#both of these are just basically a visual love letter to this type face i adore it

[icharchivist]

@haru-desune submitted:

Hello my semi annual "wth is gbf" ask But in all seriousness y'all look you're having fun 😁

DFKJDFMLFD HEY!!! Tee hee!

we are having a tone of fun over here yeah!! this year is the 10th anniversary of the game with new Triple A game coming out, so it's going to be a busy year and we've all been buzzing quite a bit. Though the way i ended up attracting a hive of anons discussing gbf is a mystery -- in the end the main game itself remains pretty niche -- but we're having a lot of fun bouncing out of each others.

Though to answer "what is gbf".... *looks at my blog* you will have to be more specific about what you want to know, because we don't even talk about the main story on here all that much---

Ok so for the fast crash course:

Granblue Fantasy is a browser game which can be played on any Chromium based browser at http://game.granbluefantasy.jp/ . It has a Japanese and an English version, running at the same time (it's not different servers, we get content at the same time as the Japanese fandom does)

It also has a Fighting Game called Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, and will soon have a Action RPG coming out in February called Granblue Fantasy Relink. Those games are set in the lore of Granblue, though gbvs is slightly in another timeline/universe -- still those stories are stand alones meant to be different steps on the characters journeys

The gameplay is mostly Turn-by-turn RPG for the gameplay, and Visual Novel for the story -- and gacha to get the characters you get to use and meet. (note that today we just got 200 free pulls, and the opportunity to use those pulls will disappear in less than 2 hours, so if you want to play the game today is a good day for that)

For a crashcourse on the basic lore to know about + some vague Main Story Characters and spoilers information, you can go there to learn more about it!

but the long story short is that the world of gbf is a world of floating islands and magic, ruled by the absent God of Rebirth and Destruction known as Bahamut. (all the homies hate Bahamut.) Once upon a time Bahamut split into two, splitting the world as we know, and overseeing two types of people: The People of the Skies (The Skydwellers) who are mortals, and the People of the Stars (the Astrals) who are immortal. The Astrals tried to invade the Skyrealms centuries ago, but where pushed back -- but behind them they left Primal Beasts, immortal creatures who works as semi gods, dedicated to a purpose programed inside of them.

Our Protagonist, Gran if you play as a guy, Djeeta as a girl (you can switch gender anytime tho), was abandonned by their father when they were young as he went on a quest to find Eustalucia, the island of the Astrals -- and after years of radio silence, MC finally gets a letter about their father's whereabouts, and decides to go on a journey to find back their fathers -- travelling the skies and all of its perils.

accompanying them are Vyrn, the red dragon who raised us, who's memories have mysteriously been locked away, and Lyria, the Girl in Blue (well, with blue hair, but shh), a young girl who was held prisoner by the local Empire for her power to be able to control the Primal Beasts. As she attempted to escape thanks to Katalina, an ex soldier of the Empire who was so saddened by Lyria's situation she freed her and swore loyalty to her instead, she met our MC... and near death circumstances brought Lyria to connect her life to our own, connecting us together.

Both Lyria and Vyrn end up accompanying MC out of devotion and love, but also out of seeking answers about their own existence as well.

And on their way to Eustalucia, our MC becomes the Captain of a Crew, going from island to island, adding more and more people to their crew as it goes.

The Main Story follows mainly their struggle to go to Eustalucia, facing the Empire at the time, Primal Beasts going Bersek, and much more others problems.

But every months the game unleash an event story, which will pretty much be "a story on another island that isn't related to the main plot". Those events then disappear for a time before being added to the side stories.

And those events have their own casts. The overall lore builds to the main lore, of course, but each event stories will follow their own themes for instance. Sometimes the casts of those events crossover and spend time together.

On here we talk a lot about What Makes The Sky Blue: A Three Parter story about the first primal beast of creations and their quests to reexamine their purpose, their free will, and their connection with Bahamut as their creators turns out to be heavily linked to him.

wmtsb is also the doomed love story of Sandalphon and Lucifer, as Sandalphon was driven to madness and unleashed his anger on Lucifer, leading to strife when Lucifer tried to make things right no matter what. They're. so much.

(longer version with translation)

it's also the story that has Belial as a secondary antagonist, and it's the guy we talk about soooo fucking much on here because we're so unwise about him. the polar opposite of Lucifer, who yet was so dedicated to his creator he triggered various apocalypses and brought various issues to our protagonists to selfishly reunite with the man he loved.

Oh and, like, i'm not actually like, any type of hyperbolism about the LGBT+ stuff btw. Belial's feelings are explicitly romantic, and later Lucifer mirrors Belial's explicit words to address his feelings for Sandalphon for instance.

We also have various Trans rep (Ladiva and Cagliostro are openly trans women, Balurga is a trans man, Orologia is a genderfluid dragon who literally shift gender from one screen to the next and who use they/them, and the characters who, as a group, are named the 6 dragons, are openly nonbinary. There's also two others characters (Morilynn and Morgan) who use they/them pronouns. And also i'll include him but Lamorak who said he refused to be limitated to gender.)

We also have a lot of wlw and mlm, including a canon wlw kiss (but for that i direct you to my current pinned post, i love them so much they're so unwell) and a wlw engagement party. We're doing fine here.

Another story i'm particuliarly found of personally is the Dragon Knights saga, but it's a 10 parters so it's like. A Lot. But it's basically about four knights who once served the country of Feendrache together, working together to uncover the sins of Feendrache's past and make sure the current country is willing to atone for their crimes, as they're trying to rebuild a proper future, while avoiding the threat of Merlin, a victim of one of said crimes who have been planning Feendrache's destruction ever since.

Or the story Marionette Stars, about people suddenly getting wrapped into a conspiracy as they are being led to connect with powerful weapons connected to the Horoscope, leading them in the web of an organization who is making sure conditions are met for them to awaken their weapons to lead to nefarious intentions.... it's where the kissing lesbians are from for instance, but also fair warning this is the gorest of the saga so far and it has a lot of unsettling stuff going on in it.

And there's so much more characters and stories and anything for the eyes to see. All with gorgeous arts, and a lot of recent stories have very deep themes which really are interesting to sit through, though keeping in mind that the game has a lot of disturbing content and doesn't hesitate to have you sit through extremely disturbing and gore scenes. #SurvivorOfTikohFE

here's some arts samples of various saga to give you an overview of some goodies here and there

and if you want to get into it because of Seiyuu? you're in luck! there's so many characters in granblue that your favorite seiyuu can POSSIBLY be in it!

like i did a list of a3 seiyuus in it for example:

and some of them have songs! as pictured above with Sandalphon's (Suzumura Ken'ichi) song, but also like, the Dragon Knights (Seiyuu: Eguchi Takuya, Ono Yuuki, Ryota Osaka, Kazuhiko Inoue) or Grimnir's song (by legendary seiyuu Megumi Ogata)

or also absolutely bonkers songs as OST, like the infamous Parade's Lust, Paradise Lost, Zero, Existence, Peace and Quiet, The Watershed Moment, or a personal fav with For You.

So strap in, give it a shot, and if you want clarification on literally anything, don't hesitate ;D

[infragilehearts]

— whoa! RACHEL QUINN just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for 2 YEARS, working as a INFLUENCER. that can’t be easy, especially at only 25 YEARS. some people say they can be a little bit CLOSED-OFF and FORGETFUL, but I know them to be CONFIDENT and HEADSTRONG. whatever. I guess I’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to QUEENS! — (taylor, 25+, EST, they/them, none)

wanted connections | full navi | pinterest | musings blog | full bio -- the group

threads - thread tracker - visuals - musings - aesthetics - likes

— BASICS ☆

full name:;  rachel allison quinn

nicknames:;  rach

gender:;  born female

pronouns:;  she/her

sexual preference:;  bisexual

relationship role:;  easily submissive, sometimes dominates

birthdate:;  september 25th

birthplace:;  miami, florida – raised in brooklyn once she turned five

zodiac sign:;  libra

spouse / lover:;  none currently

— APPEARANCES ☆

face & voice claim:;  sabrina carpenter & similar to margot robbie's harley quinn

height:;  5′5″

eyes:;  has ocean blue eyes – has 20/20 vision

hair:;  naturally blonde, not dyed, likes to add colours sometimes for a change

body art:;  a small one on the back her right wrist of a bowie lightning bolt, another small one on front of her left wrist of a semi-colon, a small heart on her right ankle, the words ‘dream’ in small cursive letters on the left side of her ribcage // ears (lobe and industrial for both ears)

other distinguishing features:;  always has bangs and enjoys a ponytail often

fashion sense:;  classic, casual, trendy with a hint of 90s

body type:;  her weight/body type changes but she’s always healthy with the standard more straight (not so curvy) model body

— PERSONALITY ☆

traits:; clumsy, sassy, hard-working, confident

fears:;  not finding love, being generally alone

hobbies:;  making videos, cooking/baking, singing, writing, dancing, acting

skills:;  singing, acting, dancing and cooking/baking

quirks:;  clumsy, forgetful, bites lip when bored or nervous

— FAMILY & CONNECTIONS ☆

mother:;  megan quinn

father:;  ryder masters

siblings:;  older sister

children:;  none yet, would love one

pets:;  a cat named simba

— FAVOURITES ☆

ice cream flavour:;  strawberry

food:;  shrimp, ham & cheese omelet w/ sausage links, chicken & broccoli alfredo

time of the day / night:;  twilight

season:;  fall/autumn for the chilly days

holiday:;  new years

animal:;  all cats

colour:;  red

scent:;  cherry blossoms

musician/band:;  christina perri

— OTHER ☆

occupation:;  influencer/internet personality (runs a youtube channel and a minor musician/actor)

education:;  high school drop-out, never did anything more school wise

bad habits:;  drinking

a cherished item:;  a mood ring she always wears

random fun fact:;  she got her first tattoo at eighteen

random fun fact 2:;  released her first album in her early twenties

— BIOGRAPHY ☆

trigger warning:; drinking, depression

—- C H I L D H O O D  —-

rachel allison quinn was born to ryder masters and megan quinn, during a trip to miami, her parents had a struggling relationship, but she was always a bit of a daddy’s girl. she’d go with to his sets and watch him act and she felt it was something she wanted to do ever since. when she was eight years old, her father passed away and she was left with her mother and it wasn’t the most ideal, especially once her mother re-married.

she herself was a bit of a loner, she didn’t have many friends, but she always wanted to be more social. she did get close with a boy in middle school and they ended up dating before the summer ending middle school and shortly after split and she went into high school single. dealing with bullying, crushes and feeling unwelcome. school caused her battles with depression and her form of self harm was drinking. rachel was didn’t expand much and after freshman year, dropped out of school just not sure she could do it anymore. she tried home-schooling til she was 17 and got her first job, thus she was too busy and didn’t care much.

—- BACKGROUND  —-

her home life quickly became too much so she wanted to make her own money, but she was a bit too young for a real job yet and thus she found and decided to try out social media with youtube, tiktok, twitter and instagram (mainly youtube & instagram). she used her channel as a fun escape, show her style and then as she started building an audience and soon it became her passion. however this wasn’t her dream and this soon started her making skits and short films to show off her acting skills. in a couple of her works she shared her singing voice and her fans became obsessed so singing became a part of her channel at times. she started making money and decided to take it further but making a single, her own original song. it did so well and soon she came out with another.

now rachel finally opened up again, to a boy she met through some friends and they got close and started dating that summer. she really felt happy with him but soon he called it quits leaving her unsure of what went wrong and she couldn’t bare it. she went to seek help to forget him and then she dove more into her work as an escape from the pain of another failed and short lived relationship. she was able to afford a place of her own and was looking for where she wanted to live, she wanted to leave brooklyn for sure. rachel was mainly looking around los angeles to further her career. it took a lot but she packed up and left for the lovely state and soon she was living in a small apartment, getting used to her new life in los angeles as she had always dreamed. it took a few months, before she was discovered and offered a contract and she jumped at the idea of making a full album. her acting dream was set aside for now.

—- C U R R E N T L Y  —-

rachel soon finished and released her first album by the age of 21 and she moved to a house and got a cat to keep her company. with the success of her first album she got to do a small tour and within a couple years she released her second album at 23. this is when she ended up moving back to new york (but to the queens area instead of brooklyn), with her cat and now she’s eagerly working on a third album. while acting is her dream, music works, she loves writing and sharing her story. now living where she does, however, she’s finally got some acting with some small roles or cameos here and there. it’s a start to getting a big role on a major movie or television show, but she’s okay for now being an influencer does music and holding off on acting for now. she’s still young and happy.

[ will try to update as time goes on ]

[valwentinefics]

Ahhhh I love your fics and your NSFW Zemo headcanons. Would you consider doing a full NSFW Alphabet for him?

Helmut Zemo NSFW Alphabet (18+)

A/N: My tumblr was so laggy writing this I wanted to scream so sorry for any errors I wasn’t really able to fix them. Thank you so much for enjoying my stuff I hope you like this!

Warnings: mostly dom Zemo with a little bit of sub (I’m horrible at writing subs ok sorry), sexual choking, breeding kink, some bdsm dynamics, pegging if you’re afab in one part, innocence kink, very very brief pee mention in the no section, 

Letters C and T were written with an afab reader in mind.

After sex Zemo would dote on you, holding you close into his warm chest as he praises you for how well you took him and calling you sweet Sokovian pet names.

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

On you Zemo is a big fan of your thighs. No matter what they look like, big or small, stretch marks or no stretch marks, he loves them. He enjoys the way he can trail his hands up them, loving your pretty little whimpers as he gets close to touching the spot you want him to touch the most

On himself Zemo loves his hands. They’re soft and well taken care of and make the prettiest necklace when wrapped around your throat.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

This man has a breeding kink, if you don’t want to have a child or unable to have one that’s fine with him he at least likes the fantasy of it. He cums a lot and will ensure you don’t waste a drop, keeping himself in you to make sure nothing spills out until he goes soft. If you’re bad he’ll make you cockwarm him with his cum in you until he gets hard again, then fucking it further into you.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Zemo wants to get fucked in the ass. He’s usually a dom because he enjoys having control as well as making you feel good, but sometimes he wants to be put in his place and what better way to do that than to make him get on his hands and knees and pound into him?

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

I can’t see Zemo having had many partners, but he definitely knows what he’s doing. He encourages you to be vocal about what you like and don’t like so that he can hopefully be the best you’ll ever have.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Because of his breeding kink I see him loving the mating press position the most, especially since it lets him get super deep inside you and allows him to see your face while he plows you which he absolutely loves as well as it gives him control over you.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Zemo seems like he’d be more on the serious side during sex, but if you feel more comfortable cracking a few jokes then he wont mind. All that matters to him is that you’re both having a good time.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Zemo doesn’t seem like the type to shave fully, instead he’ll keep it trimmed short.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

This man is romantic. Sometimes you’ll come home to rose petals leading to a candlelit bedroom. He’s real cheesy and dramatic like that most of the time before sex, although he won’t be all too opposed to doing it anywhere regardless of if its fancy and nice or not. 

He can be degrading or sweet during sex, it depends on what you want, Zemo is a very generous lover and is down for nearly anything. He mostly enjoys being strict with you though if you let him. He is usually a dom and a good one at that.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Zemo doesn’t masturbate that much, why do it when he can just fuck you? However if he’s gone for long periods of time and can’t stop thinking of you he’ll have some lingerie sent to wherever you are and ask you to send pictures wearing it for him.

Other than his breeding kink I see Zemo having a thing for innocence. Zemo loves to be the only one to touch you and make you feel good, to have you trust and depend on him completely for your pleasure. He’s a good teacher too if you’re a virgin. (will be elaborated on in a future fic)

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Zemo is a traditional man, he loves to fuck you in the bed. Although he also loves quickies in whatever closet he can find, he worries about hurting your back when he’s pounding into you somewhere that isn't soft.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Zemo loves it when you listen to him, even if he’s just asking you to do something like the dishes. He also loves when you wear things he gives you and are impressed with him.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

I’m sorry but I’ve got to say it, Zemo’s not gonna piss on you. He’d like to keep it clean of things your bodies produce unless it's like spit or cum.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Zemo is great at giving and will if you ask him, but he doesn’t really like oral that much.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Zemo changes depending on the mood, but he loves to fuck you slow but hard, usually ending up fast and rough when he’s about to cum.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Zemo likes to be romantic, but sometimes he can’t help pulling you into a closet and fucking you roughly as a punishment if you tease him in public.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Zemo is 100% down with experimenting. He loves to try new things to find out what works and doesn’t work for the two of you.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Zemo can go for an average amount of time but he makes sure to give you multiple orgasms during it.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Two words. Vibrating panties. Good luck if you accompany him while he does business, you better be good and silent for him.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Unless you misbehaved Zemo wouldn’t tease you… too much. But when you warrant it he loves to push you until you’re begging him to fuck you, and when you’re on your knees before him with such teary and needy eyes, he can’t say no.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Zemo is pretty quiet despite moaning a lot. It makes it really easy for quickies in public as long as you’re able to be quiet too.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

He loves to be called Baron, he loves how powerful he feels when you call him that, especially if you call him your baron.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Pretty average, I think he’d be circumcised. 

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Zemo fucks. A lot. The man will have you bent over whenever humanly possible.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He’s super tired afterwards, but always makes sure to be awake long enough to make sure you’re doing okay and have everything you could possibly need before falling asleep.

[keykeylocke]

Start-Up Review

Warning: Spoilers

Rating: 1 / 3 

This drama made me angry. I didn’t even watch the last three episodes. I rebuke everything that happened after the 3 year time jump. Han Ji-Pyeong deserved better.

Summary

Seo Dal-Mi is twelve years old. Her parents have recently divorced. She chooses to stay with her father in Korea, while her older sister In-Jae moves to America with their mother and stepfather. 

Dal-Mi’s grandmother, Won-Deuk is the owner of a hot dog shop. With her mother leaving, Grandma becomes concerned about Dal-Mi. 

One day Grandma meets an orphan named Han Ji-Pyeong. Ji-Pyeong has aged out of the orphanage, but cannot find an apartment to rent, because he is only 17. He won’t go to college for a few months and needs a place to stay in the meantime. Grandma offers him a place to sleep in the back of the hot dog shop, unbeknownst to her family. 

In exchange for her kindness Ji-Pyeong agrees to write letters to Dal-Mi posing as a student her age, named Nam Do-San. A name they chose from an article in the newspaper. Grandma thinks these letters will cheer up Dal-Mi who is dealing with feeling abandoned by her mother and sister. It works. Dal-Mi feels comforted by Ji-Pyeong’s letters. However, when Ji-Pyeong goes to college the letters suddenly stop. 

Fifteen years later, Dal-Mi is feeling unfulfilled in her life. She longs for the comfort she felt from her pen pal and first love Nam Do-San. She goes on a search to find him, but who will she find, Han Ji-pyeong who wrote the letters or Nam Do-San the young math genius whose name Grandma and Ji-Pyeong randomly found in the paper?

Song Suggestion: Lie by BTS Jimin

Grandma and Ji-Pyeong were caught in a lie.

Also did anyone think the male hacker twin looked like Jimin. His hairstyle and his colorful sweaters and earrings were giving me Park Jimin vibes.

Likes

-Kim Seon Ho’s acting. I was already a fan of his, because I watched him in 100 Days My Prince. He is actually the only reason why I considered watching this drama. I saw him in the trailer and decided to watch it. 

-Good visuals. All the shots filmed near the Han River looked so beautiful. It made me want to visit Seoul one day.

-The secret of the letter made the story interesting. As a viewer you wanted to know when and how Dal-Mi would find out. (Although the letters were a good plot device. I sometimes felt like I was watching the most elaborate episode of MTV’s Catfish.)

-I liked that this drama took on social topics like suicide, how techological advancements can negatively effect older workers, and how companies can take advantage of young workers with passion pay.

Dislikes

-3 year time jump. It didn’t seem like any character grew over the three years. 

-Ji-Pyeong being blamed for Yong-San’s brother’s death.

-The letters were not discussed by Dal-Mi and Ji-Pyeong or Dal-Mi and Grandma. They became insignificant for several episodes. Then, at the end of the series Do-San uses it as some sort of power grab between him and Ji-Pyeong.

-Do-San fighting Ji-Pyeong. It was not Ji-Pyeong’s fault that the deal with 2STO fell through. Do-San never actually told the rest of Samsan Tech that Alex met with him privately and tried to recruit him to 2STO by himself.

-Samsan Tech constantly complained about Ji-Pyeong when he only told them the truth about their company. Ji-Pyeong told them they didn’t know how to market Do-San’s technology and make it profitable. He was right. They literally used his idea to form a nonprofit type of service. They were helping the visually impaired, but they were not making money. Ji-Pyeong also said they would never find an investor for the company. He was right about that too. They only got Morning Group to invest, because they blackmailed them and 2STO did not invest in Samsan Tech, they dissolved the company.

-I hated Dal-Mi’s relationship with her mom and her sister. The abandonment she went through as a child was never really addressed (from what I watched).

-Dal-Mi and Do-San were relatable, because they were both sort of underdogs trying to make it. However, they never seemed to grow throughout the show. They showed a lot of immature behavior throughout the entire series.

-The love triangle was overused. If Dal-Mi wasn’t going to end up with Ji-Pyeong why string him and the audience along until basically the last episode. Also why do we get In-Jae showing interest in Ji-Pyeong for two seconds. This drama had 16 episodes. Was there really no time to explore that potential connection?

Favorites

Favorite Characters

-Ji-Pyeong: He had such a compelling story as an orphan who overcame adversity and became successful. He loved grandma. Although he did yell at her a couple of times. He was so conflicted, but just like BTS V he is a Good Boy. He fell in love with Dal-Mi because she is so much like Grandma. She is very kind and giving. He really is a sweet guy who seems really confident, but is actually very lonely.

-Grandma: I wanted to contact the Pope and suggest that Grandma become a saint. She took Ji-Pyeong in when he was homeless. She fed him, gave him new shoes, and started a bank account for him. She became Dal-Mi’s sole guardian and never complained. Then, she took in her daughter-in-law and gave her a job so she could escape her abusive husband. She had to suffer through the devastating loss of her son, but put on a brave face for Dal-Mi. (It was nice that she sort of gained a son through her relationship with Ji-Pyeong.)

-Do-San’s Dad: He showed how tech can negatively affect older people. Although he seemed like he was putting a lot of pressure on Do-San, he just really wanted his son to be successful and live a good life.

Favorite Scenes

-When Do-San’s dad shows up at Sandbox and says his little speech about how older people like the slow pace and younger people like fast paced technology, but both are needed in society not just one. I think this is true.

-When Do-San tells his dad that they don't have to be each other’s pride and joy. They can just be father and son. This is the way a lot of people feel about their parents, but they may never say it. It is a beautiful scene.

-Any scene where Grandma calls Ji-Pyeong Good Boy or holds his face.

[nextwarden]

Webtoons are good for the soul [Long post] [but worth it] [hopefully]

Bit of a long one (for a change...), sorry.

I haven’t read that many that’s a lie but here are my favs!

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe [ongoing - every Sunday]

or when Hades met Persephone. It’s a love story, fluffy yet deep and sad at times. Very well told and with incredible art (as you can see from the cover ci-dessus), in a pastel/watercolour fluid style, as is the storytelling. It has compelling characters, character growth, love, funny moments, and basically the best you could ask from a romantic story. And it had enough material to get you through good number of hours of reading before you have to break down every sunday in wait of the following week like the rest of us.

mah-hart-mah-sole/10

Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell by unfins [ongoing - every Friday]

Paul is in love with a cute girl who works in a café nearby. But Paul is shy and can’t work out how to go ask her out. So Paul does what anyone would do and summons one of the Great Dukes of Hell in order to get better at fumbling his sentences and blushing at beautiful maidens. It’s about discovery of one’s true self and how getting deep into shenanigans will lead you to find so much more. Also, sister. (You’ll understand when you get there.)

It’s funny but also compelling and serious but still incredibly funny. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much reading any other webtoon and yet the story is also really cool. It strikes a perfect balance, or near perfect. The expressions and the action scenes are just incredible too.

chenandeler bong/10

Suitor Armor by Purpah [ongoing - every Friday]

In a land with magic and war between humans and fairies, Lucia is the princess’s lady in waiting and her only goal in life at the moment is to get her Lady to have the wedding she wishes for and deserves. But then she gets a flower from a magic armor and everything changes. Also, she’s a fairy.

It’s well drawn, characters all seem unique, varied and personnality-driven. The art style is beautiful. It’s also deeper than what I expected, with inklings of different types and levels of drama.

Alright, I’ll say it, it feels like a ‘promising new Lore Olympus’. By which I mean not to compare but simply to say I felt as taken by the story as I did with L.O.

Modeus/10

Facing the Sun by ArtbyTesslyn [ongoing]

Aarya reaserches the intricacies of dobotics and artificial intelligence with her companion robot Liza who's expiration is long everdue. Things change with a hardware update. One can’t live without the other, and neither can the other.

It’s dark but beautiful, both in the art and in the story. The sci-fi elements aren’t overwhelming and pieces of lore bring begin to pain a picture over time. It’s a slow burn but oh lord! if it isn’t going to be blazing hot...

I Robot/10

Spellbound by Ronce [ongoing]

Eglantine joins a new highschool midyear and finds herself paired with a refractarian roommate. She does her best to fit in to her new school despite not conforming to all the expectations that others might have of her. Or of her strange but likeable roommate.

It’s a cute and queer little romance, very underrated in my opinion. The art is wonderful, it’s black and white in the beginning and starts having touches of colour here and there before going full blown coloured, and I didn’t even realize it had until many chapters into it... The characters all all diverse and interesting. Also did I forget to say it’s set in France and it’s a wizarding school? Because it is!

conseiller principal d’éducation/10

180 Angel by King Katbird [ongoing]

Chloe is an angel, she lives in Heaven and goes to school in the hopes of becoming a delivery angel one day! However her plan are compromised by her inability to do anything well except halo manipulation. Even flying is not easy for her. But a fateful meeting with a reaper sends her on a trip to Hell and back which changes her. Or is it that she had always been different?

It may not seem much from the banner but I tried it and I got hooke. The art is great and still improves over time, the plot takes a bit of time to set in - I’m still not sure it’s fully set in yet - but it’s worth it, and the characters are visually deep. It sometimes jumps weirdly between scenes or sequences but not so much it completely loses you.

LAMP/10

Letters on the Wall by JaelynGs [ongoing]

Tara comes back fom spain after a five years abroad to find things have changed and others haven’t, to her equal pleasure and dismay. This is how she and her friends deal with these old relatioships that they are now reviving.

Everything doesn’t go smoothly despite each and every character deserving them to. The art is good to begin with and manages to improve over time, as well as the storytelling. Where it might have been a bit hectic before, it smoothes over time. It was for the longest time the only reason I would stalk Webtoons everyday to see if there was any updates. Also each chapter has a colour in the name and that’s just cool!

If Da Yomanville Gang [see below] got me to come to Webtoons, this sealed the deal for me to stay. [And then there was Lore Olympus.]/10

Not So Shoujo Love Story by Curryuku [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Rei Chan-chan loves Hansum, the chin chin chinny goodest looking student, more than she loves her shoujo manga. But gorgeous Hannah is in her way and won’t seem to let her get her way with him. Why is that? Well, gaybe there’s a secret hidden behind her motives? Read it to find out...

It’s funny, it’s cute, and it’s so, so stupid. I love them all. It’s dumb but so much fun to read. There aren’t that many chapters yet but enough to get into it. Also, sisters. (You’ll understand when you get there. Bis) So this is what the spring of youth feels like, huh...

chips/10

Always Human by walkingnorth [completed]

Sunati, a young engineer in training, fan of all those mods you can add to change your appearance, meets Austen, a beautiful yet modless girl who she’s been admiring from afar for a while now. She thinks the girl’s beautiful, but sdly she’s refused when she asks her out on a date, and for rather good reasons.

Now watch as they gravitate around each other and how it influences them both.

It’s a slow-burn quite realistic lesbian sci-fi story about finding love and accepting oneself and others in the midst of life and all it brings upon us. It’s cute, it’s fluffy, and it’s heartwarming despite broaching serious subjects - in a good way -, and it’s finished so you can read the whole thing! (It has enough chapters to give you a few hours of reading)

hay fever sucks/10

Da Yomanville Gang by Jason King [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Layla moved recently, to get away from a dose of angst she didn’t want to have to deal with. She meets new people, fun and friendly people, but it seems the angst can’t quite seem to leave her alone. Alone is what she’s not to deal with it anymore, however.

This is the one, long before Lore Olympus, which brought bme over to Webtoons. It’s not the best drawn, not the most compelling, but the strong point and what made me love it - beyond Layla’s chara design - is the depth of most of the characters, how not all good is good and all bad is bad, and reality often lies in the middle - and how they evolve over the course of the story. Definitely worth a read.

wheelbarrow/10

Love Bot by Chase Keels and Miranda Mundt [ongoing - every Sunday]

In the near future - the year is (Blade Runner) 2049 - technology has advanced enough to creat pseudo-artificial intelligence and thus lovebots. Xada mods and repairs those emotionnaly intelligent robots for a living. What brings this story about is him toying with a less-than-friendly client’s bot so much so that he finds himself in quite a pickle when the bot ‘wakes up’.

It seems to be BL. Let it be BL, please! The art is very nice, the story feels dark but the pitch give way to many interesting possibilities, and, well, the characters are quite nice to look at, I’ll admit... Also, angst. I don’t always enjoy it but when I do, I do.

Not many chapters but it’s getting there.

i’ll let you bot my love/10

Mage & Demon Queen by Color_LES [ongoing - every Thusday]

Malori is the best and the most promising mage student at her school. Aided by Cerik, her best friend and swordsman party member, she attempts to conquer the last floor of the demon tower, reigned over by the ferocious Velverosa, the demon queen, whose defeat will bring glory and richess to those who defeat her. But all is not quite as it seems and, what is that, might it be a crush I see over there? Oh, wait, no, that’s just our protagonist getting squished by the weight of her love...

Once again, it’s fun and stupid (a pattern? noooo) but it’s worth a read.

LES/10

Down to Earth by Pookie Senpai [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Kade live alone and depressed in spite of fleeting relatioships since his big breakup, content with simply going by life while he works in retail. One day, an alien crashes into his backyard. Zaida’s an alien but she’s cute, seems innocent, is unfamiliar with everything, so he agrees to help. Thus begins a slice of life story of them roommating in his appartment until, maybe, one of them crashes into the other’s heart?

It’s cute, heartwarming, and I sort f relate with the main character. Although I don’t know if’d prefer a cute alien, a dragon or a stalking neighbour... [that’s an inside joke, I’ll explain if I ever make a list of the good yamete onii-chan! I’ve been reading] It’s a slow burn with enough depth to hook you up. Some characters are still uncertain in my eyes but that makes me curious.

loner/10

The Remarried Empress by Alphatart / Sumpul [ongoing - every Wednesday and Sunday]

Navier Ellie Trovi is an empress. Perfect and perfectly content in every way with her life until the day a mistress enters her husband’s life. Things sort of go downhill from there. Or do they? For she also learns about herself and what she might actually want out of life to be happy. Breaking the status quo might be the way.

It feels like one of those poor quality isekai comics or manga in which the MC is brought back to a time where she has the power to change her life and decides for emancipation and revenge, but it’s not. It’s more ‘yolo’ and had interesting characters, especially the MC - no pushover - and a slow-burn plot. Don’t expect to see the flash-forward in the first chapter quite yet, but come to experience the whole affaire in detail and in the most satisfying of ways! Also the art is cool!

divorce/10

Muted by Miranda Mundt [ongoing - every Friday]

On her 21st birthday, Camille fails the ritual to become a full-fledged witch and is isolated from what remains of her old and successful family. This leads to her discovering truths about herself and her powers that will change her and those around her.

By the same author as Love Bot. I haven’t read the whole thing yet but the designs are good, the plot is interesting, the characters have depth and personnality, it has witches, magic, romance [I guess, still unsure of the details though], a bit of angst, and it’s set in Louisianna. All good points.

plant magic/10

Cursed Princess Club by LambCat [ongoing - every Monday]

Gwendolyn and her sisters, each a princess in their own right, are set to be betrothed to three princes of a neighbouring country after living all their lives happy and sheltered with their father and brother. Unfortunately, Gwendolyn is not like her sisters - and brother, for that matter - in that her beauty is... less than conventionnal. Devastated by what outsiders think of her she escapes into the forest and meets kindred spirits in the form of the Cursed Princess Club - non-gendered, they also have that one prince there! - and it might just help her grow into the confident woman she is destined to become.

I clicked for the funny hahas ‘because she’s ugly’ and cursed princess trope, I stayed for the genuine laughs and smiles and the heartwarming good nature of most of te characters. Also, haha, funny characters are funny. So, yeah, I started this with a bias - still haven’t caught up yet - and have been seduced by this lesser known webtoon. Don’t let the visuals fool you, it’s really good!

respect wahmen/10

Andy Bass by KenneDuck / Gia [ongoing - every Friday]

Andy Bass is our average highschool girl. Litterally. She’s half human, half fish, a real mermaid but vertically. That leads to less-than-friendly looks and reactions from others. However, the arrival of a new, and frankly very cute, transfer student might change all that.

Haven’t read it all yet, not that there are many chapters out, but it feel fun and promising. Also, physically imperfect characters are best characters. Down with the reign of beauty and up with 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔪!

Chin Hansum 2.0/10

For the Sake of Sita by Haga [completed]

A medical student passionately falls in love with a fallen goddess during his volunteer abroad in Nepal, and he desperately tries to fight off destiny to save his love. [the actual summary]

Okay, I’ll be honest: I haven’t quite read that one yet. I’m guilty of only having looked at the beginning and the end to see if it seemed worth it and, oh my gorsh! it does. The art is beautiful, the story seems sad yet beautiful too (I had tears reading the last chapters without knowing much of the rest) and it’s short, so jump on it!

[I’ll probably come back to that later when I’ve actually read it completely]/10

Us Right Now by yurineseventeen [ongoing]

Rina's long-term girlfriend, Noa, decides to run away from home. Rina has limited time to find her.

Not much more to say other than it’s sweet and it feels real. I like the beginning, haven’t read the rest yet, but will definitely soon.

keep going/10

New Normal: Class 8 by Youngpaka [ongoing - every Sunday]

Dongwoon has a big head. It does not make life easy. But what if he wasn’t alone being so... different? He discovers it is the case when he joins his new school a special class full of people who are different. Things get weird fast but also better and fun.

I haven’t read this in a long time, it’s on my list though. But until the moment I stopped at least, it was fun, funny, and interesting. It’s slice-of-life comedy, often ligthearted and stupid, sometimes more serious, but globally a pleasure to read.

sensei/10

The Witch and The Bull by Moonsia [ongoing - every Thursday]

Tan's job as the King's royal advisor has nothing to do with his hatred for witches, but it does make him a prime target for a curse that turns him into a BULL! The only way to undo this hex is to rely on the beautiful witch, Aro. Can her kindness turn his feelings around, and break this spell? [the actual summary]

There are two bulls and they have to ask it questions to know which is the real bull? I dunno, I haven’t read this one... But it’s been recommnded by @berigolote​ so it’s worth a try I guess? She did recommend Lore Olympus to me, so it’s on my list anyway.

to try/10

The Right Knight and Our Days in Lumain by buttersphere [completed & ongoing]

A fun short comic about a play on the ‘knight comes to fight dragon to save princess in her tower’ trope and it’s sequel. The sequel is not finished yet (seems on hiatus) but they are worth the read for cute, funny, fluffy knight and dragon/witch romance and grumpy princesses.

need more/10

NetOL by Forever9Nine [completed]

A slice of life comic about a veeery shy cat-girl (not literally) falling in love with a warm-tempered bookshop employee ( and NOT her colleague), and all the shenanigans that ensue. It’s short, it’s fun, and it’s cute. What more to ask?

oh wow sports/10

Susuhara is a Demon by Soya S. Holm [ongoing]

The usual romance storyof perfectly perfect girl meets absolutely bazongers delinquent and reluctantly carries her unconscious ass to her appartment to help her after witnessing a gang fight between multiple idiots and her (future) idiot and saving her from a knife attack by bashing the last standing dude with a wooden shop sign. Legend says there’s a demon in K-city, I still am unsure of whom it might be.

fun/10

It Stems From Love by Soya S. Holm [competed]

A short story about a girl who loves flowers and finds herself unexpectedly coughing them up dramatically whenever she’s jealous of those around her crush. It’s short, it’s cute, a bit dark at times, but definitely worth a read!

bouquet final/10

Lesbiampires by fabarts [ongoing]

So, yeah, lesbian vampires. Nuffin’ ta add.

Well, anyway, it’s cute, it’s funny, it’s serious too, it makes me root for antihero type characters who actually murder people for fun (but in a fun and respectful way, I swear!) because, well, love./10

Perfect Harmony by bluebloodtanuki [ongoing]

An Overwatch fan-comic about Symmetra and her disaster roommates.

I don’t play Overatch but I like the lore and got dragged into fanfiction and shipping (by myself, mind you), so a fan-comic about similar dynamics AND it’s funny? Gimme.

Roadhog & Junkrat best duo/10

Love Doesn’t Talk by Ann [completed?]

A misunderstanding is fine. Two? Hmmm. Three? Surely that’s fate, no?

A cute love story unfolding before your eyes with no dialogue, only pretty pictures. I’m not actually sure it’s completed but even if it isn’t, the ending doesn’t feel disappointing in the least.

no words/10

AntiSTALKER by VOKIVORMOK [ongoing - every Thursday]

Humans, vampires and werewolves all cohabitate in this freaky highschool, despite tensions between the three races. A bittersweet yet fun love story between a fake stalker and his amnesiac prey...

Eugene wants Kira’s heart, she wants his head.

who?/10

Kiss It Goodbye by Ticcytx [ongoing]

Two lesbians in love recount to their drunk friends the story of how they met. It’s fun and cute, both in story and in art.

delinquent x prim&proper/10

Avril and the Divine Being by Charlie Genmor [ongoing]

Avril is a waitress, Cat is a reccuring client. Feeling blossom before they even exchange words and when they finally do, embarassment ensues.

I got hooked by the art style for this one and I have yet to be disappointed. Not many chapters but keep it close.

sunny/10

Sunflower by EtoileKonijn [ongoing]

Wednesday, an art student, meets Sophie, a friend of a friend. Feelings ensue. It’s beginning to have a good number of chapters (even if they are short) and it feels like it’s actually the slowest burn of them all. Very much worth a read though, for the art style especially.

cute/10

It Takes Two by love_of_pi [ongoing]

Common art style: imperfect but improving. Classic story: normal girl meets famous girl by accident and leave a great first impression. Shenanigans and romance ensue. However the tints of drama, the fun interaction between characters, and the smooth plot make it worth it.

Honolulu latte/10

A Mild Flavor by Ru-rin [ongoing]

A slice of life of different couples. One with a compromised relationship and bittersweet reflections of the past, and the other which is hidden from plain sight, at different times if life. It is not perfect but it managed to worm its way into my heart nonetheless.

tasty/10

The Greenhouse by Viesallon [ongoing]

Another one I haven’t read, but from the extracts I’ve seen the art is compelling, the story seems worth it - definitely deserves the drama tag it seems - and I keep it on my shortlist until I have time to read it.

supernatural/10

My Masochistic Boss by Arisas_Art [ongoing]

Debuting goth writer meets hellish boss of editing company about her new book. Disagreement and tensions ensue. It starts with a slap and might very well end in bed, stay tuned!

This one rebooted recently and the art is soooo beautiful, moreso than before is I may say.

sexy/10

Still Alive by Comic Kat19 [ongoing]

Half-zombie girl meets emo boy, baby ensues.

After the zombie apocalypse, they have to survive, and despite their differences, maybe together is better?

This I classify in the ‘Yuuutsu-kun to Succubus-san‘ category: a somewhat rough art style that I have come to love and enjoy greatly. Also the story is fun.

cat creature/10

The Biggest of Treasures by Aixn [ongoing]

That smile, that damn smile. It’s what got me to try and it got me to stay. The art style is beautiful and the chara designs is too. The plot? Not much to say yet, but cuteness is enough.

bright/10

---------- ---------- ----------

And there you go for now. These are my picks. I haven’t read everything on Webtoon, I haven’t even read everything I’ve subscribed to, but if I had to recommend anything I have tasted, here it is.

Sorry if I missed any you deem worthy; feel free to harass me and mock my lack of culture by flaunting your own.

Maybe more later, in the mean time: keep scrolling, scrub!

PART II

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 206

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 08 - “Syrup and the Mysterious Letter" Date watched: 7 April 2021 Original air date: 23 March 2008 Screenshots Transformation Gallery Project info and master list of posts

this is not important

How do you follow up that epic trip to the Palmier Kingdom? With some shenanigans and a mystery. Let's take a look.

The Plot

Syrup has a nightmare that he's trapped in a dark room, with only one doorway to the outside that's closing and a hand is keeping him from getting out. He screams that he doesn't want to be alone. He screams aloud in his sleep as well, and then the bell of the clock tower strikes six o'clock and then Syrup and Mailpo both dart awake. A startled Mailpo then spouts out a letter for the Precures. Meanwhile, Scorp surveys the city from on high and notes that the clock tower is a part of the collection. He decides to capture it to keep some clout within Eternal after his failures in retrieving the Rose Pact.

Later that day, at school, the girls are hanging out at Otaka's restaurant. Nozomi, Urara, and even Rin are wolfing down hotcakes (etymology note: depending on the region, hotcakes may be different from pancakes) when Syrup walks up to deliver the letter. They open it and discover, rather than a written note, it contains a piece of a flier, a flower shoot, and a piece of hotcake.

They are all perplexed by the contents. Rin identifies the shoot as coming from a tokeiso (lit. clock grass, known as a blue passion flower in English), and Nozomi takes this to mean that someone wants them to go to Rin's flower shop and eat hotcakes. Instead, they all gather at Natts House after school and continue to pore over their clues. Komachi notices the items each have a V-shaped imprint on them and thinks it might be a code, but none of the v-words they come up with make sense. Suddenly Nozomi, in her own Nozomi way, identifies that the piece of paper smells like crepes and she leads them to the new crepe shop that just opened up, called Clock Tower Crepes. They grab a flier and wouldn't you know, it matches their piece. At this point Karen notices a theme, between the clock tower restaurant and clock grass flower, so they suspect the mysterious messenger is telling them about the clock tower. A bird flies by as Syrup comments that he hasn't seen anyone here, and then Scorp shows up and informs the sextet that the clock tower's bell is in the collection, so he's taking the whole thing for Eternal and he turns a nearby fire hydrant into a giant Hoshiina.

and I do mean giant

The girls transform but this time, the Hoshiina isn't really interested in them. It's mostly focused on tackling the clock tower and it only swats the Precures away as they try to attack it. At the same time, a bird attacks Scorp, who similarly flicks it away, and the girls notice a bird's nest high in the tower, threatened by falling rubble and just outright falling. Mint surmises that the bird sent the letter as a request to protect their nest. Scorp mocks the girls for protecting the tower for some birds and they retort that his idea of what's valuable doesn't matter. Then Scorp turns his attention to Syrup, telling him to come back and work for Eternal again, marking the first time this is mentioned. However, Dream butts in and says that he can come to the Cure Rose Garden with the Precures and be much happier than going with Scorp, and he obviously sides with them. After rescuing the bird nest, she hands it to Syrup and then performs Shooting Star on the Hoshiina, destroying it.

Afterwards, in a beautifully lit twilight scene, the girls place a protective cage around the nest, and comment on how unexpected it was that the bird sent the letter. Komachi, Karen, Rin, and Urara are still unsure how the piece of hotcake fit in, though, and Nozomi thinks for a minute before concluding that "hotcake" has "tokei" (clock) in it, the same as the other two clues. Rin is spectacularly unamused.

As the girls admire their work and note how happy the birds seem, Syrup decides to open up to them a little bit. While leaning over the railing, looking out into the sunset, he admits that he sometimes has nightmares about being alone in the darkness, trapped and unable to escape. Nozomi tells him to send her a letter whenever that happens and no matter where, when, or what, she'll come into his dream to rescue him. Despite his protests she insists she'll respond earnestly to his feelings. At that moment, Mailpo unleashes a torrent of letters from Milk, some of which come open to reveal their contents, and the girls notice a picture of Milk watering a glowing blue sprout. They decide to all deliver the letters to Coco and Nuts together and the episode closes on a still frame of everyone rushing along with arms full of letters.

The Analysis

Stuff like this is why I love Nozomi as a character. She's goofy and isn't quite on the same page as the other girls, but she's trying her hardest to solve the mystery, and her unique experiences and knowledge help them find the answer. She wants to help the birds and protect the clock tower from Eternal, but she also doesn't miss a beat emotionally supporting Syrup when he opens up about his troubles. It's not her strongest showing, it's not quite the Nozomi we get during major plot episodes, but she's earnest and heartfelt and I like that. And that's a good description of this episode overall: it's not as strong as a major plot episode but it's earnest and heartfelt. It is on the upper end of middle-of-the-road, and that's fine. The only thread of character development here is Syrup opening up to the Nozomi a bit, which is a plot largely ignored until after the fight. The rest is mostly filler and doesn't contribute to the ongoing plots and mysteries surrounding Syrup's past, his connection to Eternal, the hunt for the Four Monarchs, Coco and Nuts developing as kings, the Blue Rose, or the Cure Rose Garden.

Looking at the here and now though, this episode is satisfying, well-paced, and has lots of gags. Nozomi repeatedly acts the fool, causing the other girls to react a lot.

She's very gung-ho about finding the sender and addressing their problem, and the other girls have to struggle to keep up with her. Coco and Nuts talk to Syrup about this as well, admitting that Nozomi is the type to act first and think later, but that aspect of her has saved them in the past and they're indebted to her enthusiasm. I talk about Nozomi being central to this and in hindsight she is, but when watching the episode it feels more balanced. I guess it's the illusion of words vs actions. Everyone talks a lot but Nozomi is the one that figures out two of the three clues, and the one who takes the lead in defending the birds once they recognize them. She's the one that suggests Syrup should stay at Natts House and the one that encourages Syrup at the end. Rin contributes information about the flower, Komachi and Karen speculate about the imprinted symbol, and Urara...... doesn't really have anything meaningful to add now that I think about it, other than some exasperated faces (see above).

As I said though, there's some good gags along the way. My favorite is them mistaking the impression left by the bird's beak as a "V" and trying to figure out words that start with "V" that it might represent.

(if you’re not familiar, b and v are phonetically similar to begin with and basically blend together in Japanese, hence this mistake)

There was also a funny gag at the start with Rin acting so shocked that Nozomi and Urara were eating hotcakes after lunch..... only for the camera to show her eating them as well. Komachi and Karen’s reactions were priceless. And the first half of the episode has much of this jollity, it’s pretty upbeat. The second half is more serious, as they deal with the threat against the clock tower and the birds’ nest, but it doesn’t get weighty until the end.

Syrup is still kind of an enigma up to this point. All we really know is that he's a delivery boy who wants to visit the Cure Rose Garden, and he's got a strained relationship with most of the other fairies. He mostly keeps to himself, considering Mailpo as his only friend, and just floats between spaces delivering letters and putting up kind of a stand-offish front to keep people away. However, his nightmare sheds a lot of insight on his situation. This time we learn that he's haunted by dreams of being trapped alone in the darkness. He's younger in his dreams, which is a visualization of vulnerability. The force restraining him is a claw, and based on what we learn later about his time working for Eternal, this dream could be a representation of that period, compounded with his ongoing sense of loneliness and his lack of belonging. Even the fact that he sleeps in the clock tower is because he doesn't have a proper home and he doesn't trust other people enough to provide him one. However, he's been getting to know the girls over the last several episodes, seeing what drives them and what kind of people they are, and he's beginning to feel like he can trust them, so he opens up about some of his fears to Nozomi at the end. She understands that he's afraid and alone, and promises she'll rescue him in his dreams if he asks her to, because she cares. The practicality of this doesn't matter, Syrup is her friend and she'll protect him, that's all there is to it in her mind.

Minor note, the significance of two out of three of the clues actually gets lost in translation. The common thread is that they all have “tokei” in the name, which means “clock”. The clock tower is pretty self-explanatory. The plant called “tokeiso” in Japanese is called a blue luster in English, losing the descriptivism of its Japanese name that describes its clock hand-shaped sprouts (Google it, it’s very pretty). Lastly, although the Japanese word for the pastry they’re eating is “hottoke-ki”, derived from hotcakes, and there is technically a difference between pancakes and hotcakes (and flatcakes and flapjacks) English speakers are most familiar with the term “pancakes” and that’s what the subtitles translate it as.

Lastly I want to remark on the art. This is a good art episode... mostly. Scenes of the Hoshiina notwithstanding, because for some reason they really dropped the ball on that. The art isn’t amazing or anything, but they play with proportions for comedy in a way that makes it fun, cute, and endearing.

look at this goof

I’ve commented before on reused music I think, well in this episode I picked up on a villain cue from way back in FWPC. It’s by no means a bad thing, but I primarily associate reused music with the period from Fresh through Smile, and now I’ve noticed some in the Star Twinkle-Tropical-Rouge period. It’s nice to demonstrate to myself that this has been happening all along and isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to on part of the series.

Full disclosure: when I first watched GoGo back in 2013 or 2014, I skipped this episode (and the next one) by accident, due to a naming bug.

disclaimer: those are not the files I’m using now, these are. Only the best.

Due to the way people came and went from this project, the filenames changed a lot, so by a quirk episodes 8-9 happened to be alphabetized between episode 40 and 41. I had my player set to auto-play the next episode and I was working on a project at the time and not giving the binge my full attention, so after episode 7, the next file in the folder was 10. I bring this up to theorize that skipping these two episodes initially may have influenced my opinion on their relevance. I jumped straight from the Palmier Kingdom to Milky Rose's introduction and didn't wind up watching the episodes that bridged this gap until well after the fact. I may never know what impact this had on my overall response, and maybe I’m overthinking it, but as I view these two episodes as kind of filler or padding to get to Milky Rose, it’s a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I only dismiss them because I experienced it without them first.

I know this review is all over the place, so to summarize my thoughts, it’s a solid episode with some genuine moments, but overall it feels like padding or filler, since I know what’s coming in a few episodes. That isn’t a bad thing but it doesn’t do much for the characters or their relationships with each other, except for Syrup as he’s new around here. Coco and Nuts, surprisingly, are barely in this episode. It is not bad, but it’s not one of the better episodes the show has to offer. And that’s fine.

Next time on Precure Daily, there’s another mystery to solve, and this time Komachi goes full detective to find the cake caper. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 2 Kettei!

[makeste]

not a cavalcade of Katsuki panels

damn, anon. you stone cold came for me with that last part. and just fyi to all onlookers, this was before I had posted the headcanons ask proving this exact point lmao.

but a challenge has been issued now! so I will do my best to pick a variety of impartial panels featuring a veritable medley of characters. not sure I can really provide much in the way of insightful analysis of symbolism and metaphors and stuff, but I can certainly type a lot of words about the pretty pictures, and about how cool people look when they’re standing around all serious surrounded by clouds of billowing smoke.

why I like it: I figured we’d start off strong. no point in holding back. can the other panels possibly even hope to compete. maybe. we’ll see.

why I like it: because, you see, he punched a giant robot, and it exploded. you see that, there? and the text was all “SMAASH” in humongous comic book letters, and it was pretty cool. also Deku is very tiny and the robot is very big. and just to clarify, most of the time if a tiny fifteen-year-old child tries to punch an 80-foot robot, it’s not actually going to go all that well, and the robot probably will not explode. but in this case it did! and so this is a very novel and unexpected outcome, which makes it all the more visually striking, which is a very good thing to be when you are trying to show off the brand new superpower which your protagonist just inherited, and letting people see it in action for the very first time.

why I like it: so you may have noticed we just skipped a whoooole bunch of chapters lol. this is because there are almost 300 of them, and so I’m going to have to use a bit of discretion. anyway so this is a gorgeous panel. just, everything about it. the lighting; the expressions; Shouto’s hesitation; and his mom facing away, not looking back yet, and us not yet knowing how she’ll react. and the fact that they’re visually separated by as much distance as possible -- at opposite ends of a two-page spread -- and yet they’re so close, closer than they’ve been in years. mm. anyway it’s pretty.

why I like it: first of all because there’s nothing like seeing a deserving character get punched in the fucking face, and few characters IMO have been as deserving as Stain. and second because this is Deku, showing up to save the day out of nowhere at the last minute, because excuse you, but he’s a motherfuckin’ hero. sorry to interrupt your evening plans of stabbing a kid while lecturing him about why, philosophically, he deserves to die. but I’ve got a package here for a Mister Stain. it’s from Mister Smaassh, with two A’s and three S’s.

why I like it: fyi, anon said nothing about a cavalcade of BakuDeku panels. you didn’t think I’d let that loophole go to waste, did you? but nonetheless I will try to restrain myself until we get to the second ground beta fight. anyway, I like this panel because All Might’s canonically 7′2″ self looks about twelve feet tall here, and he is just TOWERING over these two boys, who’ve been tasked with somehow outwitting him during this curiously sadistic final exam. and it’s just an interesting perspective, because we know they both look up to him, and here they are physically looking way, way up, up, up at him.

why I like it: now this is how you do a villain entrance. I love absolutely everything about this. the sheer scale of destruction, and the way he’s just sort of casually hanging out there in the middle of the panel almost dwarfed by all this dust and smoke and carnage, and yet is unquestionably the focus of the page. the way that you can’t actually see his face, not yet. not until the end of the chapter. the way the clouds are drifting so calmly and peacefully in the night sky in stark contrast to the horrific events that are about to take place on the ground. this panel gives me literal chills, especially when I think about All for One’s creepy theme music playing in the background.

why I like it: this panel is so iconic to me that it’s one of the first ones I immediately knew I had to go and find when I got this ask. this entire fight is perfection from start to finish, and there are other panels that are more artistically striking if I’m being honest (in particular, the ones where he’s half-transformed with his face perfectly split down the middle between Muscle Might and Skinny Steve). but there’s just something about his determination in this panel, though. something about the fire in his eyes, and the way he clenches his fist. “my heart is still the heart of the Symbol of Peace.” I remember being sooooo fucking anxious when his true form was revealed, wondering if this was it, if the people watching were going to turn on him, if he was going to lose both the fight and their faith. turns out I was wrong on both accounts. basically what I am trying to tell you guys is that this panel was and is still the most badass thing I’ve ever seen.

why I like it: because he’s just a frail old man doing what he can to protect the last flickering embers of the thing that enables him to fight on. there’s something so fucking desperate and yet so determined about this image. he knows it’s futile, but still he persists.

why I like it: damn it was hard to find a “you’re next” panel with just the right angle I like best. this is probably as close as it gets, but I kind of wish Deku was somehow visible in this image as well. but at any rate this is an amazing moment, and All Might is dramatic af for basically no reason but IT’S BADASS. “no I’m not going to actually look where I’m pointing. it’s cooler this way.” or was it because he wasn’t sure if he could keep the emotion off of his face if he actually turned and looked? in this moment of knowing that it was finally over for him, that he would never be the Symbol again, and knowing that he had no choice but to move on and entrust that burden to the next generation? damn.

why I like it: I... fucking... okay, here’s a fun fact. did you know that I still get emotional over this panel almost a full two years after reading it?? obviously a good 84% of it is the context -- All Might losing his power; Deku being forced to take up the mantle before he feels ready; All Might feeling responsible for him; and both of them being so desperately grateful to have each other in that moment. but don’t underestimate that remaining 16% either though! this is just an extremely well-drawn hug, on top of everything else. All Might pressing Deku’s head to his shoulder with his fingers laced in his hair is some mighty fine fiercely protective hug tropes there, you guys. and the way Deku is clinging to his shirt so tightly his knuckles have probably gone white?? while he cries?? while both of them cry? ON THE BEACH? WITH THE WAVES LAPPING SOFTLY AT THE SHORE IN THE PEACEFUL NIGHT AIR?? jesus fucking christ. this hug contains more emotions than I am capable of carrying inside me at once. I just sort of have to let them flow in and out little by little until they finally subside.

why I like it: you bet I skipped right from Kamino straight to Deku VS Kacchan Part 2. no regrets. anyway, so these two panels are an absolutely gorgeous one-two punch. so much has changed from the days when they were innocent little kids marching off into the woods to have adventures. they’ve changed. their relationship has changed. and yet, at the end of the day, Izuku is still willing to follow Katsuki even without being given any kind of explanation. and Katsuki still seeks out Izuku when he’s on the verge of having a spectacular emotional breakdown. because he doesn’t know who else to turn to. and because despite everything, there is trust there still, on some deep, fundamental level neither of them fully understands or knows how to acknowledge. anyway, so these two panels just give me a ton of feels all about the passage of time and how everything changes and how you can’t get back what’s lost, but also sometimes if you look deep enough you find that parts of it were never fully gone.

why I like it: because in a striking display of dramatic main character energy, these boys decided to stage their life-changing destiny-affirming rival fight on the coolest possible stage in the middle of the goddamn night. and then Katsuki made it even better by producing WAY MORE SMOKE than his attack by all rights should have produced! and then they went and crouched down all symmetrically so as to more poetically make intense eye contact at each other. I really like panels with smoke and/or dust clearing dramatically. there are like four more of them coming up on this list. what can I say. it’s cinematic.

why I like it: I actually had this one as my icon for a while. it’s rare imo to see an action panel that’s so balanced and has so much going on and is so clean and easy to read. both of their poses are so dynamic. I like the way the arc of Izuku’s kick is drawn, and I love the way you can clearly see that Katsuki propelled himself backwards with his quirk in order to dodge it. it’s just a really cool little panel that for me perfectly sums up the general feel of this fight, and its awesome choreography.

why I like it: actually you know what, before I go any further, let me skip ahead a bit and add three more panels with this same energy.

I just really, really love these rare moments when all differences between them are momentarily forgotten and they’re just two teenage boys caught up in the intense pressure of an awkward social situation. the one enemy neither of them is the least bit equipped to handle. anyways Horikoshi clearly enjoys it too because he seems to delight in drawing it over and over and over.

why I like it: because it’s more billowing smoke and dust. because it’s Endeavor, the guy we all swore we would never ever root for, and then 160 chapters later Horikoshi pulls this shit without an ounce of shame. because it’s All Might’s pose, but tweaked juuuuuust enough so that Enji can avoid copyright claims. because he knew that pose well enough to know which arm not to use. because Endeavor is a profoundly flawed human being, wholly incapable of filling the void All Might left behind. and yet he still tries. because it’s better than nothing, and because it’s all he can do. it’s the one thing he can do, his sole redeeming virtue. he tries. he doesn’t give up. anyway so yeah, Horikoshi didn’t have to take the single most unlikable person in the entire manga and give him the world’s most controversial and openly scorned redemption arc. but he did! and I think it’s one of the best things about this entire manga.

why I like it: because nothing in BnHA is just black and white!! it’s messy and layered and complex, just like in the real world. Shouto despised his dad for almost his entire life. with good reason! Enji was abusive and selfish and treated his son more like a prized possession than a person. we as readers are fully aware of all of this, and we sympathize with Shouto 100%, and that’s completely by design. Horikoshi is well aware of this. so for him to still give us this little moment, where Shouto is so relieved that Enji survived that he drops to the floor and presses his face against his hands in this little prayer gesture -- whatever you think it might mean -- is just so fucking powerful, and again speaks to his commitment to refusing to let anything in this series be completely clear-cut and unambiguous. I love that the characterization of Shouto and Natsu hating their dad exists side by side with the equally authentic characterization of them being terrified that they’re about to watch him die. because those two things aren’t contradictory! sometimes that’s just how it is. anyway so this is a beautiful moment of nuance that instantly adds so much to this relationship with just a single panel.

why I like it: for once the symbolism is so obvious that even I can’t fail to miss it! Izuku’s face half in light and half in shadow as he thinks about the power bestowed on him. “All for One’s power.” anyway so in my mind Izuku having AFO could not be any more fucking foreshadowed if he was wearing a freaking t-shirt with the Musketeers saying on it and the background was peppered with little Sistine Chapel-esque images of AFO giving his quirk to his brother lmao. but regardless of how it does end up playing out, this is nicely done.

why I like it: I wasn’t sure whether I should include this image, given that I just made a whole separate post about it a few days ago. but I just really like it, okay. this is one of the all-time great entrances in the series. Bakugou being perched on that pole for absolutely no reason other than to add visual interest. Todoroki’s hair blowing dramatically in the wind. Katsuki’s frayed pant hems and characteristically asymmetrical facial expression. the fact that you just know both of them spent the ride home with their faces pressed to the windows of their taxi cab hoping desperately for an opportunity to break in their brand new licenses, and then lo and behold. that’s amazing you guys. it’s almost like you’re main characters or something.

why I like it: they did great.

why I like it: because I lost my fucking shit at this fucking reveal and can you even blame me?? we knew coming in how much trouble Endeavor and Hawks had dealing with just one of these Noumus, and then Horikoshi goes and divulges that the villains have at least A DOZEN MORE waiting on standby. including Hood right there in the foreground, which is a fantastic touch! this panel, for me, almost instantaneously established the League as a legitimate threat once again, and gave me the kind of spine-tingly evil vibes I hadn’t felt since the Kamino arc. and while the payoff might not quite have lived up to my expectations, the Mirko fight at least was more than worth it.

why I like it: BILLOWING SMOKE AND DUST CLOUDS. you just see this vast landscape of destruction that Tomura has oh-so-casually wrought, and this once-powerful enemy utterly defeated on his hands and knees bowing before him. and it’s just like, oh. Tomura just became a fucking king, didn’t he. he finally stepped up and became the main villain. really the main villain, not just an awkward fumbling NEET whose adopted dad is not-so-secretly pulling all the strings. he did this himself. he went out and conquered and Awakened and won himself a fucking army. and he’s just standing there so cool and casual in the aftermath of it all. and then he goes “oh wait, you guys have money right, that means you can buy us the good sushi.” yes, Tomura. yes.

why I like it: um because this panel is fucking amazing?? hello?? do I really need to explain this one. the detail is jaw-dropping. he’s got the little scars which are either from the head wound that caused his death, or from his Noumufication. his expression is fucking heartbreaking, and the transition from Kumo to Kuro is so subtle and seamless, and yet it distinctly is both of them. this panel is gorgeous and fucking haunting and almost made me gasp when I first saw it.

why I like it: the decision to have the night sky take up so much of the space in the panel was [chef kiss]. nothing says existential like the night sky on a cold winter’s night.

why I like it: this is the best panel in the entire fucking series.

why I like it: dude. showing his actual family holding onto him with their hands in the same spot as the severed fashion!hands was a stroke of genius in and of itself. but combining that with the emotional tension of them desperately trying to hold him back and protect him from AFO?? that’s just so fucking smooth it’s almost inhuman. just how much meaning can you cram into a single image?? sometimes I wonder just how far in advance Horikoshi plans these things.

why I like it: guess I’m just a big fat sucker for panels of Tomura calmly standing around in the ruins of his own senseless destruction. the sense of scale on this one is really great, too. and yet again, those dust clouds. gotta love it.

why I like it: because Tomura literally appears out of nowhere, like he’s ripping a hole through the fabric of time and space. it’s so fucking sudden and he looks evil as FUCK, and Deku and Kacchan are totally caught off-guard, and it is scary. this is one of those panels that made me say “holy shit” out loud. in fact I practically screamed it. and the angles are all funky and weird, and the sky is all BLACK FOR NO REASON, and it really just feels like Tomura could reach right over and just MURDER THEM like it was nothing. just like that. this panel is so incredibly effective at conveying how hopelessly outclassed the boys are. they’re not even in his league, and it’s honestly terrifying.

and on that happy note, we have come to the end of my list of favorite panels! and I gotta say, it’s really gratifying that a good deal of them are from this year alone. I said it in another post a few days ago, but imo the overall quality of the series has been insanely high as of late, and it honestly just blows my mind whenever I stop to think about it. the art is still this good six years into the game. the story is still this good. we are spoiled goddammit.

[anextraordinarymuse]

Head vs Heart: Part 2

Part 1 can be found here.

(@jonesgirl88 GET SOME WATER KATIE

STAY HYDRATED FOR THIS MARATHON)

Okay so we left off on part one talking about the end of The Treasure Box. We already discussed the moments when Oliver and Shane are locked in the vault, and now we're on to the moments after that. I mentioned that when Holly's letter falls out of Oliver's pocket Shane is the one to bring it back to him. Funny how Oliver hasn't tried to address his wife's absence in years, but as soon as Shane shows up she either encourages him or pushes him toward a resolution. In more ways than one, Shane is Oliver's catalyst. You mentioned the blizzard theory, Katie, and I totally agree with that. Shane showed up and is literally guiding or pushing Oliver down off that frozen mountain by turns.

Anyway, look at this: even after Shane has returned Holly's letter to Oliver, she exits the vault by passing Oliver on his left side, which you can kind of see here (again, this gif is from the Alameda and Downing blog):

And I didn't gif it, but when Oliver and Shane are reunited with Norman and Rita in the bank lobby, Shane is on his left. Now, something I found interesting is that when Oliver and Shane deliver the letters to the living Jonathan, Shane is seated to Oliver's right. Considering that Oliver gives something away in this moment by telling Jonathan to read the love letters out loud, with his wife (the way that he and Shane did), and the way Shane reacts to his saying it, I find it interesting that she's not on Oliver's left side. But, he is leaning toward Shane with his left hand pointed at her (and he's tapping the fingers of his left hand against the chair).

But then we get to the pageant, where Shane is once again seated to Oliver's left. But that's not the big takeaway in this sequence. This is:

If memory serves, this is the first time we see Shane take Oliver's hand like this - and it's his left hand. They're not dancing, and considering what they've been through recently, it's really not even that intense of a moment. She just does it by instinct because that connection has already been established. At this point, I'm making the case for the left side of Oliver's body (and, by extension, his heart) being Shane's side. That's her territory; Oliver has given it to her, perhaps unwittingly at first, and she's claimed it. Also, both times we've seen Oliver draw Shane's hand into the space over his heart he's been holding her hand in his left hand. Just a note. We don't see a lot of this physical or physically present connection in A Hope and A Future except in this small, blink-and-you-miss-it moment (that I absolutely adore anyway!):

Look at all of those points of connection. Not only is Shane's head on Oliver's left shoulder, his left cheek is almost pressed into her hair, and her hand is almost resting on his left arm. Also, once again, Shane is turned into Oliver (whose body is facing straight forward despite his head being turned in Shane's direction). Did I mention that I love this moment? Don't think about the fact that Shane is literally laying there listening to the sound of Oliver's heartbeat, because then you'll get all mushy like me and this will devolve into a feels fest because isn't that just the sweetest, most tender thi ... okay, getting back on track.

Anyway. This propensity for Shane to connect with the area directly over or around Oliver's heart is well established at this point, I think, even if it's been rather subtle until this point. I say until this point because once that hand hold is established at the end of The Treasure Box, Shane claiming (if you will) that area becomes more blatant - especially in times of vulnerability.

Let's look at the Christmas movie. Now, I love that this is the first time we get to see Oliver jealous. Another man is on the scene, and he gets a decent amount of Shane's attention in moments where Oliver is present to witness that. We get to see pretty early on that Oliver really isn't a fan of that, and that's never more apparent than at the Christmas ball when Shane not only dances with Jordan, but teaches him steps to the dance that, until now, has been strictly Oliver and Shane's. But that's not really what I want to talk about

It's the moments after Oliver delivers Shane's letters that reveal more of this Shane = Oliver's heart connection. Also worth noting at this point, however, is that this is when I also started to pick up on some interesting left-sided details on Shane's behalf. Let's take a look.

Oliver has just delivered some very emotional news that Shane may have finally been ready to receive, but still definitely shook her to her core. When Oliver reaches for her, what side of her dress does he rip? Her left sleeve. Almost like he's (accidentally) ripping the band-aid off her wounded heart and exposing the injury in order to administer first aid. This is really the first big moment of anything left-oriented on Shane's behalf. She's usually the all-in type, as indicated in previous gifs by the fact that she's often turned to face Oliver head on in important moments. But I make the case that the gravity of this moment is supported by the fact that Oliver reaches for her left side, and connects in a way that he wasn't expecting - that neither of them were. And now that he has her attention, they share another foundational moment, which is followed by this:

... Shane once again leaving her imprint on Oliver's heart. This moment of connection has now visibly gone both ways. The love and concern and tenderness that passes between Oliver and Shane in this moment is ... undeniable. Oliver has sought to soothe that hurt in Shane's heart by once again offering something of himself - and offering it to Shane in the only way he can at this moment - and Shane is reaffirming both their connection and her place by once again engaging with the left side of Oliver's body, directly over his heart. Actually she claims everything from the middle of his chest to his shoulder, lol. She's staking an even bigger claim than before and she does so after Oliver expresses that he has failed to find someone to share his life with until this point. Coincidence? No way.

And now we get to From Paris With Love. The only actual, visible comparisons we get to the way Oliver interacts with Holly vs how he interacts with Shane. And oh boy, there's some interesting stuff here.

Another thing I didn't gif but is worth mentioning in this movie are the ways that each women understands Oliver, and how they connect with him in moments when he isn't there. When Holly first arrives in the DLO she's alone, and we see her interacting with specific objects that belong to Oliver. What she chooses is interesting. The first thing she picks is Oliver's hat, which is arguably the only thing that belongs solely to and represents only Oliver. But even then, we know that Oliver's hat is outdated: we haven't seen him wear it since the pilot. Holly seems to recognize it, though, which makes me think that Oliver probably wore it at least somewhat regularly in the past. So, Holly is visually connecting with a past Oliver and not the man we know. Holly then interacts with two things that belong to Oliver, but are more about Holly then Oliver: the postage stamp tin which Holly had engraved and gave him, and the small statue of the Eiffel tower. These things don't really connect to Oliver as a person - they connect to Holly and her presence in his life. We're meant to see that Holly isn't really connecting with him, she's connecting with the parts of her (and him) that she's left behind. The only other thing that Holly interacts with that can be considered distinctly Oliver is the Yoo-Hoo that she takes without asking - and then leaves mostly untouched on the desk when she leaves. Every moment that Holly spends in the DLO is about disconnection and abandonment - memories and echoes. Very little establishes her as a part of the present (or future) - and she pointedly does not encroach on Shane's territory (which Shane neither notices or witnesses). Check it out:

In the first moment that Oliver sees Holly, he does so in the context of Shane's presence. Not only that, but look at how Shane and Holly are standing: Shane is off to Oliver's left and Holly literally steps out from Shane's shadow - I mean, steps out from behind her and is oriented more to Oliver's middle/right. Now, it's natural for Shane to be physically present around the left side of Oliver's body, and we see this again as Shane leaves. She follows what is basically her natural course and passes him on his left in a smooth motion (despite the awkwardness she feels):

And Oliver is still looking at Holly, but he turns his body toward Shane as she passes (exposing more of his left side to her as she goes while also accommodating her presence and departure). Now, we're going to talk about how Holly chooses to leave in just a second. There's something else I want to talk about in the scene where Shane and Holly meet. Remember how I said that we start to see more left-oriented visual cues from Shane? This is one of those moments. This is Shane when she returns to the DLO:

Now, totally disregarding that I think this sequence of scenes is one of the moments when Shane looks the most beautiful (seriously, I don't know what it is, but she looks stunning), the way that Shane is wearing her hair caught my eye. She doesn't usually tuck her hair behind her ears, and in these moments she only has one side tucked: the left. Her left ear and shoulder are exposed, whereas her right ear and shoulder are "hidden" or "protected" by the veil of her hair. Shane's heart is vulnerable and exposed in these moments with Holly, and whether she knows it or not Holly lands several blows. Not only is Holly's presence a blow to Shane and her place in Oliver's life (and heart), Holly then goes on to show that she does know Oliver - and that she knows him in ways that Shane doesn't, and might never get to at this point. It's not just the revelation of Oliver's habit of eating clams and red wine when he's angry, it's also the secret-sharing of the fact that apparently Oliver is such a good kisser that Holly had to stop kissing him altogether in order to follow through on her promises to herself. Shane's vulnerability and heartache in these moments isn't just visible in her expression. The fact that only the left side of her hair is tucked is meant to show us that she's vulnerable and exposed, and she stays like that (and so does her hair) for the entirety of this exchange.

Here's another one from a few moments later that gives you a better look. (Another side note: SHANE IS FREAKING SUNSHINE. LOOK AT HER. SHE'S BEAUTIFUL AND GLOWING AND HER HAIR IS LIQUID GOLD. If you don't love Shane McInerney then I literally can't even).

Now, for the moment Holly leaves the DLO. I've already mentioned how smoothly Shane exited and that she followed a natural path past Oliver. That's not how Holly leaves.

oFirst things first: Holly chooses to pass Oliver on his right as she leaves. But there's also no natural flow here since Holly wasn't moving before this, so her departure looks more abrupt. And Oliver doesn't move at all as she leaves: he doesn't turn toward her at all or accommodate/allow for her to pass. In fact, he looks frozen. Holly seems to have a natural propensity for either angering Oliver, or making him freeze.

Notably, Holly and Oliver barely touch. Not just in this moment, but at all in this moment. The only time they do seem to touch is when they're dancing, which I will talk about in a minute.

Despite Holly's arrival and presence, the symbolism of Shane on Oliver's left and being synonymous with his heart doesn't let up.

But, since I've once again hit the limit of ten gifs per post (oops? Is this getting out of hand? Oh well.) we're moving on to part 3.

[dropintomanga]

Regarding That CODA Anti-Piracy Campaign

So I found out that this is a thing.

CODA (Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Agency) decided to do a manga campaign featuring 16 manga stories from notable mangaka (list of mangaka can be be found here) about anti-piracy in order to stop readers from reading manga on scanlation and/or unofficial raw sites. The theme of every manga in this campaign is basically read legal manga with lessons featuring each respective mangaka’s series and characters (i.e. Adachitoka and Noragami’s Yato and Yukine). 

As of July 3, 2020, all the comics are out. They give off important messages about anti-piracy with humor, anger, and grace. I just don’t know who they are trying to convince at this point.

A big problem is the issue of awareness and education when it comes to topics that no one may care about (yet). I see this in mental health. While we have things like Mental Health Awareness Month, suicide rates continue to rise, people with mental illness continue to be ignored and the mental health system continues to be in shambles. The problem with promoting “awareness” is that it doesn’t point out notable actions one can take after hearing about what they are now aware of. It just doesn’t feel measurable. There are fine people who want to know how to help, but you need to tell them how. 

Now there’s one CODA manga story that does tell people to look for legal manga apps/volumes containing an official sign of legitimacy, which is labeled “ABJ - Authorized Books of Japan.” But almost all of these stories don’t really provide useful advice on how to support the Japanese manga industry. They just tell you to do the right thing.

I worry about the hyperbole shouting in some of the manga. One manga has a character going “Do you want manga to be wiped off the face of the earth!?” in an effort to shame someone who read illegal manga on their phone. Another character in another manga said that the industry loses 3.2 billion yen per year (a number I find very hard to believe). There is a big danger to manga in Japan, but piracy is only part of the picture. 

There’s also something that bothers me - some mangaka featured in the campaign know that a good number of fans are naive about pirated manga and see the good in people. However, while there are multitudes of legal manga options available in Japan, the same can’t be said for most of the world that’s not America, France, England or any notable first-world country. Region locks are still a thing and Japan is super-notorious for this.

For an organization that’s focused on overseas promotion of content, region-locking shouldn’t be a thing if you do see the good in people who are willing to support manga as best they can.

I wish mangaka didn’t have to resort to drawing stories telling fans to not pirate their works. I know there are fans who wish a service that has everything (Spotify, Crunchyroll, Netflix, etc.) is the perfect solution. I just don’t know if it will make a difference because reading isn’t highly valued as a leisure activity overseas compared to Japan. The number of anime viewers still dwarf over the number of manga readers.  

I feel like nothing is going to change. However, I do have one suggestion that probably will never be taken. Train mangaka to be more of a visual online content creator-type a la Twitch streamers. With art streams being more of a thing on Twitch, the timing is perfect. This idea came to me as I listened to a fascinating podcast about the psychology of Twitch donations. Basically, it talked about why do Twitch users donate money and subscribe to streamers. 

There was this caveat about research on Twitch donations in that the people who donate/subscribe often make low-to-moderate income. So what compels them to give? Why are they willing to support streamers? While content is still a major reason, another key is an emotional connection that’s experienced via the visual medium that is the stream. There’s some kind of meaningful interaction via Twitch chat as streamers do mention users by name and thanking them for the support.

The researcher in the featured podcast believes the days of “the internet is always free” are becoming a thing of the past. This is true as more industries are figuring out how to make money via the internet that works for them and their consumers. The researcher also argued that having just content isn’t enough to make money on the internet. She said that if you’re not going to make easy all-in-one solutions (i.e. a Netflix-like manga app), then you better deliver added value to the consumer that isn’t just more content and makes them feel appreciative.

Right now, there’s very little-to-no visual emotional connection/community between the manga industry/creators and the fans at all. Everything’s all about content without feeling visual attachment to the manga creator. I see manga publishers promoting special editions with extra goods like OVAs/charms/etc. Those feel more like incentives than rewards as they don’t really change fans’ behavior. There has to be some added value alongside the manga in the form of community (this is one major reason why Crunchyroll has thrived). Maybe overseas fans need to feel that their voices really matter to mangaka or want mangaka on a video platform to acknowledge them in a para-social kind of way in order for them to provide some monetary support.

In Japan, mangaka get letters from fans and they talk about them from time-to-time. Sometimes, those letters do get mentioned online. I would love to see talks of fan letters via video form as a way to reach online audiences.

I do feel that manga publishers outside of Japan are trying their best as they do get mangaka and manga editors to come over to their countries. They are generating community as best they can, but they are still limited in scope since they don’t have control of what the entire Japanese manga industry says. I don’t envy anyone who works in manga because of this.

To be fair, I can’t expect every mangaka to start streaming on platforms like Twitch/Nico due to privacy reasons and general shyness. Sure, there’s Twitter, but how often does social media lead to donations? Rarely. Mangaka also have no time to worry about what overseas readers are into when they have to worry about their own country. Publishers may not also totally understand how streaming works as promotion and the intentions of its users. Look up Atlus Japan and Persona 5 streaming as an example of Japanese companies being unnecessarily wary of streaming. Japanese companies arguably want an absurd amount of control when it comes to promoting their messages to overseas audiences.

I don’t want to bring up Stu Levy, but he once tweeted years ago that the games industry seemed better to work with than the book publishing industry. I hate to admit that there’s a grain of truth in what he said despite whatever you think of him. Seeing Japanese manga publishers continue to struggle with how to handle piracy makes think about Levy’s words. 

I think a more reasonable goal at this point is to get fans to pirate less manga over time. You can’t expect every fan to quit pirating 100% right away. It never works that way. There will be relapses and we have to be forgiving of that. Relapse is part of the healing process. Shaming someone who may continue to make mistakes from time-to-time (instead of believing they can still heal via good planning) makes them go more all-in on hiding their “bad” behaviors. I mean, as someone with mental illness, I was afraid of making mistakes as I didn’t want to be yelled at. I was told that failure was awful. It made me feel I would never be loved if I wasn’t perfect despite my best efforts. Is this something we want manga fans to experience?

CODA’s manga website URL has the word “enlightenment” in it. The only enlightening thing right now is that we still haven’t reached a solid middle ground that truly bridges manga fans and the manga industry together and financially rewards both to create a manga ecosystem that’s as good as the anime ecosystem today.

[monker4444]

My over-indulgent tribute to Agents of SHIELD

In 2012, as a college student, I saw The Avengers in theaters opening night. It was a viewing experience that would change my life. Seeing the audience reaction to that film, hearing the enthusiasm, I realized that my career trajectory was wrong: I didn’t want to write novels, I wanted to write for the screen. I wanted to create something that elicited THAT level of excitement and engagement.

The next year, my sister told me that they were making a spin-off show all about the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization from Avengers, and it would star Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. I was immediately excited about this show even before I saw the first episode. I had grown up on shows like Get Smart and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. so I was in love with the spy television genre. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed right up my alley, plus I had loved Agent Coulson from all of the Marvel movies up to that point.

I watched the release of the AoS pilot live, and from that moment, it became a weekly ritual. As a writer, I walk away from most movies/shows thinking, “It was really good, but if I had been writing it, I would have done this thing differently.” But the first season of Shield was different. I watched every episode thinking about the writing, “They did exactly what I would have done.” The way they defined and developed their characters, the way they balanced monster-of-the-week type programming with advancing the larger season arc, the way they seamlessly tied themselves into the greater Marvel universe was just outstanding across the board.

I remember the big push they made to have fans go out to the theaters and watch the premier of Captain America: The Winter Soldier between episodes 116 and 117, and boy, watching that movie with the full understanding that its events impacted the narrative I had been engulfed in on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was one of the most surreal viewing experiences of my life. I drove back to my campus with my friends in the car, all extremely rattled by the events of that film, and we tried to predict what the show was going to do. With my writers mind, I remember the moment I pieced it together and realized who was going to turn in the next episode. We got back and basically immediately watched the episode Turn, Turn, Turn and my mind was blown. It was such a huge event, and I truly pity all of the fans that have joined the show late in the game and weren’t there in those early days. There was truly nothing like experiencing that tie-in in real time. It broadened my mind on what was possible to do through TV, and it solidified the feeling that had been festering inside of me for over a year: I wanted to be a television writer.

Fast forward another year and it was 2014. One of my great friends had managed to get us both tickets to the San Diego Comic Con, and the cast and creators of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be in attendance. Over the course of that week, I had more dream-come-true fan moments than I could even recount here, but chief among them, I got to meet Maurissa Tanchereon, the Co-Creator of AoS and one of the Showrunners on it. I got to give her a letter I had written and I got to thank her face-to-face for writing the show. As a female writer, I was so inspired by her career, and having her stand right there in front of me, holding my hand while I gushed over her talent, was like a tangible proof that my dreams were possible. I didn’t just have to WANT to be a tv writer; I COULD be. I could do it.

Fast forward another few years and I took the first step towards working in TV. I volunteered as an unpaid PA on a feature film being shot in my area. I made contacts and worked my butt off and soon, I was getting hired onto the next production, then the next one. I worked my way up in the industry in Oklahoma until I was ready to make the move to a bigger market. I moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of 2019 and have been working fulltime in the television industry ever since.

Now, I am a writers PA, closing in on the end of my first stint on a scripted television show, getting to sit in the writers room of a major Disney+ series and hear all of these brilliant writers work their magic. I have finally gotten a look behind the curtain and have learned so much from the talented people in our room. I’ve been able to pitch a few ideas or lines from time to time, and in every possible way, this feels like only the beginning. I am looking for my next gig in scripted television, and in the meantime, I am developing my own pilot. I am doing this, you guys.

And what has remained a constant, through this whole journey, has been the show that started it all: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Every year, they find a way of reinventing this show and telling a new and exciting story. The characters have grown and been challenged in every way possible, and I feel like I have grown and been challenged right alongside them.

Now, I’m sad to say it’s goodbye. Tonight, the show’s finale episode is airing, and you can bet that I’ll be there, decked out in all of my fan gear, to watch the final mission as it airs. And I just couldn’t let a day like this go by without taking a moment to write this tribute, to commend this show for the legacy it has had, and thank those responsible for literally changing the trajectory of my life.

So thank you to the brilliant creative team, Maurissa Tanchereon, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Jeff Bell, Jeph Loeb, and many others. Thank you to the wonderful writers who have inspired me for years with their great work (I can’t possibly list them all, but here are the writers behind just a few of my favorite episodes), Rafe Judkins, Lauren LeFranc, Drew Greenberg, DJ Doyle, Craig Titley, Brent Fletcher, Paul Zbyszewski, Monica Owusu-Breen, and so many others.

Thank you to the talented cast who brought the pages to life: Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Brett Dalton, Henry Simmons, Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Jeff Ward, Joel Stoffer and so so many others.

Thank you to Mark Kolpak and his amazing visual effects team for making the impossible look so real (and also for his incredible social media presence, serving as our man on the inside and releasing all of the behind the scenes goodies). And thank you to Bear McCreary and his team for creating the iconic soundtrack to this epic adventure week after week. The sound of that main theme on the French horn will never fail to inspire me and make me feel like an Agent.

There are countless other people that I don’t know by name and can’t thank but they too played a vital role in making this show happen, so thank you.

This show has been such a huge part of my life for the past seven years. It has broken my heart, made me belly laugh, and pumped me up more times than I can count. It has given be new friendships that will be with me all of my life. It has inspired me to try and succeed. It has influenced the way I write and the way I watch. And one day, I’m going to create a show that is exactly as good, maybe even better.

So thank you Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m proud of you. You’ve been the best. And I’m ready for tonight’s final mission.

--Agent Grice

[corrosive-plague]

049 × 035 for the ship thing maybe?

Who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling / vice-versa :

I feel like 049 would be the one doing it. I can very clearly visualize him getting confused for a moment while trying to push open a door, then realizing his mistake, deeply sigh in embarrassment, and pulling the door open. 035 would be the type to getting so focused on a discussion that he just runs face first into doors.

Who doodes little hearts all over the desk with their initials inside them :

035 would definitely do that. Ya know, he has this artistic vibe after all so even if this is a rather simplistic and basic way to express your love, classics are always the bests. Plus 049 is way too clean and serious to draw on furniture. He'll be touched however if 035 would carve their initials on a tree. So romantic!

Who starts the tickle fights :

When 035 gets a new host, 049 likes to test its sensitivity. In order to do so, what better way than to tickle the host? He finds it delightful and adorable when 035 squirms away from his fingers. The mask has such an appealing giggle! 035 always wants to fight back, but sadly, 049 is not ticklish...😔

Who starts the pillow fights :

I don't know if they would want to have a pillow fight, but if they did, 035 would start them. Imagine him getting bored, observing his marvelous husband sleeping, and then deciding to violently tear him away from his peaceful slumber, by smashing a pillow on his face (because 035 has chaotic bitch impulses and we all know it). 049 fucking SNAPS and immediately grab another pillow to throw it so hard on 035 that the mask would be detached from the host. Birb doctor would be grumpy for the rest of the day.

Who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile :

They both technically don't need to sleep, but 049 enjoys sleeping because it helps him clearing up his mind and truly relax for a few hours. 035 sleeps occasionally, but most of the time he just thinks it's a waste of time (time is precious when your host is constantly decaying). So 035 would be the one watching 049 fall asleep. He likes to see his dear doctor looking so peaceful and content. Plus, it allows him to help 049 calm down whenever he's having a nightmare.

Who mistakes salt for sugar :

035 has more difficulties to taste things, as the tongue is one of the first thing to rot when he has a host. He can technically eat when his host is fresh, but that doesn't last very long, and he can't taste all the flavors in food. So I can see him baking a cake with salt without even realizing it. 049's always here to correct him however. With a bit of guidance, 035 can be a surprisingly good cook!

Who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1 am in the morning :

Definitely 035. He's way too selfish to care about waking up people in the middle of the night. He practically doesn't sleep, so he wonders around a lot during the night, being a noisy but fabulous bitch as always. 049 however, would be careful not to make too many noise when he works late. A healthy sleeping schedule is the key to a healthy life after all!

Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines :

Oh boy 049 would be terrible at it. So it's obviously 035 who does them, but completely ironically. The mask onky chooses the cheesiest, cringiest pick up lines to amuse (or annoy) his darling. And if he chooses his line wisely, he would even be able to make 049 all flustered~

Who rearranges the bookshelf in alphabetical order :

049 is very organized and likes when everything is perfectly clear, complete, symmetrical and in the right place (probably why he likes 035's appearance so much, the mask has a perfect face!). I can imagine him messing around with some files by classifying them alphabetically in a way to relax (that would make every searcher very confused afterwards because files are supposed to be classified with numbers, not letters).

Who licks the spoon when they're baking cookies :

It's one of 049's guilty pleasure. He likes sugary food a lot. Just imagine 035 preparing cookies and 049 discreetly licks the spoon because it's just sO YUMMY but he'll never admit it. 035 always pretends he didn't notice it, he thinks it's really cute and it makes 049 happy. So he doesn't say anything because otherwise the doctor will stop.

Who buys candles for dinner even though there's no special occasion :

Unsurprisingly, 035. What can I say? He's a charmer, he sure as hell can be romantic. Every once in a while he tries to make an effort to be more thoughtful and wants to please his other half, so he prepare a nice French diner (049's favorite). 049, every single time, is immensely appreciative of this. Watch the doctor blush and chuckle as 035 behaves like a drama queen as always and straight up lays down on the table besides the food in a more than suggestive way. "Eat me like one of your French girls~", "Dear, you're on fire.", "I know right-", "No, i mean, literally. Your host's hair is on the candle."

Who draws little tattoos on the other with a pen:

Neither. If you try to draw on 049's "skin" he'll murder you. And I don't think 049 would be the one to draw on 035's host. He has no particular pleasure in doodling. He prefers fully detailed anatomical drawings.

Who comes home with a new souvenir magnet every time they go on vacation:

Probably 035. I don't think 049 would be interested in acquiring material objects from a travel. He wants to gain memories, experience and knowledge. Of course, 035 wants to gain those too, but he's more materialistic. So keeping little souvenir is a must.

Who convinces the other to fill out those couple surveys in the back of the magazine :

049 would never be interested in doing these. 035 probably isn't neither, but maybe he would try to compete one out of curiosity? 049 would groan during the entire survey, grumbling that he doesn't have time for this futility. 035 insists, it's only a test! He won't bother him after that one! They end up doing a couple more because they're having more fun than they imagined.

[fandom-will-be-my-fall]

Spill your heart out about Walter.

Okay so I basically got this question in what, January?? but I’m answering it now since I just rewatched the movie and have inspiration, sorry for the late reply Anon

Okay so, to start off this post with some keyboard smashing because that my primary go-to for expressing my emotions

sgklhfsgjksdlgdghkjlgjhOHUFLUSKHDGSLIDRGKJGKFSDHGlhjglksdhkglshglllllfa. knjcthxiudhusmnvsoidhéytbvonjyxclkkvbr. haeylicfvshdkgikc

HANDSOME BOY. HANDSOME. ‘NUFF SAID.

I could legit stare all day at his beautiful face… look at him. Enchanting sky blue eyes… fluffy, wavy brown hair, cute round cheeks, lovely smile… those hidden freckles that you can hardly spot and only in certain screenshots but nevertheless they’re there to raise the cuteness factor… ALSO HIS LASHES. MAYBE IT’S NATURAL?? MAYBE IT’S MAYBELLINE?? WE SHALL NEVER KNOW

Here you may be able to spot the freckles if you squint hard enough. I have 77 screenshots but this is the best example I could find.

Secondly… well, he’s a sticc. A short sticc at that (though still slightly taller than me bc I’m smol), but a sticc regardless! And that seems to be the most attractive cartoon body type for me. Don’t judge me, I just have a thing for twinks, I’m… twinksexual or whatever.

Look at him! He would fit through my doorcrack.

(Maaaybe the reason for me liking sticcs so much is partially the fact that I like the idea of a boyfriend I can protect and support, physically and emotionally. I’m mad at the universe for not letting me scoop him up in my arms bridal style and smooch the HECK outta him.)

I’ve encountered a few posts that claimed he’s got cake but, come on. That concept has canonically been proven to be false, even by Lance. This man is flat and you can pry this opinion off my cold, dead hands.

Speaking of hands! I like his big ol hands. Nice shape. They look soft. I wanna hold them.

According to a DVD commentary, and the visual facts, he has no shoulders whatsoever. Back in Venice Killian was able to restrain him effortlessly with only one foot on his chest, even as he kept struggling ans squirming and generally put in as much effort as he possibly could. Before then, he claimed the database was the first thing he has ever caught in his life.

Conclusion, our boi’s very much NOT athletic. Which makes sense for a scientist, braining all day and stuff, and because he probably barely even eats, or sleeps which are by the way both pretty concerning implications but anyway.

STOP BEATING UP THIS POOR FRAGILE LAD FOR GOD’S SAKE. Makes me want to protect him even more. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you get what I mean.

Now, on to the actual reason I’m so head over heels for him, a.k.a his personality.

He is one of the sweetest, kindest, purest boy characters I have ever seen in fiction, if not THE number one himself. (All my other cinnamon roll crushes are, or have been a villain at some point and WILL resort to violence if provoked.) Look at him, his pacifism… is unbreakable. He’s dead set on making the world a better place, by peaceful ways, and helping humanity. If that’s not a quality to be cherished then IDK what is.

And he’s just such a refreshing character. He likes pink, K-dramas, glitter, kittens, things that aren’t traditionally “masculine” (but is never made fun of those things in particular in the movie) and I love that. Nothing’s sexier than a man who’s, despite society’s shitty standards, openly and unashamedly himself!

His femininity is, if anything, just another turn-on. (This didn’t intend to sound sexual… but oh well.) I love his little hand gestures and mannerisms, dorky ramblings, the way he says “yep” popping the “p” at the end, all the small yet significant traits that were incorporated into his character. Bless you, SiD creators, bless you.

Have I said that he’s a genius?? Which is pretty obvious but c’mon, he graduated at 15!! He can modify human genes!! He successfully turned a man into a pigeon on the first try!! (The serum wasn’t the first prototype but we can assume he didn’t experiment on living humans with the previous ones.) And he’s still just 20!! Like what is that if not hella fucking impressive???!??

His inventions, to the untrained eye, may seem “stupid” or “childish” but alas! The observer couldn’t be more wrong! Because despite the odd designs and themes they’re all highly effective, as we have witnessed in the battle against Killian. And he is extremely creative for coming up with such ideas! Told you he’s brilliant!!

Which makes me all the sadder about how much they underappreciated him at the agency. In his words, nobody ever listened to him, or gave him a chance. They just left him and his “weird” ideas next to the men’s bathroom and called it a day. How could they be so blind? Didn’t they see the potential in his inventions? Oh well. Maybe I’m just being a smartass bc I have more knowledge, living outside that universe. But I’m totally right.

And I was honestly ready to throw hands with Lance for hurting the boi even further. (I’d stand no chance whatsoever, but still.)

Oh no baby please don’t cry.

He did cry in that scene though… you could see a tear rolling down his cheek and if it wasn’t for the machine beeping… He did have a pretty rough day afterall. But HEY, if we dwell on it too much the scene loses its comedic effect!! A guy gets sad over a stupid soap opera, har har har!! Now let’s move on, keep it fast and snappy for the kids, don’t let them overthink it!! Can’t have any emotional breakdowns onscreen. Keep it lighthearted y’know. Then let’s kill a random side character and have our dear protagonist almost die twice.

(Well jokes on you Blue Sky! I’m no kid, but a devoted fangirl who can and will overthink any material of my fictional faves at any given opportunity.)

You know what else I love about him though?? His love for animals!! And pigeons, especially Lovey!! He loves her so much, gives her gluten free breadcrumbs, nuzzles her, the first thing he does when he finds out Lance can talk to the pigeons is ask if she loves him too!! Like… That’s so pure and wholesome.

This here. THIS RIGHT HERE. BROTP forever.

(Not gonna lie, I used to be crazy for pigeons for like, an entire year or something. Not as in looking up all the facts there are about pigeons as I do nowadays with cartoons, but I’d feed them regularly and write my little observations on their behaviors. Did you know they sometimes scratch their neck with their leggies like dogs do?)

I think I’ve summed up mostly everything I love about this nerd. Oh wait, almost forgot the sass!! I love how sassy and smug he can be sometimes, in like, a really harmless way but it’s still a very nice characteristic.

Since I’ve ran out of coherent things to say, here’s an incomplete list of things I want to do to Walter Beckett. Put at the end of this post so those of you who were only here for the analysis part and not the selfshippy gushing don’t have to read further:

kiss he

like seriously

just kiss he a whole lot

cover his whole face in kisses

one kiss for each of his freckles. a finishing kiss onto the tip of his nose. then repeat the cycle

hug him. hug him like the world is ending. hug him so tight he can barely breathe

then ofc let go and apologize bc I would never hurt him on purpose

cuddle him

hold him close, let him lay his head on my chest

run my fingers through his hair

listen to his breathing

discover that he’s fallen asleep on me and smile fondly, then soon drift off to sleep myself so we can wake up entangled in eachother the next morning

fuck he

pin him to a wall and snog he

make him go cherry red

fluster he

compliment him. praise him. appreciate him. he’s a prince, a hero, an angel, a wonderful human being and he needs to know this

feed pigeons together

listen to his scientific ramblings and bird facts

write him love letters and give them to him. maybe read it aloud myself if I’m feeling brave so I can see his reaction in real time

serenade he

be the love of his life, and have him be mine

just… soft things, man

cook something for this malnourished sticc

make him small handmade gifts

they’re nothing like his gadgets but I tried

draw he

have him be my muse in general

not like he isn’t now but it would be lovely if he was real too

carry him bridal style

be the feral cryptid that lurks in his house when he isn’t around

sing along to cheesy pop-song together really badly

watch cheesy rom coms

flirt with eachother clumsily until we’re both laughing at our awkwardness

or, alternatively, shower him with compliments until he literally cannot handle it

have sleepovers together

give him hand kisses

be of emotional support

[nocerealmilk]

Harrow the Ninth Timeline + Synopsis + AtN Predictions

Ok So I know I wasn’t the only one really confused after reading HtN, so when I reread it I made a bunch of notes so I could try to piece together the timeline! Here’s what I got, it’s as accurate as I could make it.

The universe is dominated by the force that is called the Cohort at the behest of the Necrolord prime AKA John AKA God AKA the Emperor, a man who resurrected all of our solar system to use “thanergy” (dead stuff energy) instead of “thalergy” (alive stuff energy). For unknown reasons, instead of just living in the galaxy, the Cohort overtakes planets by “flipping” them from thalergetic into thanergetic, allowing the arrival of necromancy. This is achieved by front line Cohort non-necromantic soldiers indiscriminately killing enough of the creatures on said planets that the Cohort necromancers can then use that energy to perform necromancy which causes the planet to die, releasing thanergetic material that can then be used for necromancy. It should also be mentioned interstellar travel is apparently only easily achievable for regular people by obelisk, which is a structure that must be bathed in fresh blood daily. They are, basically, super evil. 

They are at war with Blood of Eden, a rebellion insurgency of people who want to cleanse the universe of necromancy, which was (ambiguously?) created at some point by God and then betrayed him.

 Wake, the previous leader of Blood of Eden, was sent by Mercymorn and Augustine, who had betrayed God to work with BoE, to the Ninth House to take samples and look for signs of life within the locked tomb, which contains The Body (AKA A.L., Annabel Lee, or Alecto), God’s cavalier. Because the locked tomb is only accessible by God’s genetic material, Mercy gains God’s genetic material via menage e trois, and uses it to make foetal dummies, which all die, leading to Wake carrying God’s genetic child to term. 

Gideon the First, Lyctor, is sent to intercept her - he does not and betrays god, Because both him (Gideon) and his lyctor (Pyrrha), who both share Gideon’s body, were both separately having an affair with Wake, and believed the child to be theirs. Wake crashed to the Ninth and died, but the baby lived; as Wake died she said “Gideon”, so the child was named Gideon, although she was referring to Gideon the Firsts name when she said it. (Note: I don’t believe it is ever mentioned what happened before Wake came crashing to the Ninth, only that she was intercepted by Gideon1, who failed to kill her.) 

Wake’s hatred of necromancy is so strong that her ghost remains a revenant, haunting first her old bones, then haunting a two-handed blade, which the child of hers and God’s, Gideon9, the Ninth raises wields and loves. 

When Gideon9 and Harrow are 10 years old, they get into a fight - it’s important to note that Harrow says specifically that Gideon9’s skin was under her fingernails, because she is able to bypass the wards that only God (or a genetically similar being) can access. Harrow looks inside of The Locked Tomb and sees Alecto’s body, who she both falls in love with, and is haunted by her via auditory and visual hallucination.

8 years later, Gideon9 and Harrow go to Canaan house, all of the events of GtN happen. Gideon9 dies and something (which I will speculate on later) happens in the time between. 

Harrow the Ninth starts with Harrow not remembering Gideon’s existence, having made a debt to Ianthe to compartmentalize her memories of Gideon so as to avoid truly absorbing her soul. (Harrow does not remember this either). It is important to note that Harrow feels none of the rapid healing benefits of lyctorship, although her soul/body is a void like other lyctors. 

The body of Gideon was not recovered, neither were the living Coronabeth, Camilla, or Judith, who ended up with Blood of Eden (It is easy to extrapolate that Gideon’s body is probably also currently in possession of BoE).

 In the meantime, Wake’s soul haunts the two handed sword Harrow possesses, which her past, cognizant self has told her to never let leave her side, and not allow it to come in contact with flesh. (Harrow’s past self is evidently aware of the sword’s haunting; she also is aware the revenant wishes to leave the sword, and apparently that was not intended) During a moment of sleepwalking or possession, Harrow stabs the sword into the body of the dead lyctor Cytherea, whom the ghost of Wake leaves the sword and possesses the body of. 

Later, Harrow is on a faraway planet, murdering it, when Camilla Hect and the other two who survived Canaan show up in a spaceship. Harrow’s letter to herself tells her to seal Judith Deuteros’ mouth shut, which she does just as Judith attempts to tell her someone has betrayed God and that she is a “prisoner of war”. She also successfully restores part of Palamedes Sextus’s body, creating an articulated hand for his soul to possess. Important to note, Gideon9 is not there, alive or dead. 

In the meantime, in the River, which is basically a limbo-type place souls go after they die, and also where alive people can go if they know how, Harrow has been reliving an incorrect version of the events of GtN within her mind, using the trapped ghosts of those who died to re-enact the story. The story, however, goes haywire when The Sleeper, AKA the ghost of Wake, attempts to kill Harrow (and the others) in this dream-bubble esque world. Wake’s ghost changes the parameters of the story, causing Canaan to fall apart, be plunged into freezing cold, blood raining from the sky etc. Abigail Pent, a spirit caller who is also a ghost now, helps Harrow’s memories return and then awakens the Sleeper/Wake.

 In the real world, Harrow has been fatally stabbed by Mercymorn, who attempted to kill her because she didn’t want Harrow to go insane and suffer as a resurrection beast, the soul of one of the nine originally resurrected planets, approaches them. Instead, Harrow’s memories are restored and she is trapped within the simulation she created, fighting Wake’s ghost, while Gideon’s soul is able to overtake her body.

 Shortly before this, Harrow’s visual hallucination of The Body AKA Alecto vanished.

 Gideon9, in Harrow’s body, is able to fight off the heralds of the resurrection beast easily, and has wicked regeneration powers - her thumb grows back entirely within seconds, something that was directly stated to not be possible for normal lyctors. Mercymorn and Augustine have a big reaction to seeing Gideon9’s eye color inside of Harrow’s body. 

Gideon9 and Ianthe find God, Mercymorn, Augustine, Gideon1, and a tied up Wake-possessed Cytherea having a discussion. Mercymorn and Augustine confront God about Gideon’s yellow eyes, which God does not have but Alecto has. The only possible way Gideon9 could have yellow eyes like Alecto is not because she is the child of Alecto, but because she is the child of God, and Alecto is God’s cavalier, whose eyes were perfectly swapped with God’s, and Gideon9 is God’s daughter. Previously God told the Lyctors that to become immortal they had to kill and absorb the soul of their cavaliers, but since Alecto/The Body was still alive after the eye swap that took place before they all met, it was apparently a lie and perfect Lyctorship was possible the entire time (in which both parties absorb and share the combined power of their souls, resulting in a reversal of their eyes, and remain living). 

Wake tells God that Mercymorn, Gideon1 and Augustine betrayed him and had had prior contact with her. Mercymorn also, importantly, notes that when she checked Gideon’s body at Canaan house she neglected to open her eyes, implying that Mercymorn was at Canaan house and worked with BoE to ferry Corona, Camilla, Judith, and Gideon9 out of Canaan.

 Mercymorn explodes God. Augustine and Mercymorn express a hope for the death of necromancy in the future. 

God somehow rematerializes (will get into my theory on that later), and explodes Mercymorn back, who does not rematerialize, because she is dead. God admits the resurrection beasts cannot kill him, and he lied to their faces for 10,000 years.

 God offers to spare Gideon9, Gideon1, Ianthe, and Augustine. Augustine instead plunges the entirety of the space station into the bottom of the River, attempting to throw God and the rest of them into the stoma, which is basically just Hell or Nothingness. Augustine and God fight; Gideon1 tells Gideon9 (still in Harrow’s body) that Gideon1 actually died, and who is taking through Gideon1’s body is his necromancer Pyrrha, whose soul was compartmentalized similar to how Gideon9’s was. Ianthe chooses to push Augustine into Hell and save God, which is very evil of her.

 Gideon9 decides she would rather try to save Harrow’s body and brave the river, a futile act. In her last moments, Gideon9 sees light, and then sees the face of Alecto leaning over her saying to perform chest compressions despite her shattered chest (Which, I believe, is Gideon’s soul returning to her own body)

 At the same time, Harrow has defeated the sleeper and everyone has left the dream bubble except her and Dulcinea. The bubble is falling apart. Dulcinea tells her something left intentionally ambiguous to the reader, which leads to Harrow popping the bubble. In Harrow’s last moments she walks into a coffin that has Gideon’s sword and spicy magazines inside of it, and falls asleep with a smile on her face. Important to note it specifically says this happened in a “faraway place”. This is happening, I believe, in tandem with Gideon seeing that final vision. 

The epilogue describes an unknown character with unusual healing powers (most likely in the body of Gideon), living in a faraway land (Harrow is also there, possibly?), who is given bones and a sword but does not understand what to do with either of them, and Camilla Hect is there, but her eyes are gray, the color Palamedes’ eyes are described to be. The narrator notes their specific love for those eyes.

Ok now ~predictions~ which I mostly wanted to put here to look at later when the new book comes out.

Dulcinea is the character that we see in the epilogue. Honestly, I’m not completely sure; I think Harrow or Gideon both could love Pal’s eyes, they did care about him, but it feels kind of like a weird thing to point out unless it was relevant. If it was Alecto, like i’ve seen some speculation on, why would she comment about the eyes of someone she doesn’t know? Dulcinea also alludes to an understanding of perfect lyctorship in HtN: “Goodbye, Palamedes my first strand, Goodbye Camila, my second...One cord was overpowered, two cords could defend themselves, but three were not broken by the living or the dead”...One by itself was very strong, two could defend (as a cavalier defends their necro in the river), and three were not broken by the living or the dead (essentially, true immortality with invulnerability). This, and the board in the Lyctor room at Canaan in GtN also describes the pinboard as having numerous clusters of three pins. (Granted it is not stated completely what perfect lyctorship between three people would entail, or if the pinboard in GtN was alluding specifically to lyctorship.)

I don’t think Harrow is in Harrow’s body right now, if she is, I don’t think she is lucid. Harrow also states “There’s a difference between saving a shred of dance card, and saving the last dance” Dulcinea gave Harrow the information that crawling into that coffin, whatever it means, would allow Gideon to survive. That is what she wants above everything else, I think knowing that is the only way Harrow would be content at the last and go without fighting.

Harrow planned the entire thing. I actually do think this is possible. I don’t think Harrow does anything irrationally. I think she erased her memories knowing that it would cause her to forget a plan she made at Canaan with the others, agreeing to go with Ianthe to the First. She did specifically give instructions to her future self to seal Judith Deuteros’ mouth shut, to stop Deuteros from giving her the information required to stop the attempt on God’s life. My personal prediction here is that Harrow always meant to reconvene with BoE at the end, and Wake’s revenant leaving the sword and Mercymorn’s failure to kill god compromised all of that.

Harrow and Gideon are currently occupying Gideon’s body together, but neither of them are at the wheel.

Alecto is not dead, and maybe never was dead. I know she is literally called The Body and is described as being dead. However, I don’t think she’s in a state of death she can’t come back from. I believe that “perfect” lyctorship involves one body being able to remotely protect the other, hence why God reformed from complete paste and Alecto is who Gideon sees. I think God being dead would involve somehow killing the both of them, or killing one and then stopping the other from reforming while you kill the other.

Alecto is not human, she’s a robot or alien? She is referred to as a monster most of the time, and originally had the black and white eyes of God.

God’s three person Lyctorship is him, Samael and/or Anastasia and Alecto. Still not totally sold on 3 person lyctorship being the goal, but I think if it is the case that’s it. I know Gideon says Alecto’s voice is “wrong twiceover”, which is what made me think it was two people, and neither were Alecto.

I don’t think Alecto is the main character of the third book. I think Gideon will still be the speaking character, but I think Alecto will be the pivotal character.

The Cohort is bad actually. I think it’s one of those things where it seems glamorous because the main characters are brainwashed a bit. I mean as far as I can tell, it’s outrightly stated in the text that the Cohort murders innocents and overtakes planets. Real Empire vibes!!

BoE is also bad actually. I think we’ll learn Cohort bad, then BoE good, then BoE bad as a twist at the end, that they have some kind of hidden agenda or something like that.

Corona kills Ianthe. Most people just suspect this because of the whole Cainabeth and Abelle placeholder names and I’m also in this camp. I think Ianthe is pretty morally gray so I don’t necessarily think she will end up being killed because she’s straight up a villain, but I think she will be killed.

Harrow comes face to face with Alecto

Necromancy goes byebye, God is Kill

[thereinafter]

Chocolate Box 2021 exchange letter below.

Hi, dear chocolatier! Thanks so much for creating for me. For fic, I’m good with whatever rating you want to write and any tense/person/structure. I’m also requesting art for everything besides OW. I’ve copied my signup below with a DNW list for each fandom, and those are followed by my general art and fic likes lists.

——-

Dragon Age: (fic, art) Aveline Vallen/Cassandra Pentaghast (Dragon Age) Aveline Vallen/Female Hawke (Dragon Age) Cassandra Pentaghast/Female Inquisitor (Dragon Age) Cassandra Pentaghast/Leliana (Dragon Age) Cassandra Pentaghast & Myrna (Dragon Age) Dagna/Sera (Dragon Age) Isabela/Leliana (Dragon Age) Josephine Montilyet/Leliana (Dragon Age) Leliana/Morrigan (Dragon Age)

For all the / ships I requested, I would be very happy with anything inspired by the likes lists below. Cassandra/Leliana, Josephine/Leliana, Leliana/Morrigan: I’m forever interested in all their history we don’t see as well as how they might interact when the Inquisitor or Warden isn’t around. Cassandra/Inquisitor, Aveline/Hawke: I’m good with any variant of female player character and will always love flirting and tension/confusion happily resolved, or facing things together, or just cute/romantic moments. Aveline/Cassandra, Dagna/Sera, Leliana/Isabela: show me how they might meet for the first or second or third time and spark something?

For Cassandra & Myrna (of the Mourn Watch): “Down Among the Dead Men” was my favorite Tevinter Nights story and I’m fascinated with Nevarra and the Grand Necropolis as described there. Have these two met before in the past? Do they have to work together on something for the Inquisition or post-DAI? Since I read TN I’ve wanted a fic where they interact (and preferably get along eventually).

I would also love art of any of these pairings! See general art likes list below.

DNW: setting AUs (except for art), background male player characters, pregnancy, non-canon major character death, unhappy endings, daddy/mommy kink, noncon

——

Crossover: (fic, art) Cassandra Pentaghast (Dragon Age)/Kassandra (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey)

I still feel like this should happen. Magic or basically magical AC tech or in recurring dreams or however you want to handwave transportation between universes, I would just like to see them in the same place and maybe breaking some things together. (alternatively: I did art of them arm-wrestling one time and if someone wants to write me that fic I would love it.)

Also more art! Fighting back to back? Kassandra flirting with Cassandra? Wearing clothes from each other’s world? A Greek-vase-style pastiche?

See general fic and art likes below if you want more ideas.

DNW: AUs other than the canon settings, pregnancy, non-canon major character death, unhappy endings, daddy/mommy kink, noncon

——

Emelan - Tamora Pierce: (fic, art) Dedicate Lark/Dedicate Rosethorn

I love the four kids, but I love Lark and Rosethorn the most. (Note: I’ve only read up to Shatterglass as of now, but I don’t mind references to later books if you want to set something later.)

A few fic ideas, feel free to mix up or use anything else from my general likes list: - An adventure by themselves without their students? Or an attempted romantic outing that turns into one? - Writing to each other when one is away? (Rosethorn travels a lot; has Lark ever gone somewhere and left her to manage Discipline?) - Observing traditions and the turn of the year at Winding Circle, from their POVs? - Ways they might use their magic together or experimenting with that?

I would also love any art you want to do of them: see the general art likes below.

DNW: setting AUs (except for art), pregnancy, non-canon major character death, unhappy endings, daddy/mommy kink, noncon

——

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon: (fic, art) Sabran Berethnet/Eadaz du Zāla uq-Nāra (The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon)

Reusing some of my Yuletide fic prompts, feel free to mix these or use things from my likes list: - A missing scene from when their relationship was secret, before Ead left the first time? - Sabran’s experience of one of the times Ead was hurt and recovered? - I’m always here for long-distance pining and letter-writing. - Post-canon reunions, whether it’s Ead visiting Inys, or Sabran finding ways to meet her elsewhere, or Sabran carrying out her plan to abdicate. I would love exploration of the other courts and lands in the book, especially Yscalin rebuilding from the draconic takeover, and the Priory. - I’m still curious about whether it’s possible for Sabran to learn either type of magic and whether she would explore that, and whether there might be other trees.

I would love art as well! Any canon scene illustrated (the rose under Sabran’s pillow? the bath? the candle dance scene?), or just any art of them you want to do. General art likes below.

DNW: setting AUs (except for art), non-canon pregnancy, non-canon major character death, daddy/mommy kink, noncon

——

Original Work: (fic) Female Adventurer in Need of a Challenge/Lady Stuck in Tower of Ridiculous Traps (Original Work) Female Inventor of Ridiculous Traps/Female Master Thief (Original Work) Female Avant-Garde Artist/Scandalous Demimonde Actress (Original Work) Female Palace Cook/Female Royal Taster (Original Work) Female Paladin/Incarnation of Her Goddess (Original Work) Female Knight on Noble Quest/Witch Who's Far Too Distracting (Original Work) Brave but Stubborn Female Knight/Famous Female Bard Who Has a Crush on Her (Original Work) Dethroned and Dishonored Queen/Lone Loyal Female Knight (Original Work) Female Knight Who Loves Baths/Female Sorceress Who Loves Baths (Original Work) Female Knight Who Loves Baths/Female Water or Hotspring Spirit Who Loves Knights (Original Work) Wandering Lady Knight/Her Pining Female Friend She Writes Letters To (Original Work)

I nominated:

Female Adventurer in Need of a Challenge/Lady Stuck in Tower of Ridiculous Traps: I was imagining the kinds of elaborate traps you find in D&D manuals, but other types also work! I just like the idea of bonding through solving bizarre dangerous puzzles from opposite sides of a barrier.

Female Inventor of Ridiculous Traps/Female Master Thief: Professional rivals to lovers? Longtime couple who collaborate? (Bonus idea: prequel to the first prompt?)

Female Palace Cook/Female Royal Taster: I like the idea of one falling for or trying to seduce the other through food creations, under the noses of the royalty. Maybe the taster is also a bodyguard, or just another servant with a risky job?

Female Avant-Garde Artist/Scandalous Demimonde Actress: I’d be here for this whether you want to set it in a real historical period or a fantasy/SF world. Too many feelings and sublimating them through art? Modeling turning into more? A secret relationship, or a volatile on and off thing? I could also see this as a found documents or research notes type of story (or something like 5 times = 5 works in an exhibition?)

Female Paladin/Incarnation of Her Goddess: A dramatic h/c situation, or a reward for faithful service? Or maybe they have a comfortable old-married type of relationship? I could be into any of these.

Female Knight on Noble Quest/Witch Who's Far Too Distracting: Kind of the opposite of the above. They just keep running into each other and catch feelings? Or the witch wants to interfere and ends up helping? Or the quest is actually a bad idea and the witch saves her life?

I didn’t nominate but would delightedly read any take on these (all the lady knights edition): Brave but Stubborn Female Knight/Famous Female Bard Who Has a Crush on Her Dethroned and Dishonored Queen/Lone Loyal Female Knight Female Knight Who Loves Baths/Female Sorceress Who Loves Baths Female Knight Who Loves Baths/Female Water or Hotspring Spirit Who Loves Knights Wandering Lady Knight/Her Pining Female Friend She Writes Letters To

See the long list of general likes below if you want more ideas.

DNW: unhappy endings, death of requested characters, underage sex (<18), daddy/mommy kink, incest, noncon, a/b/o

——

General fanart likes:

I draw it myself, and I don’t really have style preferences for fanart; I’m interested in however you interpret my request in your own style!

- If one of my fic prompts or my likes below suggests something (non-explicit) you want to draw (whether one scene or sequential), I’d love to see that. I always like to see characters doing things they’re good at or looking formidable or happy. And for shippy art, I am always here for handholding, hand kisses, regular kisses, cuddling, and/or other romantic moments in contexts that make sense for the characters.

- Dressing the characters up or down is also fun. Fancy clothing or armor, things they might wear that we don’t see in canon, or illustrating what they do wear in canon if it’s a book. Partial undressing and dishevelment. Different historical AU looks (as an exception to my setting AUs DNW).

- I’d also be into a piece that’s more of a character study expressing something about them through formal visual elements and symbolism (as opposed to a narrative scene).

- If emulating other art styles is fun for you, I’d totally enjoy any kind of famous artist/historical style pastiche. Or, my love of in-universe documents and worldbuilding definitely extends to art, so something like an in-world manuscript page or notes/doodles/sketches by a character or an in-world portrait of them would make me quite happy.

——

General fic likes

If something’s not on this list, that doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t like it, but I enjoy these things pretty reliably. Take from it and mix these up as you wish.

for both gen and shipfic: Relationships among women, complex and powerful female characters, adult characters with some level of life experience Casefic if the characters do cases or missions: anything like another episode or chapter from the canon Lighthearted slice of life/ day-in-the-life stories when the canon focus is more on big dramatic events Epistolary or found-documents stories, and other unconventional story structures Time loop stories, Rashomon-style stories, and other sets of variations on a theme (including “five times” fic) Canon divergence AUs Worldbuilding/exploring places and times we don’t see much in canon; in-universe mythologies, stories, songs, plays, etc.; holidays, personal or cultural traditions, celebrations People or events from characters’ past resurfacing to complicate things Magical or scientific accidents or anomalies making weird things happen Heists, rescues/jailbreaks, investigating mysteries big or small Court plotting, dealing with complex etiquette/social rules, intrigue, spying, disguises and fake identities Road or sea or space trips, wilderness survival situations, exploring ruins/haunted places/caves/dungeons/etc. Sparring, duels, tournaments, competitions whether serious or not Making things for each other, whether it’s art or music or crafting or food or magic or whatever, and giving gifts Competence porn/demonstrating how good they are at what they do (but perhaps being awkward or lost in other contexts) Learning or teaching others new skills, or trying to Temporarily caring for animals or babies/children when they’re not used to it

for shipfic (pre-relationship, get-together, and established-relationship stories are all interesting to me if I like the ship) Everything above plus: Longtime friends, partners in arms or work or crime, old friends or former lovers meeting again, old enemies who have to admit they like each other, rivals who respect each other … to lovers Long-term established relationships where they know each other better than anyone Cute/playful moments, escalating flirtations whether awkward or skillful, good-natured teasing, surprising each other, discovering new things about each other, trying to impress each other, distracting each other consciously or not Giddy crushes, pining that’s eventually happily resolved, angst with happy endings Having a lot of feelings and not knowing what to do with them, repression, extended UST, slow burn, emotional romantic revelations Hurt/comfort, fighting beside each other, disproportionate reactions to the other being hurt or possibly hurt, facing external threats together, rescuing each other, tending each other Loyalty and devotion, us against the world, bodyguarding, protectiveness, love conflicting with other loyalties, noble self-denial and sacrifice, courtly love Being inspired by the other to create, or achieving things for the other’s sake or in their service, whether secretly or openly Forced-intimacy-by-circumstance tropes like only-one-bed, huddling for warmth, fake dating, marriage of convenience, handcuffed together, dreamsharing/psychic bonds Ascetic/hedonist or repressed/libertine or inexperienced/more experienced dynamics “The grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one,” or prickly/stoic/intimidating/jaded characters softening for a particular person, or allowing themselves to have fun with them Secret relationships as a source of angst and/or for the excitement of sneaking around (though I prefer infidelity not be the reason, unless it’s a forced/political marriage situation) Dancing, whether it’s formal dancing with sexual tension or meaningful romantic dancing or getting uninhibited on a dance floor Meaningful handholding Language of flowers/fans/other symbolic communication and private codes Bathing/dressing/doing hair/other physical caretaking, watching each other sleep, holding each other for comfort, having a hard time not touching Reading/storytelling/singing to each other Reunions after separation, or stealing moments away from everything to be together

for sex scenes: cuddling, kissing, laughing, tasting, eroticized hands and voices, clothed/semi-clothed sex, complicated undressing, talking whether emotional or joking or dirty, asking for things, curiosity/discovery, playfulness/inventiveness, eagerness/desperation, being overwhelmed by feelings, having to keep silent or hold still, interruptions and delayed gratification and intentional drawing things out, body worship, sex against walls, informal mild kink (e.g., tying up, holding down, blindfolding, taking direction, honor bondage, scratching/marking, tearing clothes, mutual roughness), sexy letter writing, one fantasizing about the other, decadence and sensory/sensual details, voyeurism/exhibitionism if it’s IC, writing/painting on skin, sex pollen, magical/ritual/magic-enhanced sex

[raeynbowboi]

My Hot Take on the Ariel Controversy

Let me Preface this by saying I am a white man. I am not a member of the Black community, so I am looking at this controversy from the outside. As a little kid, The Little Mermaid wasn’t just my favorite Disney movie, it was my favorite movie period. This movie damn near made a marine biologist of me. I grew up absolutely in love with water because of this movie. Didn’t matter if it was Water type Pokemon, Waterbending, or Water Attribute Yugioh decks. This movie basically shaped me in a lot of ways. So, I’ve been excitedly waiting for the film to come out. I would say the only Disney live action remakes I’m as excited for is Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Black Cauldron because both are actually flawed enough that it’s a chance to atone for those movie’s mistakes and make them stronger films.

So a live action remake of my childhood favorite movie in an amazing underwater setting with live action depictions of what mermaids look like? Hell yeah, I was excited for this movie. And then the news came out that Halle Berry got the part, only to find out the correction that the part went to Halle Bailey. My general reaction is honestly conflicted. I can fully understand both sides of the argument. On one hand, Ariel isn’t pulling a Hamilton. It’s not taking real life people that actually existed and altering their ethnicity for a political statement. Which just makes the historian in me cringe. Ariel is not a real person. She’s a fictional mermaid. Even in the original book, I don’t think her appearance is ever described, so even in the original fairytale, you could say that she’s black and it wouldn’t change anything. But I think the reason there’s such a backlash isn’t the fact that she’s black, so much as the fact that Ariel is already a recognized brand name character. In this case, you are not changing the race of a fictional character, like when Brandi was cast as a black Cinderella. That was a separate adaptation of a fairy tale. It was its own standalone thing. But, if that Brandi movie was made by the Disney corporation as the live action remake of their Cinderella, it becomes a bigger issue because Disney already has a canon version of Cinderella. And thus, this dips back into Hamilton syndrome, because it is altering the ethnicity of an existing character. I don’t believe the outcry is just that Ariel is black, so much as the fact that Ariel is an established face in Disney marketing. Ariel was the first ginger Disney princess, and she’s looked that way for 30 years. We’re used to her looking a certain way, and now this new movie is in a way, disregarding that 30 year legacy. She’s looked that way for 30 years and now out of the blue and for no real good reason, Disney is repackaging Ariel as an entirely different ethnicity, and I think it sort of draws the movie into the Uncanny Valley. It’s Ariel, but it doesn’t look like the Ariel we’ve been seeing for 30 years, thus causing people to react negatively.

As for myself, I’m indifferent. I’ll admit I was very disappointed by this news. I’d been looking forward to a live action remake of the movie I watched as a kid, so I expected a white redhaired actress to play Ariel. This isn’t how I imagined Ariel would look if she was a real person. It’s not the faithful adaptation of my favorite kids movie that I’ve been excitedly waiting for since I first heard about the live action remakes. It’s very underwhelming because it’s not what I wanted for a live action retelling of this story. But, that doesn’t mean I hate it. It’s just disappointing and not what I was hoping for. But if anything, Into the Spidervirse has already taught me not to trust these initial beliefs. When I saw the first commercials for Into the Spiderverse, I questioned why Spiderman was just suddenly and randomly a black kid now. I don’t really follow the comics, and I was completely unaware of the existence of Miles Morales. To me, it just looked like they turned Peter Parker into a black character for no reason. But the art style looked cool, and I was at least mildly intrigued. Then the movie came out, and suddenly everyone was calling it this fantastic movie. I finally got a chance to watch it, and yes, every last drop of my uncertainty was eradicated because it was a genuinely amazing film. I think even if he had just been a black version of Peter Parker, I would have still fallen in love with the movie because the end product was way more amazing than my initial reservations toward it. So, I’m hoping black Little Mermaid is the same way. That my reservations toward it won’t matter. That the visuals will still be amazing. That it will still look and feel like The Little Mermaid.

And frankly, if Disney was fine with repackaging Ariel as a minority for the sake of the movie, I would genuinely have preferred it if she was in the LGBT community over being POC, mostly because the Little Mermaid is flooded with LGBT themes and symbolism. See, The Little Mermaid was written in 1836 by Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen at the time was in love with his financier’s son, Edvard Collin. But Edvard was in love with Henriette Tybjerg. Andersen wrote the Little Mermaid as a covert love letter, recasting himself as the mermaid so that it would be acceptable in their era. So, the fact that Ariel herself is a gender-swapped version of a bisexual male author, it would make far more sense from a literary and history standpoint to cast either a gay male star with a prince love interest, a lesbian star with a princess love interest, or recontextualize Ariel as being transgender, whether it be the male transitioning to female just as Hans wrote himself as a woman to publish the story, or as an assigned female at birth mermaid becoming male upon becoming human. This to me just feels more in line with the actual context of the story and makes the change to Ariel feel less out of the blue. If Disney was ever going to make one of its fairytales gay, this is kind of the perfect one to do it with.

So, in summation, it’s not the look I wanted. It’s not what I was hoping for, but I’m not foaming at the mouth threatening to boycott the movie either. Frankly, I’m just gonna wait and see how it looks in the first trailers. If I end up passing on this movie, it’ll be because it looks bad, not just because they decided to make Ariel black. Although if they don’t cast a drag queen to play Ursula, I will be mad at this movie for missing a golden opportunity to make itself fabulous. But until I see more, I’m just kind of indifferent. Not happy, not angry. It’s just a thing that exists. It’s the quality of the film that’ll make or break whether or not I like it. Because even a seemingly perfect casting choice, like a certain 2017 live action remake, doesn’t guarantee a good product. And at least this casting choice can sing.

[kpophours]

a very necessary guide to SF9

so. let’s talk about these underrated kings. be prepared for rambling. I just love them too much. my favorite boys, 10/10 would recommend stanning them.

some basic information

9 members (5 vocals, 4 rappers, 9 dancers and 9 visuals just stating the facts)

SF9 stands for Sensational Feeling 9

debuted on October 5, 2016 with Fanfare (still a BOP)

currently under FNC Entertainment and actually their first male dance group

their official fandom name is Fantasy (such a good name, honestly) and the official color is Fantasia Hologram (aka the  p r e t t i e s t).

debuted after winning a survival show called Dance or Band (they participated as the dance team; the band team debuted as Honeyst in 2017)

7 mini albums so far with RPM being their latest comeback 

... now onto the members (buckle up)!

Youngbin

Kim Youngbin, born on November 23, 1993

LeaderBin aka the Dad™

very charismatic, be prepared for some really intense eye contact (two words: stage presence)

rapper (highest rapping voice out of the four of them)

D A N C E R (a former 1MILLION dance studio trainee), so he‘s obviously 1/3 of sf9′s extremely talented dance line

also 1/3 of hyung line

cutest eye-smile (so soft) + cutest giggle™

rocked his red hair and looks amazing with slightly curled hair (do not fight me on this)

is tattooed (very  p r e t t y)

threatens everyone’s bias at least once

gives amazing (and unnecessary long) pep talks together with Jaeyoon (just let the other boys sleep, please)

gazes so, so fondly at all his members in pretty much every video (no, I will NOT cry)

Jaeyoon is his roommate and secret wife.

Inseong

Kim Inseong, born on July 12, 1993

the oldest (not mentally) aka the Grandpa™

main vocal (those HIGH NOTES, damn). extremely steady voice.

unique beauty. looks a bit like a desert fox (according to himself and everyone with a pair of functioning eyes).

1/3 of extra line (see and hear three loud idiots in all their videos? yep, that’s him ft. Jaeyoon and Dawon)

also 2/3 of hyung line

v e r y intelligent and educated (holds a degree in Journalism and Communication) but also stupid

owner of an extremely cute smile 

t h i g h s  i am not weak or biased at all

SF9’s designated English speaker (used to live in London for a year)

amazing winking-ability, 10/10 will leave you weak-kneed

King of Lies. he’ll probably never pass a lie detector test. but it’s okay we still love him.

is left-handed and really good at drawing

married to Jaeyoon (it‘s complicated).

Jaeyoon

Lee Jaeyoon, born on August 9, 1994

3/3 of hyung line

honey voice (aka OST King)

d i m p l e s.

blindingly white teeth. the most beautiful smile (canines!).

very proud of his hips and butt (as he should be).

his actual name is Ethan

likes to work out and is  f i t (he ended all Fantasies during rpm promotions, so thanks for that)

King of girl group dances and in charge of sexy (Zumba) dances

a  fuc ki ng  tease (again, rip all Fantasies during the UNIXERSE rpm stage)

2/3 of extra line (shares one brain cell with Inseong and Dawon. they don’t use it very often.)

had a pink undercut during the Mamma Mia era and probably made people cry with his outstanding beauty. again, i’m not biased at all

seems a bit shy and quiet at first. don’t be fooled. he is loud and will come for you.

married to both Inseong and Youngbin.

Dawon

Lee Sanghyuk, born on July 24, 1995

oh boy... such a bundle of utter chaos.

e x t r a (3/3 of extra line and probably their President™)

hear something loud and annoying in the background? it’s probably (most definitely) Dawon (helped by the other 2/3 of extra line)

a unique and beautiful voice (he needs more lines or else I’ll throw hands) - rapping, singing, screaming, he can do it all.

a fucking tease 2.0 (seriously, he and Jaeyoon need to be stopped)

Bruce Lee impressions on point

has tattoos

such a meme-face but also so handsome, like H O W

looks amazing and so soft with curly hair must protect

had so many different hair styles during their Mamma Mia promotions, rip his hair (and rip to all new Fantasies trying to keep track lol)

actually very soft. cried when Inseong surprised them during their UNIXERSE concert (which our Grandpa couldn’t participate in due to an injury)

likes to bully Taeyang.

Zuho

Baek Juho, born on July 4, 1996

Mr. Deep Ass Voice™

“my nose is my swag“

such a good dancer, definitely underappreciated. 

looks intimidating at first, but is actually the softest (d u a l i t y)

the best cat dad (Huru has yet to accept his undying love for him though)

composes/produces own songs (@FNC: please, I’m b e g g i n g you to finally put Champagne on an album) and writes lyrics for a lot of sf9′s songs

didn‘t participate in most of their Enough promotions due to his (still ongoing) back problems (#FNCletZuhoRestChallenge2019)

a dork and meme and honestly just so, so cute and lovable

social butterfly (seriously, he‘s friends with literally e v e r y idol out there)

composed a (love) letter to Fantasy while driving a car with Hwiyoung, Taeyang and Dawon sleeping in the passenger and backseat yes I cried

a scaredy cat (ran away and left his members behind when he got scared by a staff member during their Trip with Fantasy)

Rowoon

Kim Seokwoo, born on August 7, 1996

yes he‘s a Tree™. is made up of 90% unnecessary long legs.

main vocal 2.0

1/2 of actor line

very handsome, I know (but he‘s so much more than just his good looks)

a devoted mom of 8

loves all Chanis and not-Chanis equally

almost had a mental breakdown because he managed to hit Chani’s face with a football which resulted in his precious maknae getting a nosebleed

always hugging and kissing and generally just smothering all members with his endless love and affection (especially Chani)

(t) h o t  and knows it (very shy with fanboys though)

has literally only one selfie angle he uses rigorously  

his One True Talent™ is staring sexily into the camera and doing nothing else because yes, he’s just that handsome

tries to be funny and fails most of the time, but he‘s cute so it’s okay.

Taeyang

Yoo Taeyang, born on February 28, 1997

undercover main vocal (has almost as many lines as Inseong and Rowoon)

best dancer, period. his entire body is probably made out of water. such. fluid. moves. - 2/3 of dance line, often in charge of choreographies.

also 1/3 of maknae line

speaks in ᵀᴵᴺʸ ᶠᴼᴺᵀ 

the literal Sun™, his smile has healing properties.

has great hair and pushes it back a lot during his dance moves

a flower boy (literally. wanted to become a florist before debuting as an idol)

looks a bit like Lee Dongwook aka The Reaper from Goblin

you think he‘s soft? uh, sure, yeah. but is also s a v a g e (the personification of that then perish meme)

has a... unique way of drying his hair (ask Dawon, he‘ll show you. even if you don’t want him to, Dawon will show you)

gets bullied by Dawon. bullies him back. very spot-on impressions of Mr. Extraness (as seen on their Weekly Idol episode)

soulmates and married to Hwiyoung, I don’t make the rules.

Hwiyoung

Kim Youngkyun, born May 11, 1999

rapper and Mr. Charismatic™

yes he is that guy from their Now or Never mv 

looks bad-ass but is a certified baby boy (2/3 of maknae line)

cute without trying and is actually a cat

has literally the best gummy smile which he used to hide behind his hands (but his hyungs encouraged him so much and now he smiles openly, I am not crying, you are)

grew up so suddenly and had long hair out of nowhere and left everyone sh o ok (should definitely be in a shampoo commercial)

composes songs. put one on SoundCloud just very recently. writes lyrics for a lot of sf9′s songs.

cried during their survival show when he got scolded for continuing to mess up the choreography and had to be hugged by Youngbin (who really is the best dad™)

King of the Cleopatra game thanks to his dolphin screams should probably be part of vocal line

pretended to not recognize his soulmate and roommate aka Taeyang when he had to guess his members from their hands while wearing a blindfold. Taeyang will probably never recover from this betrayal and is most definitely still whining about it.

Chani

Kang Chanhee, born on January 17, 2000

deep ass voice 2.0

d a n c e r (his little solo dance in Now or Never will forever be superior), 3/3 of dance line

Evil Maknae™ (3/3 of maknae line)

2/2 of actor line (yes he‘s that boy from Sky Castle)

speaks fluent duck

Taemin‘s Nº fanboy (literally knows his blood type, like... wow okay)

can‘t remember any of the members birthdays (he actually thought Youngbin was born in August when his birthday is literally in the middle of Winter. Leaderbin was hurt).

always looks like a smol bean, but everyone else is just ridiculously tall

had bright orange hair once only for about one second though lol

constantly smothered with love and hugs from Rowoon and pretends to hates it

has all his hyungs wrapped around his finger and knows it (they‘re all whipped for him, especially when he’s doing aegyo)

has a lot of hair aka (my favorite) coconut head (#freehisforehead2019)

looks expressionless and tired 24/7 (a whole mood and true gen z)

some videos to watch

all of their mv’s of course

literally every comeback stage

the suit versions of Now or Never and RPM

the ghost prank/horror version of Now or Never (I cried laughing) 

this really cute Dingo Music version of Enough 

basically all their dance practices, but especially K.O. (we all know they should have gone viral with that choreography)

their adorable pajama version of Different

them performing RPM on a treadmill (Chani is a mood™ and Inseong’s grandpa waddle is so cute)

these stunning acoustic versions of their songs brought to you by 2/3 of extra line + The Tree™

their kcon New York 2019 performance (+ their cover of Love Shot)

their reality show Trip with Fantasy 

them dancing to O Sole Mio ft. Ostriches

their episodes on Weekly Idol and Idol Room

their girl group cover dance battle on Weekly Idol (ft. Cross Gene)

Rowoon and Inseong on Masked Singer

Dawon on Weekly Idol as part of the Masked Idol segment

the Now or Never choreography ft. dance line and the 1MILLION dance crew

them covering BTS’ Boy in Luv + EXO’s Call Me Baby

the Idol Dance Cover Challenge of Love Shot (ft. Astro, The Boyz and CIX)

this interview (I mean, that title alone... lol)

those are just a few of my favorite videos - there’s so much more content out there, so you’ll definitely never starve, lol.

I could literally ramble on about these nine incredible men for hours on end. 

But this will be the end of my guide (it’s long enough already, lol).

Stan SF9 for (clear skin and good grades) nine hard-working and so, so talented individuals with amazing voices, incredible dance moves, outstanding visuals, chaotic energies and a lot of meme-worthiness.

You won’t regret it, I promise.

(Don’t worry, Rowoon(’s face) is okay).

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