#doing this by season because of the image limit etc etc

[butchjess]

the jess mariano s2 outfits post.. all of his outfits for every one of his appearances including accessories and other such things found to the best of my abilities . full thing is under the read more

-repeat outfits are not included for my own sanity

*asteriks are to indicate the piece is not an exact match, but very close (couldn't find it or just not 100% sure)

S2E05 Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy

The Camo Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch, black with stainless steel casing + grey braided string bracelet + dark brown leather belt with Civil War union soldier oval buckle

L.L. Bean navy blue puffer vest + Rothco long-sleeve Woodland camo shirt

Levi's 568 dark wash jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

Zip-Up Sweatshirt Fit

Nixon “The Rocker” A370 watch

Gray zip-up sweatshirt with US army staff sergeant rank insignia patch + Indera Mills navy blue raschel-knit thermal shirt

Levi’s 501 straight leg jeans*

Swiss modern combat boots

Wet Delinquent Fit

Nixon “The Rocker” A370 watch + gray braided string bracelet

Stanfield's charcoal long-sleeve thermal waffle knit shirt

Dickies loose fit jeans (logo painted over from back pocket)

Swiss modern combat boots

The Girl From Mars Fit

Nixon “The Rocker A370 watch + gray braided string bracelet

Gray zip-up sweatshirt with US army staff sergeant rank insignia patch + L.L. Bean navy blue puffer vest + white long-sleeved Fresno, CA motorcycle sweater*

Levi's 501 dark blue straight leg fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

S2E06 Presenting Lorelai Gilmore

Metallica Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + gray braided string bracelet

Pushead Metallica No Leaf Clover shirt

The Uniform Fit

Luke's season one baseball cap + Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + gray braided string bracelet

Burgundy plaid flannel + gray t-shirt

Dickies loose fit jeans

S2E08 The Ins and Outs of Inns

Child Labor Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + gray bracelet

Hanes black pocket t-shirt* + Rothco long-sleeve Woodland camo shirt

Levi's 568 dark wash jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

The Slacker Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch

L.L. Bean navy blue puffer vest + Tasman Empire Airways ltd. vintage red t-shirt + Stanfield's charcoal long-sleeve thermal waffle knit shirt

Levi's 501 straight leg fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

Double Denim Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch

L.L. Bean Sherpa-lined Trucker style denim jacket + Stanfield's charcoal long-sleeve thermal waffle knit shirt

Wrangler black regular fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

The Toaster Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Green long-sleeve California graphic shirt + Stanfield's white thermal long-sleeve waffle knit shirt

Levi's 501 straight leg fit jeans

S2E10 The Bracebridge Dinner

Don't Need Your Help Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet + dark brown leather belt with Civil War union soldier oval buckle

Punk Planet magazine red t-shirt + Stanfield's white thermal long-sleeve waffle knit shirt

Wrangler black regular fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

The Carriage Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Beige Sherpa-lined suede coat + black plaid button up + black undershirt

Levi's 568 dark wash jeans*

Swiss modern combat boots

The Glance Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Black fatigue shirt*

Dickies loose fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

S2E12 Richard in Stars Hollow

Innocent Boy Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + dark brown leather belt with oval Civil War union soldier buckle

L.L. Bean Sherpa-lined Trucker style denim jacket + Rothco long-sleeve Woodland camo shirt

Wrangler black regular fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

S2E13 A-Tisket, A-Tasket

Superglue Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch

Beige Sherpa-lined suede coat* + Tasmanian Empire Airways ltd. red t-shirt + Stanfield's charcoal long-sleeve thermal waffle-knit shirt

Brown loose fit corduroy pants

The Guy Who Brought Enough Money Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch

Beige Sherpa-lined suede coat + green long-sleeve Califronia graphic shirt + Stanfield's white long-sleeve waffle-knit thermal + black long-sleeve shirt

Wrangler black regular fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

The Phone Call Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Dickies long-sleeve garage blue industrial work shirt with embroidered US flag patch (name-tag included) + black long-sleeve shirt*

Brown loose fit corduroy pants*

White socks

S2E15 Lost and Found

The Gutter Cleaner Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet + gardening gloves

Wrangler gas station jacket (no nametag)* + Punk Planet magazine red t-shirt + black long-sleeve shirt

Wrangler black regular fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

S2E13 There's the Rub

Construction Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet + blue pen + blue hardhat + dark brown leather belt with oval Civil War union soldier buckle

Hanes gray pocket t-shirt + black long-sleeve shirt

Wrangler black regular fit jeans

Delivery Boy Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

L.L. Bean Sherpa lined Trucker style denim jacket + Dickies long-sleeve garage blue industrial work shirt with U.S. flag patch embroidered on sleeve (name-tag removed) + Hanes black pocket t-shirt*

Brown loose fit corduroy pants

Swiss modern combat boots

Navy Blue Sweatshirt Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Ralph Lauren Polo Sport navy blue USA fleece sweatshirt (02 embroidered on sleeve)* + Stanfield's white long-sleeve waffle knit thermal shirt

S2E17 Dead Uncles and Vegetables

Despot Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

L.L. Bean navy blue puffer vest + Nordstrom brown button down dress shirt + black t-shirt

Levi's 568 dark wash jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

Diner Boy Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet + blue pen + dark brown leather belt with oval Civil War union soldier buckle

Hanes gray pocket t-shirt + Stanfield's white long-sleeve waffle knit thermal shirt

Dickies loose fit jeans (logo painted over/removed)

Funeral Party Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Black fatigue shirt + white and black baseball tee*

S2E19 Teach Me Tonight

Ice Cream Cones Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch + leather bracelet

Big Smith green diamond quilted jacket + white striped double pocket linen shirt + black t-shirt + Stanfield's white long-sleeve waffle knit thermal shirt

RVCA Americana olive green baggy fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

S2E21 Lorelai's Graduation Day

Payphone Fit

Dickies navy blue Eisenhower jacket + gray button-up*

Levi's 568 dark wash jeans

New York Fit

Nixon "The Rocker" A370 watch

Dickies navy blue Eisenhower jacket + Hardkore Kidd 2002 No Mercy tour shirt

RVCA Americana olive green baggy fit jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

S2E22 Can't Get Started

The Kiss Fit

Dickies navy blue Eisenhower jacket + gray graphic t-shirt* + Stanfield's black long-sleeve waffle knit thermal shirt

Levi's 568 dark wash jeans

Swiss modern combat boots

[libraford]

Hi there!

I'm getting married next year, and I would love to get some advice regarding florists since you worked for one for so long. I don't want to be a pain in the ass or a bridezilla, but I also don't want to be a doormat who gets taken advantage of because I have no idea what I'm doing.

Do you have any general tips or recommendations for how to choose a reputable florist and correctly place an order? 💕

Choosing a florist really comes down to research- find the florists in your town (or the town that you're going to be having your wedding in because its easier to hire local to the venue than it is to import someone to the location.) Some florists don't do weddings. Some florists only do certain styles. Most will have a photo gallery on their website that you can look through. Yelp reviews are not actually very useful here because people WILL try to ruin a business over an amount as little as $3.

Word of mouth is better- ask a married couple who they used, or get on a local facebook group and ask. You're allowed to shop around.

I think its a good idea to go to bridal shows and see flower arrangements in person, meet the designers, and talk prices and goals briefly.

When it comes to big orders like weddings, we usually ask the party to come in for a consultation. The bridal coordinator sits down with you and talk you through prices, colors, aesthetics- etc. Be detailed about what's important to you (for a lot of brides this is the bouquet, boutonnieres, table centerpieces; but also factors like colors, aesthetic types.)

What's useful to the florist is visual guides- especially if you have copies you can leave with the florist. Color swatches, pin-board images, pictures of the venue (maps of the venue if you got it.)

My biggest advice on not being a Bridezilla is knowing that there will be sacrifices to make on certain things. Flowers have seasons. Certain flowers do not come in some colors (we've come a long way in making designer colors, but I'm sorry- you will not get peonies or roses in blue. There's flower-safe spray paints that can sort of make it happen, but its a tough color to get right.) They might be limited in things like hardware, vases, containers.

If you want special kinds of containers, you may have to source them yourself (sometimes people had us doing arrangements in things like lanterns, wine bottles, shallow bowls.) You'll want to bring them to the shop about a week to 2 weeks before the wedding.

On the subject of time deadlines, if you want flowers- don't put this off to the last minute. Some items might require a month to source- shoot for at least 3 months lead time to see a consultant.

Some things will be more expensive as a wedding item than as a daily item. This is because we have the stuff already on-hand and we've already budgeted time to make it. When doing something like that for a wedding, you have to keep in mind the amount of time it takes to make a larger quantity with a special order of wholesale flowers.

Essentially- if the florist says 'we can't do that,' then accept that the answer is 'no.' The limited nature of floristry was one of my many complaints about the industry- I understood that you couldn't get daffodils in October, but explaining it to someone else was a real crapshoot if they'd tear your head off.

Be patient, be understanding, be prepared.

[riptidesblog]

Wish we got a Wu season or smth exploring his powers and character.Anyway,here's how I think it'd go:

Wu,using his powers,creates a world.A false one that is based on his regrets,mistakes and etc. He's stuck in a fantasy of his own making and doesn't want to leave.It's a world in his image. There's two ways I could see the team in this world:

•They're there too and at first,they're confused. Then they start to realize,slowly,but this world void of pain and suffering seems so...perfect. They hesitate on going back.The episodes explore each character.Eventually they do realize that they need to stop this.They try to convince Wu as he is the only one capable of pulling them out of this fake world(maybe it's in their dreams and they can't wake up).Wu doesn't want to.He doesn't understand why his (kids) students want to leave(He made this world for them,for his family.He made a world where they can be happy,why can't they let him FIX his mistakes?!).Ninja realize their (dad)teacher's guilt and trauma and eventually they get out of the fake world with all of them starting their way to healing.

•Ninja aren't pulled into the perfect world at first.They go there to save Wu(kinda like Zane-Ice Emperor-Never Realm situation).This world has versions of themselves too.Versions based on Wu's perception of them,but minus the trauma.At first it seems these are the versions of them if their lives were perfect...but they start to notice some things.This world is based on Wu and it...doesn't always make sense. For example:if they were to ask fake Nya,she'd say she is happy as the water ninja(because to Wu's knowledge she is!) but she'd also say she is happy she stayed Samurai X(because Wu feels like he forced her out of a role she wanted).Fake Pixal would also say she's happy as Sam X bc again,to Wu's knowledge it's true and so,that detail doesn't need changing.Not only do these statements contradict each-other,but the perfect world is one without enemies.One without the need for ninja or samurai or any other kind of protectors.The ninja dislike the situation,but also there are some appealing things in this perfect world.For example:the elemental alliance.They're all there(the twins never betrayed the rest and everyone is present) and Jay wants to learn more about his bio mom. Also,there's a fake Morro there too and he's the ninjas kind of guide(they're pretending to be travelers or smth to learn more).Ninja aren't sure if this really how Morro was bc the kid in front of them is unbothered,free and not a vengeful ghost.At some point they ask him about the prophecy..."What prophecy?"

In both scenarios Wu's trauma and character is explored through his actions and the world he created.He feels guilty about the bite?Well Garm never was bitten in this fake world.Wu views himself as someone constantly making mistakes?In this world he is the one bearing the weight of everything just so everyone else can be happy.Also,the power of creation is expanded on:it's limits(or their lack of),how it works and etc.Also,there could be some other side to the perfect world:a dark side full of Wu's nightmares,fears he made himself.This is where he keeps all of the less than pleasant things so his world remains perfect.This is also where he 'punishes' himself(the team is horrified,they need to get this man therapy asap).

[wongyuseok]

BEX'S 500 FOLLOWER CELEBRATION

Hello friends 🥰 I recently hit 500 followers so I thought I would do a little event to celebrate!! I'm so sooooo grateful that you all 1) decided to follow me in the first place and 2) stuck with me through my many, often simultaneous, url & theme changes and occasional breakdowns over my faves doing pretty much anything. But more than that, I can't thank you all enough for continuing to follow me, reblogging my edits & saying nice things about them in the tags 🥺🫶🏻 that's what makes it all worth it 💖💗💕

Without further ado, onto the celebration event! I've decided I'm going to be opening edit requests. I'm not setting a time limit, partially because I don't know if I'll even get that many requests and partially because I don't know if this will feel fun or overwhelming. But I'll close requests whenever I feel like it's time.

REQUEST EVENT OPTIONS & RULES:

I've come up with 3 different options, detailed below. Requests will only be accepted through my inbox and feel free to send multiple. I'll take them on anon as long as it's turned on. It might take some time to get to your request so please be patient with me! This isn't limited only to groups/soloists I stan. Just keep in mind there are people I'm not comfortable editing and I won't do those requests.

requests received

Era Teaser Edits: send me a member + an era and I will edit some of their teasers from that era. You may request either just the era & get a mix of those teasers (ex: Jaehyun - Forever Only) or a specific set of teasers (ex: Ten's 1st Mini Album - Teaser #4). I'll also accept full group + era, but those will take longer & I'll only do 1 or 2 pics per member. The number of teasers included will depend how many are available, the quality of the images and my personal preference. The older the era, the fewer the pics. If there's a specific teaser you want to see, please let me know in your request!! Tagged under: #bex.req

Magazine Edits: send me a member (or members, depending on the shoot), the title of the magazine, and the month & year of the issue and I will edit some (or all) of the shots. The more details about the magazine issue the better. I'll also accept kdrama actor requests. Examples: Baekhyun - Madam Figaro China, Feb 2024 & Wonwoo, Mingyu, Dokyeom & Seungkwan - Cosmopolitan Korea, May 2020. Tagged under: #bex.req

Moodboards: send me a member + color and/or concept (ex: a season, activity, etc) and I'll make a little moodboard around what you request. Examples: kun + summer & kyungsoo + blue. Tagged under: #bex.mb

All posts from this event will be tagged under: #500.event

I also want to take a moment to shout out some of my beloved mutuals 💜 I hate that tumblr won't let me tag every single one of you. I thought about just listing everyone I couldn't tag, but I stopped myself from being that crazy. If you're a mutual not tagged, just know that I love you very dearly & I'm giving you a hug & a kiss on your forehead. You're all very important to me 🫶🏻

@28reas0ns ♡ @aermageddon ♡ @ashmp3 ♡ @atlantis-area ♡ @awek-s ♡ @baekslight ♡ @biwooyoung ♡ @boomboombass ♡ @byunbaekhyunie ♡ @choiyeonjuns ♡ @digitalgirls ♡ @dojaejung ♡ @donghyuckkies ♡ @duovxq ♡ @evnne ♡ @fleeceyang ♡ @haechannabelle ♡ @honeydewtual ♡ @hoshifromkpop ♡ @jeonwon-wonwoo ♡ @junhuiwenz ♡ @kimsmingyu ♡ @kimsuyeon ♡ @kunfetti ♡ @lee-minhoe ♡ @leetaehwan ♡ @minzbins ♡ @moonsua ♡ @muteddaydreams ♡ @neonsbian ♡ @okaysign ♡ @pinktaeyeon ♡ @possession1981 ♡ @revejoy ♡ @seokmins ♡ @sheawolfmp3 ♡ @seonghwacore ♡ @sungtaro ♡ @sunminshine ♡ @sunmisbf ♡ @taeraenomuyeppeo ♡ @talksaxy ♡ @tipannies ♡ @vcrnons ♡ @wantbytaemin ♡ @wayvmp3 ♡ @wookgerine ♡ @yoohyeon ♡ @yunogf ♡ @zyx

[tr0ubledberry]

Hi friends. I’m 21F and have been struggling with my body image since 2009 which led me to develop anorexia around 2014. I’ve been struggling ever since and have tried every trick and diet out there but have finally settled on my own so I thought I’d share it. First of all, recovery is a lie. There was a point in my life where I fully recovered but made me fat… it was nice not to worry about calories and all that but the pros outweigh the cons of an ED if done correctly. So think of your ED as a lifelong friend. In order to have an ED successfully for a long period of time you must go about it healthily. I know this is somewhat contradictory. I’m gonna include just some general tips, advice, and food alternatives. In a separate post I’ll be listing my favorite low kcal recipes so stay tuned.

~

GENERAL TIPS

•Drink water before, during, and after meals. This is absolutely crucial.

•During this period it’s important to spend extra time and effort on maintaining your vaginal health, immune system, fertility, and skincare !! Really important not to neglect these things especially vaginal care >.<

•Calories matter but make sure to eat nutritious foods. Must have a good judgment on when to splurge on kcals or when to go for an alternative. For ex: splurging on healthy foods that are a lot of kcals vs unhealthy processed foods that are low kcal.

•It’s good to strive for 1200 kcals or less. If it’s a cheat day or you’re feeling lenient then aim for around 1600 kcals. Never ever go over 2000 kcals.

•if you’re a foodie like me then you *have* to find creative and unique ways to curb your cravings. Otherwise your mental health will plummet. If you’re not satisfied then you’re either gonna keep eating or be miserable

•Remember your brain needs at least 330 kcals to function properly so if you’re feeling slow or disoriented then definitely have a snack or meal.

•Best drinks to have are water, sparkling water, tea, and coffee.

•If you eat over your calorie limit don’t fret, it’s not the end of the world. Just either work out or purge. Keep purging to a limit and don’t do it more than once a day. Ideally less purging is better so keep it for emergencies.

•Using apps such as my fitness pal are great for seeing what nutrients you’re deficient in or going overboard in. However I’ve found I lose more weight when I’m not using the app because I’m thinking about food less. However everybody is different and I would recommend at least checking out the application if you haven’t already.

•Vitamins are your bestie too!! I take a couple supplements to make sure I’m getting the vitamins I need for longevity.

•Cut down on silly calories like sauces and drinks by using alternatives. Also you can pretty much find a low kcal version of anything these days if you look hard enough.

•If you love flavor then these simple things will help like ~ seasoning, low kcal hot sauce such as Tabasco or sriracha, soy sauce, etc.

~

CRAVING ALTERNATIVES

•Juice or sugary drinks ~ low sugar Gatorade, fruit flavored teas iced with extra tea bags to give it extra flavor

•Soda ~ flavored sparkling water with powder or liquid drink mix such as crystal light strawberry lemonade drink mix

•Starbucks ~ just making my own mixed coffee drinks and sweet tea drinks saves so many calories

•Dessert ~ Gerber biscuits arrowroot (taste like shortbread), Gerber lil biscuits, cottage cheese, chocolate covered fruit or nuts

•Chips ~ Gerber’s Lil Crunchies Mild Chedder (basically cheese/ cheeto puffs), quest chips, or half a serving size of normal chips

•Ice cream ~ strawberry halo top

•Chocolate ~ alter eco or dark chocolate coconut fudge

•Mayo ~ miracle whip or vegan mayo

•Rice ~ cauliflower or broccoli rice

•Pasta ~ Chickpea pasta

[stonathanweek]

STONATHAN WEEK 2023 PROMPTS

Please click the read more to see more detailed explanations about the prompts!

~~ PROMPTS FOR WRITERS AND ARTISTS / PROMPTS FOR GIFMAKERS & VIDEO EDITORS ~~

Day 1 (Friday, July 21st): Scoops Ahoy! / Favourite Outfits

Scoops Ahoy!: Inspired by Steve's job in Season 3, this prompt refers to all Food Services AUs you can think of! You can stay close to canon with an Ice Cream Shop or you can get creative with a Coffee Shop, or a Cake Shop AU, or anything you might like, it's up to you!

Favourite Outfits: Show us your favourite outfits worn by Jonathan and Steve throughout the series! It doesn't have to be limited to scenes they've had together (because there isn't many, as we all know). You are free to play with different clips from different seasons! Maybe there's an outfit you think should make a return next season?

Day 2 (Saturday, July 22nd): Roommates AU / AUs

Roommates AU: And they were roommates... In Day 2 we invite you to explore Stonathan's dynamic as they share a living space and all the chaos that situation can bring!

AUs: This can be any sort of AU that you can come up with. Get creative with the video clips or photos you use! Images do not have to be limited to the show. Anything from Fantasy AUs, to Bookstore AUs, to Coffee shop AUs, to Dystopian AUs. The world is your oyster!

Day 3 (Sunday, July 23rd): Fake Dating AU / Parallels

Fake Dating AU: When the truth hides in a lie! Pretending to be together to fool the others was part of the plan, but the more time they spend together, the more... they want it to be real?

Parallels: We all know the Duffers and their love for patterns and parallels! However, parallels don’t need to stop with ST. This prompt is a challenge to find any parallels in the show or other media that connects to Steve and Jonathan!

Day 4 (Monday, July 24th): Fantasy AU / Colours

Fantasy AU: We've seen a lot in ST. We've seen Shadow Monsters, and Evil Vines, and little girls with superpowers, and Vecna. But we haven't seen it all. What about kingdoms, and dragons, and knights, and princes, and wizards, and mermaids, and shapeshifters? The options are endless! In a world where magic exists and royals rule the lands, what are Jonathan and Steve up to?

Colours: Colours are a big part of cinematography and character design, but here we wanna see your take! What colours represent Steve and Jonathan and their bumpy dynamic the best to you?

Day 5 (Tuesday, July 25th): Canon-verse / Steve & Jonathan + another character

Canon-verse: We all can agree we haven't gotten enough from Steve and Jonathan together in the show. Well, this is your chance to change that! With this prompt you can play around with the rules of canon. Maybe Stonathan got stranded in the Upside Down? Maybe there's some deleted scenes between seasons you want to explore? Or what happens after canon? There's many options!

Steve & Jonathan + another character: Friendships and relationships are one of the most important aspects of the show. Here you have the opportunity to explore some of the other dynamics that Steve and Jonathan have together with other characters, or dive into a dynamic/group that includes Stonathan and that you might like to see in S5!

Day 6 (Wednesday, July 26th): Music AU / Song Lyrics

Music AU: Music is a huge part of ST, so we couldn't not have a prompt that related to it. Bands, mixtapes, old record stores, etc. Anything you can think of that relates to music counts! Let Jonathan's music snobbery and Steve's mainstream taste shine this day!

Song Lyrics: Have some song lyrics that are just perfect for Steve and Jonathan? This is your time to shine!

Day 7 (Thursday, July 27th): Forced Proximity / Favourite Scene

Forced Proximity: Isn't it just inconvenient when for reasons out of your control you have to share a same space with someone you might not like so much, or someone who might not like you so much, or someone you might like too much, or just someone you haven't talked to in a long time, and it's just Awkward? Yup, it's the worst. But it's so much fun when it happens to the characters we love! Go wild with this one!

Favourite scene: Show us your favourite scene with Steve and Jonathan. We know there aren't many to choose from, but we'd love to see how creative you get with it! Show us your different styles and takes!

** No prompts are exclusive to any media! We made separate prompts for Gif Makers and Video Editors and Moodboard Creators so they could have a better prompt to work with given their type of media. That being said, to all Gif Makers, Video Editors and Moodboard Creators, feel free to choose any prompt of the day you would like to work with! **

[jupitermelichios]

I've been thinking about the vibes of Dr Who as a show and also the fact that it's run for so long under so many different creative teams and has changed massively multiple times, and the ways that complicates analysing and reviewing it.

Which resulted in me asking myself: were the expectations and mental image of the show i had prior to watching it accurate to the the first arc/season/episodes I actually watched, especially in terms of tone, vibes, and what it felt like the show was trying to do. And also, how much does the answer to that question depend on where you start?

And since this is tumblr, i immediately decided to make a poll about it!

(i've gone new who only - and then lumped some doctors together by show runner as well - just because of the poll options limit and the age demographics on tumblr, but if you started on old who feel free to sound off in the comments, I'd love to hear your answers!)

For anyone who isn't sure what number their first doctor was, the actors are as follows:

9 - Christopher Eccleston

10 - David Tennant

11 - Matt Smith

12 - Peter Capaldi

13 - Jodi Whittaker

14 - Nchuti Gatwa

If you feel like giving me more details in the comments/tags/reblogs that would be great! And if you're interesting in the results, don't forget to reblog so the poll reaches a wider sample of people 🙂

[mystycalypso]

Calypso's Hello Neighbor insanity.

(In honor of the teaser coming out yesterday, here is my Aaron Peterson theory document in all it's baffling glory)

Hey howdy, it’s Calypso, and I’ve been infected with Hello-Neighbor-Loritis. It is incurable and my doctor (Jack in his “Nicky goggles”) recommends that I theory craft to cope.

Bracket Key, by Jack: Calypso: [text] Jack: (text)

So as previously stated, I’m obviously Hello Neighboring it up today after Jack read me the ENTIRETY of their theory thread with @ravenbrookz and @powertooled, and am now taking a crack at it myself. You probably saw my possible Guest appearance in the drawings made most likely by Nicky, though that was only based on what I could see in the image. I can’t exactly say for certain everything I know in the franchise is accurate, as my current pool of knowledge is primarily from the show (and Jack's rants), but I promise that if I COULD read the books, I would. I have just been informed by Jack that the first book is available on Spotify so we may or may not just hunker down and listen to that but I digress. (UPDATE AS OF 5/10/24: The Hello Neighbor books 1-6 all have audiobooks on YouTube, and I will be listening to them for the next several days)

So, into the meat of it, I suppose. This post is to be dedicated to a few of my theories regarding Aaron primarily. Because the theory crafting I’m to be doing is focused on the show, and our information about Aaron and Mya in the show is so limited, I will be pulling some from other sources (HN hide and seek, HN 2, etc) to get a proper read on the situation. 

We know based on the games and books that Nicky and Aaron were best friends. This is why in Act 1 and Act 2 of the first game, Nicky is suspicious of Mr. Peterson in the first place. Logically speaking, if Nicky and Aaron weren’t close (and neighbors, allowing him to witness the crime), Nicky likely would have taken the disappearance story at face value. That’s just how it tends to work in real life as well. People who are close to the victim of disappearance tend to go through the “stages of grief” because they’re more emotionally attached to them and don’t want them to die. It’s sort of a precaution. Nicky, Aaron’s best friend, wouldn’t want any serious harm to come to him, so he’s willing to put himself in danger, as a 13-15-year-old CHILD, to save him.

[I’ll likely be made fun of for how redundant that may sound by Jack]

This is also likely the reason that Nicky is so suspicious of Mr. Peterson in the show. He’s essentially the catalyst for sparking Trinity’s interest in the Peterson house, granted by having her mistake it for his house when he climbed out the chimney in episode 1 [Gotta admire the dedication, bro’s in that place ALL the damn time] (apparently more than he's in his own house /hj). Ultimately, I believe that Jack’s prediction about the reveal of Nicky and Aaron’s relationship being revealed in season 2 is his reason for investigating Peterson as much as he does (which is a lot). There wouldn’t be a reason for tinyBuild to change this, since it’s been established since the first game’s final build. (if you can count that game as “establishing” anything) [Which I am for the sake of the theory.]

Operating under that assumption does recontextualize some of his behavior throughout the show, specifically some of that “hotheaded” behavior called attention to by the Hello Neighbor Fandom Wiki. (that Jack has serious beef with) While he does have a level of agitation towards the others for cutting off his story in episode 3, [of which Jack is actively going on a tangent about as I write this] it’s something that can be explained by a level of impatience or worry for Aaron. (same with his anger of no one believing him in the previous episodes, and even mocking him for his theories) 

[Jack called Mr. Peterson “Mr. Neighborson” while I was writing this section of the theory, I just want y’all to know that WHEEZE]

We don’t exactly know the full context of their friendship in the media we’ve currently consumed, but again, based on his behavior, it’s likely they were close friends (and if not, honestly he's still justified for being upset that no one else cares about the potential murder of two kids). That brings me to the basement, then, which I’ll likely have the most to talk about because Jack and I have talked about this extensively.

According to Jack and their extended knowledge, it’s been established that the drawings on the fake windows in the room Nicky and the others were thrown into in episode 6 were drawn by Aaron. While possibly this being retconned (unlikely) and the culprit of the drawings being changed, there’s also the fact that we don’t know exactly WHEN these drawings were made [correct me if I’m wrong or smthin]. However, I have theorized that these window drawings were made by Aaron to comfort Nicky. Aaron has been in the basement much longer, but because we don’t know his mental state, operating under the assumption that he was put into the basement for the same reason he was in the games, he was put in the basement 1. For accidentally causing Mya’s death and 2. To protect him from the cult in town. Based on the Pilot for the animated series, we know that the first point is likely true, as in Aaron’s room, the words ‘Omen’ and ‘Cursed’ were written on the walls, likely by Mr. Peterson. I believe this is also true for the books as it was talked about briefly in the Game Theory video where MatPat analyzed the aforementioned Pilot frame-by-frame (like the meme:0). According to this video, Mr. Peterson had grown superstitious that his son was the cause of a bunch of bad things happening throughout the town, the final straw being Mya’s death when Aaron accidentally pushed her off the roof of the house as seen in Hello Neighbor Hide-and-Seek.

My theory is that Aaron likely feels immense guilt for what he did to his sister, regardless of it being an accident. He knows that his behavior in Hide-and-Seek was awful, and that’s more likely the reason he’s crying in the basement; he killed his sister, and as sad as it is, he’s likely under the impression that he deserves this punishment and that it fits his crime, as well as knows that his dad’s investigation into the cult is genuine and that he wants to keep him safe. I’m not sure why I get the feeling that he’s in a better mental space than Nicky is [lambast me in the tags if I turn out to be COMPLETELY incorrect come season 2], but it makes some semblance of sense when looking at the drawings in the basement. Psychologically, children with “better” mental states tend to use more color in their drawings. While it may be out of necessity to draw a happier “outside” for Nicky to view (or to keep his own sanity), it may also be an indication that Aaron may be doing better mentally than Nicky was (despite being there way longer), as we see (allegedly) Nicky’s drawings as well, that being black ink drawings of the Thing, the cat, and the Guest [still not sure of that one it’s still a theory]. This also means that that Aaron and Nicky could have been in the same room at least for as long as it took Aaron to make the drawings. I believe that the reason Mr. Peterson was so willing to keep Nicky in the basement in the games not only because Nicky's investigation made him a liability, but also was because he knew he was Aaron’s friend and wanted his son to have some company? IDK, it’s the first game, that game is a lore NIGHTMARE (reference to Act 3 intended).

While this may seem like an extremely small theory overall, it does wonders in establishing the relationship Nicky and Aaron had, as well as Aaron’s personality as an empathetic person. It could also establish that he was forced into this change because of his actions in Hello Neighbor Hide-and-Seek we see in flashbacks or the like, maybe even just Nicky reminiscing or noting that Aaron has changed. From what I’ve seen in Hello Neighbor 2, Aaron does seem to care about the main character, Quentin, when his father attacks him[Quentin, he doesn’t attack Aaron in the scene lol].

As of right now, I do believe that it was (probably) Aaron getting out of the basement in Episode 6 that had Peterson’s lid flipping. While I would have to double check [I’m gonna probably just ask Jack], the silhouette of the dark figure inside doesn’t exactly look one-to-one with Aaron’s established appearance in photos on the walls, but that may just be a redesign or placeholder. Maybe it’s not Aaron at all and he’s still in the basement, who knows [that’s gotta suck now that his dad’s been arrested smh].

[insert 2 screenshot comparisons here, Jack]

(No because the silhouette is bald and I think they made it as detail-less on purpose)

[Damn it]

(Literally quoting the series to Calypso while they write, I've rewatched it one full time since them starting the doc) 

If I had to guess, Aaron will be in season 2. The likelihood that he won’t be is next to 0 in my mind, as it would break some of the established conventions of the series [That being that Aaron takes an active role in second installments, that being Act 2 of the first game where he unlocks the door for Nicky and in the second game where he asks Quinten to save him via paper airplane]. While this may just be wishful thinking, I theorize that Aaron will be an ‘overcorrective’ personality by the time we see him and that it may be shown through his attempts at comforting Nicky through the window drawings. Him being his friend, that also may have been the sort of push he needed to stand up to his father for bringing his friend into this. Act 2 starts with Aaron unlocking the door to help Nicky escape, and in general, helps him.

[There was a short break here because it was like 2 am and I figured that I really needed context at least for the games before I wrote anymore. I have the context now and am now able to write it lol]

So after watching a breakdown of the games I can safely say that, yes, there’s a level of ‘overcorrection’ going on with Aaron. While it’s not the perfect word to describe what’s going on with him, the best example I can find is when Aaron gives up on running away from the museum with Quentin to help his father, who was trapped under a crow statue[chandelier?] that fell from the ceiling. I’d say that it’s a mix of guilt and attachment making him act this way because, despite everything his father has done, even after traumatizing his best friend, Aaron can’t bring himself to lose another family member. Hello Neighbor 2 leaves off on this as a cliffhanger and we have no idea what happens to Aaron both between games as well as after them, so headcanons away, I suppose.

My next theory is in regards to the Thing. While it has yet to make an appearance in the show, there have been teaser images for Season 2 that include it. The Thing is canonically a manifestation of pure fear as shown in the first game’s third Act. It also isn’t exclusively one person’s fear, as it was shown to be “haunting” both Nicky and Mr. Peterson. Fear in the franchise isn’t exclusive to things like phobias, it also applies to trauma and trauma responses. While not justified, Mr. Peterson locking Aaron in the basement was a trauma response brought on by the fear of losing him as well. The entire third Act is about Nicky confronting his fears inside his head, whether that be school, the grocery store [relatable ngl like bro I feel weird going to grocery stores], and yes, Mr. Peterson. We don’t even really need the context the books provide for these fears, we know that Nicky has anxiety and PTSD from being locked in the basement. He was also middle school age so whether or not he was scared of school before he was kidnapped, it would likely be exacerbated by his struggles.

Some lore bits do seem to imply that the Thing is an inherently malicious entity. While the Guest seems to be a sort of Cryptid for Raven Brooks, and therefore, the rules of things like Chupacabras or Aliens apply to it, the Thing seems to behave more like a ghost, a poltergeist of the mind, it seems. Nicky actively has to fight against it to overcome his trauma, and Mr. Peterson seems to be locked inside with it in the endgame’s whitespace. Us seeing it in season 2 must either be exclusively through either Nicky or Mr. Peterson’s eyes, or… Another person who has gone through similar amounts of trauma.

Aaron.

Now, I know that probably doesn’t initially sound reasonable. We’ve only ever seen Nicky and Mr. Peterson interact with the Thing, and that’s two whole characters that could reasonably (and quite likely) have to deal with the Thing making their lives worse. But the rules that have been established for the Thing, as flexible and subject to change as they may be, do apply to Aaron as of writing. It’s been established that Aaron fears losing his father, as well as vice versa. He wants to be free, but he doesn’t want to lose the only family he has left. Aaron has also gone through extensive trauma, the same as his father, in fact, but on top of that, the trauma of being locked away for presumably months. The push and pull of his thoughts on his father is the best example of this I can find. Their relationship has devolved into a toxic cycle of abuse, but Aaron can’t help but love his father despite it. It SEEMS that people who have experienced this level of trauma and by extension have these levels of fear, they can both see the Thing and be affected by its powers[???].

While I’m still not entirely certain of the extent of the Thing’s involvement in season 2, as a majority of the teasers have been centered on the Guest, I’m very excited to see how things change between my writing this and the release. I look forward to being proved right, being proved wrong, or merely watching the series come to fruition. Thank you for reading my absolutely insane ramblings.

-Calypso

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

Ranting about portrayal of Alastor’s ethnicity

This is basically Part 2 to a previous rant… I just need to get this bitch moaning out of my system. 

As previously mentioned, I think we might get the first glimpse of Alastor’s human life in Season 2 of Hazbin Hotel. As also previously mentioned, I don’t think Vivienne retconned Alastor’s heritage from white to mixed race. Given that she is herself a white-passing mixed race person, I think she originally envisioned him as a white-passing Creole.

Due to the controversy, I think there is a decent chance she is going to retcon his skin tone to make him more visibly mixed race. I feel ambivalent towards this. On the one hand, I much prefer Alastor’s character design if he accurately looks like a mixed race person from the 1930s (not that fanon Alastor is a bad design… this is a personal preference). But if his entire backstory has not been retconned, this could fall into the trap of: “Alastor became the first radio host of color in America without any issue, because the Deep South was a colorblind society where racism did not exist!” 

That being said, this is a very light-hearted show. THIS IS GONNA BLOW YOUR MIND but people (of all races, at that!) don’t want to think about the harrowing realities of racism in America while watching Hazbin Hotel. The lack of skin tone diversity in the main cast is worthy of criticism, so I’m not going to be complaining too bad if they pull an Adventure Time Marceline and retcon his skin tone.

But if they do retcon his skin tone, I hope his human design isn’t just Italian-passing Alastor. 

You’ve seen him. 

…What I’m referring to is the variation of fanon human Alastor, where artists just take fanon Alastor and shift his skin tone a bit without changing anything else about him. 

(I’m not going to insert an example image because I think a lot of these artists are well-intentioned but very young, and yeah… I don’t want to be a dick!)

Granted, “Italian passing Alastor” is not an entirely bad character design. In a place like New Orleans, there is such a wide range of phenotypes that it is not inconceivable that a mixed race Creole could have this phenotype. Not to mention, the whole mukokuseki effect - racial features are generally diminished due to the built-in limitations of animation as a medium (faces cannot be rendered in the same level of detail as live action or comics/manga). For these reasons, I won’t be complaining too much if this is his final design. Actually, I probably won’t be complaining at all, as I’ll just be excited to see his human form! It really isn't a bad design... I'm already simping for him!!

But to bitch moan anyways, here is my critique of this fandom trend: All of the visual data that went into fanon human Alastor is this: https://www.google.com/search?q=white+boys 

If you just shift his skin tone without changing anything else, the visual data that went into him is still this: https://www.google.com/search?q=white+boys 

If you’re going to retcon his skin tone (really, his ethnic makeup / family tree) you actually need to start from the ground up and use this as reference material: https://www.google.com/search?q=creole+men+1930s 

As you can see, there is a wide range of phenotypes, and many did pass for white. But this is a necessary step, not just for human Alastor fan designs, but in designing POC in general - including mixed race POC. The visual data / reference material behind the design needs to be people of color - not white people. You can always immediately tell who took this step and who didn’t; the former category always looks WAY better than the latter!

It’s not just white artists who do this. Many non-white artists fall into this trap, because they were only trained on how to draw white people. For this reason, I don’t really fault the individual artists - it’s more of a systemic problem in how schools etc. teach upcoming artists how to draw.

So yeah… thanks for coming to my TEDx Talk!

[familyagrestefanblog]

The importance of Marinette complimenting Mister Bug's eyes in "Passion", and regarding Marinette's love for Chat Noir from 5x07 to 5x12

I honestly have to say I genuinely, truly dislike how this moment is perceived as "Lady Noire hilariously catcalling Mister Bug because Marinette is so insanely thirsty for him" by the majority of the Fandom. That is the furthest thing from what I see in Marinette’s intentions here.

I personally view this as Marinette realizing on the rooftop that this is now only the SECOND time that she's able to possibly see what Chat Noir's actual eyes look like and therefore she took the chance to comment on that, which merely came out as too directly and that made it awkward.

The following is not really what the rest of the post will be about underneath "Read more", but I just need to talk about this detail and it's implications because it's driving me crazy. It is part of the main points and the overal post's theme of Marinette's love though and will lead right into it while providing more context for it, so don't worry. Also, head-up, I had to get creative here and there to work around the 30 images limitation. I did not think that would get so complicated at times lol So, long post ahead x3

Unfortunately, the way this moment is shot in the end leaves out a crucial aspect of it and I don't understand WHY they did that:

When you watch this moment in normal speed and without being able to pause it then it looks like Adrien is reacting so uncomfortably/ irritated either only because Lady Noire is not moving and keeps looking at him OR because she IS doing something (negatively) he's uncomfortable with/ irritated by and we merely don't get to see it.

Also Adrien's head being placed in the upper right corner when he's alone on screen basically forces you to look at him next when the camera pans out, which means you are absolutely gonna miss where Lady Noire was before she quickly stands up.

And that's the thing:

THIS is what Adrien was reacting to. Instead of standing up to go into battle with him Lady Noire dreamily leaned forwards a solid bit to look at him more. But most importantly, especially regarding the "catcalling" line, Marinette is leaning forwards to see Mister Bug's FACE. His REAL eyes. You know, the part of his appearance she just complimented him for.

Looking into someone's eyes is the LEAST objectifying thing you could possibly do. In fact, other pieces of media deliberately utilize this method in scenes where a woman purposefully sexualizes herself and flirts with a man (for one reason or another, y'all know the trope) so the show/movie etc can showcase that the man is "not like the other men" and doesn't see her merely for her physical beauty by having him only look into her eyes.

It is BAFFLING to me that the show went out of its way to HIDE the actual reason for why Adrien is reacting like he does because by never letting us see that Marinette only leaned forwards because she wanted to she Chat Noir's real eyes and then got distracted by them and him, it really does Marinette no favor at all.

What she did in this moment was incredibly cute and wholesome and it's a shame the episode didn't used the wide shot earlier so the audience can properly put into perspective that, while Adrien's discomfort/irritation is valid because he is not at all used to Ladybug behaving like this towards him and doesn't know what to make of it or how to read it, WE at the very least would immediately know that Marinette did NOT just do something bad here that truly deserved such a reaction. But the way the episode basically hides that Marinette moved at all and HOW is giving room for understandable bad readings which in turn can be twisted into sexist double standards in both directions.

And I don't like that. I don't like it at all.

Because when you look at the overall situation and how Marinette now sees Chat Noir and so many things about him by the time of season 5, there are so MANY reasons for why her pointing out his eyes not only is incredibly wholesome, it also makes perfect sense WHY it's his eyes she points out and WHY this little compliment is actually very VERY meaningful in the wider context of how Marinette's love for Chat Noir develops in season 5:

With one exception, she has up until now only ever seen her partner as Chat Noir or in a miraculous unification that included the Black Cat miraculous, so he was never without the Green Cat eyes she knows him with. Never except for the one time in "Reflectdoll" where she didn't took notice of it and then it didn't happen again.

That one time she let go by without appreciating it because she probably didn't even pick up that there was something special she missed because for all it is nothing too much changed. Adrien still has green eyes and his regular blond Chat hair as Mister Bug.

But that is actually the point, in that her point of view changed.

By the time "Passion" comes around in season 5 Marinette let's herself embrace her feelings for Chat Noir and REALLY regrets having pushed him so far away until the end of s4, and yet she still has not a single clue if even any of the physical features she normally associates him with truly reflect his civilian apparence. She knows NOTHING.

Which while it absolutely does NOT in any way excuse her almost turning into his enemy in "Elation" to demask him as akuma bc he didn't wanted to be with her as Marinette anymore or her being.. VERY hypocritically upset about him "keeping secrets":

It does in my opinion at least give a very understandable reason for why Marinette spiraled down so hard as she did until it all escalated in "Elation" and blew up; and why she then snapped back to put full effort into platonic love with Chat Noir in "Perfection":

Her ending up in a massive emotional extreme in "Elation" where by the time the date happens she.. well, basically completely stops acting in anyway in Chat's interest too so he isn't hurt or forced into something he doesn't want (her knowing he has no idea that she's Ladybug), her then giving up her earrings in "Kwamis Choice" and from then on not acting on her previous crush on him anymore, does come across as rough and kinda as her merely rebounding on him, but frankly, no, it is NOT at all "proof" that Marinette's love for her partner is not and was never genuine.

in "Passion" her love for him really is still pure but by "Elation" Marinette had to accept that 1) Chat Noir doesn't want to love her anymore, and 2) she isn't what he needs. He needs a (romantic) partner who is with him as civilian because it MATTERS absolutely who is underneath the mask MARINETTE:

The way the show handles Marinette's crush on Chat Noir in how "Elation" turns out in near the end through the emotional extremes, and all of that then leading into "Kwamis Choice" is.. we all know that it wasn't good for both parties, so I'll leave it at that.

"Elation" leads into one serious low for Marinette and in it comes Adrien to help her, which from then onwards has Marinette find the love and happiness she was really looking for. But the fact that Marinette then found her happiness and love with "someone else" and not Chat doesn't mean that her feelings for him were never real and that she in all of this never truly hoped for him to find his love and happiness too:

And that is were we go on from "Perfection" onwards. Marinette's love isn't meaningless rebounding and we didn't get here for no reason. Marinette's emotional extreme that escalated so hard was neither irrational selfishness nor was it justified blamelessness.

It was rooted in her genuine feelings for her partner, her fear of hurting him further, loosing him and her wanting the both of them to get closer, be bigger parts of each others lives after everything that happened in s4 and just be happy.

You know, the happiness that Adrien as Chat explicitly named towards Ladybug in "Passion" when they exchanged their miraculous' and he very openly asked her why they cant make a wish themselves to finally put the fighting behind them. And Marinette in turn treated her partner's feelings and ask for help with all the seriousness and care he deserved.

Marinette too wanted this for the BOTH OF THEM. And what set this off so badly by this point no doubt was her trauma copying mechanism of having to know everything about the person she loves to keep herself save, cause that clashes BADLY and in several ways with her realizing for good that she knows very little about Chate for sure. Not even how he actually looks like.

As if Marinette by now doesn't know exactly that a miraculous transformation can changed most of a person's appearance. She knows who every Miraculous holder in her team is and where this already occurs - most importantly Alya as Rena Furtive-

but of course we also have the obvious cases of Hawkmoth, Mayura and now Argos too where it's to be expected that they massively changed their appearance to hide their identities.

Plus, Marinette's own eyes and even CatWalker's that one time are the same as Chat Noir's (which are by default actually Plagg's eyes) and Zoe having the Tiger eyes (for some reason?) as Kitty Noire really would put it into perspective for Marinette that she actually doesn't know anything about her partner's appearance for sure.

Cause apparently the Black Cat miraculous automatically gives you Plagg's green cat eyes or let's you take on Roaar's Tiger eyes if you wanna spice it up.

And let's add the fact that Chat Noir has blond hair, CatWalker's were green and now Marinette saw that Kitty Noire had blonde hair with green highlights; while Kitty and herself as Lady Noire also have a leather outfit and CatWalker shared Chat Noir's chivalry tendencies and turned them up to an eleven & every single Black Cat miraculous holder (including Marinette herself now) has depicted the same flirty and or romantic tendencies for the Ladybug miraculous holder.

Man, at this point I would not at all doubt it if Marinette were to genuinely question if the things she always thought she knew about Chat Noir are actually truly like him as civilian at all. She has no real reverence to ANYTHING. The only Black Cat miraculous holder Marinette knows the identity of is herself but even she is very well aware that she is acting even more "unhinged" as she already did.

So yeah, tell me what is there NOT to appreciate for Marinette in "Passion" about seeing Mister Bug again?

In "Reflectdoll" she most likely didn't even notice that she just received confirmations about a few things she already assumed about Chat's appearance and therefore took it there for granted. But now in s5 it turned into a case of "Phew, I DO actually know the most BASIC things about Chat Noir. I'm so GLAD!"

The Ladybug miraculous on itself up til now (Monarque Bug doesn't count that's a unification) has always keep the holders normal eye color and even if Alya as Scarabella changed her hair style, her hair color stayed the same. If anything it merely got a bit more vibrant.

Meaning that Mister Bug IS the only possible reference Marinette has to draw some conclusions on how Chat would actually look like as civilian. And secret identitiy be damned, at this point I would want to have at least SOME clarity too.

Which btw, yes, this means Alya's statement in "Elation" was correct:

Just because Marinette says otherwise doesn't it mean that her behavoir also reflects that all the time, and when it does, it doesn't mean that Marinette is morally anywhere close to RIGHT.

Anyway. She may still not know for sure if Mister Bug's appearance can truly clue her in on how Chat looks like as a civilian but at least through seeing Mister Bug again Marinette had the opportunity to put things into new perspective and narrow down the chances.

Marinette now knows for example that even if Chat Noir's hair doesn't exactly look like this civilian hair style-wise, his blond hair does have to be/ most likely is an accurate reflection of his real hair.

Plus, another VERY nice detail in my opinion: Marinette may know through especially Alya as Scarabella (but also through alot of other miraculous transformations) that the hair styles can differ from their civilian counterpart, but the fact that the boy behind the mask chose the same hair style as he always wears as Chat Noir does tell Marinette that the hair she associates him with is the hair style he personally prefers the most because he always comes back to it over and over again without fail.

That IS information about him (as it also provides information for us the viewers that unlike Félix for example, Adrien genuinely LIKES to have his civilian hair more messy and would probably prefer to go even a bit further but knows better and remains in the middle about it) and in my opinion, it's very wholesome that Marinette now got a confirmation that she knows how her partner prefers to do his hair. Idk, I find that cute <3

And of course the aspect Marinette herself puts the most emphasis on because, duh, eyes are the doors to a person's soul:

I don't know about you, but I personally cannot see any thirsty "catcalling" intentions in Lady Noirs compliment. Even if she voiced it too bluntly and it therefore got a bit awkward.

Wouldn't YOU be happy to finally get as close to a non-verbal and non-reveal confirmation as possible that you indeed were always right about what you assumed your dear friend's (for whom you also have feelings for) EYES look like?

Isn't it rather SAD that this is something Marinette felt the need to point out and compliment him for, one year into their partnership?

Cause can you imagine how much it would have hit Marinette in the face if suddenly Mister Bug showed up the second time and out of nowhere he had brown eyes? Sure, it probably would have stung too if he suddenly had brown hair, but especially with a miraculous transformation that is a secondary priority.

Why WOULDN'T Marinette be gleaming and starring happily while commenting how the red outfit makes his eyes stand out? Thats literally the truth! The Mister Bug suit is the only one she has ever seen her partner wear that make his eyes stand out FOR HER. Chat Noir's regular transformation magic Cat eyes are just that for her, the regular Transformation Cat eyes she associates with him. Adrien's real eyes are the RARITY here.

And seemingly, Marinette realized this by the time they reached the rooftop and this second chance to make up for her obliviousness in "Reflectdoll" very clearly meant alot to her because if there is one thing I learned about Marinette's body language it's that if she can't or has trouble looking a person (especially Chat Noir and Adrien) into their eyes she either feels bad about something or for what she is currently doing.

Marinette's eyes give her feelings away more often than not, even if she isn't ready to voice them out loud or face her mistake:

(I still find it remarkable how people are seemingly not picking up on how hard Marinette is projecting her guilt towards Chat Noir onto Kagami where most of it is badly missplaced and therefore caused the same problems as in the Ladynoir conflict [same with Luka in "Migration" but elaborating on that would implode this post that already starts lagging while writing and editing lol Kagami and "Perfection" are much more important imo]. So Marinette's/ Ladybug's dialogue that episode, especially around Chat Noir, more often than not very clearly doubles to appliy to both Kagami AND Chat. How else was especially the way Ladybug just pours her heart out about and TOWARDS Kagami/ Kagami's akuma form - who can't hear her ANYWAY - supposed to check out secret identity wise if the episode wasn't written in a way where Adrien understands that Ladybug is opening up about her s4 guilt towards him after they both left in "Kwamis Choice"? Like, the episode and Marinette's behavior, words and fears around Kagami don't make alot of sense in the intensity Marinette is displaying if you don't apply Ladynoir to it:

Sure, there is the obvious Chloè influence here, but Marinette's fear of her dear - but very blunt - friend she treated badly in the past calling her out and mocking her for not being able to face her love for Adrien and TALK when she basically got it served to her on a silver platter? [notice how without a pronoun you don't even know for sure if I just talked about Kagami or Chat. Hint: it's both.] And Marinette feeling extremely guilty about what Kagami had to put up with at the ugly end of her and Adrien’s love after Marinette treated her not exactly kindly until "Ikari Gozen" so she doesn't want to talk to Kagami at all until Marinette figures everything out?

Yeah, nah, this is clear-cut Marinette projecting her insecurities regarding Chat Noir onto Kagami. Kagami’s bluntness is what she fears from her and also from Chat - because she's doing the same hurtful communication inablility again with Adrien (or the boy she told Chat about in season 2, who she is in love with. Hence why the rebounding is hurtful bc Adrien knows that Ladybug loves someone else but is BAD at facing her feelings, so he's aware that she redirected her love to HIM as Chat because that's easier. Sorry, but that's what happened.) when it's very important, but she doesn't want Chat to know that [he knows though lol]- and combined with the similarities between Kagami and Chat Noir for Marinette in their history with her regarding treatment, love life [and an abusive/ bad home, which Marinette absolutely picked up on by now regarding Chat Noir, which is yet another thing “Passion” silently showcased aplenty, but that’s a topic for another post] yeah, Kagami ended up being the prime ‘target’ of having Marinette project all her CN insecurities on, which then escalated the situation in the Kagaminette friendship in a similar way Ladynoir did in s4.

That's straight up almost the entire episode.

You can't just say "That's Marinette's trauma talking" about everything and leave it at that. Trauma isn't irrational. If a traumatized person "overreacts" to something and it genuinely doesn't fit well at all to the situation at hand [like with Kagami] than that's because your emotional trauma is hooking itself onto a dynamic/ person similar enough as an outlet to deal with said emotions when you can't or don't want to channel your emotions at the person it is rooted in [for good or bad reasons]. Trauma on it's own is NEVER irrational and when it comes across that way that means the other person either IS doing something bad to you [intentionally or not] which merely doesnt look like that to other people from the outside, or your own trauma is misdireting itself to something/ someone else that shows a similar pattern that make your alarm bells go off)

So if Marinette struggling to look someone she hold dear in the eyes means she has hidden guilt, then the opposite applies for when she looks them (but particularly Chat Noir after season 4) deep into their eyes and holds the eye contact:

The key to Marinette's guilt and genuineness concerning vunerable topics is hidden in her eyes, if she dares to look and if yes, then how deeply, how long and how open to said vunerablity is she? Cause Marinette can, will and absolutely HAS dealt with emotionally important and vunerable topics while she herself didnt actually let it reach her own vunerable core and remained on defense.

So explain to me again what exactly was shallow and inconcidered catcalling about this moment:

Yeah, that's what I thought.

---

Oh. And do me a favor, will you?

Everything I just said, that it is understandable for Marinette to feel desperate at this point to know.. well, ANYTHING about Chat Noir as civilian because she loves him so much and he means so much to her - and especially her who has sworn in the past to know absolutely EVERYTHING about the person she loves to feel save falling in love - and at this point so many informations around them clash with each other that it would take away any certainty Marinette has about what she always thought she knew and liked about Chat Noir?

All of that and so much more I mentioned? Yeah, let's stop cherry-picking through double standards for a second and apply all of that good-will and understanding for Marinette literally even going so far and being willing to turn into Chat's ENEMY to demask him, get to know him and get his love and apply just HALF of that to Adrien.

And I'm not asking you to do that for no reason. Cause if you do that then

Voilà:

You also get your actual reason for why Marinette said this at the end of "Passion".

Cause this isn't just Marinette romanticizing Chat Noir seemingly being able to flawlessly do for her now what she herself has unsuccessfully tried putting her self through with Adrien two times already - entirely stop acting like she loves him to the point where Adrien or anyone else wouldnt pick up on any absolutely still existing feeling in her anymore. All so she isnt distracted or tempted anymore to do any kind of bad choices for romantical or emotional reasons -,

Nope

Cause this questionable moment at the end of "Passion" IS Marinette massively appreciating how strong her partner is. Even if she isn't properly there yet morally-wise.

Marinette's crush on Chat Noir is on full display from episode 6 til 9 and in these 4 episodes she is literally going further and spiraling down harder than Adrien ever did for Ladybug in 4 seasons. This questionable moment is later payed off by THIS in "Perfection":

At the end of "Passion" that was Marinette gushing over how Chat Noir is emotionally strong enough to not only pull something off she herself knows she could never do - fully stop acting like she love Adrien for the greater good - it's also her gushing over him BECAUSE she knows exactly that by the end of season 4 Marinette as Ladybug pretty much reduced the Ladynoir partnership and friendship down to "Chat Noir I want you around but don't ask anything of me, don't expect me to tell you anything or that you have any voice or status in my team besides being my favorite minion and MY emotional support."

Cool that YOU don't agree that that's bad, but Marinette herself is literally gushing and squealing in "Passion" while being in hard-core denial that her partner has actually already moved on from her (as she said he has to do) because she doesn't want to face the reality that it wasn't only bad, it was BAD and now Chat is trying to protect his heart while still wanting to be with her as friends but she was making that..really difficult for him:

It was a necessary development from episode 6 til 9 that Adrien as Chat Noir learned to assert himself against Marinette / Ladybug and reject her too and actually have it stick even if she is sad, because Marinette herself is indeed aware now how MUCH she asked of her partner to put up with, go through for her and to what little amount of certainty about anything around them and her - whom he loves/loved dearly and with all his heart - he had to settle and adjust to with no choice in the matter bc she didn't let him have any choices

(I swear, if you make all of the season 4 Ladynoir conflict out to be "just" about Adrien's LOVE for Ladybug and completely ignore how much her friendship and companionship means to Adrien I will break into your house at night time and eat your broomstick right in front of you while keeping eye contact. And I promise you, we are both not gonna get out of that one without receiving psychological damage)

Minimize and disregard it however you want. MARINETTE is at least emotionally fully aware of what she did and knows she - who has/ had to know everything about her crush and control as much as possible with barely any compromises - could not have gone through what she asked of Chat Noir while also leaving him all isolated. Which, again, is something she knows she couldn't do because she literally brought Alya/ Rena in fully on his expense while keeping it a secret (and 14 other team mates, bc that was oh so vitally necessary).

The difference between the end moment of "Passion" and the beginning of "Perfection" is that in the later Marinette is past her denial that her asking so much of him she couldn't go through herself actually caused him pain and that is costed him so much emotionally that it did leave him wanting to protect his heart from Ladybug romance-wise and look for his own happiness and love somewhere else for his own sake.

And for the record since I mentioned it earlier: Yes, Adrien noticed the entire time that Ladybug flirted with him ever since "Determination", how is this still a hot take? The development hardly makes any sense if he was just too oblivious to breath. Besides, the entire time Ladybug making a move on Chat Noir always resulted in him running and pulling away from her and Adrien making himself take the next steps in facing his love for Marinette and persue her. No, that wasn't a mere coincidence for like 7 episodes in a row. Gosh...

All of this is literally pay-off for season 4. Marinette's love for Chat Noir coming to light and compensating for her regrets for their partnership, friendship and especially romance-wise; him rejecting her too and persuing civilian Marinette as Adrien and Adrinette finding a healthy love while Ladynoir gets comfortable around each other again.

What have y'all been watching?

[chaotic-autumn]

feeling absolutely feral about the moment Stede finally realizes he's in love with Ed, get ready for some Thoughts

i've mentioned before how much i love the reading of Stede's character as autistic (and just generally how neurodivergent coded he and ed are) and I think interpreting his character this way makes the payoff of this Epiphany moment even more powerful. (might make a separate post on rom com plot points in ofmd sometime because i am unhinged about that too)

And it's SO important to me that this moment isn't played for laughs, because I am so sick of "neurodivergent-coded people Not Understanding Stuff" being a punchline. It's NOT written like "oh haha you dummy, DUH it was so obvious" (i mean maybe it is a little but in an affectionate way), we have compelling narrative evidence to justify why Stede doesn't understand that he's falling in love (and that Ed loves him back). And that makes it so so beautiful and affecting when he finally gets it.

An important coping mechanism for ppl with social anxiety/who struggle with social interaction is to really analyze the logic and intention behind social customs/things people say/etc. And it can be such a big EUREKA! moment when you do figure out the subtext/purpose of an interaction. Like for me realizing that the goal of small talk isn't to learn how the other person feels about the weather, it's a way of saying "i am acknowledging your personhood by acknowledging that you have feelings about the weather, that this experience, though trivial, is shared" made small talk SO much more bearable for me. (i mean sometimes it's still excruciating but at least now i get that it's not Pointless)

ANYWAY, we see Stede doing this in Episode 5 when he's explaining aristocratic social life to Ed:

"...and dining is pageantry." (sorry for the mediocre screen grabs)

And we see that even though he understands it, he doesn't feel comfortable with it or fit into it naturally, and he empathizes with Ed's struggle to learn the unspoken language of high society. (eg. "That's diabolical"/"It is") In fact Stede's whole storyline in this episode is basically about how much he empathizes with Ed's experience of trying to fit in with the "upper crust", and finally being able to turn the tables on the people who were mean to Ed, the way he couldn't as a child when people were mean to him.

But there's a limit to the helpfulness of this! Because ultimately emotions aren't always rational, and it can be really hard to interpret/accept your own feelings. Especially when you can't refer to an existing experience of times you felt/dealt with similar feelings. And that is frustrating and can be painful, and that pain can lead to avoidance/redirecting that pain.

(personal example but like: I spent so much time as a teenager getting so mad at myself for how IRRATIONAL all my hurt feelings and intrusive thoughts were, and that just contributed to the negative self image spiral. And it felt like this endless and unbearable cycle so I just constantly tried to distract myself with schoolwork/tv/etc)

We see Stede having this reaction a little in Episode 2 with Nigel's "ghost" (ie. a representation/manifestation of his guilt and self-doubt):

And then the elder hits the nail right on the head right here:

Stede feels guilty about Nigel's death, but Mainly (like fundamentally to his character arc in this season) he feels guilty about leaving Mary and his kids. But that guilt hurts too much, he doesn't want to think about that AT ALL, so he thinks about Nigel instead.

Now obviously he hasn't met Ed yet at this point, but this gives us as an audience important insight into how he deals with intense or frightening feelings (by avoiding them). This episode is also a crucial part of establishing the depth of Stede's self-doubt, which contributes to him not seeing that Ed is falling in love with him. I think that is linked to Stede not recognizing his own feelings for Ed, because overall he's just blind to the possibility that love is what is happening on either side of the equation.

And ESPECIALLY in the context of the queer experience it can be even harder to interpret your feelings in the love and relationships department because there's less language to explain it & fewer examples of it to help you conceptualize that "it's love" is even a possibility. Stede has never loved anyone romantically before, so he has no point of reference for what it feels like. Presumably, until becoming a pirate he hasn't seen examples of queer romance, so he has no script for what that looks like to refer to either. Basically, until the "what does it feel like to be in love" scene, Stede has no context to help him understand ANYTHING he has gone through emotionally since meeting Ed.

It's also significant that Mary is the one who describes love to Stede. Not only because of the closure the scene brings to the narrative by absolving Stede's guilt over leaving her, but because her relationship with Doug is hetero. It's permissible, it's familiar, it's instantly recognizable. She never says "I'm in love with Doug", Stede just knows. When she describes what love feels like, she's describing the internal experience of something that Stede has witnessed throughout his life but never been able to empathize with. And in that moment it clicks for him -- he DOES empathize with what Mary is saying. That is EXACTLY how he feels about Ed. (Because despite stereotypes, it's not like people on the spectrum are incapable of empathy, it's just that it can be harder to achieve because it's harder to interpret/extrapolate other people's emotions)

All of a sudden everything just makes sense. He's seen love but never known what it felt like, he's felt love but not recognized it. But hearing Mary describe it finally helps him put those two things together. He is in love with Ed. All those things people do for love in books that he could never quite understand? He gets it now, he can see himself doing those things because he is in love with Ed. The excitement and fear and confusion and intensity that has overwhelmed him these past weeks? That was LOVE. FOR ED. mother. fucking. EUREKA!

and and and AND in a meta sense, the epiphany Stede has kind of mirrors the audience's reaction to the scene. All those little moments he's flashing back to? Those were signs. That he was falling in love with Ed. Of course that's what they were, because we KNOW what romantic love looks like. We know how writers and directors and actors depict it on screen. and it is (or at least can be) no different between two men than it would be between a man and a woman.

This moment even more than the kiss to me was vindication for all the queerbaiting I believed could be queer representation. for johnlock and destiel and everything else. I wasn't crazy for thinking this line or that moment could be meant to signal romantic love. Queer romance that is just as layered and angsty and joyful and central to the plot as straight romance can exist on TV. Queer stories that aren't just about the characters' queerness but don't ignore it either CAN get made. We will put neurodivergent, queer people of color on TV.

And that's how this show increased my faith in humanity and revived my passion for my chosen career. Thank u for coming to my ted talk.

TLDR; Stede couldn't recognize what love looked or felt like until Mary spelled it out for him, and the way the writing links this inextricably to the trauma of growing up queer and neurodivergent in an unaccepting world makes me want to cry

a disclaimer for all my autistic stede posts: i am not autistic, i am a very Social Anxiety & Depression ADHDer. if you are autistic pls lmk your thoughts and/or if something i've said is insensitive or just Not Right

[sflow-er]

i dont mean this in a weird way but ive never seen anyone point this out ( prob bc its a bit weird to but yk ) but from the first season versus later on august looks like hes lost So much weight like his face just looks sm smaller ( dont mean this in a weird way to malte at all bc he also mentioned lisa asked him to workout more and get leaner before s2 so it was definitely a concious choice ) but i feel like it shows the progression of his ed well like with the scene with sara in s2 when shes in bed and hes staring at her he looks so skinny ☹️ crazy no one in show points it out or they dont show it more

Thank you for the ask, anon!

I want to preface this by saying I have zero interest in August or Malte's physique as such. I am way too old and way too ace to find him attractive or unattractive, and I strongly condemn any kind of body/weight shaming and judging people based on their physical appearance.

With that being said... I do think August is meant to have lost weight since S1 and that we are meant to make the connection to his disordered eating, body image distortion, and compulsive exercise (which I believe is not only related but also the presentation that we see the most often).

It is in fact mentioned once in S2E1 when the third-years meet at the party. August says he missed the trip to the Seychelles because he doesn't want a beer belly for the last semester. Of course, the real reason was that he couldn't afford it, but the excuse prompts Vincent to wonder out loud if he actually lost weight over the holidays. They don't talk about it any further, but as the scene comes very soon after we saw him eating that bag of kale/spinach as a meal, I think it serves as another hint of his issues escalating. This also makes sense if you consider his S3 explanation - he was at a very low point after Wille rightfully disowned him, and there was probably quite a bit of noise in his head.

I can't remember if I've read/seen the interview with Malte that you mentioned, but I do feel like I've heard the detail before. They could have also used makeup etc. to make August look leaner than Malte.

In any case, I think it's pretty realistic that people around August don't peg his ED for what it is. Again, this really isn't my area of expertise, but as far as I understand, disordered eating is still primarily seen as affecting girls/women, and most people only have a limited idea of how it can manifest. So if you're a young man like August and/or your ED presents differently from what people typically assume, it can easily go unnoticed.

[deerbornintuitive]

Autumn Messages Pick a Pile

Hello, and welcome to your autumn spirit message. These are mini-readings about what you need to be made aware of for this season. I’m Deerborn, energy medium & tarot reader. I use my intuition to help when you need guidance, feel stuck, or want to understand yourself at a deeper level. All messages are always meant for your highest good. Please note that my readings do not serve as medical or legal advice; I am not liable for how you use the provided messages. If you enjoy your reading and would like to leave a tip, tap here. Book personal readings here.

Are you ready?

Take a moment to look at each of the 3 images. Take a few deep breaths. Ask your Spirit Guides for help if needed. Allow your intuition to guide you.

Which will you choose?

When you’re ready, scroll down to your pile. Thanks for reading!

Pile A

Ace of Pentacles & 10 of Wands

This season, you're being presented with a new beginning. There are going to be multiple opportunities for you to grow and expand in exactly the ways you’ve been dreaming of. If you've been working on manifesting something, this season is when it will come to be; and it may not take the form you’re expecting. If you feel blocked with this, make your manifestation intentions less specific. Sometimes we can make too many guidelines for the Universe, which makes it more difficult for things to align. Because Pentacles often represents finances, there’s likely to be some unexpected money coming in. This could take the form of a gift, finding money tucked away. or a raise, or booking higher paying commissions/gigs. Spirit wants you to know that what's coming for you will require some hard work, but nothing you can’t handle. It will be a matter of listening to your body and honoring when you’re getting tired so you do not burn out. Persevere, and you will see amazing things come out of it! You're strong and capable. Reach out for help as needed, please know you don't have to do it all on your own. There are people that will be glad to support you and see you grow! Happy fall, friend!

Pile B

7 of Wands & The Hermit

This season, you're going to be met with some challenges. These don’t always come from your environment; they can come from within. I’ve often seen 7 of Wands in regards to self limiting beliefs, comparison syndrome, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, even anxiety, ocd, etc. Your Spirit Guides want you to know that they’re always supporting you to overcome these obstacles, whatever they may be. They provide their protection and healing when you need it. Remember, they cannot interfere with free will, so if you need assistance, you must ask them. If you have trouble receiving their messages or energy, try using an intuitive tool, like a pendulum, oracle or tarot cards, runes, etc. Spirit also wants to remind you that your inner guidance will best lead you. When you feel like you're fighting against the current, take a time out to tune into your inner wisdom. Find sanctuary so that you can gain perspective before jumping back in. If you’re moving through a difficult or dark time, be careful not to isolate too much. This will exacerbate feelings of loneliness, sadness, anxiety, negative self talk, or any negative energy. Allow yourself time alone, but do not forget we all need some support. Happy fall, friend!

Pile C

4 of Pentacles & The Lovers

This season, you're doing your best to hold onto something, likely resources and money, but this could also simply be referring to your energy. You’re budgeting something, being mindful and aware of the needs of your future self. By saving or holding onto things, or energy, it gives you a better sense of control, and maybe control is what’s really needed right now. Spirit wants you to know that while it's wise to save for the future, you still need to live. Be careful that you aren't completely shutting yourself out from the world in order to watch your budget (financial, energetic). Instead of completely restricting yourself, make smart choices on where your energy or money is going. Time with friends will be a great way to have fun without spending too much money. Or, treat yourself, no matter how small, to some self care. Use what you have on hand. There is a way for you to come into balance without feeling restricted. A path toward harmony is available to you right now. Trust that the Universe has your back. If things feel stagnant, look around you to see what can be let go of. Maybe it’s time to go through your home and donate some items. Happy fall, friend!

[gabaghoul-fandom-meme-queen]

Ok, some Winchesters theories coming up! So, we remember that the trailer for The Winchesters has a literal video of Cas' shadow in it. And in the latest Winchesters' episode we see this image from a previous episode of Supernatural. SO this could be a couple things... (1) The CW has limited resources and money and is lazy so they reuse videos and images (2) we are meant to find them and they mean something for the end of the show. I choose to believe the 2nd since I have put my clown shoes back on. So, running theory is; time travel is obviously happening again, angels are involved (hence the Cas video and literal Gabriel in the latest Winchesters episode). BUT WHYYYYYY Like, we know that Dean is telling us the story of his parents meeting. We can assume that this is him telling us post finale given the car having OG plates and the samulet hanging. Dean is not wearing his finale or heaven outfit though (good discourse on that here). So, we can assume this means something as well; he wears this outfit in 15x8 and 15x9 (The Trap - episodes that have Dean and Cas working through the some couply shit and traveling to Purgatory - so other planes). Ok, so back to S1E8 of The Winchesters, we know that Dean gave John the letter that effectively changed history/the story. So, Dean had to have traveled back in time to do this, likely by help of angels, post finale.

But, again, WHY What is Dean (and the angels - but likely just Cas) trying to change? What's the motive? If we make the assumptions that this is happening post finale (with our other assumptions made above) and we believe Jensen when he says it will stay within cannon, we can assume that this is not, technically, a prequal, but a continuation of the original. But, to play Lucifer's advocate with myself, how does that storyline get a second season? Potential theories:

It turns out that something is wrong in heaven or Jack and Cas cant keep the heaven light on and if heaven goes out the world does so they have to go back in time to fix shit?

Or, baddies from other worlds (akrida) are causing havoc in the world when they have not (did not in SPN timeline/cannon) so now (post finale timeline) they have to go back and fix it by Dean giving John the letter. And Sam is not involved because he is not in heaven yet and can go back to help out?

-- OR -- If we go with the evidence and the lazy version of typical time travel (and CW) story telling, we will assume that Dean, in heaven (or not) , is telling us the true story of how his parents met which was this exact story that is happening in The Winchesters. Like, Dean has traveled back in time before. That photo that Mary and John look at in S1E8 is from SPN S6E9. Maybe, Dean traveled back in time around that time to maybe stop the whole SPN timeline from happening to try to save more people, and they got their minds wiped given the Akrida are other wordly crazy monsters etc etc. Thats why the story of John and Mary meeting in The Winchesters is so similar but a little different than the SPN timeline. Maybe thats why there is differing, kind of, stories of thier meeting. And, you could plot right over that by saying, to make the appocolypse happen they wiped the minds, and made them fall in love (like SPN cannon).

But this does not explain the Cas barn scene in the trailer or why Dean is wearing a different outfit in the narration scene in S1E1. But, Lucifers Advocate, this can be explained away by them using the Cas scene to bait us and Jensen just liking that outfit lol. BUT Daneel is #1 heller and the twitter accounts like all the destiel stuff so, at least, they know that is marketable, SOOOOOO it has to happen, it just has to! ------ If you have made it this far, congratulations, you have officially fit into the clown car with me. I will live here, with my clown shoes on, and believe Cas is coming back to us, that him and Dean are having fun, gay, adventures in heaven

[sothasil]

Hi! You're one of my favorite artists ever, and I would love to do some studies of your art! What are some of your favorite pieces that you've done, and how do you pick your colors? There's a lot more questions that I could ask, but figured you wouldn't appreciate an entire list of questions XD

Hello and thank you, I am honored! Feel free to send me all and any questions! I'll answer these two, starting by:

How do you pick your colors?

As I change art style with pretty much every illustration project of significance, this varies a lot. Here are, from most to least common, ways I pick my colors.

Eyeballing it. Unfortunately my most common... What I will do a lot digitally is lay down a color background, and flats of a few colors, then manually adjust each until they look good together by selecting by color and using adjustements. I then paint over it all.

Using a limited palette, eyeballed. Same as before, but this time I force myself to only use a few colors. It helps me, as constraints do.

Using a reference, eyeballed. This happens a lot when I mimick an art style. My medieval drawings for example, are often done by looking at images of actual medieval art to get an idea of what colors to use to look medieval.

Using an existing image, pipetted. Rarely, often as a challenge or if I'm super stuck, I'll just take a pic with colors I like and pipet from it. This website automates this if you want a good easy starting point!

These can be combined around. I'll post examples now, explaining how they use each.

This is a sketch for a drawing I ended up doing way different. This is the first method - I used a flat layer for the characteres and three colors for the sky to test out atmosphere. This is how I plan out most full paintings, just trying to nail down a mood I have in my head. I fiddle around until I like it or, like in this case, fully give up and iterate further. Here, the composition was to be redone too as I did not like the body language. I was going for "bright hot sunny day under a weather that feels wrong".

For this comic, I combined a very limited palette and a photo ref to pipet from. I was looking for the stark cold/warm contrast of a mid-season bright night by a fireside. I took a google image photo of a campfire at night that was already edited. The photo itself looks unnatural but conveyed what I wanted. It's still on the file itself! From it, I pipetted a few colors I found "summed up" the palette and did all with them.

While my own habits make me prefer painting as you would in traditional methods, with directly picking the right colors, I will often digitally alter with overlays and layer blending modes some colors and gradients, etc, to alter a drawing to fix it's color palette. The following is a quite egregious example, because I first drew the character in flats before putting him in a full scene. Here is a before/after summed up.

The shadow is a layer, the bright yellow light zones also, and the orange "transitions" of light zones on the skin a third. There's also an overlay over the full character to blend him in. I do this by...making a full flat color of a layer, fucking around until a blending mode does what I want, and adjusting hue/brightness/saturation and opacity until it looks good.

Another WIP where I was struggling with the overall palette. I was going for late 60s psychedelic. You can see in the top right the original color. I thought it looked too...new, so I added a yellow layer on top, and fiddled with it. Final choice was the following setting. I then put it with my sketch and color blockout in a folder and painted over it.

For this sort of adjustement, the "Color Balance" modifier in CSP, Photoshop, and others is also a godsend - but one I often use for fine tuning a finished piece.

This being said, there's some rough rules to coloring which are...born from studying color theory and doing studies. I am guilty of doing very little studies...so I'll just sum up the basics of the color theory rules I use.

For "default" shading, I use a color that is darker, more saturated and with a slight hue diff. This is my "don't shade with black".

Using a shadow that's cooler will make the light look warm.

Vice versa.

There's a bunch of stuff to remember in how colors relate to each other and pipetting images who's atmosphere you think is interesting really is the best way to learn... It's learning how to black-blue/gold-yellow dress in your own art for the lack of a better word...But the basics will be:

Don't trust numerical values, but look at your colors in context. A same hue, brightness, saturation can look so much different. This is how Rakkan's beard looks whiteish here despite being a light very grey brown.

All this but...colour is such a wide topic, I can't really say a lot but can also type for hours... if you have precise questions about a piece in particular I can explain :') I hope this wasn't too vague and was instructive!

Speaking of particular pieces, answering your question last under the cut:

What are some of your favorite pieces that you've done?

In no particular order, illustration only.

Including this in another poast bc staff's new post editor limits the amounts of pics I can put in response to asks. Insert colorful language here...

Frankly twas hard to pick I am rarely fond of what I draw

[burnwater13]

An ex-Imperial Stormtrooper approaches a Trexler 906 Armored Marauder (troop transport) from the side, while Cara Dune and Greef Karga pilot it. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 4, The Siege. Calendar from DataWorks.

Did Grogu know what a Trexler 906 Armored Marauder looked like? No. Did he know that the Empire used them? No. Did he know that one existed on Nevarro? No. Did he know that the people who built them didn’t include any failsafes that would have helped the owner keep them from being stolen? No. He knew nothing about the other stuff that was happening on Nevarro because his dad had left him under the care of a protocol droid ‘teacher’ that had obviously been repossessed from a pirate or a smuggler or both. 

He tried not to be annoyed about it. He was sure the Mandalorian had a good reason for doing what he did. After all, Grogu wasn’t as familiar with Imperial architecture as… um… hmmm. That’s right, none of them were familiar with Imperial base design, concepts and limitations. Grogu hadn’t been formally trained in Imperial design, but he had taken a special class in the design and construction of common buildings and structures. 

Jedi needed to know that sort stuff because you couldn’t help people fix a damaged building if you had no idea how it could have been damaged in the first place. And he had a lot of practical experience hiding and escaping from the Imps. He doubted that Greef, Cara, or even Din Djarin had that sort of experience. That meant he knew about all the little places. The ports, ventilation hatches, grills, etc. 

The maintenance access ways were Grogu’s favorite way to escape from any space an Imp thought was secure. Stormtroopers couldn’t fit into them and officers refused to go in them because it was below their pay grade. Eventually they’d send some guy in a coverall after him and that person never found Grogu. With the Force, Grogu didn’t need to actually use the ladder. He would just jump from the entry point to his exit point. 

But that protocol droid was more than up to the task of keeping it’s sensors trained on him, when it wasn’t pointing out that the Hydian Way was a great smuggler’s run if your ship had a functional hyperspace drive. The best he’d been able to do was snarf some sweets from the kid who sat next to him. The droid hadn’t noticed which was funny because the kid next to him wasn’t happy at all, but maybe the droid was programmed to ignore piracy and smuggling? Whatever the case was, it was not programmed to ignore a certain small being trying to sneak out of his seat and leave the school.

The first time he tried to go after his dad the protocol droid asked him if he needed to use the privy. Since all the kids around him began to laugh loudly, he decided not to pursue his escape at that moment. Everyone was watching him like a shriek hawk and that wasn’t the hallmark for a clean getaway. 

The next time, the droid was boring them all to tears about taxation of the various trade routes and why that had lead to the conflict with the Separatists. Grogu didn’t bother to correct it when it started rambling on about how they were to blame for the need to implement extra security measures. It had all been a big scam and Grogu was surprised that a droid that so clearly liked talking about pirates and smugglers didn’t extend that fonds to other forms of liars, cheats, and Sith. It was a big miss on their part. 

Anyhow, some of the kids had begun to nod off and Grogu had very gently pushed the seat of one kid who was sitting on the far side of the room and they kinda fell out of it and the droid rushed over to see if they were alright. They weren’t and he had to abort his dash for freedom in order to use the Force to heal them. It wasn’t easy from across the room, but it was worthy. Plus, he kind of felt the presence of Master Beq hovering over his shoulder with a kind of vexed look on his face. 

After that Grogu just hunkered down and accepted that he was there for the long haul. The very long haul because that protocol droid seemed to only really know a single topic and it just blathered on about it endlessly. It kind of reminded Grogu of a course that one of the older Masters taught. Master Gnilbeor. She taught history and technology. The other younglings joked that Master G (as she was known) invented both of them and that’s why she knew everything about them. Grogu had tried not to laugh at that joke, given that it was well known that Master Yoda was the oldest person at the Temple. He didn’t want the Grandmaster Jedi to find out they were laughing about people’s age. Especially because Master G was only half of Master Yoda’s age. She had lots of good years left. At least that’s what he thought at the time. 

Master G had retired shortly before everything went sideways at the Jedi Temple, but as Grogu knew from personal experience that didn’t really spare you from anything. Before Master Beq had to leave him, they had both sensed that Master G had become one with the Force. Gone, but never forgotten. 

Grogu began to laugh. Of course Master G would never be forgotten. She was the person who had taught all the younglings how to identify a vast array of ships, speeders, cargo carriers, and troop transports, including the Trexler 906 Armored Marauder. While there were people who thought it was over designed, Grogu could see that it’s basic design was similar to the Republic Troop Transport used during the Clone Wars. 

Certainly it had been updated and more of it’s functions were automated, but the bones of it were there. How Master G had gotten a hold of the preliminary designs of the Trexler 906 was a well guarded secret, but Grogu had appreciated that when you’d been around as long as she had, you knew people. Chances were good she had designed the thing herself.  

Grogu sighed. He’d give a lot to be back in that classroom learning about ships and speeders and all the rest. He might have been able to ask the question about those red and blue wires that Din Djarin had asked him to fix. She had probably designed the Razor Crest too. After all, someone had to have made that hatch just big enough for Grogu to get through.