#but this may actually be the most beautiful color palette of all time

[colorpicked-pride-flags]

Trans flag from the trans sunset pls https://www.tumblr.com/tatersgonnatate/744240881420402688/saw-a-trans-pride-flag-sun-rise

The TRANS flag color-picked from the TRANS SUNSET

[lovelynim]

omggg, congrats on your milestone Fabi, i'm so happy for u <3🪷✨ for the request, uh- may i humbly suggest writing something with lee!Rafayel and ler!Reader? maybe using him as a canvas for real lol- i'm- i'm sorry it's just- ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ🤌🏻

I didn't expect this many Rafayel's fans to show up in such a short amount of time, hahaha

But since you guys want to see him get got so much, who am I to disagree? ~

Also, my apologies to the last anon, but I'm smushing you together with the other two since it's the same characters, hope you don't mind!

Thin, thick, long and soft brushes, all scattered around your canvas. A color palette with different shades of red, yellow and orange, perfect to paint a beautiful sunset. If the canvas in question wasn’t putting so much effort in trying to run away, this would probably be the most peaceful painting session you ever experienced. But as Rafayel, a great and known artist once said, “chaos is a symbol of wisdom, every genius has a messy desk”.

“If you don’t stop moving, I’m going to have to start all over, Rafayel,” you tease him, keeping a firm grip around his wrists while you drag the paintbrush all the way from his forearm down to his ribs, leaving a light yellow trace behind. 

“Sohohomeohohone, hehEHEHelp!! T-thihihis is tohohorturehEHEHE!!” Rafayel cried out as if this was some kind of murder attempt. However, no matter how much he pleaded or begged, his words wouldn’t make it to your heart - not this time, not after testing your patience for so damn long.

You click your tongue, shaking your head, pretending to pity the poor artists. “Torture? This is art, Rafayel. And art is supposed to be felt, right?” You smirked, not caring the least about the fresh drops of paint sliding down your canvas and tainting the floor underneath him. “Now, I think we could use some red here,” you explained calmly while Rafayel watched in horror while you dipped the paintbrush in the red ink and brought it back to your canvas - also known as his bare torso.

“NohoHOHOH!!” He laughed, kicking his feet like a little kid throwing a tantrum, but there was no way you were going to let him go this easy. “Plehehehease! I sahAHahaid I’m sohohorry!”

He twisted and turned his body away, trying to avoid at all costs the brush covered in ink that was dancing over his stomach, tickling his tummy with soft and quick strokes, one after the other, over and over again.

“You should feel sorry for making me work so hard just to paint a little,” you grunted, tightening your grip around his wrists while you circled his navel with the paint brush. With a sadistic look on your eyes, you admired his face - a complete mess of laughter, you could barely tell the drops of paint and the natural blush on his cheeks apart. Cute. “Now, I think we need to add another layer of orange here, the colors are a bit bland…”

“AHahAHAHA, i-it’s goohohohod! N-no mohohore lahahayers!!” He laughed, gasping when you tried to draw a little awkward-shaped sun on his chest. The redness on his cheeks was starting to spread down to his neck, the colors of his skin mixing with the ones from the ink, creating something that actually looked like a sunset - well, maybe if you squint your eyes a little, but still a sunset. 

“Ahaha- p-please!” Rafayel wheezed, dropping his head back into the floor tiredly, trying to catch up his breath. His body trembled, tingling all over. “Y-you should let… t-the ink dry before… continuing…”

With the paintbrush still in your hand, you couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Just finished grinding Assassin's Creed Mirage! WOOHOO! ୧⁠(⁠ ⁠ಠ⁠ ⁠Д⁠ ⁠ಠ⁠ ⁠)⁠୨

I think it's a deffo wonderful game and a refreshment after the RPG trilogy (it does have RPG elements to it, but still), and it also have some things that are lacking. It reminds me of the good 'ol days, but deffo not on par with the good 'ol days.

Here're some of my thoughts and reviews!

🕌 Sleepy's Assassin's Creed Mirage Review 🗡️

(Spoiler Warning ⚠️ Including the ending ⚠️)

Disclaimer, this is just my personal opinion. You may agree and disagree. I’m just gonna talk a lot because I LOVE Assassin’s Creed with all my heart. Here goes.

VISUALS

(+) Basim Ibn Ishaq, the handsome man that you are… HOLY SHIT (yes I’m adding him as the first plus point of this game what of it). Man's fine AF. 

(+) Baghdad’s really beautiful, nuff said. The color palette is PERFECT - displays the warmth of the atmosphere really well, but also just enough greens and many starking hues of flowers. 

(+) The waters and environment textures are CRISPY.  The detailed patterns on the clothes, the engravings and the state of the arts is really cool. I haven’t really looked a lot into the 800’ Baghdad arts, but I can see lots of good details and art styles. SHOUT OUT TO THE ARTISTS!!

GAMEPLAY - Now here’s what I have a lot to comment on.

(+) Stealth -> I think they did quite good with the stealth. One of the many complaints that I saw on the previous RPG trilogy games was the fact that the main characters/players had no reason to be stealthy, because they can just barge in and defeat the enemies easily. Ubi has marketed the game to be more stealth focused and intentionally made Basim a less of a fighter (make sense, since he came from a thief background, unlike Bayek, Kassandra, and Eivor who are actual trained warriors since they’re kids). However, this brings me to the first lacking point.

(-) Combat -> The combat feels janky. I feel like I’m really fucked up in combat situations if I don’t upgrade my sword and dagger. Like I get it, Basim is not meant to be much of a fighter, but in the beginning parts (or… even the middle parts of the game, let’s be real), I feel like combat is HELL. I forgot the Youtuber who said it, but he said something along the lines of “I’m an assassin, I want to feel like an assassin and want to feel like a badass and can take down many enemies with ease.” And that actually rings true with me. When I’m in combat and countless soldiers are fighting or following me (and I don’t have the smoke bomb with the forgetting effect), I’m most certainly FUCKED. 

(+) The fighting style is cool though, it's stylish and the finishing moves are sick af. It could deffo use some work. 

(-+) Parkour/Movements - It’s alright. It’s most certainly better than the previous RPG trilogy, but it’s definitely not Unity or Syndicate. Sometimes Basim can do something that I didn’t want and I’ve lost count on how many times I got caught and died just from a mis-movement. I literally don’t understand why they don’t use the Unity parkours and combat styles. Unity’s parkour is smooth, swift, and stylish. It feels GOOD. 

(+) Stealing - I’m a loot goblin in games, and believe me, I think I’ve spent like hours just stealing from the entire population of Baghdad that by the end of the game I’m probably richer than the Taxmaster and the whole entire Abbasid Caliphate. It’s fun, it’s easy, but it can sometimes be hard enough to miss. I just hope there’s more variety/difficulty in the stealings in different places – Like maybe in the Round City the diamond thingy is much smaller, or in like for stealing merchants (who has particular fashion/silhouette or have wallets/pouches with different colors) can be harder to steal from but have more rewards and money. 

(-+) Map - OKAY. I love the fact that Mirage has a significantly smaller map than that of Odyssey and Valhalla. It’s focused and it’s much more centered. HOWEVER. For a game this caliber, and with this good of a graphic? It’s much too small and it’s too divided between two parts. Hear me out – The graphics are really cool, but I feel like the map is too divided between – either a densely populated city, or just barren lands of desert. I think the map could be much much bigger with much more collectibles and much more variety in the terrains. Like, for example in Black Flag (The S tier game. Argue with a wall), there’re more than one major city, while in Mirage the map is so very centered (Yes I get it it’s the Round City), but I’d love it if there’s another major city that we can travel to, like Damascus, for instace. + I love the Tales of Baghdad. MORE TALES OF BAGHDAD PLEASE. 

STORY - nOW THIS… I never liked the stories post - Origins and here's why : 

(-) LET 👏 THE ACTORS 👏 DO 👏 MOTION 👏 CAPTURE 👏 - My biggest complaint for the RPG game styles is always about the facial and motion animation. The cutscenes feel DEAD. The eyes are DEAD. I almost can't feel anything. Ubi is rich af, why not use facial capturing? AC3 was the first AC game to use motion capture, and holy shit… it's one of my fave games. Yes. All games, not only AC series. The emotion in their faces, the gestures, the small glances, the little movements - they all decide every character's personality. The reason why I love every AC since AC3-ACOrigins is because the actors pour all their voices, faces, even body movements into the interactions between characters, because they make the stories feel alive. Let the actors be actors. I can rant more but this is already a long post so I'll stop. MOTION 👏 CAPTURE 👏.

(+) I love Basim's origin story. Dude's a 17 year old street thief who got a bit over his head and ended up becoming a fugitive because he killed the fucking caliph himself. That was crazy HAHAHAH anyway even though I think the beginning felt a bit rushed I love it. I just wish they could milk it more.

(+) I love the side characters! Especially Ali (I think he's hot 👉👈 and he's the absolute freedom fighter). Anyway, even though they don’t really do much, they all feel alive and do lots of things (except Roshan prolly HAHAHAH but there's a reason I guess)

(+) Roshan. Mentor and reminds me of Al-Mualim. I particularly love the fact that after all that wise words throughout the game, she literally threatened Basim if he actually went to the underground temple. And when she showed up covered in blood??? And THE TWIST AT THE END??? "Roshan bint La-Ahad". SHE'S ALTAIR'S ANCESTOR. THAT FUCKING SHOCKED ME YOOOO. She's just amazing. 

(-) Pacing - I feel like this is because they’re speeding things up (which is a good thing), the pacing is pretty standard in the beginning, but the ending is a bit too high of a rollercoaster mount. The ending went from 0-100 real quick. I feel like we need a more of a climbing storyline. This is why I kind of don’t agree with the ‘centering’ storyline instead of a linear story. Centering styles of story has no climb in the intensity, and because of that we can’t feel the character developments because he’s supposed to stay the same even though we’ve killed like 3 bosses already. And then when all the underlings are dead, finally the boss racks up Basim’s curiosity super duper high that it becomes too sudden.

(-) Weak Villains - The villains since Origins are always hidden and unknown, unlike the previous games where the Templars are literally KNOWN by the people. I want more villains like Haytham tbh, where he literally doesn’t care about the precusor sites and only wants stability in his reign as a Grandmaster. Or if the villains do care about the Pieces of Eden or have a prior interest of the First Civ, at least let them have an actual personality and character, let them be a menace and a threat since the beginning of the game instead of being the NPC’s we kill to finish the game. Let them challenge our beliefs as an Assassin/Hidden Ones. Let the villains actually have an impact to the main storyline. Imagine in the end Basim and Qabiha really went to the underground temple together, and got confronted by Roshan. That’s where the conflict in Basim climaxed! Imagine the emotion! The drama~! 

(+) How the stories interlinked with Valhalla. Basim is a sage, and host of Loki who sought revenge to Odin (who wronged him). So I don't think Basim nor Loki are evil per se. They're just gray. Now the stories aren't just about Templars vs Assassin, it's more focused towards the First Civilization. It's a bit hard to keep up but it's nothing a bit of reading/looking up some lore videos wouldn't solve.

MISC

We need more outfits! The outfits are far too few for us to choose from! 

Wonderful and mystifying music. Nuff said. Brendan Angelides and Layth Sidiq nailed it. One Republic and Mishaal Tamer’s “Mirage” in on repeat on my Spotify right now.

I love gear chests hunting and all the collectibles. I just wish the map is bigger and there’re more collectibles T_T I’M A LOOT GOBLIN OKAY.

I learn history of Baghdad LFG. I play largely for the stories and not the gameplays, so if there’s a codex entry or any new historical sites I always read it. Learning history doesn’t hurt! 

How I can really relate to the real world. I live in Indonesia where 90% of the people is Muslim (I’m a Christian), so when I here familiar words like Alhamdullilah, Assalam’ualaikum and Wa’alaikumsalam, or see the people praying, the Adzan sounds throughout the city, the people praying towards the Ka’bah, it kinda feels like home! Just hope that they add more funny shit to it though, like “Yaallah Basim! Istighfar!” Or “WALLAHI.” Or more Arabic sayings so we can immerse more to the world.

MAKE BASIM DO THE 5 PRAYERS (maybe when we pass time or after a big mission we come back to him finishing a prayer).

FINAL VERDICT - 7.8/10 -> It’s a focused game, and it really did come back to some of the original elements of AC before the RPG trilogy. It’s not too long and casuals can play it without feeling like we have to grind like Odyssey or Valhalla. Deffo would recommend playing it!

Once again, BRING BACK MOTION CAPTURE ‼️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️

If you did play it gimme some thoughts in the comments! Thank you for reading! (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

[flightyalrighty]

What have been some of your big inspirations/points of education* with your comic work?

*could mean learning resources but also just, good advice you got once or improvements to your workflow you figured out

Thanks for this ask!! :]

I went to the School of Visual Arts, where I majored in Cartooning! A lot of what I learned, I learned from Indie Cartoonist Jason Little and DC/Marvel Editor Joey Cavalieri, both of whom taught multiple classes I've taken (mainly fundamental stuff but there were also some extra classes with them like Jason taught my Digital Comics course and Joey taught my History of Cartooning class). I learned how to draw trees from Jason. And from reading Pogo.

I've drawn a lot of inspiration in my storytelling from both Bone and Hellboy, mostly! Both Jeff Smith and Mike Mignola are masters of pacing in comics, and if you happen to be unfamiliar with their works, I can't recommend them enough. Besides those two, the rich, moody internal monologues of Spider-Man: Blue and Spider-Man: Evolve or Die are things I often think about when it comes to dialogue writing. That and (at least when it comes to writing Rouge's dialogue) my older sister. Just, like, in general. Pay attention to how the people around you speak. It helps a ton when figuring dialogue.

Hellboy is getting mentioned again because Mignola's heavy inks are something I like to look over in order to learn from and improve myself. Hellboy, Carl Barks's Donald Duck comics, Asterix & Obelix, Will Eisner's various works, Calvin and Hobbes ALL have this beauty in their inking that can really inspire. Personally, I'd like to get a bit messier with my inking. Messy inks feel so alive. They're so visually interesting.

For colors, I highly recommend this book. I've read it and re-read it as much as possible. It may be for painters, but cartoonists can and should learn from all kinds of art forms. The works of Moebius were also mega foundational for me in learning how to color my comics. The man knew his palettes and how to not confine himself too much to what's "realistic". Speaking of painters (you may roll your eyes at this one) I'm also a fan of Frank Frazetta.

For panelling, I only have one true inspiration, and that's the work of Tess Stone. I grew up reading Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name. It changed how I viewed the limitations of panelling forever. Of course, it may be harder to find that comic these days, so here's a snippet:

Basic advice: really really take your time taking in art that you like, and try to reverse-engineer how it was made in your head. Heck, even if there's art you DON'T like, overall, but has elements you DO like, you can learn from that, too!

Okay! Sorry for rambling! Now here's the thing you're actually here for:

How To Think When You Draw collection of REALLY GOOD tutorials for whatever you need, these guys helped me out a ton when I was figuring the jungle scenes early in Infested.

This Pinterest Which Has Absolutely Everything You Can Possibly Think Of For References And Inspiration Sources.

An Extremely Good Font Site That Is Used By Professionals In The Comics Industry To Letter Their Comics.

The Most Important Book Any Cartoonist Can Read

A Different Book By The Same Man About Making Comics (for free, thanks Internet Archive)

Perspective For Comic Book Artists, thanks again Internet Archive

As for workflow... Man, I wish I could give you any kinda advice on that. I'm struggling with it, myself. I guess I've got two things?

If you have multiple deadlines for, say, multiple commissions or something, or you're trying to put out a weekly comic, but you're also doing something else, break the day up into time slots for each project, and switch the moment it's time to. Keep yourself on that schedule. I'm not very good at this.

I draw pretty detailed thumbnails, so sometimes I'll skip the penciling step in comics and blow up the thumbnail to ink over that. It's faster for sure! It's not always the right solution, however.

Thanks for reading! I hope any of what I've said helps at all!

[ziipzeepzop-eez]

|| Triple M ||

Triple Threat, Triple Treat.

Emiliano | Miano 🫚🪴❤️‍🔥

:: "silent killer" type — is an absolute machine in his full iguana form; everything is augmented, and his vocal chords are reverted to his reptilian genes the most, so he literally... can't. verbally. when fully shifted. just churrs, coos, screeches, hisses, growls, etc.

:: can communicate with his reptilian brethren just fine tho!! however - he feels bad when he can't talk to zephie when like this, so he just showcases his affection tenfold and speaks a lot with his eyes~

:: fastest, strongest swimmer out of the three.

:: the most.... animalistic? in a sense? he's the most in touch with the iguana aspect of himself; mondo is the most humane, as in he doesn't really change outside of his fully shifted form than in; and mona is right there in the middle.

:: really likes nomming on raw fishes and brings the fam trinkets from deep below in the sea :'))

:: sings songs of the sea, outside the sea. has a beautiful singing voice when he's fully shifted as human and despite not having the same voice when he's full iguana, he still has that beautiful voice. think of a whale song. he sings to the deep-sea creatures and it creates a very calm, serene atmosphere.

:: has a soft heart - doesn't like hunting much, nor confrontation. but when triggered, he's absolutely ruthless. he may be gentle and loving by nature, but it's because he chooses to be.

:: whereas deedo is the most territorial, miano is the most protective. the main man because once you're in his circle, he protects and looks out for you as his own.

:: malewife material 100%

Mondo Gecko | Mondo // Mondie // "Deedo" 🃏💯

:: braids down and out when full geckuana! (palette change once more~)

:: eyes change color in full gecko shift; has the sharpest eyesight out of Triple M.

:: embodiment of the knife cat meme. big chaotic energy.

:: got his two side braids from Mikey — calls them his "mangorine strands" or "orange luck" // just pretend they were orange the whole time lmaoaoao

:: the most amicable, but also the most territorial. do with that what you will.

:: charming, suave, and savvy. the "Face Man" of Triple M; but unlike Leo, he's not as emotionally constipated and has healthy coping outlets. if anything, he's a lot like Mikey in the way that he's not afraid to showcase his true emotions and knows the importance of it!! (another reason they get along so well~) he has such a good grasp on his emotions that he can manipulate them in his favor and is so convincing that it manipulates others. was born for this role, tbh.

:: him and miano race in the water a lot; he runs on top, miano slices through underneath.

:: the smugness in which this man had when zephie's mutated form ended up being a FELLOW GECKO was atrocious. bro was on demon timing 100%

miano snarled and snapped at him a few times, but he milked the opportunity for all it was worth. used it to "steal zeph away" multiple times. miano was not amused. but he was actually a bro and took care of zeph very well to adjust to her new mutated state!! :'')) bc he's a bro.

at the end of it all, mondo is definitely a true bro.

((he spoils the FRICK out of the zephlame kids and loves them all equally, which is soso much, but pocky deffo has a soft place in his heart.

:: was absolute BROS with Beeps like they ALWAYS THREW DOWN that was his MAN that was his HOMEBOY — was absolutely crushed when momo and he broke up & even more so when he had to keep up a brash front bc hello . cousin solidarity?? that's his big sisi (but mona knows how compatible they are and got tired of deedo's mopin. he got the green light and they're still the besties ever dw)

:: teases zephyr a lot but really admires her as a new sister, was territorial already when they were introduced; if miano has to leave zeph on her own in a vulnerable state for any reason, which are very few and very far in-between, whatsoever it may be, deedo is the first person (aside from mona ofc) he looks to.

:: very mature and polite with tiara tho. he knows not to pull no bluster w her lollll - he's like a cheeky son tbh

:: when he first met Mikey, he fell head-over-heels....... literally. he was so awestruck that he tripped on his face and got a bloody nose. miano and momo laughed at his for WEEKS afterwards but HE'S THE ONE who got ✨PAMPERED✨ and WORRIED OVER by the CUTE ORANGE DRAGURTLE so WHO'S THE REAL WINNER HERE YOU MUSSEL SUCKERS??

:: is strangely enough, very good at connecting with the 'big, burly' mutants. he's very protective of raph even tho they probs took the longest to get close. once they did, it's a very lovely bond to see. the bromance is real. thinks him and mona are cute (tho he'd never outwardly admit it)

:: the most gen z out of triple m. he ain't called "the ace" or "the wildcard" for no reason 💥💥💥

:: cried when he found out zephie was preggers. is definitely the wine aunt. (he adores kids can u tell)

:: has fist-fought with Leo at least thrice by now, completely unexplained and unprovoked. they're the bestest, cattiest frenemies ever. they are both "don't even breathe in my general direction" and "I'll help u hide the body bro say no more".

:: very tech-savvy!! his ideas singlehandedly supplemented the underwater network back in their royal home in the Galapagos.

:: crafted a mating/proposal necklace for mikey. it's resting in a beautiful crested seashell in the confines of his closet back home. he's deciding when would be the best time to give it to him.

Mona Lisa | Mona 🔮🌷🌸

:: very lively and expressive when full iguana shift!! her ears have the tendency to wiggle a lot and she coos most often! <33

:: while the sweetest in mannerisms, the most vicious when it comes to calls for violence/hunting. she has claws and teeth - she can and will use them.

:: has the most connections to marine life! mondo may have the business connections to the big guys (which are more reminiscent of shady mafia relationships now that we think about it), mona has friendships all over. it's almost scary.

:: her hair stays the most similar in and out of full iguana !! dunno why. it's just fitting.

:: has the loudest 'siren screech'; they can all do it, with miano's being the most forceful (think sonic waves) and mondo's being the most bass-heavy (bro can deffo scare the whales /lhj), but mona's is most likely the most powerful in terms of..... everything, really.

:: loves to steal zephie from miano while they're on their underwater adventures and swim fast and far until main man can catch them (they employ mondie to hold him back by the BODY so when he comes rocketing along, there's always a disheveled deedo barely hanging off his back/waist) (zephie's in on it too and giggles along, always, curled up around her beloved sister-in-law as she watches her nigh feral fiance in awe)

:: scavenges for all the mystic underwater mushrooms tiara wants/needs!! ; she's besties with all the deep-sea mutant underground circles and they usually give them happily~ if not, well.... mona has some very persuasive tactics, should she have to resort to such. <3

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Miano : The Main Man 🎶💫

Mondo : The Ace, The Wildcard 🃏❤️‍🔥

Mona : The Queen 👑💜

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

@agentturtlecupcake *whistles* come get yo juice ‼️🗣️

:: picrew I used!! bc it's actually my favorite~

[crosseyedcricketart]

My summer makeup – what I use and why.

My summer makeup routine is quite simple, mainly because I live in the humidity equivalent of a rice cooker. I deal with high humidity and high temperatures all summer long and most of the time, the makeup is just there to make me feel a little more pulled together. So here’s what I use.

Matte concealer – NYX Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Concealer

Depending on the day, I will or won’t let this concealer with a powder. Some days I don’t and the concealer sets on it’s own beautifully, and some days I do since it’s so moist outside that if I don’t it will just come off my face. A matte concealer works to counteract the sweating and humidity that I deal with. If you are looking to emulate this, I would definitely suggest a thin, matte concealer, that way when you do sweat and if the makeup gets broken up, it’s not in thick layers on your skin. The name of the game is thin layers that don’t weigh down your skin.

Highlight – Tower 28 Beauty SuperDew No Shimmer Highlight

I am not a massive fan of powder highlight unless I’m going to be photographed, so I like having a “wet” highlight. This one doesn’t clog my pores or irritate my skin, so that’s why I pick this one. If I get sweaty, the highlight pulls together the (un)intentional dewy look. You’ve just gotta work with the sweat if you live where I do. This highlight looks the most natural on me while still being noticeable. The name of the game with wet highlights is not being able to feel them once they’re applied.

Mascara – elf cosmetics lash ‘n’ roll mascara

Mascara pulls my looks together for me; if I only want to wear one bit of makeup, it’ll usually be mascara. This one is affordable for me, doesn’t irritate my eyes, and wears well. I haven’t had issues with humidity effecting the mascara beyond drooping the eyelashes. I personally go for a more natural lash look without clumping and with tapered length effects on the lashes.

Shimmer eyeshadow – colourpop shadow palettes

I just like shimmer eyeshadow. I go for chunky almost glittery eyeshadows, which make an illusion of moisturized skin from a distance. This is a way to get a ‘wet’ look without actually having sticky eyelids. I like colourpop (eye)shadow a lot, it’s never irritated my eyes or skin, and it’s affordable for me. I reach for Deja Brew in the summer a lot and Petals en Pointe in the winter. I really like one color all over the lid and blended out and these are good for me to do that. You can use literally any eyeshadow though. I would stress having one that you know doesn’t irritate your eyes so that if any sweat gets into your eyes, you can naturally cry/rinse it out with limited irritation.

Matte Lipstick – merit signature lipstick

Soft matte lips are low maintenance and flattering. I personally don’t wear nude lips or natural-coloured lipsticks since I find my lips to be pigmented enough as they are. I’ll normally wear coloured lips if it’s something like a red. The right soft matte lip will feel like nothing on the lips and wear down better than a balmy formula. It also eliminates any stickiness on your lips that may cling to hair or add more weight to your face when your sweating. The soft matte lip isn’t the 2016 caked on matte lipstick, instead it’s a thin layer of matte lipstick or a thin layer of blotted off satin lipstick. This leaves a barely-there feeling while having pigment on your lips.

Lip Oil / Balm – Merit Shade Slick lip oil / Merit flush balm

If you do want that extra slip on your lips, I would still suggest wearing something lighter than a lip gloss. You totally can if that’s what you’re used to, but I find that lip oils and balms tend to be lighter and less sticky. Shade Slick has no fragrance and very flattering shades while the Flush Balm also has no fragrance and has a comfortable balm slip to it. It’s just whichever you prefer. It totally does not have to be these lips that I mentioned; Burts Bees has a really nice tinted lip balm, the drug store has some great lip oils now, and you can even just get a matte lipstick and layer on a little balm on top for the same look.

Overall, this look is just meant to be a little bit more than nothing. It’s for the days where you do want to wear something, but you don’t want to have to lock it down like drag makeup to keep it in place. An aspect of this routine is that it will wear off, just evenly wearing off. Feel free to take this routine and make it your own with what you prefer/what works best for you, and let me know if there are any summer products you swear by.

Happy travels – Annie, the crosseyed cricket.

[chanstopher]

Every Month in 2023

I was tagged by @jinniebit and @lee-minhoe (thank you loves!) to link my favorite and most popular posts of each month.

I totally asume im so late to this as always but i'll tag ppl anyway lol @dowoonyoon @chanrizard @agibbangs @jjsungie @babycatlix @quokki @blueprintchan @yang-innie @shorelinnes @minchanz if anyone else awants to do it feel free to say i tagged you i love looking at stuff like this <3

January

Favorite: my top 5 skz songs. idk i just think its pretty

Most Popular: this one feels so obvious. the butt set.

February

Favorite: Bang Chan once said...

Most Popular: everyone remains predictable lmao

March

Favorite: first non Chris set, its Hyunjin!

Most Popular: a pattern is emerging guys

April

Favorite: Palette series 3. pretty proud of this one

Most Popular: 5 star trailer. at least hes dressed amirite lol

May

Favorite: 5 star painting

Most Popular: sleepy boy. the world is healing

June

Favorite: 5 Star Posters

Most Popular: Topline mv

July

Favorite: summer playlist. i really like making these types of sets even though they generally flop lol

Most Popular: pilot fanmeet smile set. one of my all time biggest posts actually

August

Favorite: gnabnahc gfx. i love this

Most Popular: remake set. sometimes posting old content works lol

September

Favorite: no one does it like chris

Most Popular: Fam set. i get it he looks so beautiful

October

Favorite: Pictures of you. ( I literally spent like 3 months making this just because the volume of stuff lol)

Most Popular: Rockstar GFX. First Chris not most popular set (and his bday month too damn)

November

Favorite: Rockstar mashup. i just love the colors tbh

Most Popular: Rockstar Jacket making ( best look i get it)

December

(weakest month with just a few posts rip)

Favorite: i posted this literally yesterday idc

Most Popular: Chris best back hugs ever

the lack of posts in the last few months is pretty sad, I just got too busy with real life. I'll do better next year! Here's my 2021 one if youre interested I’d why i didnt do it last year lol

[animehouse-moe]

Skip And Loafer Episode 1: Sparkling Fresh

So, this is one of those series that I've been meaning to read for ages, and the anime just snuck up on me, leaving me with no actual knowledge of how things are supposed to go. That said, I'm thoroughly impressed with this first episode, and have lots to dive into.

I think the first thing that stands out is the color design, which (those that follow kViN on Twitter probably already know) is a strong penchant of the director's. They very much lean into pastels and, for lack of a better term softer and flatter colors. By no means is it a DIY!! style palette though, it's got much more saturation to it, but just not near as much contrast or highlights. And what I find most interesting about that is that the color designer, Yuuko Kobari, is arguably most known for those aggressive and strong palettes. They did the color design for series like Great Pretender and Redline, so you wouldn't really think that they'd be so at home with such a passive color palette.

But, they nailed it in just about the same way that Kotomi Deai did the direction of this episode. It's largely a quintessential high school slice of life, but just the right mix of creativity and expectation subversion.

Take, for example, the scene of the students getting dressed. We don't know who they are at that point in time, but such care is placed in how they go about things to help associated them with someone down the road. How they do their tie up, or fretting over having their skirt adjusted just the right way, or fluttering about excitedly in your room before your first day of school. It helps express so many different things without relying on the archetype or association of a character to do so. Plus, it just looks straight up beautiful, P.A is pulling a Cloverworks (and even a MAPPA?) with the clothing sakuga.

So how about something more oriented towards story? I'm certain I've droned on long enough in one go about the technical side. So, like I mentioned with the direction, Skip and Loafer as a story also thrives on that creativity and expectation subversion. Setting up for stereotypical pieces and skits, but either finding ways to reinvent them, or dancing past them. And in that, they create something that remains way more "in the moment".

Running barefoot to school to make it to your entrance ceremony just in time or a sudden change of pace to get home early to go to school tomorrow, these "in the moment" pieces give it a much more organic feeling. You're not left with characters stewing it over in a monologue or taking 3 episodes to make their impact. They think, and then they act, plain and simple.

Pairing that with the characters, who are by far the driving force, the flow of the episode is outstanding. Mitsumi might have snapped at Shima on the train earlier, but it's all washed away in the events of the day, neither thinks anything of it and instead reflect on how wonderful their first day was.

They chatter back in forth, get happy when seeing one another, and overall exemplify what they're going for as characters. Of course, that doesn't mean they're boxed in as their archetypes by any means. Shima is spacy and in with the popular crowd, but he has no issues with bein considerate or acting for his own sake. And Mitsumi may be a country bumpkin at heart, but her ability and will allows her to walk comfortably among her metropolitan peers as she recites her speech from memory or is the first to reach out to her classmates.

It produces something that feels incredibly organic without giving up on the parts that everyone guiltily enjoys so much from these youthful stories. The rose colored glasses are allowed to remain, but they are incredibly faint in comparison to some other pairs out there. There's awkwardness, oddity, and all manner of weird, but none of it gets in the way of allowing it to all be incredibly endearing. Not to repeat myself or talk in circles, but this sort of "wonderful reality" is only possible because of the characters, they all have something up with them, something that might not be considered a "perfect" trait. Something that allows them to be normal, so that outside of performances and perception, they can exist on a deeper level that allows things to stay just close enough to the ground.

Would I say it's the perfect high school slice of life anime? I mean, we're only one episode in so I'd never go that far, but I would say it's setting out to conquer a somewhat similar goal to Akebi's Sailor Uniform (though . That is, it wants to provide something beautiful and warm that shows the process of someone, who might be socially anxious or awkward, getting to enjoy their new station in life to the fullest. Getting to make friends and take part in all the things they dreamed of and make plenty of memories along the way.

[seryna99dragon]

My top 10 Solo Leveling characters + explenation.

I know some of you may not agree (especially no. 10), but please don't hate me. I just like them a lot. This is my opinion. Feel free to tell me if I made a mistake or if I spelled something wrong! And feel free to tell me what your top 10 is, too!

Baek Yoon-Ho

I'll be honest, I love Yoonho. He's such a cool character. I love cats/tigers/panthers, all of them. I love the way he acts like an aggressive cat, the way he has cat traits and I love how he can transform into an awesome white tiger-like beast.

2. Lim Tae-Gyu

His personality just screams out sleepdeprived and cocky, but he is not. I love his cocky smile, even though he isn't. When I read the fact that his occupation before his awakening was tennis I came to love him even more. And you got his uniform design. It's awesome!

3. Kenzo Tanaka

I know he doesn't have a lot of screen time, but I love him. He really strikes me as one of those tough guys that are actually soft on the inside. And I love how he is so calm, unlike most other tough guys. He just strikes me as a really nice and caring guy.

4. Lennart Niermann

Lennart is awesome. His personality is awesome, his powers are awesome. I love him. He's such a soft and calm person. Every time he was on screen he made me calm. His powers, though. They make me wild! They're so cool! I mean, just look at that picture! Not to msntion the way he protected Thomas. He knew he wouldn't be a match against someone even stronger than Thomas, and yet he helped Thomas.

5. Min Byung-Gu

He strikes me as one of those softies everyone would love. He's just so nice towards others and he has such a welcoming smile! I love his warm smile! And his design is nice, too. They gave him a nice color palette. The way he uses a book to use his powers also has me going wild. It's just so cool! It makes me think of one of those overpowered wizards!

6. Thomas Andre

Thomas Andre just screams out brute power! He's such a rough and tough guy. I like how he just smashes eveything and how rough he is with his opponents. Whenever he walks next to someone he looks like a giant. That's really funny. And the way he transforms into an overpowered knight-like looking person is just amazing!

7. Lui Zhigang

His mysterious and dark aura makes him really appealing. He doesn't have a lot of screen time, but he is such a cool person. He's so powerful, and yet we haven't seen him fight once. But the way he has awesome panels in the manwha makes up for it. His panels are always either dark and mysterious or beautiful.

8. Woo Jin-Chul

Woo is in my top 10 because he has such a calm and mannered personality, even though his stress level is at 100% everytime we see him. He always manages to find a solution to a problem. When he stopped Baek and Hwang from a fight, we saw his true power. Even though the two were S-ranks, he stopped them. Yes, his arm throbbed in pain, but he still stopped them, which means he's storng.

9. Choi Jong-In

Choi is a sly, but calm person. I love how he's with Baek 90% of the time. They're always bickering together and throwing a tantrum. Yet he still manages to do his job properly and clear most raids easily. I love his design a lot and his attacks are awesome, too.

10. Hwang Dong-Soo

HEAR ME OUT! Hear me out! Dongsoo may not be the nicest person, but the way he's shown in a dark and mysterious way has drawn me to him. He also strikes me as one of those complete douchebags with a slightly soft side. He came over to Korea, all because someone killed his brother. Now their band wasn't too good, but he still cherished his brother from the inside. Even if it's just in the slightest. That means he has a soft side and I love him for that.

[why-raven]

14 associations — yiuno.

Can’t remember where I saw this from, but I enjoyed filling this up and did my best with in-game references as much as possible. You don’t necessarily need to stay canon and feel free to go crazy, as long as you’re having fun sharing about your blorbos! Without further ado…

ANIMAL. Strix. According to in-game description: “A guardian bound to the Rare Tomes Room on the highest floor of the Great Gubal Library. Similar to skatenes, Strix is an owl which has been enchanted with heightened intelligence. Strix’s comparatively vast intellect, however, grants the creature command over spells of formidable potency.”

COLOR. Monochrome—specifically black and white—is both a fitting and an ironic theme to Yiuno. On one hand, he embodies duality given his two-faced nature, and also the contrast between his public image and secret identity. On the other hand, he mainly thrives in the gray area—a Chaotic Neutral at heart.

SONG. “Nageki no Oto” (lit. Sound of Lamentation), by KOKIA. A song about war and loss, which is very fitting given Yiuno’s darkly colorful past.

NUMBER. Three. Yiuno has a twin sister, Yiuna; his alter ego, Yiune, is a feminine disguise he employs for his assassination jobs (long story short, it later becomes an actual form he can shapeshift into). However, back in the Amaurotine era, these three were originally a family of triplets.

TIME OF THE DAY. Dawn and Dusk. Less about the exact time of the day, but more about the changes in time that happen at that very moment—representing the shift Yiuno would experience in his life. Be it his gender identities, or the blurred lines between a blessing and curse to his immortality… It’s like the two sides of the same coin: the difference is all but a matter of perspectives. The real test is how he acts upon those perspectives.

FLORA. Antirrhinum, more commonly known as Snapdragon or Dragon Flower, is one of those flowers with double meanings. On one hand, it symbolizes grace, strength and protection, which are some of the positive traits that Yiuno possesses. On the other hand, it also represents indifference and deception, bringing out the darker, negative side of Yiuno.

SMELL. It’s really hard to pin down a specific aroma for Yiuno, partly because masking his true scent is something he pays attention to as a master of disguise. To some, he’d give off the fragrance of a finely aged red wine, brimming with wisdom and dry humor; to others, he’d probably smell like walking death, counting down to their impeding doom under his bloodied blades.

GEMSTONE. Alexandrite is an interesting gemstone known for its color-changing properties under different types of polarized light, which reflects the many faces that Yiuno wears under different circumstances. To the public’s eye, an average adventurer and humble alchemist wandering from place to place. To those more acquainted with the arcane arts, a treasure hunter of ancient and dangerous artifacts. In the underworld, a ruthless assassin who pretends to be a beautiful ‘courtesan’ and seduces his targets into Death’s embrace.

SEASON. Autumn and Winter. Autumn, of falling leaves and a fiery but sorrowful palette, a season where time starts to slow down as daytime becomes shorter. Winter, of falling snow that paints the landscape white, a season where time comes to a standstill and dangers lurk in the shadows of the long, long night.

PLACE. Though there are a few locations that may appear to be synonymous with how others would perceive Yiuno, such as libraries and graveyards, I’d say the most accurate association would be the labyrinth. Filled with many twists and turns at every corner, much like Yiuno’s long and complicated life—or, his dark and troubled mind.

FOOD. Royal Eggs. However, given his wandering lifestyle and the need to stay undercover most of the time, he doesn’t have the luxury to eat this all the time. He has since come to view this as a self-reward on rare occasions he gets the chance to enjoy a royal meal in a quiet inn room.

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN. The Spear. In Astromancy, this constellation is the sixth gate of the Lesser Heavens, often associated with the element of Ice. This is the reverse of the Elemental Wheel, where Ice is the first order in the cycle of Creation. It is said that “the Fury (Halone) resides in a palace of ice carved by Her own spear—ice formed of moonbeams collected by the Lover, Menphina”. As the final gate to open before the seventh, whereby attuning to the latter is equivalent to a dying wish, it is the last stand where one will be filled with the power to overcome their enemies, and gain the compassion necessary to show mercy to their foes.

ELEMENT. Ice and Fire. In Thaumaturgy, balancing duality—of life and death—forms the basic foundation in this school of magic. While the two elements are of opposing nature, in the hands of an accomplished spell-caster, they can be turned into terrifying forces of destruction. Being the last direct disciple of the great Mhachi sorceress Shatotto, Yiuno is not a mage to be trifled with. Though he often hides his potent magical talent and sticks to his trusty blades to get his work done, those who are highly sensitive to aether may suffer sickness just by being around him for too long.

BEVERAGE. Espresso con Panna, with double shot. Yiuno is a huge caffeine addict, and this is the only in-universe drink that can sate his obsession with coffee.

Tagging some people that have appeared in my notifs recently: @archaiclumina, @otherworldseekers, @wrenanigans, @uldahstreetrat, @starforger. To anyone else who sees this and is interested to give it a shot, you can consider yourself tagged by me! c:

[beeffilledshark]

An unhinged Gundam fanatic brainrots over the new Witch From Mercury OP/ED

Ok, I’m gonna go off the deep end really quick and talk about the brain worms that have infected me after rewatching the Witch From Mercury s2 premiere three whole times (I will likely watch it another three times by the end of the day so either I’ll be following it up or just redo this eventually)

So, I’m very used to the second OP/ED being slightly worse than their predecessors in most anime so Slash and Red:Birthmark (WHICH IS A FUCKING INSANE NAME FOR THIS SHOW) being bangers absolutely fills me with joy. However, let’s talk about some of the framing and visuals they chose to include.

(WARNING, THIS IS A LONG ASS POST BECAUSE I WATCHED THE FIRST SEASON 8.5 TIMES)

Alright. So the Slash op. Yeah.

So first off, of course we have to talk about Suletta and Miorine’s backdrops when they’re onscreen together. The detritus and ruins Suletta is surrounded by, as she’s EXTREMELY capable of causing massive acts of destruction with Aerial, compared to the green pastures Miorine nurtures in her green house and her former desire to return to Earth: upsetting, beautiful, tragic, all of the above. Also, Miorine was the strongest proponent for making GUND-ARM.inc a medical company since she found out about the original intent of the gund-arm system. Of course she would want to stop war and make everything a sunny, picturesque place.

Next elephant in the room: MIORINE FALLING INTO THE DEPTHS OF AN ABYSS

I feel fairly safe in claiming this is purposefully emulating the abyss at Plant Quetta we see whenever Quiet Zero is brought up (WHICH I WILL GET TO) but with Elnora egging Miorine on to finish Quiet Zero, I have a VERY distinct feeling something is going to happen to her while she’s working on this silly little project.

In addition, each shot of Miorine is intercut with clips of Suletta either starting to run, or actually running forward to a brighter place.

I have a distinct feeling this is indicative of Suletta having to save her from some kind of situation with Quiet Zero. The first clip of her fully sprinting is immediately followed by Miorine’s reflection shattering in a mirror. I can’t cite them specifically, but there were twitter discussions/discussions I had with friends that an aspect of uploading a person into a Mobile Suit (see aERIal theory [LETS BE FUCKING HONEST ITS BASICALLY CANON]) with Swarm drones would break apart their consciousness in a way so that each gund-bit is autonomous (mostly brought about by the fact each Gund-bit looked like Eri when the Elan Who Got Evaporated saw them). This is much more of a crack theory, but feels pertinent given how op1 finishes with a reflection of Eri looking at a Mobile Suit control console.

MOVING on, more aERIal proof I feel like I don’t have to explain this one. Hi girlie. Hope you’re having fun zooming through space and killing people.

Now the Elan clip is very interesting for me, especially with the given color palette. Dividing him into two by a blue wall leads me to think this Elan might not end up being a complete shit person/villain. My hope is that Aerial breaking the Gundam’s curse will bleed into Elan’s Gundam somehow, finally freeing him from Peil’s grasp and letting him live rather than be a disposable lab rat that has to follow orders.

Alternatively, it may be demonstrating a Dissociative Personality Disorder subplot similar to Allelujah from 00 or just the fact there’s at least 6 Elans out there somewhere. I’m not entirely certain what to make of this portion of the op, but it’s definitely brain food to munch on for a little bit. I have a feeling my thoughts will mature on this portion as we see more of the show.

NOW SOMETHING I FOUND INTERESTING about the Mobile Suit sizzle reel is the lack of any new Mobile Suits. We still have the Pharact

the Michaelis

and even the fucking Darilbalde which I’m honestly shocked by.

Most Gundam shows will tease new Mobile Suit designs like all the new villains in IBO as well as the upgraded variants of the Gundams (same with 00). Yeah, the three flagship Mobile Suits of the Benerit Group are upgraded, especially with their new weapons, but I’m just surprised there’s no advertisements of the new Gunpla models like the Demi Barding or Gundam Schwarzette which ABSOLUTELY has to show up in this season since they’re slated for a Q3 release by Bandai.

I absolutely don’t mind seeing these guys again since I do fucking love all of the wfm Mobile Suit designs, it’s just interesting to note.

OK LAST POINT TO MAKE ON THIS OP AND THAT REALLY GETS ME is the clip of Suletta running. For literally 4 frames, it looks like she’s about to trip and fall before it cuts back to her running normally again. I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT THEY MEANT BY THIS but I am EXTREMELY concerned it will have something to do with her struggling to move forward. Incorporating my crackpot theory about Miorine being stuck in Quiet Zero like Eri, maybe it’s her trying to rationalize fighting her fiancé in a Mobile Armor.

Final point I would like to bring up with regards to the op are the tomatoes. Originally, I thought it was supposed to be Eri reaching for them (since she was shown in the shot with Elnora previously), but turns out it’s likely a memory Miorine has of her mother given the white hair in the background.

Nothing I can think of to talk about, really, but the fact we actually see a portion of Miorine’s mother is extremely surprising since they’ve gone fairly out of their way to not depict her other than the VERY brief funeral shots.

But to finish the op off, I do love the theme of Suletta moving forward to join Miorine in the light. It’s a great throughline to have for this latter half of the show, especially given the themes and importance they put on Suletta and Elnora’s philosophy. 

Ok, interim break for me to explain my Quiet Zero theory.

The first time we see it, Elnora is giving “Aerial’s network architecture pattern” to Delling to help bring Quiet Zero to its “final stage.”

NOW WITH ALL OF THE aERIal THEORIES GOING AROUND, I really cannot help but think Aerial’s network architecture is somehow Eri’s consciousness/being/WHATEVER she did to that poor girl. So by giving him this, Quiet Zero is going to be able to absorb/take in someone’s consciousness to help pilot it. In addition, the express purpose of Quiet Zero, according to Elnora, is the complete annihilation of war (BECAUSE WE KNOW HOW WELL THAT WENT IN THE ANNO DOMINI TIMELINE in 00) so odds are, it’s some kind of fucked up Gundam weapon that would be able to outclass anything that tries to fight it.

So I’m 99% sure the finale is going to be a Gundam Mobile Armor that will absorb Miorine and wreak havoc until Eri and Suletta Newtype their way into stopping it from blowing shit up with their Super Space Empathy. Other than IBO, all Gundam shows eventually explore the Next Stage of Humanity with Newtypes, Innovators, Coordinators, and even fucking X-Rounders or whatever (I’m sorry I haven’t watched Gundam AGE yet). Plus it was already hinted at by the Vanadis Institute since they wanted to, essentially, forcibly evolve humanity with the Gund-Arm format. Also, the Gund-bits are a given for Gundams in Ad Stella and Almost Every portrayal of Mobile Armor in any Gundam show has funnels or little drones that run around like Hashmal or the Neo Zeong. So a Mobile Armor isn’t really that far of a stretch, just Miorine being stuck in it is.

In any case, my fucked up hope is Miorine goes crazyinsane after being uploaded into a Mobile Armor and Aerial does Permet Score 10 or something where she and Suletta Understand Each Other Without Misconceptions.

OK Red:Birthmark. Ed of all time.

Honestly, this might be my favorite Gundam ed (more so than the 8th MS team, even) and honestly could be my favorite Anime ed of all time. Fucking gorgeous to look at with such a pretty color palette, Sunrise really outdid themselves with this one.

Ok, Item 1: THE PURPLE SPACE BACKDROP. You cannot look me in the eye and tell me this does not evoke the same aesthetic that UC timeline Newtype connections do. Suletta willing this into existence makes me feel that even being a clone of Eri or whatever the fuck, she’s still able to sense or use an evolved sense to understand people.

NEXT UP, AND WORST OF FUCKING ALL, IS BLACK GHOST MIO MIO. WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT DID THEY MEAN BY THIS

This is what honestly made me concoct the Quiet Zero-Miorine theory because there is absolutely no way in hell they just Decided to portray Miorine like a fucking ghost trying and failing to connect AND LITERALLY TOUCH Suletta while she’s still influenced by her mother.

We ONLY ever see Quiet Zero portrayed as a gaping black void and I can’t think of anything else that uses black as a motif or thematic element other than the Pharact, at best (arguably more dark blue/navy than black). Either way, something bad is going to happen to Mio and I fear for that girl’s life.

I feel like I don’t even have to fucking talk about THIS shit

Like alright Sunrise. Is she being killed by Aerial??? Is she turning into Aerial??? Why does she have the Gundam lines appearing on her skin??? IS ELNORA GONNA TURN HER INTO A GUNDAM TOO??? /hj on the last point

IN ANY CASE, this was a fucking choice but is also one of the most beautiful sequences I’ve seen. I also saw a youtube video that compared this to Utena’s sword drawing scenes which I thought was really funny. I’m not really convinced this is a purposeful reference, despite the two shows’ similarities in plot because of the writer, but if it turns out Aerial is drawing power from Suletta or that Suletta is actually the reason Aerial doesn’t kill its pilot because she’s a Witch From Mercury Newtype, then I’m gonna break my keyboard. Maybe the Mobile Suit Gundam: Witch From Mercurys were the ones we made along the way.

In any case, Aerial’s influence on Suletta and it directly leading into her losing Elnora’s headband and her hair falling feels like there will be a direct consequence of letting Suletta interact with Aerial so personally and directly. My hope is that Aerial will be the reason Elnora’s brainwashing finally fails and Suletta will be able to make her own decisions for herself and choose to do what she wants to do. The headband was established as Elnora’s sway over Suletta WAY early on (like episode 3 or whatever where we see Suletta getting dressed and putting it on while talking to her) so I feel like this climactic moment may be tied to. the Miorine. quiet zero theory.

Ok, now this just turns into me fawning over how utterly stunning this ed is. I really cannot express how much this animation appeals to me, combined with the colors and her dress GOD it just feels so perfect. She’s like a witch controlling the gund-bits but instead of using them to fight, she creates art and beauty, something Suletta has been striving for since the formation of the GUND-ARM company with Miorine. Critically, she believes Gundam and Mobile Suits can be made to help people, not just to commit acts of violence like the Earth Witches think.

Like, I can’t really add any theories here. It’s just amazing. 

Also, FUCK OFF WITH THE DRAKENGARD 3 REFERENCE. IT MIGHT BE A BIT OF A LEAP BUT IT’S AWFULLY FUCKING STRIKING AND I CAN’T DEAL WITH IT.

Regardless, more fodder for the Miorine Mobile Armor theory with this shot. It has to be intentional with this coloring, Please let me know if anyone has an idea what else her being in black could possibly mean, I am genuinely interested to hear people’s thoughts.

The rest of the ed is just these bitches being gay as hell. I’m including screenshots because they’re my little guys and I like seeing them happy.

Also they’re fucking pendants with each others’ hair color FUCK YOU IM GONNA CALL YOU BOTH SLURS

Also, slightly frightening pose for Miorine to adopt while they’re spinning. I feel like it’s either her putting her trust and faith in Suletta that she won’t let go or it’s representative of her being put in a meat grinder.

Alright, final note: Aerial looking like the 0 Gundam in Setsuna’s memories from 00. Alright. Just store these two lesbians in your heart and keep them there I guess. Fuck you. ALSO dazzling, I can’t talk about how much I love the visuals of this ed.

And the fucking hand tremble ARE THEY BOTH SCARED WHY THEY’RE IN EACH OTHER’S GRASP IM SO TERRIFIED

TLDR OF THIS DUMB ASS POST; IM VERY NEURODIVERGENT AND VERY HAPPY

The new op and ed of this show is wholeheartedly magnificent. It packs so many visuals that are ripe for theories/analysis and this is just my insane take with what Gundam I have watched (basically wfm, ibo, 00, and a splattering of UC timeline stuff). I’m absolutely sure people with different Gundam experiences will find either marginally different, to COMPLETELY different ideas/meanings from these clips, but this is just something I wanted to type up instead of doing work askjdasfkasf.  This doesn’t even touch on any of the lyrics and how that ties into the show, but I’m absolutely certain it will kill me when the translations find their way onto my dash.

Also I need to spread Mobile Armor Miorine to any one else who’s insane enough to think it might happen as well <3

if you made it this far, thank you for listening to my fucking batshit rant we’re almost 2.25k words in Jesus.

[evolutionsvoid]

The rainbow mountains are a truly marvelous biome to visit, as words or drawings can never do them justice. The sheer colors on display! The plants and animals that are so vivid and bright, despite being in an alpine environment! Normally, mountainous places are seen as more barren and simple, not quite desert but certainly not an area you would describe as "vibrant" or "lively." Here, though, the landscape is a work of art, and the wildlife is so gorgeous that you can hardly choose which species to focus on! While its beauty is beyond words, one should remember that this is a wild land, and caution must always be taken. At higher altitudes, the air is thinner and the weather can be harsher. Traveling over the steep and rugged terrain can easily leave you out of breath, and improper planning can get you trapped in bad situations. This is why locals always advise tourists to hire guides to go with them if they seek to visit these beautiful mountains. When one is captivated by the scenery, they aren't paying attention to things like distance or weather. In the quest to see it all, or to get the perfect view, outsiders may climb too far or high and then not have the strength to make it back. The other thing to remember is that the wildlife is still indeed wildlife. Gorgeous as they may be, they are still animals that need to be treated with respect. One must keep their distance and know which species to avoid in general. In a rainbow painted world, one may believe everything is nectar and sunshine, but there are still the harsh rules of nature and the beasts that need meat to thrive. The Fabulous Lancejaw is a species that many get enamored with, seeing them as colorful, shimmering serpents. From afar, they are indeed a beautiful sight as they slither and stalk. Up close, though, they are an incredibly dangerous species and a scourge for the herbivores that call these mountains home. While they have the long flexible body of a serpent, they are not reptiles. The Fabulous Lancejaw is actually a crustacean, whose form has become greatly elongated. It doesn't just slither on its belly, as it has countless legs running down is length, which allows it to easily navigate the slopes and cliffs. Numerous antenna and appendages around its head help it sense its environment and locate prey. One such pair of paddle-like limbs has patterns that look like eyes, which make many people believe this is how it sees. In truth, these are just for startling predator and prey, as well as for courtship. The real eyes are smaller and subtler, but they are by no means weak! The eyes of a Fabulous Lancejaw have incredible vision, allowing it to spot the smallest prey from far away, while also picking it out from the mess of colors surrounding it! With the land being a rainbow, and most food blending into that palette, the Lancejaw needs good color vision and depth perception to figure out what is meat and what is just vibrant rock. When it spots prey, it is time to slither in and go for the kill!

As a predator, the Fabulous Lancejaw needs a way to take down its prey after tracking it down. Though it has a serpentine body, it does not kill by constriction. It can use this to hold prey in place, but this is not its method of execution. Hopefully by now, readers should have keyed in on the name "Lancejaw," as that is quite relevant now. Located under its head is a pair of sharp appendages that resemble spearing claws. Compared to its body length, these limbs may seem comically small, especially when going up against armored prey like the Rainbow Naotul. While these claws are pointy, there is much more to them than that. These limbs have joints that allow them to fold up and lock into place. When in this mode, they are hidden beneath the head, with only the tips of the pointed claws sticking out. This isn't just for storing them, as the muscles and joints are perfectly designed to store up energy. Think of a ballista when it is winched back and ready to fire. It doesn't look like much, but there is an incredibly amount of energy just waiting to be released. These limbs function on that logic, ratcheted back and then released with explosive force. When the claws are launched, shell shatters and flesh pops. They rip through prey as if they were paper, leaving gaping wounds and broken bones. Smaller prey dies instantly, as the impact of these skewering claws tends to destroy organs and practically punch the blood right out of them. Larger prey can last a bit longer, but the injuries are too grave to ignore. A direct hit from these claws are a death sentence, either perishing on the spot or from blood loss a few minutes later. The Lancejaw may grab struggling prey in its coils to hold it still for a clean shot, but this is only done on large victims. It needs a good amount of mass between its claws and its body, that way it doesn't accidentally skewer itself! When prey expires, the Lancejaw wraps its body around the carcass to keep away those that may try to still a bite. It then dines on the flesh, sometimes using its powerful claws to further break down shells and armor that protect tasty morsels. 

A myth I want to dispel, while we are on the subject of hunting, is the idea that the Fabulous Lancejaw hypnotizes its prey. Due to their shimmering colors and eye-like limbs, people think that it uses this display to mesmerize its food and leave it vulnerable to attack. This simply is not true (and you are probably thinking of a different creature). The colors and eye patterns may startle or distract struggling prey, but it does not entrance them. Of all observations done with this species, there has been zero cases of this ever happening. People tend to point at the fact that prey freezes up when this swaying rainbow beast rears up and displays its eye marks. While this does happen, it is usually because the victim is terrified of the carnivorous crustacean and the two spears that are about to be punched through their skulls. Their movements are indeed dance-like and their colors are quite marvelous to behold. I certainly would be entranced by their display when studying them, but the second one actually looked at me or got remotely close I would be sprinting myself to the other side of the mountain. It is not a show I want to see up close and neither should you! Due to their beauty and abilities, the Fabulous Lancejaw is quite the famous species in their regions. Their image and likeness is used on a variety of banners, shields and crests, while their shells are used for ornaments and arms. While they look great on a family crest, locals know quite well to keep far away from them. Lancejaws are very territorial and protective of their food. They already have to compete with one another to score a good meal, and there are other serpent-like beasts of the rainbow that threaten to kill them and take their food. With that, they are quick to turn hostile and will not hesitate to strike down those that get too close. That rearing back like a cobra with their eye markings displayed is the one and only warning you will get if you agitate them. Fail to leave them alone, and your organs will be punched right through your spine. Fatalities to this species is rare amongst locals, as the deaths that do occur are from cases of "wrong place, wrong time." Where the body count really racks up, though, is from tourists and visitors to these regions. Maybe the Lancejaw does have hypnotic capabilities, because for the life of me I cannot understand why people keep getting close to these dang things. Is there some idea that colorful things aren't dangerous that has been going around without my knowing? Do they tell you at school "if it is pretty, then it isn't bad?" Because I think the rainbow mountains are the one place where I have seen the most people make the dumbest decisions possible. If it isn't walking right up to a Lancejaw, it is mingling with its prey! Yes the Naotuls and Gardenbacks are beautiful, and they do indeed eat lichens and molds, but GET AWAY FROM THEM! Not only will they take you out if you make the wrong move, but if a predator shows up, you are standing right on the dinner table! The rainbow mountains are about to get a whole lot redder!   It should be noted that the Lancejaw is species that has been highly sought after for collections, coliseums and zoos. They are pretty to look at and their feeding methods make for quite the show. You will not see this species amongst these places, though, as it turns out keeping them in captivity is extremely difficult. The first thing is that the rainbow mountains are rare and remote places, so transporting one is already going to be costly and frustrating. The other problem about keeping them is the whole "keeping them in one place" thing. Those powerful pincers that can blast through prey are also good for punching through fences, walls and bars. Even if they can't power straight through an iron gate, they will find the lock or weak point that they can shatter to force it open. Combined with their ability to scale cliffs and mountains, and that their body can squeeze through pried open bars, and you got a beast that refuses to be contained. Which is good, because they already kill enough people when they are in their remote habitats, I can't even imagine the death toll if you plopped one of these into a circus. Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian

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“Fabulous Lancejaw”

Well I mentioned them before, so figured they should be up next! I bet folks who read the name "Fabulous Lancejaw" from the previous entry had a pretty good guess of what this beast was based on! Also I just went through writing this and proofreading this until I remembered that I already have a beast with "lancejaw" in its name....Oops.

[loquaciousquark]

4-Sided Dive Highlights - Critical Role C3 up to E58 (May. 17, 2023)

Rolling right into the next one, tonight’s guests are Aabria, Christian, Sam, and Travis. We open with Christian wearing sunglasses inside due to one eye being very light sensitive. Travis wins host and hulas his way into a monologue about an increasingly frantic recap of the recent plot, capping off with a ventriloquism segment and a French puppet wolf. It's...not...good, haha.

What the Fuck is Up with That? Sam reveals he verbally bleeps curse words when his kids watch the show, ha. Sam absolutely loves having the guests and mixing up the company. Sam to Aabria: "How do I know you?" Aabria: "What?" It turns out he means how did they meet? Aabria did a D20 game with Matt and Marisha (Pirates of Leviathan). Christian slid into Sam's DMs on Instagram, ahahahaha, and asked him for coffee with Marisha. Incredible! He just felt that Christian had a good heart! Sam, what in the world!

Aww, Christian is still such a fan of the show! (The way he's talking right now is very much like Jeremy Dooley from AH right after he first got hired.) He & Aabria got together for a Session Zero at Matt's place and feel like brother/sister now. They built the characters together. FRIDA came first & Aabria wanted to explore some holes in the world and was able to match elements around FRIDA's build. Plus they didn't know which members of the regular cast they'd be with. As Aabria developed the character Matt instantly decided she'd be paired with Travis. Christian knew FRIDA's color palette before anything else, ha! He knew he wanted to build a complementary character for Sam because he's grateful to the opportunities Sam had given him.

FRIDA has the level of rogue because they'd wandered around for a while on their own, and the cleric levels from Deanna's influence.

Aabria was determined to be a nice generous cleric to counteract any expectations of hard-ass-ness from Laerryn, ha! She picked the Dawnfather because he's one of the most hardline Prime Deities; she's a full cleric with off vibes. She wanted a contrast to FCG, who's in the position of a supplicant; she wanted someone more under the thumb of a deity in order to bring more facets of those relationships. Travis: "A perpetual IOU."

Deanna was one of the names from Chetney's vision; she was fully a Matt invention. Aabria loved the idea of being a past relationship and sent notes to Matt; then the day before they started filming Travis sent more notes to Matt saying she was a fling. "Damn it, I got downgraded to a fling before I even walked in!" Travis had to firm out Chet's backstory as they got to Uthodurn.

Sam really wanted to see Travis kill Santa, but Matt made Oltgar too regretful. Travis loves taking the dark routes in video games when available, but "with Mercer there's so much heart. I feel bad."

They had probably more god advancement in the last seven episodes than the entire campaign. I'm realizing this is about where I am in my show watch, which is why it all feels so current to me! Everyone loved the Changebringer stuff, except Travis could do without the Ring girl hair.

Ludinus was behind it from the start?! What the hell does the leather armor do? He caused the corruption of the Savalirwood 500 years ago, which means he's been planning this for a long time. He tried to kill them with Molaesmyr and corrupted the land, founded the Cerberus Assembly; he's constantly reaching back for the glory of the Age of Arcanum. Everyone hated the freaky animals.

The Rexxentrum Toy Authority was a beautiful moment! Sam: "Why would you come up with a three-letter moniker that was actually standing for something else??"

Sam is very grateful for this arc because it gave a lot of meat to his character. He feels that he's been asking so many questions: who am I, what are dreams, am I alive, who are the gods, I want answers. Now he has a connection with his god, a connection with FRIDA--it doesn't really matter what his original design to kill was for because he has such a bright path forward.

Deanna was built to complement many characters, and Aabria leaned into certain facets for this party over others. "The dying and come back was very built in for Laudna and Ashton and Orym especially" because she spent a lot of her life constantly bringing her husband back from 0 hp. She liked playing with the weird, unresolved feelings of knowing that the dead person isn't gone, just static and waiting. The husband is still alive but is super old???? Ha! "Dustyl" is his name.

Everyone's enjoyed exploring the haunted areas of Exandria. Travis describes several locations on the maps in detail from memory and everyone ribs him a little; it's really cute! Everything was a little wrong in the Savalirwood.

Sam thinks Fearne should have the staff. Fearne having teleportation would be incredible. FCG's coin has a once-a-day power that can cause distractions, ask the Changebringer a question, or get a luck point (which everyone's sure he'll use right away).

The last two interactions with the gods were fascinating because they weren't requests for help, they were demands. Deanna thought she'd died for a second at the end.

Aabria went pure life cleric specifically because she wanted to lean into the drama of resurrection magic being off the table. "Someone's dead? Oh, I'm great at this! Oh...wait..."

Jerry stole the show. Everyone agrees the goats are giant food.

Travis is sad they didn't fight the pterodactyl thing. FRIDA is intentionally built like a tank & has had Death Ward most of the time, so they intentionally drew aggro.

Travis intentionally pulled Chet away from the group when the moon started changing him specifically to avoid endangering the guests, and then Christian went after him! I have spelled "intentionally" wrong as "intentially" every single time. Christian knew it wasn't a "smart" play but thought it would be fun to interact with Chet, and that'll trump optimization every time for him.

The Tower of Inquiry! Favorite encounter so far? Travis: the Ludinus showdown. Sam: Laudna going down and not knowing how to Revivify. (Aabria asked if she could play Otohan and Matt was like, what? No!) Christian: the heist race where Ashton got the bust! Aabria: the same fight as Sam.

How does it feel being part of a larger group? Sam: FCG's entire first group died, so this new group is a lot of pressure. FCG's been one event away from berserkness multiple times. Every time they long rest, Sam can roll a d4 to reduce stress points, but he's self-imposed a rule that he doesn't do so on non-active days.

Sam literally leans over to Travis about his old age rules. Travis has to roll a 100 on the dice (three 0s) in order for Chet to drop dead. He's not concerned at all that it'll happen; Sam is hilariously concerned.

The Deep Dive, sooner than usual! Sam absolutely loved the interaction with the bull. He's delighted "the power of friendship" mattered.

Travis has been sitting on the RTC reveal for a while. He sat down a while back and really mapped out a lot of Chet's backstory and where he traveled, and again pulls out tons of map details like the Wuyun Gorge. The one place he hasn't been yet is Issylra.

FRIDA is a little nervous about turning into a werewolf; being around the group made them more comfortable, but the reveal of killing all those people is concerning. FRIDA also felt they were able to see Chet inside the beast during that fight & loves the idea of being unadulterated & free. Christian texted Matt & asked what it all meant that night, and just got in return, "ahahahahahahahaha". Ha!

Aabria is fascinated that developing these relationships with Bell's Hells has changed the previously friendly ease Deanna had with FRIDA. It's not quite a strain, but it is a reevaluation which is not settled; it's painful. FRIDAY had a strong opinion on the absence of pain and the absence of sadness; he hadn't appreciated how important current relationships were before FCG. Sam: "We have so much in common. We're both metal. We're both murderers."

Sam butchers the FRIDA acronym, which Aabria of course nails. Far-Ranging Integrated Defense Aeormaton. FCG is scared about the Changebringer's lack of clarity, and fears for the future. Travis suggests that if FRIDA dies, FCG should incorporate their body parts. Christian: I'd give you FRIDA's legs.

Everyone laughs at the size differences/similarities in their partners. Dani's (female) SO and she share clothes. Sam shrinks things in the dryer and gives them to Quyen. Alissa is taller than Christian so she can't wear his clothes; same for Aabria and her husband. Travis rolling over in bed is a literal health hazard for Laura, ha!

It took Travis forever to realize Deanna was his Deanna; Aabria even pointed to her name & he didn't get it. When it did click, the panic was real; he had acid reflux and realized she knew the backstory and he didn't! He didn't know if he should be angry or happy or neutral to see her; he had to wait until he had more context clues.

The romance for FCG and FRIDA was organic in nature. Originally they'd thought Deanna & FRIDA might have something, but it didn't pan out. Sam did text Christian to make sure they could lean in after.

Aabria loved getting to play with a character she helped develop in ExU (Fearne).

Tower of Inquiry, Redux: character's favorite board games? Chet: Chutes & Ladders. Deanna: Pandemic. FRIDA: Risk. FCG: Operation.

Post-Break Shenanigans: Super Smash Brothers! Sam: Dark Samus. Travis: Wolf. Aabria: Kirby. Christian: ROB.

Travis thought Oltgar was going to be more of a shit, but he's 100% okay tracking Drixlich instead.

Deanna is concerned after the conversation with the Dawnfather because while it's on brand, she fears losing her powers/life. She'd rather pay it forward first.

Sam wins round one! Huh! Round two: Sam: random (Falco), Travis: Ganondorf, Aabria: Ganondorf, Christian: ROB again.

FCG is weirdly comforted to have direction from the Changebringer; Sam likes her vibe. He was little freaked out by how demanding she was at the end but looks forward to exploring that relationship.

Christian wonders if FRIDA belonged to Ludinus. All he gave Matt was the dream of the child's legs. Time runs out on the second round and Christian takes it by percentage!

Round three: everyone picks random. Sam: Diddy Kong, Travis: Terry, Aabria: Kirby, Christian: Bayonetta.

How does Chet feel about the gods? It's only a matter of time before Chetney takes the gods' place.

FRIDA was very freaked out by fighting Aeormatons, but Chet's gift especially helped a lot.

Deanna feels that while the gods aren't a nascent part of the world, if it weren't them, it'd be someone else. Sam found it hard to play a religious character because his instinct is to be subversive.

Sam asked Matt if FCG had his initials carved on him somewhere after FRIDA revealed theirs. Matt said, "you don't know," then let Sam throw out a handful of suggestions for what the acronym stood for. He didn't know which until the moment, though. The entire conversation was inspired by Christian's play; "Christian did a cool thing and I wanted to steal it."

Christian's best friend Jack was helping him with acronyms; Christian had come up with "FRIDA" and Jack defined it in about thirty seconds, haha. Backronyms!

Travis loved the first Catha transformation. Now he has to decide who to transform into a werewolf. Everyone loves "Bells Heals" as a minigroup name, and "LoveLetters" and "Body Count" for the FRIDA/FCG ship.

Aabria found the two relationships with Deanna/Laerryn very different; with Sam she planned it out, and with Travis she knew she was surprising him. She is fully embracing the "we've already banged" dynamic for all her characters now.

The post-credits scene is a cutout of Sam spinning into the abyss.

That's that! One more 4SD is out right now (came out yesterday), but I'm going to catch up on the show first!

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

This hilarious story of a man reborn as a villain in a fantasy novel series who ends up romancing the male protagonist is now in English, for the very first time. Half-demon Luo Binghe rose from humble beginnings and a tortured past to become unrivaled in strength and beauty. With his dominion over both the Human and Demon Realms and his hundreds-strong harem, he is truly the most powerful protagonist...in a trashy webnovel series! At least, that's what Shen Yuan believes as he finishes reading the final chapter in Proud Immortal Demon Way. But when a bout of rage leads to his sudden death, Shen Yuan is reborn into the world of the novel in the body of Shen Qingqiu--the beautiful but cruel teacher of a young Luo Binghe. While Shen Qingqiu may have the incredible power of a cultivator, he is destined to be horrifically punished for crimes against the protagonist. The new Shen Qingqiu now has only one course of action: get into Luo Binghe's good graces before the young man's rise to power or suffer the awful fate of a true scum villain!

(The Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving System book 1, Amazon)

Beautiful. So so SO beautiful. Both the art-style and the character designs. (My biggest criticism of the latter is that Luo Binghe’s not supposed to look like his dad all that much… but they look IDENTICAL in their pictures 😂 Similarly, I wish there was a picture that showed the differences between Shen and Mushroom!Shen cuz I’m curious exactly how different they look. I know that’s a ridiculous ask but still. I can wish 😂)

When it comes to the font choices I know that when these and the other MXTX novels were announced a lot of people didn’t like that there were so many different fonts on a single cover but I personally think it works well. I like the emphasis/italicization/immaturity(?) of “Scum Villain’s” font versus the really mechanical sans serif of the rest of the text. My only gripe with the titles is that the section of background they’re on is always very crowded (bamboo 2x, cherry blossoms) or a similar color (rocks/ground). It’s not so bad as to make them illegible but it can be a little hard to read. In terms of the title itself I like that they added the pinyin title but I think they should have also had the hanzi... but that’s just my opinion. I know that having all three would’ve been even more crowded than it is so I understand why they didn’t but... still.

In addition to people not liking the fonts... I also remember people were miffed that the first cover wasn’t romantic and I have to say: thank FUCK it’s NOT. LUO BINGHE’S 14 IN THE FIRST BOOK! Besides, regardless of his age, it also wouldn’t make sense story wise. In regards to what’s happening in-story, Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan’s progression from “not touching but still protecting” to “touching but one looks simultaneously like they wanna attack and kiss while the other is just swooning” to “protective handholding and shielding” to “SLEEPING IN LAP” is PERFECT. It’s so beautiful and heartwarming.

The colors follow a similar route. From light and airy with them dressed in matching colors that also match the background (like... there’s a surprising dearth of colors in the first cover. So much so that Sha Hualing’s red outfit really pops out on the back cover) to the shift in Luo Binghe’s clothing to demonic colors and the darkening of the background as the two color palettes mix (white x red = pink, black x green ≈ blue) and then to a neutral background with their color palettes that shows they’re no longer roiling and are instead in harmony. The last book (which is an anthology of short stories about the characters and is actually not part of the main story) is the darkest of the covers but its a very mellow darkness, a sort of warm candlelight that affects their own color palettes so they match even with the background being similar to book one. It’s a very well done color story.

Lets not forget about the back covers. Usually back covers are just meh but these explicitly connect as extensions of the front covers:

The back covers also show that there’s a very clear formula to how everything’s set up:

And I LOVE covers that follow a formula. The fact that all these translations were able to be released together in a row and weren’t dependent on how the book before it did means that the covers were able to be made in tandem which means that they match PERFECTLY. Nothing’s worse than a cover change halfway through a series. Even if a cover style sucks STICK WITH IT for the entire series I BEG YOU. Once everything’s out THEN you can change the covers for the next editions.

I really appreciate the inclusion of character pictures. It works very well with the contents since it often feels like Shen’s in a game rather than a book; he has all these stats for people and access to an interactive computer system so game-like character bios work to help the reader keep this info in-line the same way Shen does. I wish more books (particularly serieses... particularly complicated serieses) did stuff like this.

Before I finish this post I wanna take a moment to appreciate the title of this book in and of itself. I know a lot of people hate how long isekai titles are but I personally love them. I love how straight to the point they are and how you can tell most of what the story’s about just from the title alone, even without reading the description. Personally I think it’d be helpful if more genres started doing this, especially since there’s that gods awful trend of books just having absolutely no summary anywhere on them, and instead just having review quotes that tell you nothing about the actual story. If books insist on doing that, at least tell me what the books about in the title. Thankfully, SVSSS has a descriptive title AND a back summary to let potential readers know what they’re getting themselves into. I think the only way I personally would’ve improved these is by adding some trigger and content warnings (this is also related to the lack of summary and descriptive titles like... why are people against even the slightest, barest, most miniscule spoilers? I beg ya’ll) specifically for the end of the third book (for r*pe).

- Kiara 🌸

[josiesaltzmanstyle]

We’re Being Punked, Pedro

Episode three, babyyy!

I always forget that Josie has another outfit before the t-shirt and shorts combo she spends most of the episode in.

Experimenting with some modest lighting/color correcting for these caps this time around.

Josie starts off the episode in her second blazer of the season. I remember at least two more, making it undeniably the most blazer-heavy season for her; from what I remember, they became less common in her wardrobe as time went on. But they’re good for establishing her as a serious and academically-minded student who cares about what she looks like. It’s also cropped slightly and the ends are angled, making it a somewhat trendier look than a traditional blazer, which gives it more personality.

It’s also yellow, which is another common theme with her this season, and has those interesting single pleats in the middle. Yellow’s an interesting color choice to associate so heavily with a character who performs happiness while struggling to admit when she’s struggling so much.

Unfortunately, /I/ struggled to find where the exact blazer hails from. Alas, alack. If anyone has any info on it, please feel free to reach out!

Gasp. Shock face.

What shocked me about this outfit is the shirt she wears under her blazer. if you look closely, it’s almost certainly this white Modcloth blouse with a Peter Pan collar that she wears in both 2.02 and 3.18. I was surpised not only because an item from her wardobe got repeated three times (though that’s always a pleasant surprise in my book, as it makes the world feel more grounded), but because I didn’t even know they had this shirt for her by early season one. It maintains some of her common motifs (the material is textured and tranlucent and the Peter Pan collar has interesting detail work - black stitching that matches the sleeves), but it’s a little more youthful, playful, and trendy than similar blouses we’ve seen her in thus far. I’ve always associated it with her early season 2 wardrobe shift, so it’s interesting that she already owns it here! Also interesting: despite being a beautiful piece that stands on its own, it’s far more covered up here than it is in its other two appearances; appropriate as Josie is still more reserved and buttoned-up than she may come to be later.

She accessorizes with a red tie and interestingly pairs the outfit with pants this time. I’m pretty sure they’re black slacks, despite the filtering on the scene skewing green in a major way. What captures my attention about this though; what exactly is the school uniform? I’ve always assumed it was: a button-down and/or blazer with the school symbol sewn to one or the other, the plaid skirt, or plaid pants. But Josie’s pants are, to my knowledge, pure black. So maybe the plaid is optional? Idk. (Edit: I found her pants! They’re listed further below. They’re actually navy, so I now have even more questions.)

Also, a moment of appreciation for Kaylee Bryant’s hair. Wowza. It’s obviously curled and styled, but I’m glad they’re letting it fall and frame her face more this time around. Her space buns were cute, but they kept pulling all of her hair away from her face and forehead in a way that looked a bit strange to me.

The color palette of this outfit kind of has a lot going on, but I’m not actually mad about it. I think the red and yellow work especially well together here (and they’re two colors we’ll see her pair at least one more time this season) and I like the contrast of the smooth but rigid blazer and the likely soft but textured shirt she’s wearing. Lots of variety.

Speaking of pants! Here are her navy slacks, from Banana Republic. They're practical, but the scalloped hem at the ankle gives them a little edge.

I’d say the one thing I’m not really a fan of is these silver Aldo heels.

They’re very similar to the Aldos she wore in 1.01, (and that indeed seems to be the shoe brand they’ve tied her to so far), but they don’t really match the vibe of the rest of the outfit. I think they’d work in a little bit of a more formal look but… shrug. I just think they’re a miss here.

I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be the same day since Alaric called the girls in from class to tell them they had to do community service. It seems strange that they all changed outfits, but I guess it checks out that they might not want to wear their preppy takes on their school uniform off-campus. It’s also quite possibly hot out—the show isn’t always super clear about the timeline.

What I find notable here is that Lizzie and Josie both pulled their hair into a half-up, half-down look. (A ponytail for Josie and a bun for Lizzie.) Styling can do a lot to show that even when they’re fighting, they’re sisters through and through.

I would bet money that this yellow t-shirt with blue bows on the sleeves is actually printed with bows, rather than being separate accessories. (EDIT: After getting a better look at the angle of the bow, I can clearly see it’s an attached accessory. Despite being wrong? ironically, I feel a lot better about not being able to find it. There are a LOT of yellow t-shirts out there.) However, I’ve searched high and low for the shirt, and I can’t find it anywhere. One of these days, I’m going to make a post and not know where ANYTHING is from, LMAO. As it is, I still only know where the Modcloth shirt and the shoes are from, because I couldn’t find the shorts either, lmao.

But! They are black and high-waisted, and the waistband, when visible, is blue and plaid, coordinating nicely with those elusive bows. She also seems to be wearing something else under her t-shirt; perhaps an isolated collar, but I’m actually wondering if it’s the polo she wore in 1.01.

It’s a relatively simple outfit with just a few little details, but it comes together nicely!

Number of Outfits: Just 2 this time!

Favorite Look: The Modcloth shirt is probably my favorite piece, but since we'll get a better view of it later, I opted for her day clothes while volunteering.

Simple but cute! This outfit is a nice change of pace for Josie so far, but doesn’t feel so out of left field.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. As always, if you have any information about a piece, I’d love to add it here and would be happy to credit you.

[thunderbringer]

SPOILERS AHOY . 

ITS OPINION TIME. my brain is still going a thousand miles a minute about everything. i also have this retention thing where i have to view something more than once in order to retain it fully  ( multiple times actually ) 

everything was beautiful. EVERYTHING.  i had my concerns about a lot of things from the way they might make thor look very unintelligent / the butt of many jokes at his expense .  to how they would make jane the mighty thor and how she might steal everything from him including his name. 

this movie dispelled any fear i ever had.  every decision made sense. and this is why i’m going to be making changes to my portrayal of thor and how i’ve done certain things very divergently up until now. any complaints i have about this movie are very very minimal and as i’m writing this right now i can’t even fathom thinking about what they are since my mind is swirling with all the goodness i was served on a silver platter. 

frigga and baby thor with his little wooden mjolnir. they started training him with a little one at this age  because giving him the real one was too risky. 

the fact that all of hemsworth’s kids made it into this film is the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen. 

thor may not be king anymore but they made it obvious that he is still respected by his people and he can command a room so effortlessly . he was still very kingly in a lot of ways and very much loved by his people. 

we know i do not ship jane and thor. but this movie made it a little more believable in a lot of ways. 

thor was NOT made to be stupid or the butt of jokes. ( automatic A++)

his pain was acknowledged and worked through in healthier ways so that he was able to finally open himself up again and move on. 

the shadow realm with its muted palette and bursts of colors was absolutely the most beautiful thing i’ve seen in a long time. 

thor enchanting the kids’ weapons just like odin did with mjolnir but ‘for a limited time only ‘ . it shows how much he’s grown into his own power and i’m so proud. 

gorr the god butcher i really liked. could have used more screen time but christian bale did a magnificent job. 

thor being a father is canon now and i need everything to do with this! i’ve always said that he would be a good dad and here we have it. 

now down to what i’m changing and what i’m not. my previous canon stated i did NOT ship jane and thor and changed it so that they never actually got together. i will acknowledge this now but only with certain people i trust and have great chemistry with. the first two movies still made it seem incredibly forced so it has to be something we work on but i my main ship on this blog will still be with my steve unless otherwise plotted. 

in another divergency move i said that thor stayed in new asgard to be the king to his people instead of running off with the guardians. i’m very inclined to retract this since the movie made what he did make way more sense then saying OOP I’M GONE BYYYYE.  so in this case most of my canon will shift to that piece of canon if not just so thor can be a father by the end of love and thunder which makes my heart so full. i’ve always known he would be a better father than odin could ever hope to be. 

all in all i was terrified for this movie and the direction they were taking thor’s character . but any fear i had is gone. everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. ELYSE’S HEART IS FULL.