is relatively stable, but grows uncomfortable if you stay that way for too long (tail cramp).

Also, you can't really walk like that. To walk on their hind legs with any kind of proficiency, a dragon has to place both of their wings on the ground to substitute their front limbs.

[echantedtoon]

A Lovers' Circle (Poly Haishira x Reader) Ch7 Date Weekend: Sunday

(Or alternative title- Obligatory anime shopping montage. Just an excuse for Y/n to get to know everyone before the real romance starts. I'm using the chart above as headcannons ages for Sanemi's sibs for a modern au for future reference. Short chapter. 

Warnings for some nudity mentioned but nothing NSFW.

Hearts conquered so far: Mitsuri and Gyomei and secretly Kanae.)

Taglist: @shadyd3ar @jcrml @tengensangel

@miniverse-zen @mysteri0uz

Remember if you want to be added to the taglist lemme know

Bright sunlight shown down from the sky and illuminated the entire world in a nice warm glow. Soon fall would be hear turning the leaves shades of yellows, reds, oranges, and brown. Cold weather would soon follow after with the spookiest day of the year right around the year before eventually snow would fall and bring with it icy sidewalks and the likelihood of being pelted by snowballs. 

So it was a good idea to get out and enjoy the warm weather while you could.

"Dammit! Im fine!" Obanai scrunched up his face and narrowed his eyes but didn't stop his girlfriend from pushing his bangs from his face to frown at him.

"But what if you get lost?"

"We're going on a hiking trip to see a waterfall and then we're going to the movies," he deadpanned, "It's not like we're going skydiving."

"I know but what if you run into a wolf? Or a wild bear?! "

His hands were held up bluntly. "We'll be fine. It's not the first time we've been in the woods. You go have fun at the mall."

She still frowned at him but didn't argue- Only reach over to give him a big kiss to his forehead leaving a red lipstick mark he'd wipe off later. Right now they were in front of the local park waiting for everyone else to arrive. Most of them were already there, minus Shinobu who needed to wrap up some last minute emails concerning her part time job at an office and Gyomei who was coming by bus after picking up his .. Girlfriend? Did she count as his girlfriend if they've only been on three dates? He guessed they were still just casually dating right now and testing the waters. Y/n seemed like a nice girl or 'unicorn' as Shinobu put it but he still wasn't too sure what to think..She seemed ok at least to him. Maybe that'll change later but who knows?

The sounds of the park around them continued through the air as kids ran around giggling and squealing their little heads off playing. Swings to be swung, slides to slide, and jungle gyms to climb. Lots of little smiles on little cute faces running around playing or toddling after parents walking around. Or in Sanemi's case allowing his little brothers and sisters to be climb all over him where he stood eating an energy bar in one hand while his other arm was slowly lifted up and down with two little boys and one little girl clinging to him. Three of his little siblings with a fourth standing just standing off to the side. The second oldest other than himself. No doubt babysitting a few of their little siblings today.

Kanae was letting one of their other little sisters mess with her hair and admire how pretty she was. She was rather pretty. However the sounds of a little PING sound took his attention off his friends and towards the pocket on Mitsuri's right side as her hand automatically dug out her phone and looked at the screen. 

"It's Shino! She says she's running late so she's just heading to the mall to meet us there."

"Oh. That's convenient." He didn't think they'd be able to leave on their hiking trip until Mrs. Shinazugawa came back to take over her youngest children. "Anything else from Mei?"

She shook and one of her braids smacked against his cheek. "Nope! But the bus should be here soon! Ooh! This is gonna be so much fun!"

Considering if they'll get here already. They were taking so long and it was already painful enough to have to fork over fifty bucks after loosing that stupid game Tengen decided to make them do. Sigh. Oh well still better than loosing a hundred dollars each. He didn't want to lose that too-

"THEY'RE HERE!"

Well it's about time!

The tall, unmistakable form of Gyomei walked down the road and started making his way towards them walking slower than normal because of the smaller woman walking next to him holding his arm. You smiled at them all and waved an arm at them all as you got close enough to be heard.

"It's about time you all showed up. I was starting to grow a beard from how long it took."

"My apologies." Gyomei smiled despite his apology. "But we're here now. Is everyone else here?"

"Except Shinobu. She's gonna meet the girls at the mall. We still gotta wait for Sanemi's mom to come back before we leave too-" he gestured behind him at the giggling little kids despite Gyomei obviously not being able to see them. "-but she should be back anytime now. The girls can go ahead and leave." 

"Are you sure?" Mitsuri gave him a puppy eyed look. 

"Yeah. We'll be fine. You girls go enjoy your frilly spa day. Well meet up with you after Sanemi drags us to the movies."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

It wasn't him her cupping his face and gifting him a giant smooth to the forehead before excitedly looping an arm around your arm and excitedly began to pull you towards the other girls. In fact you were barely able to shout a goodbye to Gyomei before the unusually strong woman literally dragged you off towards the other girls. They were all there except for Shinobu whom Mitsuri briefed you about meeting you all there, and Kanae who had to wrestle one of Sanemi's baby sisters off her before joining you all there. Mitsuri and Suma both super giddy with excitement.

"This is gonna be great! We're going shopping and then to Salan,Sauna, and Beyond!"

..You blinked. "What's Salon, Sauna, and Beyond?"

As if you had insulted her,her family, her friends, and cat- Suma gasped so loud you jumped as she clutched her turtleneck. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SALON, SAUNA, AND BEYOND IS?!"

"Um. No? Should I?"

"YES!," She yelled at you waving her arms around, "It's like only the greatest place ever to get your nails done and get pedicures and it has like these REALLY good massages that help melt stress awa- HEY!!"

MAKIO shoved her head aside with a hand with a deadpanned look. "It's a salon and spa with an attaching sauna room and one. It's a pretty popular place to go unwind and relax."

"Oh. I've never been there before."

"YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE?!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO REPEAT IT, BLOCKHEAD!!"

"Kanae, tell her to stop being mean to me!"

"Ok. Let's calm down now. C'mon. We don't want to end up missing our bus."

Hinatsuru was lightly surprised you didn't run away or show annoyance at the fighting but remained smiling as Kanae hered the still arguing wives towards the bus station where you first arrived with Gyomei. It also turns out the boys were not going to be going with all of you like they did Friday night and all day Saturday when you weren't around. Instead they planned on having a few hours to just bond with the boys as the girls just bonded with each other which includes a nature hike, movie Sanemi insisted on dragging them too, and then they planned to go somewhere to eat before meeting back up with the girls near the end of the day at the sauna. Sounded like a plan. 

The ride to the mall was pretty generic. On the way there you sat by Mitsuri and talked with her about your pets. Her cats and bunnies and your goldfish you named Goldielocks.  It was a peaceful ride up to the ginormous building that was your city's local mall complete with a lot of stores inside. And conveniently waiting for you all in the parking lot was Shinobu, eating what looked like a granola bar while she was waiting for you all to show up by the entrance. It got a raised brow from Makio.

"Really?"

Shinobu shrugged again looking at you all. "You all were taking too long. I got hungry and ate something."

"Too long? It's eight in the morning still!"

"Let's not fight anyone! I wanna swing by CePora's! They have this new Summer's End eye shadow palette I've been wanting!" 

"I think the yellows and oranges would look good on Makio," you added trying to get the group moving, "Let's go in and see if it's still there!" Your arm gestured towards the large building.

Luckily that seemed to have worked and the group ended up being dragged by Mitsuri all the way to the escalator and up to the second floor where she then proceeded to not stop until she was dashing through the automatic front doors of the famous make up chain of stores. It was ok. You got a cute little compact mirror in the shape of a Tanuki so it all worked out before someone directed your group towards the check out and then a few different stores. This time a few clothes stores.

Honestly you were surprised one mall could have five different clothes stores and no one seemed to care. 

Your attention was mainly upon the plethora of outfits Suma and Mitsuri thrusted into your arms and insisted you try on because-

"You'd look even cuter next to Gyomei if you wore these!"

Nice to know that they cared about their friend at leas and you did end up liking a few of the outfits so that was a plus. Until Hinatsuru pointed out something with a gentle hand on your shoulder. 

"Hey. We've been going to all the places we like. It's not fair to Y/n to just drag her everywhere without stopping where she wants to go as our guest. Let's go where she wants." She smiled at you. "Pick wherever you want to go, Y/n."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Where do you want to go?"

"Well, there's a bookstore here that has a new recipe book on deserts from Canada I'd really like to get."

"Consider it done!"

It was a nice trip to said bookstore where Mitsuri bought herself at least three romance novels and you think Shinobu got herself a book of space sciences. It was another small thrift store or two before it had occured to you all that it was noon already and you all were very hungry. Mitsuri's immediately reaction was to suggest going to the resident cat cafe, but knowing her appetite Shinobu suggested that you all go to the other mall restaurant that had an all you can eat buffet instead. Yeah. That was probably the better idea considering that Mitsuri had finished off her twelveth plate by 12:45 and about ready to go back for her thirteenth. You weren't even done with your own plate yet but giggled as she looked at you in question before you held up a napkin to her and smiled sweetly.

"Here. You have some gravy on your cheek from the mashed potatoes."

She blinked at the kind gesture but smiled widely. "Thanks!"

It was a mutual agreement that they approved of your gesture by the many smiles you've gotten from them. "So, Y/n. How's your day so far?"

You beamed brightly. "It's been wonderful! I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun!"

"Don't you go to the mall?"

You shook your head. "Only sometimes if I need to pick up something or if I'm shopping with my family. I don't really have a lot of friends who're free or like to go shopping with me."

"You don't have friends?"

"Well...Not a lot. My one friend is usually working and studying hard for his bachelor's and he's already busy enough with his boyfriend so we don't get to hang out as much as we used to."

"AW! That's so sad! It's ok!" You were suddenly grasped up into the arms of one pink haired girl who squeezed you tight enough to make you wheezed and pop a few of your bones as she hugged you to her. "We'll be your friends now! We can go on trips and I can do your nails and-"

"Mitsi! You're suffocating her there!"

Green eyes blinked before looking down at your pale face before she squealed out and pushed you away with a worried look. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! Oh my gosh! Are you ok?!"

You slowly gasped a lungful of air after getting squeezed like a lemon before nodding. "Y-Yeah. I'm ok." 

If you counted being squeezed like an orange ok. But you weren't going to fault her for it especially since she's been so nice to you so far. After a moment of you all just talking, mostly about what they were doing for classes starting Monday tomorrow or what they all did at the beach together yesterday when the waiter stopped by the large table to collect the dirty dishes ..and gave an annoyed dirty look at Mitsuri who was scarfing down the remainder of her thirteenth plate before adding it to the stack he had to take away eventually.

"Eh...Is there anything else I can get you ladies?," he asked despite still eyeing the stack of plates with narrowed eyes. His tone not hiding his annoyance either.

"Can I get some of the devil's food cake on the menu?" Mitsuri beamed up at him widely as his nose wrinkled up. 

"I'm sorry but we're OUT," he bluntly stated before reluctantly grabbing the tall stack of dishes and grunting annoyed. "Can I get anyone else anything?"

Mitsuri blinked giving a glance at the stack of dishes the waiter was forced to carry away before guiltily and ashamedly looking down at her own hands. It caused a chain reaction of glares and frowns from the other girls glaring at him annoyed back.

"No. Just bring us the check."

The waiter seemed annoyed still but relieved to start collecting everyone else's plates adding it to the big pile in his arms before pausing as you gently reached out to gently tug on his sleeve and smiled politely. "May I please have some of the devil's food cake on the menu? Just add it to my part of the check please."

Now this time every gave you wide eyed looks at the audacity of the situation especially when Mitsuri was literally right THERE next to you but the waiter was all too happy to smile at you. "But of course. Give me just a minute to get back to you."

"Thank you very much!"

There was just dumbfounded silence as he walked away after picking up Kanae's dishes and hauling them away from the stunned group as you all sat there stunned other than you who only smiled... Eventually Mitsuri broke the silence with a mumble. 

"I thought they were out."

"What the heck, Y/n?!," Makio demanded as you just smiled at her as she gestured to Mitsuri and you. "She's right there! Did you freaking forget or something?!"

"Oh no. I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Why you-"

"Makio, calm down. We can't stop her from buying her own dessert if she's paying for it herself." Despite Kanae's soft tone, her look was obviously disapproving. "It's not like we can demand someone that they can't eat something."

Makio didn't say anything but she shot you a glare as you still smiled at her and Mitsuri sunk down further into her seat as everyone awkwardly waited for the checks to be delivered along with your dessert. About five minutes later the same waiter returned looking a little less annoyed but still had that blunt tone to him as he placed down at least seven checks for you all and a second later a VERY big delicious smelling, mouth watering, chocolate upon chocolate cake slice in front of you. 

"Here you are, Ma'am."

"Oh thank you! If you wait just a second, I'll give you your tip!" You clasped your hands happily as he smiled at you... Before you bluntly reached over, grabbed the plate, picked it up, and just placed it back down in front of Mitsuri who blinked in surprise. "Look, Mitsuri! They had some after all and what luck we were able to get you the last piece!" Her eyes widened bigger at you. "Aren't you lucky?"

Everyone stared gobsmacked as you just hummed along going to dig around in your purse for a second to pull out a five dollar bill before holding it up to the waiter whom looked like he was slapped across the face. The moment you waved the bill in his face, he glared at you before snatching it from your hand and stomping away from you table. There was another awkward moment as you left the thirty dollars for your part of the meal on the table before you blinked at the wide eyed stares given to you.

"What? Did I get her the wrong cake?"

Instead of an answer you were given a squeal from Mitsuri and then after another bone crushing hug as she hugged you with a large smile. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!  THIS IS LIKE THE NICEST THING A NEW PERSON HAS EVER DONE FOR ME!!"

You smiled wider looking at her. "No need to thank me. You shouldn't be treated badly just because of your appetite." She blinked as you patted her arms. "That guy's a jerk. Forget about him and just enjoy your cake. My treat."

She continued to stare at you before her face turned to a bright red and her hands let go of you to clasp her cheeks. "I-I don't know what to say. Oh my- Such a gesture!"

"You don't have to say anything. Just enjoy yourself. Sorry if I didn't explain it earlier."

"Oh. So that's why you ordered it." 

Makio slowly relaxed as you nodded.... Oblivious to the lovestruck, blushing face Mitsuri was giving you before you slowly got up to excuse yourself to the bathroom and asked them to watch your shopping bags in the meantime. The SECOND you disappeared from sight, Mitsuri slammed a determined palm down on the table and clenched a fist.

"Ok! It's official! Let's do all we can to get her together with Gyomei! She's absolutely perfect!"

"Huh? Where did this come from?"

"Oh..N-No where but we owe it to Mei to try and get him a great girlfriend like he deserves! So let's make her feel welcome! I mean like c'mon! She's literally perfect! She even tipped the waiter so we didn't have to!"

"Are you..blushing?"

"N-NO! I'm just very flattered at the gesture!"

By the time you got back, Mitsuri was already done eating and giddy again especially when you came back. The group gathered up the bags and decided to stop by two more small shops to pick up some pre-ordered stuff Tengen already paid for (a canvas and a box of hard to get paints) before they ushered you back out of the mall and on the street. At least four shopping bags hung from your own arms as Mitsuri held your hand and pulled you along behind her continuing to babble on about...Well you lost track after the part where she told you about how she got into ballet but you politely listened since she seemed so happy now dragging you down the road as cars drove by and people passed by on the sidewalk.

The building they stopped in front of was a smaller building than the mall but still bigger than your house. The sign on the front saying Salon, Sauna, and Beyond. Ah! So this must be the place that they were so excited to go. You allowed Mitsuri to excitedly drag you in after the others and the nice smells of rose air freshener hit your nose along with the cool air from the ac. The inside of the building was mostly white with a few paintings on the wall, some soft looking chairs, and a reception desk where a middle aged woman smiled at you all. Ah. This must've been the waiting area. 

The woman smiled at the group and waved a hand. "Good afternoon. Are you here to book an appointment?"

"I have a reservation for a group under Kocho actually!"

The lady took a moment to rummage around on her desk and look for something.. before nodded and happily looked at Shinobu. "Of course! We have your party booked for our three o clock reservation. If you'll follow me, you can get a locker for your belongings before proceeding to the salon floor."

In an instant Mitsuri looked excitedly at you. "Have you ever been to an onsen before, Y/n?"

You nodded. "My cousin had everyone go to one for her bachelorette party, so I've been to one once."

"Oh you'll love it then! The water is from natural hot springs so it's got minerals that's really good for your skin! But first we're getting our nails done and-"

And off she went again. 

It was ok still. You still were going to have a good time. It was just a small matter of getting a small safe place to put your shoes and bags before following the others to the other section of the salon separate from the onsen addition. Other an an older woman getting highlights in her hair, your group had the entire place to yourselves. 

It was a strange and new but not unpleasant experience there. After all you've never had your nails done let alone had anyone else take a nail file to your nails or had your feet soaked before getting a pedicure for the first time. As said it wasn't a bad experience just new. However you declined the massage offered to you. By the time three hours had passed and everyone had a turn to everything that was offered to them(none of you noticing the second group being escorted towards the onsen), it was time for the onsen according to Suma. There was only one problem however-

"Hey. Um..I don't know how any other way to say this,  but I don't feel comfortable washing with you all before we go to the onsen."

You weren't actually planning on getting into any onsens either and was just going to sit on the edge as they soaked, but you had to bath before going into the onsen and you didn't feel comfortable doing that as a group. Luckily Shinobu seemed very understanding and smiled at you. 

"That's fine. We're not going to make you do something you're not comfortable with so why don't you want outside for about fifteen minutes? We'll all be done by then and you can join us when you're done."

You sighed relieved. "That's great!"

"Good. When you're done just go through the doorway and down the hall. We'll be through the green door."

"Ok! I'll remember that!"

Guess who decided to show up in your life again? Yep that's right. Bad luck.

You had waited outside of the bathing area with the long fluffy white robe and the soap the spa ladies had given you to use and waited about twenty minutes for them all to get done (an extra five minutes just to be sure) before deciding to see if everyone was clear. A quick shout didn't get any response and a careful peek inside revealed that indeed no one else was in the room. Perfect! You were able to scrub down really quick and change into the robe you were given before wrapping a towel around your hair. Now let's see. Shinobu said they'd be in the room down the hall from here through the green door. Perfect! Easiest directions ever!

...or it would've been if you weren't staring at two exactly identical green doors at the end of the hall. 

You stood there dumbfounded staring between the doors again. There was a sign saying which one was the men's section.. unfortunately it had fallen off the wall where it was hung up and for some reason had been kicked to the middle of the hall so you had no idea which door it had been hanging above. Was someone trying to play a joke?! Or did no one notice the sign on the floor?! Or did they just not care and just kick it out of the way?! Either way you were screwed in this situation. Great.

Ultimately you decided to go through the right door. There was no one else in the spa besides yourself, your group, and the employees. The worst you'd do is enter an empty room or run into an employee who you'd just explain that you were were lost, and you might just run into the group. So you didn't think when you pushed open the door. When you stepped inside. When you smiled at first hearing the sloshing sounds of water. When you called out happily.

"Hey! I'm sorry I took so long! I got lost so-"

You froze as at least six heads turned to look at you in the doorway. 

It felt like an eternity to process what you were seeing as your mind just blue screened, but at the same time it felt like someone dropped a boulder into your stomach and jabbed ice into your veins with a syringe. There was definitely a group occupying the onsen in here alright...however it was uh...

They were definitely not girls. 

Six pairs of eyes stared at you. Some frozen in shock, some confusion, and at least in Sanemi's case it was a big 'wtf' look. Speaking of which-

IT WAS THE WRONG DAM ROOM!!

The boys all stared at you from somewhere in the room. Rengoku, Tengen, and Sanemi from in the water. Obanai sitting on the ledge looking wide eyed frozen at you with a towel around his middle and his mask still on his face. And Gyomei and Giyuu standing off to the side looking like they had been having a conversation but stopped when you walked in. However-

HOW WERE THEY ALL SO RIPPED-

"*ahem*" Eventually it was Gyomei who broke the extremely awkward silence by clearing his throat making you jump and calmly gesturing a hand back to the door. "Y/n, I believe you meant to enter through the o-other door."

"IMSOSORRY!!OHMYGOD-"

The door all but slammed behind your quickly disappearing form and the sound of your quickly retreating footsteps left everyone else staring there stunned in the aftermath.. before Tengen snickered body shaking lightly before his entire head was thrown back with his loud booming laughter echoed off the tiled walls.

"HAHAHAHAHA!! Well if she didn't think you were good looking before she does now!," he loudly announced with more laughter that turned into sputters and coughs once Sanemi splashed water into his face.

You didn't mention anything about this to the others. Didn't even answer them when they asked what took you you so long and why your face was burnt red. You only squealed out that you got lost but didn't answer anything else. Thankfully they didn't push it and you were able to try to forget about it..but failed. You were horrified by the time you all left and the guys were literally RIGHT THERE  in the lobby and...

Absolutely chill?

They didn't look the least bit out of the ordinary and just greeted their girlfriends like it was any other day except for Tengen who gave you a deeply amused smile but before he could say anything Obanai kicked his leg hard enough to make him wince. So hopefully he wouldn't be telling anyone else about this- A gentle large hand placed on your shoulder causes you to jump out of your stupor and snap up to a concerned looking Gyomei. 

"Are you alright?," his tone was gentle and concerned. "If you're uncomfortable being around after..*ahem*" His own face dawned a light pink. "I-I can pay for a taxi to take you home."

"N-No! I-It's ok! That was m-m-my fault! Um...How was your hike?" You quickly changed the subject.

Taking the hint he nodded clearing his throat. "I-It was wonderful. The forest was very vibrant with life and the waterfall was especially alive. There's not really anything that sounds quite as powerful as the Earth's own power."

"It sounds beautiful."

"It was."

*Until Sanemi dragged us to that ghost story knock off."

"HEY!!" You turned to catch Sanemi pointed and angry hand to Obanai. "SUPERNATURAL ACTIVITY TWO IS A FANTASTIC HORROR MOVIE! WAY BETTER THAN THAT SNAKE CRAP SHOW YOU BROUGHT!!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW GOOD STORYLINES WHEN YOU SEE THEM!!"

"That is enough!" The sudden shout from the otherwise soft spoken Gyomei was so out of the ordinary that it made everyone turn on the spot in shock and surprise. His face turned down on a frown towards the both of them. "This entire day was supposed to be about spending time with one another not argue over who has better taste in films. Further more you both are being very inconsiderate to make such fools of yourself in front of our guest for this trip. Now will you both please kindly stop going at each other's throats?"

There was a stunned small moment of silence as the both of them slowly relaxed back looking suddenly guilty. After another few seconds Gyomei nodded before looking back to you apologetically. 

"I'm very sorry."

"It's ok. I really don't mind anyways." 

"No. It's not ok. We were supposed to relax today without any fighting. They promised and now-.." He just sighed. "It's getting late and we all have classes and work tomorrow. We should all return home and get a good night's sleep. Do you need me to drop you off?"

You shook your head at him. "No it's ok. I can walk home after I take the bus back." 

"Then allow me to walk you home. It's the least I can do."

After such a kind gesture,how could you say no? That's what lead to you both walking down the street with your arms linked and the sun barely in the sky, and him carrying your bags in his other hand even though you told him he didn't have to but he insisted. It made a warm fluttery feeling go off in your chest that barely let you register saying goodbye to everyone else. And you definitely didn't see the way Mitsuri was giving you the 'first crush' eyes or the very approving look Kanae gave you. Only focusing on the fact that you were home now and the good feelings in your chest didn't go away even when he handed over your bags. 

"Thank you for walking me home."

He smiled. "As I said before it's the least I could do. I'm just happy you had fun with the girls today. I hope Mitsuri and Suma weren't too overwhelming. I know they can be a lot." 

"No they're great! I had so much fun. It's the best time I had for a long time to be honest." 

He chuckled too and looked like he was going to say something but at the same moment and elderly couple smiled at you while walking into the building next to your home. "Oh look, Dear. A young man walking his lady home. How charming. I remember when you used to walk me everywhere-"

"Oh no. He's not my boyfri-..He is?"

The look of surprise on his face as his head turned to you wide eyed. "I am?"

There was a silence other than the chatting older couple just entering into the building and leaving you both alone staring at each other for a long moment. Eventually you looked down at your feet and rubbed your arm.

"I-I mean.. Would you like to be?"

His white eyes widened to the size of plates as he was taken aback before the brightest shade of red came over him as he just.. couldn't believe it. Before a big smile replaced the shock and he nodded. "Y-YES! I mean- *ahem* I would like that very much. However are you sure you'd like to have me for a boyfriend. I will not sugarcoat the obvious." A hand gestured to his face. "I am blind and scarred."

"If I was really shallow to not date because of looks, then I wouldn't have agreed to that first date with you."

"I am seeing other people whom I love and care about very much. .. I'm not going to break up with them or any other outrageous demands."

"I wouldn't even dream of asking you to break up with them! I think they're wonderful people so I couldn't ask you that. And it's not going to be me dating them. I'm going to be dating you and I'm ok with that." You smiled. "You're the first guy I dated that's been completely honest with me and so kind. It makes me feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world."

"I-... Don't speak like that please."

You blinked. "Huh. Why?"

"Be-Because the beauteous genuity of your words only make you sound more beautiful to my mind."

Huh. You were both closer than he remembered. Just a few inches from one another twinkling under the lights. And you blinked at the sudden closeness too. Face going a dim pink and a few chuckles from the moment escaping you. Barely anyone was outside now, too busy inside mingling, eating the food, and enjoying the evening. So it was just you two. Alone out here with nothing but each other for company. His mind felt completely blank and numb but in a good way, compelling him to reach his hands up and cup a cheek of yours something his rational brain wouldn't allow himself to do. Inches away now. You didn't move away.

He stared at the woman in front of him, this silly silly woman with the beautiful voice. If he was watching this as an outsider, he would've laughed at how they were literally just strangers less than a while ago, but right now it didn't seem any of that or anything else mattered. Not even the topic they had been discussing just a few seconds ago. Or removing the hand that now cupped her cheek. Maybe it really was a mutual madness they both shared or some form of chaos in their lives, but right now....With them being so close...And so vulnerable. It was only natural of course-.. It's what soulmates do-.. Of course they would since-...

They kissed.

"Hey. Do you think Gyomei is going to be angry at us still?" Sanemi gave his girlfriend a glum look as she patted his back. 

"Of course not. He's just stressed trying to make a good impression is all. I'm sure he'll be just fine." Her boyfriend didn't look convinced as he gave her a pout. Oh well. She was distracted anyways by the ringing of her phone in her pocket to which she promptly pulled out and automatically held up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Kanae! Quickly I need help!"

She blinked as Gyomei's voice cut through the phone. "Mei? Are you ok? What happened?"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BOYFRIEND!!"

[timeslipcamp]

obligatory theory about the kyklos and what i think is happening.

literally every time i finish an episode i go and jot notes down in my lil mental notebook of theories and laugh like yuri in his lab

spoilers through ep 15

so i've seen this idea tossed out but no one really went in depth on why they thought it so i'm going to list off MY reasons why i thought this is what's happening.

fair warning: this is going to be long, i've got about five million thoughts on this and it's only going to get worse as more episodes get released. get comfy and grab a snack

i think mc and the ghouls are trapped in a time loop

it's a trope that when handled well can be really really cool, and with how many moving parts and ghouls there are to distract from what's happening, it's super plausible. the only reason i'm hesitant to say this is 100% what i think it is is because it's still only episode 16 and we know next to nothing about the clash and anything that happened last year. plus the game's only been out for a year, we've barely scratched the surface of the plot.

that being said, we're getting about 3-4 episodes per every couple months, which means by like episode 20-24 we'll be coming up on a year since mc was cursed. maybe. i'm bad at math. (EDIT: someone else did the math and it will probably be closer to 40 that we hit the year mark lmao) is the story going to be over then? i don't think so. i think the following chapters would follow us through the time loop as we finally work to solve it

if i had to guess, this is how i think the general timeline goes: mc, despite the ghouls best efforts and someones sacrificial jump into flames from a balcony, turns into the kyklos. to stop the teachers/school-aligned ghouls from killing her, someone sends her away--and accidentally sends her back in time instead. taiga, however, has been told by mc that if she were to turn, kill her before she hurts anyone. taiga goes back with her to stop her.

crazy concept: the one eyed sleeping beauty murder was the trigger event. the kyklos has one large eye. this part is still muddy given that we literally don't know shit about any of this, but i think it wasn't a one eyed beauty that was killed, i think the one eyed beauty killed someone while those other ghouls happened to be present. we got the five suspects based on them either being in the wrong place at the wrong time or by reputation (a la alan and jiro.) i think this is how zenji died as well, but i have zero basis for that other than vibes.

future!taiga continues to chase the kyklos, runs into his past self and explains (or maybe he's always known, or maybe whatever's going on with his brain makes him able to remember every loop, OR something is actively working against him remembering all of it) past!taiga does something that triggers the clash, and eventually, the kyklos finds her way to mc on the train. the following chapters would then begin to follow mc at the beginning of the loop again

this is literally all me guessing. i'll make an updated post once we finally know more about the clash and the one eyed sleeping beauty murders. and literally everything else smh

another quick note before i forget: i do think it's interesting that everyone who lost a day to the casino anomaly had their memories replaced of a girl in a tower in the woods. rapunzel reference? orrrrrr in early versions of the sleeping beauty tale, she was said to be in a lonesome tower waiting for someone to wake her up. coincidence? probably! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyways

"how did we end up here?"

SUPER compelling that this is one of the opening lines. the whole intro is generally a vague "humans avoiding darkness" spiel, but i do personally think its alluding more to the coming together and working as a team theme than an actual darkness. to me it feels like it's implying (based on the story so far) that working together is the light that can drive away the darkness (her curse)

one of my big things that made me wonder right at the beginning was how it almost immediately dropped the line "if we could do it all again" (paraphrasing). the whole theme about doing it again and would we do it again kinda made me think repetition was going to be a theme in the story, but once i got a few chapters in, i was definitely hurtling towards the time loop theory.

mc starts off talking about how she's sad it's over and we come to see she's talking about a band breaking up, and one by one the group chat members leave until she's left alone with just mina.

now mina itself as a name is an interesting choice. it's a fairly international name with a couple different translations. one translation has it meaning love, one says it's the same word as a mockingbird (a bird that can imitate human sounds) and in japanese, mina is a name meaning lovely/beautiful while min-na is a term sometimes used to mean "all of you", like saying all yall in english. fun play on words there if the time loop theory is correct and the kyklos we see at the beginning is in fact mc (aka all of us)

mina's profile picture is also a red spider lily, commonly known in popular media as the death flower

it's often planted in graveyards to ward off evil spirits and help guide those who have passed to the afterlife. another meaning for the flower is reincarnation: yet another implication of a cycle.

(it's also a popular flower in hanahaki disease fics, which is a fic trope where flowers bloom in the lungs of someone whose love isn't returned, but that's unrelated)

actually now that i'm really staring at that picture, it looks more like a red surprise lily, which is even funnier imo. apparently it's just a sister flower of the spider lily

mina says it must be destiny and that she's been waiting to meet us. spooky. we haven't really seen any other anomalies do anything premeditated like that, they're all mainly reacting to their environment, other than mr long legs i guess. but his felt more like predatory i need to eat intent, not "i'm tracking down this specific person" type of deal. definitely correct me if i'm wrong on that, though. i'm super interested in the "intelligent" anomalies vs the reactive ones. i'll make a post on that later

i've seen a couple other posts talk about how kyklos means circle in greek (aka another point in the time loop basket) but it's also interesting to note that kyklos comes from kuklos, whose root word kukló was often used to describe something that encircles. broke out a couple of my old humanities research packets and found this:

"a group of people...positioned around a central point"

whether that's intentional or not, i do think it is interesting that the whole time loop could be centered on this group of people that are positioned around a central point: the kyklos and mc. everything always revolving around the main character and the curse that started it all.

almost immediately after, mc is swiftly taken to darkwick and told that she'll die in a year (which we later find out is a lie) and sent off to live her life

taiga is the most suspicious person in the WORLD to me. fuck the traitor shit i wanna know what taiga knows

our brief introduction of him (and a scene on campus) tries to convince us he's insane

fairly compelling

but it's in the small cut scenes we see with the other ghouls that really get me.

TAIGA knows something!! the second one really gets me, especially in the context of a time loop, and even more so if taiga is aware of the loop. the second screenshot reads to me as either he's 1. about to make a deal with either haru or whatever he's summoning with a coin, or 2. he's like "fuck it, i've seen this loop a hundred times. there's ways where they survive and there's ways where they die. pick one, we'll try it again and see if it changes anything this time."

i don't think he's actually lost his mind. i think he's putting up an act to throw someone off his scent (namely the traitor and whoever the traitor is working with.) i also get the feeling, especially after rereading the auction chapter, that there's something actively working against taiga having all of his memories. it might be the pact he made with his demon, but i almost wonder if it's someone else's stigma or ability preventing it. we don't know what all the ghouls can do yet, or even the teachers.

maybe it's the time loop itself that's keeping taiga from keeping all the timelines straight. maybe he's done this so many times he doesn't know what's real anymore. additionally, if you pick him in the beginning, this is what he says:

once again, i'm getting the vibes that he's trying to figure out what could possibly be different about this loop that might finally break us out of it.

anyways, those are my basic notes on why i think this is gonna center around a time loop. given that haku's flute can transport and subaru's stigma has to do with memories and we dont even know half of the stigmas yet, i think it's entirely possible. but we'll see!

feel free to comment your own thoughts on what's happening :) ask box and dms are always open

[skygoldart]

First time posting here and I wanted to start off with one of my favorite recent projects: Grian’s elytra

I also want to show off more of my progress with builds since I don’t do that often anywhere else

The idea

To say this project was painful is accurate, but the final result was well worth it.

Many Grian cosplays I’ve seen have the full parrot wings, but I was inspired by a Mumbo cosplayer I briefly met at a convention in 2022 who had a set of elytra wings on his back, and I wanted to make a version that was a “what if the hermits customized their elytras”. Hence, the parrot theme stayed with the mini layers of feathers at the top

The process

To start a cosplay I will often sketch out a character reference that is fairly accurate to the final build. What’s not shown here are the 10+ pages in my sketchbooks with the different designs for the wings, outfit variations, many accessories, as well as a visual breakdown of all the layer and steps to things.

Out of all the wing designs, I picked my favorite and traced my sketchbook design of the wings onto an digital art program an cut it into 8.5x11 pages, printed it, and cut it out.

I then used some very incompatible and tricky fabrics to cut and sew each side.

The inner side of the elytra has a holographic vinyl layer and the outer side has a layer of cotton with some shimmery toile on top.

The insect wing detailing could have been drawn on and then stitched over, but I decided to freehand the majority of it with some guide points dotted here and there to make it mostly symmetrical based on the original sketch.

To finish it off, I made some feather layers from flannel and stitched them along the top

The final step was to add the harness the elytra connects to since I wanted it to be obvious these wings were not a part of the character, rather just an accessory.

Using a pattern from this Etsy listing, I cut faux leather using it and used rivets and cording to keep it together

And there you have it! My Grian elytra!

The full cosplay project isn’t fully done yet, but at least the wings are

Bonus:

Obligatory cosplay selfie in a car

More projects coming in the future!

[drconstellation]

Dr Constellation's Good Omens Master Post of Metas

(Updated 4 June 2024)

See my Google Doc for a full list of Tumblr posts of interest.

Future Echos of the Past

The story of the Great War in Heaven as it appears in the present

#1: The Great War of Tadfield Manor #2: The Newton/Crowley Mirror/Parallel in S1 #3: "Not Even At Gunpoint"

Archangel Gabriel

Supreme Archangel Gabriel often stands on the demonic left-hand side in scene blocking, rather than the angelic right. He’s also fond of taking center stage! Gabriel as a Shoulder Angel: S1 Study S2 Study Part 1: Ep.1 The Arrival and Ep. 2 The Clue S2 Study Part 2: Ep.3 I Know Where I'm Going and Ep. 5 The Ball S2 Study Part 3: Ep.6 Every Day First-Order Archangels Part 1: Maybe You'll See An Archangel

Gabriel and Crowley act as both parallels and foils to each other in S2. In Part 1 we look at some of the ways they are alike.

First-Order Archangels Part 2: Foils of War

Part 2 takes a look at where Gabriel and Crowley oppose one another, as well as highlighting some parallels between their respective partners, Beelzebub and Aziraphale.

First-Order Archangels Part 3: Seeing Eye To Eye

Gabriel and Crowley both have an interesting connection to time.

The Assistant Book Seller

Jim’s knitted vest holds a wealth of symbolic information - and a surprise nod that you didn’t expect.

Giles the Herald

An interesting parallel to Gabriel at the end of S1.

Aziraphale's Edinburgh Journey

Part 1: Detective Aziraphale

One of the reasons Aziraphale goes to Edinburgh is because it is a narrative parallel to Crowley’s trip to Heaven. There are also a couple of other things we need to consider, too.

Part 2: Aziraphale-Beelzebub Parallels

While Gabriel is Crowley’s mirror in S2, Beelzebub is Aziraphale’s. And there is a third character that makes an interesting mirror-triangle analysis that combines and reflects both major characters together as well.

Part 3: Stocktaking in the Basement

Aziraphale does a lot of reflection about the past while he’s on his trip to Edinburgh. How can this help him in the future?

Part 4: Judgement Day

Aziraphale's trip to Edinburgh - and most of S2 - is filled with hints and references to the Second Coming. Gabriel's statue is one of them, but it has another role as well (and it's not for hiding anything under, sorry.)

Part 5: I Know Where I'm Going

Named after a Powell and Pressburger film, and an old Scottish folk song, this title sets the theme for Ep. 3 in S2. It's a discussion about Fate versus Free Will, the dangers of trying to escape fate, and looking at things from a different angle.

Archangel Rings

All the Archangels have golden rings, as well as Aziraphale. Find out what they reveal about each character.

The Golden Lions of Heaven (includes Aziraphale's Lion ring) Michael the Watchful Uriel's Star Ring The Brutal Truth about Sandalphon's Ring

A Companion to Owls minisode

Goats, Crows and The Flood

Crawley turns Job's goats into crows to save them. Why crows? And how does this link to the Flood?

Angelic Sheep and Demonic (Scape)Goats

Understanding the link between goats and demons gives you a deeper insight into Crowley's story - and also some of Aziraphale's.

Come Back When You Can Make A Whale

Take a deep dive into the Book of Job - and find out what it might be foreshadowing for S3

Aye, a Newt

Why Job’s children are turned into geckos, and a S1 connection.

Crossing the Threshold

Inside the Dirty Donkey

We’re going to the pub! What secrets does the Dirty Donkey hide behind its name?

Lifting the Veil on the Bentley

Peering behind the meaning of the Bentley’s number plate.

Memento mori

This is one of the major themes of the series - Remember that you die.

Obligatory Reminders and Crossing the Lines

Have you been wondering why Shax tries to do a mail delivery to Crowley as he escorts the shop keepers to safety from Aziraphale's Eldritch Ball? It seems a pretty random thing to do at that moment.

Stand-Alone Metas

The Ineffable Ducks

What are all those ducks doing? Ever got the feeling that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you…?

The Altar of Eccles Cakes

The Eccles cakes don’t look like they are doing much, but they are there for a reason - so is some of the other food you see.

The Cupperty Ceremony

Every bit of food and drink in both seasons has a metaphorical significance. Tea is no exception. It’s one of the few times an eastern philosophy creeps into Good Omens, but still meets with a western ideal.

When Crowley Met Jesus, and The Other Demon at Golgotha

Aziraphale suggests not one but two demon names to Crowley when they meet at Golgotha. Together they make a clever joke about the Third Temptation that most people miss.

Being Kind to One Another

Some clever and subtle word play on kind, linked between two scenes in the S1E3 Hard Times cold opening.

Once and Future Royalty

There’s a King Arthur and Camelot sub-theme running through parts of S1 And S2. Grab your coconuts and saddle up for a crazy ride through time and space!

Portable People

Crowley's yeeting them around while stress-cleaning the bookshop, Jimbriel is trying to sell them to the investigating archangels, and Muriel just wants to read them all. Should we give a second thought to any of these books?.

Bebop and the Book

Why can Anathema always put her hand on the right card at the right time?

Chiastic Structure of S1

Chiastic structure is a literary device where the story line is mirrored in reverse around a central point. S1 has an amazingly detailed chiastic structure, which actually reveals and confirms some meta speculations!

Chiastic Structure of S2

S1 was a fantastic example of a mirrored story line. S2 …isn’t. But there are still a substantial number of chiastic pairs to be found.

Liberty versus the Tree of Life

A philosophical look at the choices between coffee, freewill and death compared to access to the Trees of Knowledge and Life in the Garden of Eden.

Taking Things At Face Value

How our internalized values influence the way we judge people, often based on their outward appearance alone.

The Rules of Engagement

The Technicalities of Licenses, Permits and the Limits of Authority in Good Omens

A Tale of Two Peacocks

A look at the relationship between Gabriel and Michael: what they think of each other, and how they act as foils to each other.

If you are looking for more metas there is a group effort on this google doc here: Good Omens Crackpotting Theory Tracker This brings a lot of ops together in the one place.

[penaltybox-gossip]

I am back from the brink of death (I had a head cold) and have thoughts:

1. The "what da hell is a polar bear doin in Arlington Texas" has got to be my favorite reaction meme. I lose it every time I see it.

2. Not surprised homegirl was at the surgery. Glad Jack had as much support as he could. After her blowing off his last surgery and how on the rocks they seemed near the end of summer, it'd be a big blow to do the same thing twice.

Obligatory these are speculations, and I'm reflecting on my past relationship with someone toxic for reference.

3. I think her not getting a 4 Nations jacket, really the only one who didn't, and then the whole interest finding out, was a big deal. Did this motivate her stepping up with playoff jackets still in contention (I know her dues haven't been paid, you get what I mean)? Was that filed away as ammo in a future fight/toxic phase/manipulation? I dunno.

4. I agree with others saying we are providing a playback being followed. In my experience, people who grew up spoiled and are more self-centered mirror others because being a consistently, genuinely caring partner is something they struggle with because of little to no experience. It's also something they can't maintain for that long because that's just not how they operate.

5. Idk if she'll use her being at the surgery to "buy time" to visit Michigan or other supportive things. Last year when she didn't it was clear this impacted their relationship. Like she'll go on a break after having to pull girlfriend overtime flying out for his unforseen surgery (I'm using this phrasing light heartedly). In my experience the argument was "I did this thing for you that I didn't want to/it interrupted my life, so you can't take issue with me doing nothing/only taking for an extended period because I'm owed it." You can't blame her for not being at the Hughesbowl, she had to make up for lost time by taking the 1000th photo of her and her friends drinking (again just being sardonic).

I just am not ruling out drama this summer with Jack seeming dedicated to recovery, her maybe still babying her ego and mapping out a new game plan for the summer (to keep him but not have to do too much. Again, in my experience, my partner put more effort into manipulation/hissy fits to not be supportive than it would have taken to just be nice lol), and the cyclical nature of their toxicity.

Glad your feeling better (head colds are the worst and I get them when I get sick)

But yeah you hit all the right points with this

[coff-in]

I am not a super big fan of the mod but I really appreciate that they put some effort into fleshing out their vision for the what-if scenario, I've always been invested in story overhauling mods like that (currently waiting on one for another game I played recently). Also uhhhhh obligatory Sigmund Freud reference

yeah, i like story mods too. tcoaar and also the coffin of candy scabs are really cool mods, even if tcocs is just a small mod. it's nice to see people put in effort and passion into something they enjoy. i think during the content drought, all the explorations of 'what if' scenarios really helped prolong the excitement for tcoaal.

i'm curious about what is in store for episode two of tcoaar, especially since episode three: decay part one of two came out for tcoaal recently. i'm kinda hoping that graveyard shift doesn't change too much of their original story/plot in order to accommodate for tcoaal's new release. i think them sticking to what they already have— while being outdated— could cement tcoaar as it's own narrative from tcoaal proper. guh, i really hope all goes well! ٩( ᐛ )و

even though tcoaar has gotten some backlash from the tcoaal fandom, it's kinda inspired me to want to get back into coding and writing. i hope that i'm able to make a fanwork that encapsulates the love that i have for this fandom someday.

the coffin of andrew and renee isn't the best mod and it might not even be a good mod to some people, but it's not a bad one either. there's clear work and effort being put into it. that much i can love an appreciate. especially since it feels like lots of people hate on it because it's different or 'goes against canon', i wanna be the person who says 'hey, it's ok to not follow the already explored path. you got this!' i hope it inspires more mods and fanworks for tcoaal in the future.

[janus-cadet]

New tarot card! This time, it's for a show that just reached 17 seasons, if you can believe that- Murdoch Mysteries!

And here is Llewellyn Watts, as the Page of Wands.

Now- the obligatory explanation (in broken english, yay, how lucky!) for those who are interested!

Upright, this card is the symbol of a free spirit, guided by their inspirations and ideas. I do feel like it fits our one and only Watts- never really fitting the mould of societal conveniences, but always following his inner self. It's also a card for limitless potential, often in the form of creative restlessness, which again- he does have, and the show should ~really~ explore that more. Overall, it means you embrace the opportunity to start out a new journey, without necessarily having a solid plan in place or even knowing where you are headed- but you are excited and intrigued about the possibilities. For a character always searching for himself, well-

All of that, with the advice to try and filter your thoughts, sometimes. Especially when you're talking. Even if we all love Detective Your-Wife-Is-Not-Pretty Watts.

Reversed, the card can mean that the consultant is being held back by limiting beliefs- such as, well, for Watts, the rules of the society he lives in. Which is why the card is ponctuated with references to current or future instance of homophobia and antisemitism in Canada. On the other side, Llewellyn can also represent (as would William and many other characters of the show!) someone carrying newly-formed ideas, that can have been tampered by obstacles and opposition. The card can also mean that you tried many new projects, which did not worked as you had hoped... and isn't that the story of his life?

Overall, this is a card deeply linked with someone engaging or trying to engage in a spiritual journey to discover themself. A free spirit who can't, and who should not submit the the limiting beliefs of the society around.

It was so fun to do, eh! The wand is not really supposed to be a wand, sure, but I feel like Llewellyn is less a wooden-staff-guy than a magic-wand-guy. And sure, the book on Wine and Philosophy or the Pretzel in the background where not *necessary*, per se, but that's just so- him, and those cards are always about representing the character in the best possible way.

Hope you'll like it!

[beardedmrbean]

A senior Taliban minister, who publicly condemned the group’s ban on education of girls and women, has reportedly fled Afghanistan amid fears of arrest.

Sher Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s political deputy at the foreign ministry, had called on other leaders to open schools for girls and women in January and said the edict forbidding them from schools was not in line with Sharia law as the hardline rulers claimed.

“There is no excuse for this – not now and not in the future,” Mr Stanikzai, a political studies and military school graduate, had said. “We are being unjust to 20 million people,” referring to nearly half of the Afghanistan population of girls and women.

His public remarks, made at a graduation ceremony in Khost province, were the first such against the Taliban’s education diktat and confirmed a rare sign of internal divisions around one of the flagship policies of Afghanistan’s de facto rulers.

For more than three years, the Taliban have imposed a strict nationwide ban on female education, preventing girls and women from attending school beyond the sixth grade despite international isolation.

Shortly after the speech, the Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly ordered Mr Stanikzai’s arrest and issued a travel ban against him, prohibiting him from stepping back in Afghanistan.

However, the Taliban leader had left for the United Arab Emirates before he could have been held, reported the news channel Afghanistan International.

Mr Stanikzai also confirmed to the local media last week that he had left for Dubai but for health reasons.

This is not the first time the senior Taliban leader, viewed as moderate within the Taliban ranks, called for restoring the education of Afghan girls and women.

In September 2022, a year after the Taliban took control of Kabul, Mr Stanikzai had said that no one has a religious reason which can justify depriving girls of education, calling schools and colleges obligatory for both genders.

His escape to a neighbour ally comes amid reports of a growing rift inside the two factions of the Taliban leadership, with power centres situated in Kabul and Kandahar, from where the Taliban’s supreme leader assumes the powerful seat and rules without making any public appearance.

There is debate about the education ban inside Taliban leadership, according to the US’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), an autonomous body overseeing the reconstruction of the war-battered nation.

Last week, the Taliban’s deputy minister of interior Mohammad Nabi Omari was seen breaking down and reduced to tears in a public gathering in the same province of Khost as he spoke about the group’s strict ban on education affecting girls and women.

The video of the minister’s emotional outburst, during a ceremony at a school in the province, has been circulated widely on social media.

“All I know is that even if [girls’ education] is not a religious obligation or tradition, it is at least permissible,” he said as he covered his face and broke down.

“May God guide us. Religious studies are allowed, so modern sciences should also be permitted,” the deputy minister said, reported Afghanistan International.

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.

[krnsluvvie]

love at first, love at second, love at last

veintidós: rompiendo el hielo (+ wc: 1,6k)

SUMMARY: sae had chosen his career and that was shortly followed by his and y/n's separation. three years pass by and amongst all the lurking and stalking each other's socials, sae is suddenly found back in their hometown. old feelings are resurfaced, current ones are questioned and a whole load of future ones are found in a blur.

veintiuno | masterlist | veintitres

goodness.

what was sae even thinking when he posted that? does he not know what consequences not only he, but you, his manager and his pr team have to suffer? 

you're in your disorganized room, sitting at a desk. you lean your head back and inhale deeply. you were supposed to meet up with the older itoshi–or more like: he let the whole world know you were going to meet up. but now that it's come out, you don't really have to go, right? it would be the best option. for your safety, and his, too. 

you fiddle with the phone in your hands, contemplating. 

should you, should you not…

…ah, fuck it.

you open imessages and as you start typing, you see his icon doing the same. 

hold on. 

a few seconds pass before your phone dings with a new message.

well… it is your job in a sense. even if it feels obligatory (totally did not bring this upon yourself). you grab your bag with your textbooks in a hurry for, despite the social media stunt created by none other than your ex, this is a study session after all.

you rarely referred to him as such; it felt too personal. almost as if you didn't want to acknowledge that he was a part of your life at some point. everyone knew back then and they do now–always wary around you with the silent bubble that you create around yourself, ready to burst anytime at the mention of his name.

you hate how you feel. you could easily move on, right? so, why? why–?

you squeeze your eyes shut. you're thinking too much.

it takes you a while until you leave the house. but once you do, you swear to yourself that your work is going to get done today. if not, there will be repercussions in the form of bad grades and not graduating. 

that should be your motivation. is. must be. 

since it's nearby, you opted for walking there. it was a struggle enough having to maneuver through the insane traffic at this hour. you can only imagine parking in peace in such a populated area. no, thank you.

you had feared having to contact itoshi, asking about his whereabouts. your worries were erased when his frame entered your vision. he stood out among the crowd and you hated how quickly you noticed him despite the circumstances. 

he's on his phone, mindlessly scrolling away. he has a bag over his shoulder, some slacks on with an oversized t-shirt. his hair is fucked up as ever but you can't bring yourself to hate it because overall he looks…  he looks good.

in the same moment, he looks up, eyes meeting yours. they slightly widen in surprise but it takes almost a millisecond for them to go back to normal. he stuffs his phone in his pocket and points toward the entrance.

you nod. if he's seen it or not is not a concern for you as you cross the street, heading to him. 

you'd think he'd go ahead just to make this less awkward but alas, he stands by the entrance, his intention clear from his movements.

this motherfucker really–

“hi.” he starts but you grab his wrist, gently dragging him behind you as you check your library card at the receptionist.

“god, it's so busy today.” you mumble to yourself. by now, you've already let go of his hand yet you can feel his presence behind you.

you choose a remote spot in the back just to avoid everyone. there are already a few but you can manage.

you take a seat and sae follows your lead. 

“hey.” you let out lamely. your eye twitches at how haphazard you must have come off. “sorry about earlier, i didn't want your fans catching sight of you.”

sae only raises his eyebrows, arguments backing him up on the tip of his tongue yet he only forces his lips in a straight line in an attempt not to break into a huge smirk. “i appreciate it.”

your eyes hurt from how fake your smile must be. 

“do you have any school related things to do?” you ask just to accompany the otherwise uncomfortable silence. you open your textbook and laptop, word loading on your screen.

sae mimics your actions but shakes his head. “i'm done with school.”

you purse your lips. right. 

“okay,” you say before you definitely get to work. “how long are you planning to be here? for us, i suppose.” you wince at the poor wording of your question but you pay it no heed as you continue with typing on your keyboard, not sparing sae any glance.

“for as long as you need, i'm free all day.” his voice is so…unlike him that you have to steal a look over your laptop screen and you notice him squinting at the screen. it would've been endearing had it not been for it being sae.

a few hours pass by–much to your delight. you're halfway through your assignment. looking around, you notice you've been so focused on it that you never noticed how the shared space was slowly filtering out until it was just you… left.

sae's belongings are on the desk. along with his bag that's situated in his seat. surely he must've gone somewhere.

you stretch in your seat and push the laptop's screen down, closing it.

if sae's arrival is going to take a while, you might as well text your friends and see what they're up to.

you shove your phone in your pocket and head out. the library is big–too big for your liking–however, it is understandable why it operates the way it does. you haven't counted the floors nor do you plan to but the only place where you can find these exact glass doors is the room right next to yours.

you knock twice. nothing.

and so, you twist the doorknob, slowly enough so it doesn't make a sound. you gradually peek in and see sae in the corner, his arms nesting his head. there's a phone and a notebook next to his head and by the way his back slowly rises up and down, you can tell he's sleeping.

a deep sigh leaves past your lips as you close the door behind you, slowly walking up to him. your desire to straight up shake him awake disappears the moment he stirs in his sleep and you're forced to minimize the impact of your footsteps against the ground that creaks under every movement.

at this point, you might as well go on tiptoes. 

it takes you embarrassingly long to even get halfway through, but once you reach the destination–that is sae's table in the corner–you take a seat right across from him. 

would this be considered creepy? or is this completely normal considering it's only getting late and you're nice enough to wake him up normally?

you sit there, hands in your lap as you try to brainstorm how to wake him up without making a scene and without him being an ass about it. if there's a universal thing that everyone experiences, it's definitely being grumpy when you wake up. might turn even into amplified anger if one's woken up by someone else. hence, your case at the moment.

quick, do something. do something.

the next thing that happens is out of your control; perhaps you wanted to tap him on a shoulder or the table, or even on his forearm. but alas, your palm finds itself in his hair. it's surprisingly soft, considering how many times he’s had to bleach it and dye it subsequently.

you take a strand between your thumb and forefinger and slide along it. 

it doesn’t take long until you start stroking his hair.

the act is deliberate and you can’t bring yourself to stop. especially with the way he contentedly nuzzles into his arms. 

out of the blue, his phone dings with a message and you get startled, your hand instinctively flying to your side again. it would’ve been successful if sae hadn’t caught your wrist and in his groggy voice said, “don’t stop. it’s nice.”

you don’t even question it when you counter with, “but your phone—”

“later. just for a while.”

your hand doesn’t move because all you can feel is sae’s cold hands around your wrist. it’s not unusual but it’s also not expected. 

“your hands are cold.” you say, absentmindedly.

“hm?”

“let’s go home.”

sae’s head shoots up and his almost blood-shot sleepy eyes meet yours, unwavering. he doesn’t ask again just in case he might have heard wrong.

“yeah,” he exhales. “let’s.”

*

all dressed up in jackets and coats with your respective belongings, you reach a point where you have to part ways. normally, you’d be delighted to not see him again for the rest of the day. as of now, however, it feels almost… unfortunate that you couldn’t have spent some hours more together, even if it was in complete silence.

“thank you for keeping me company.” you hate how weakness weaves through your voice. though, you can be at rest knowing you meant every word.

“no, thank you for hanging out with me even if it was out of nowhere.”

the contract. it’s basically why we spend time together. dumbass. 

dumbasses. both you and him.

“see you then.” sae says as he turns around, ready to go the other way. you watch him go. he goes and goes until…

“sae!” you scream, loud enough for him to hear. the passersby send you a nasty look but you couldn’t care less. 

“come to my graduation.” you watch his face contort in various emotions. quickly, you add, “if you want… i guess.”

sae chuckles and then waves as he walks backwards, “see you, y/n.”

sigh.

you smile.

see you.

a/n: SHOCKED R U !!!! sorry ive been away for so long omg i was taking care of my parents' stuff that required me to drive everyday (i have a severe case of driving anxiety omg) and when i decided to take a break was when i did a stupid mistake and put the wrong fuel in the car (yes u may laugh) and then somethign else happened but its all resolved and i learnt lots:') i also bought a new phone and all my previous messages and twt data got deleted so it might take a while until i remake them all again (goodnessss)

tldr; life hit me like a truck.

i hope ur still enjoyign the story and thank u for support <3!!!

tag list: @kiopanxp @funtuki @silly-ez @asteroskoniiii @keijiqahara @pikibee @tamimemo @kaitfae @biaonww @y-sabell-a @kaiserkisser @winterpein @bloombb

[hardworkandguts]

New Cutey Honey

新・キューティーハニー

(OVA)

Magical Girl by Go Nagai

Era: 1990s

Rating: B

Plot: Sometimes she's a tabloid reporter, sometimes she's a nurse, sometimes she's a geisha, sometimes she's... the cute secretary to the mayor of a neo-gothic cyberpunk city in the late 21st century riddled with crime with no memories of her past life? Anyway, she is Cutey Honey, the warrior of love, ready for the 90s.

Length: 8 episodes (~25 minutes)

Thoughts: One of those iconic characters that was never quite fully appreciated in the west, likely because... how were they going to push a show that moved from a magical girl shoujo into a shonen demographic by going really fucking sexy, as the editor asked? Not that it didn't stop the character from becoming very popular even with the original intended audience because she kicks ass, but you know, violence ok, tits, no. As the landscape changed in the 90s and you could say going topless was almost obligatory for an OVA, Honey made a return, and from what I've seen, this might be my favourite version of Cutey Honey as a character. Still kind of innocent, but more aware and far more confident than her younger and ditzier versions, her love for everyone carrying her through her mission. The rest of the cast include Danbei, now back in cyborg / super robot form, and his descendants: Chokkei, a boy who has a crush on Honey and worships Mayor Light, who is trying to bring peace to the streets of Cosplay City, his mother Daiko and his father Akabaku, both expert thieves, as well as many references and cameos from other Go Nagai works, including from the original Cutie Honey and an episode with Devilman himself in a supporting role.

The first half of the OVA has Honey awakening from her job as the Mayor's secretary, and realising her calling as her friends are in danger, and tracking down Lord Dolmeck, the mysterious man who threatened the mayor into surrendering the city, following a path of red capsules that turn random people into monsters she has to fight, before coming into the realisation it might be 100 years into the future, but her enemy is the same, Panther Zora. The second half, set a few years later, starts with a bomb threat over the vacuum of power created by the death of Lord Dolmeck, which Honey manages to track down, until it is stolen by the disciples of Panther Zora, reborn once again and now posessing them directly. The supporting cast adds Natsuko, a girl from the gang that stole the bomb in the first episode and love interest of Chokkei. Unfortunately, the second part of the OVA was planned for 8 episodes, but was cut in half, so there isn't much of a conclusion to the story.

Visually it looks as good as you would expect a 90s OVA to look, and let's just say a lot of care has gone into her transformations. It is generally very well animated, although I feel the fights could have used a more dynamic direction. I really liked the "Gotham if it was designed by Gaudi" look of the setting in the first season, and it was a shame it got dropped for a more conventional setting in the second half.

Recommended to: A good entry point to Cutey Honey

Plus:

Hey look, I'm not going to say anything about the fanservice here because this is Cutey Honey in a 90s OVA and you should know what you're walking into. And it's a plus because...

Very typical and very good mid 90s character design. It looks fantastic overall, the characters look very clean, the setting in the first half is fantastic.

Minus:

It is very short, and the four cancelled episodes are really missed.

Fights could be better, to be honest.

[partiallithopseffect]

seven/ace/hex relisten <3

I’ve been really missing the seventh doctor recently so decided it was time to relisten to Hex’s storyline in the Big Finish main range! Its been ages since I first heard some of these (and i’ve never listened past Protect and Survive before) so I’m genuinely excited :) One of my favourite BF arcs so far I think!

I’m going to note down my thoughts as I go, starting with The Harvest:

I love how this story introduces us to Hex. He’s a sweet guy, it’s his birthday and he’s already having the worst time of his life. Sorry king it will NOT get better

I also enjoy the trend of Seven stories where he’s just skulking around for most of episode 1. Ace is like this is my dad he loves lurking

It’s such an optimistic vision of 2021? I love the reference to “Big Ben and the Museum of Parliament”. I wish. That and the all the tech the hospital use feels so far in the future even now

That being said there’s a weird Brexity vibe later on? The whole program being run by the Euro-Combine and all. Seven even blames the whole thing on “Eurocrats in Brussels” at one point. It just feels strange. I had enough of that in 2016 thanks

“Sus”

Seven is absolutely flirting with System in part two. Oh my. I bet she loves him rewiring her insides

I like this take on the Cybermen too. The fact that these specific Cybermen want to be converted back into humans is really interesting!

I like how it makes the Cybermen kind of messy? I tend to see Cyber-conversion as a one-way, homogenising process but this story says so—there are those Cybermen who want it reversed. And i love how grotesque and body-horrory that reverse process is

Even the obligatory twist about how the Cyberleader was in control the whole time! doesn’t detract from that core idea too much—he’s still clearly finding joy in becoming human, even if it’s only with the end goal of completely Cyber-converting the rest of the human race

As a final thought—the sound design on this story is so… dense? So much is happening all at once it’s kind of hard to keep track of voices, especially near the end

Overall though I enjoyed this one a lot! It’s got a great, cold atmosphere with lots of gnarly stuff behind the scenes. I haven’t talked much about Hex but his dynamic with 7 & Ace is already great and probably my favourite part of this story. 8/10 overall i think!

TARDIS wiki moment: remember the Euro-combine treaty? That links in to the UNIT story The Longest Night! I like all those tiny references in the early BF years tbh

[fulgurbugs]

Doll mail!

today, i got my kikagoods package, i ordered two different dolls because i wanted to get one of my friend (who had been eyeing one of them) and i wasn’t sure which one she’d like more. and i kept the other one

they were the one of the Antu tidal secret language mermaids, and one of the Kukaka insect cafe girls!

first, the Antu mermaid

i have less pics of her, because she is wasn’t for me, but here’s the box. it’s very large. if you’ve gotten a bjd blind box before, you’ll notice how much bigger it is

my friend got gang coral, the purple one! i don’t have a pic of all the contents of the box, but they come with

-a seashell bra (and mini sticky dots to attach them to the doll)

-two extra sets of hands

-a set of hip fins that peg into the tail

-a dress (different patterns for each doll)

-the usual faceplates (1 face, 1 front hair, 1 back hair)

-a flexible coral crown

i’ll say very worth the price compared to what you get for other bjds blind boxes, plus the fact they’re huge.

they are not super easy to display (very top heavy, no legs) but they can kind of “sit up” on their tail. (i have a pic later on)

next up, the maid cafe insect girls!

i was very excited to get this one, they’re very unique looking and you all know i’m big on bug girls

apparently i didn’t take a picture of the box this time, oops.

here we can see all the parts, as well as the unique body sculpt these girls have!

this takes the cartoony proportions of the series 2 bonnies and pushes them up to 11. i adore their giant hands and feet

here’s their extra hands next to the antu mermaid extra hands, for reference.

here’s her dressed! i did have to take the hands off to fit her sleeves, and they were quite difficult to put on again. a good amount of trying to re-string her with a wire and holding my breath and hoping i wouldn’t drop the string and dissemble her further.

the dress is open for her abdomen and magnetic wings to show. it only velcros a small amount

here she is! i got the white moth, rongrong. she was my third choice (behind orchid mantis and scarab) but seeing these now, there’s not a single one that could have disappointed me.

here’s some more pictures of her (and her photocard, which has some really lovely art)

here’s her next to the antu mermaid

(they are girlfriends)

anyways, here’s the obligatory.5 shot.

anyways, there’s some more bjds i have my eyes on, so i’m sure i’ll be back for more in the future. super super happy with the insect cafe girls!

[greenplantlizard]

gokaiger 17-23!!!

gai is here!!

oh my god he's a FANNN

i love him already :D

obligatory i have known him 5 minutes etc etc meme

i also love how marvelous basically adopted him lmao

gozyujin is actually a really cool design,,,

damn that was a quick power up

cool that doc's motivation in the episode was foreshadowed by him being left out of gai's fantasy gokaiger a couple episodes back though,,,

HOLY SHIT IT'S GINGAMAN EPISODE 26

BUT LIKE,,, ALSO ITS OWN THING

BUT ALSO VERY MUCH GINGAMAN EPISODE 26

also where ninjaman

where is my boy

two tributes back to back?

add boukenger to the list of sentai who's tributes i wasn't expecting to massively enjoy, but MAN this episode actually ruled

episode 22 is practically a showa episode, which as this episode proves, ain't a bad thing :)

yessss gogo-v!!!

hell yeah people's lives ARE the future of the earth

also hey i got the reference with ahim and luka using the powers from the other two sibling sentai teams

when will my boy zubaan be freed

anyway i am extremely normal about my wife luka and if anything bad happened to her i would destroy the earth, unrelated