#fucking long post

[kimmurielscryingmirror]

Arabian perfumes to drow - shitpost

Today I was in a perfume-shop and I just got the feeling that some arabian perfumes would be very suitable for drow. If I think back to descriptions of the incenses, oils and stuff they use, always the strong, heavy, deep scents are the first to come to my mind.

So I checked some of arabian perfumes from the trademark Al Haramain and I found some incredibly drow-styled bottles and also scents. The matrons (and literally all nobles, especially the fancy wizards I'm looking at you Nalfein and Pharaun) would going crazy for these.

Look at these bottles (click on them, their sizing is crappy):

Al Haramain Dehnal Oudh Ateeq

Al Haramain Narjis

Al Haramain Solitaire

A spider bottle: omg omg omfg I looove it

Al Haramain Mukhallath Seufi

Holy facking shit:

Al Haramain Basma Noir

This is a stalagmite lol:

Al Haramain Khulasat Al Oud

Elegant wizard stuff:

Al Haramain Hayati

Al Haramain Attar Lamha

Al Haramain Najm Noir

Xcuse me, what:

Al Haramain OYUNY

Pics from the original site & google - NOT COMMERCIAL

[charmixpower]

Final thoughts on season 4! I fucking hate it

Random insults about this piece of shit season from off the top of my head:

Why the fuck do the girls keep picking up shitty group jobs?? Teachers, love and pet, then the band???? Your telling me this group of very diverse women who all have very different and clear hobbies likes and dislikes all want to do the same thing all the time??? Are you fucking sure???

The bullshit drama, only Flora/Helia and Aisha/Nabu escaped with a nay stray comment—and that's only because the writers wanted Nabu dead and don't care about Flora and Helia

Rivusa. Like in general. This season nearly made me hate my two favorite characters in this show!! Impressive!!!! They continued degrading Riven's character until he was acting like a sixteen year old again and THAT'S NOT MUSA

Fuck Andy for the band thing, I will never forgive you for this mother fucker!! Also you were useless for the plot of side of stupid fucking drama aND STELLA ENCOURAGING BLOOM TO CHEAT WITH YOU DONT THINK I FUCKING FORGOT ABOUT THAT

The wizards of the black circle were boring, they had no fun charisma or stage presence like the Trix or Valtor

The earth fairies weren't given enough time! Them bitches were fun as hell and had a interesting dynamic with the Winx!!!!! Plus they had something that no other antagonist before them had! The ability to be reasoned with!!!! That's so fucking interesting!!! I want more of them dammit

Musa playing "will I, won't I" with Riven and making it blanetly obvious that he was the second choice rebound. Girl if you don't fucking like him, which you clearly don't, break the fuck up and say that shit with ya chest—why do you keep pulling this hot and cold thing, I'm so lost

Nabu being the most annoying mouth piece for the writers. When Riven tried to express how he was feeling instead of bottling it up, which he did do before the Jason thing, Nabu guilt tripped him and recentered everything on Musa! Like Riven can still be wrong and you can listen to his feelings my guy

What ever the FUCK happened to "then suffer in silence" Helia. He has soft boy enegry now and it makes me break out in hives

Riven immediately after the break up genuinely acting like his s1 self...you can just say you hate Riven show, you don't need to do this. They destroyed all his comrade and willingness to work in a group because he cares about the people in the group, and for what?????

Stella becoming stupid. Stella was a book dumb, emotionally and fashion intelligent ditz with loyalty and determination in spades. She complained but not this much guys!! Stella would buckle down when she needed too, prefers to handle things by joking about them

Bloom contracting main characteritius and steam rolling Musa's dream and Aisha's revenge, while being a huge fucking hypocrite. Bloomy I am so sorry that this ugly ass bitch—

Believix is the beginning of the samey transformations, they just weren't as bold about it

The fashion in this season is offence to me! It's cute like out of context but so many outfits are completely out of character and it drives me crazy

The winx are now famous bc duh and Valtor, not a single mention about how the whole magic dimension knowing their name affects them at all outside of autographs at Alfea

Love and pet, it was useless and a dumb idea and why the FUCK would they start a pet shop??? Do they even all like animals???? You mean to tell me Stella agreed to this???

Each of the girls having their own fairy pet that will never be seen again after this season. Why are they even there

Mitzi v Stella. The whole fake Fairies thing was VERY FUN, but if the earth fairies were introduced sooner then I would even need a fake one—it just fucking sucks that some really fun moments are connected to Stella being jealous over fucking Mitzi of all people. Mitzi wears fucking beige, Stella would never

The fact that the Roxy Bloom parallel isn't explored! It's implied but nothing interesting is ever done with it!!

The lack of screen time for Aurora!!!! And Lovix!!!!! I want to see them FIGHT

The boring as hell fights. In s1 and 3 they were fighting army's, and now they can't handle small fights??? Really???

The immature tone of the whole season then suddenly smashing into Nabu dying like this season earned it. S2 and the stupid fucking pixies had a more universally darker tone that earned it's character death, and it kept this dark time despite reviving both Riven and Sky! It's like s4 was trying to be s2 but was playing a game of telephone with a blackout alcoholic about the important parts

Jason McQueen, who looks to be late 20's early 30's, flirts with a 19 year old girl that hasn't finished mental puberty who will soon be under his employ. If this man wasn't setting Musa up for abuse of power idk what the fuck he was doing, AND NO ONE MENTIONS HOW FUCKING CREEPY HE IS!!! HES SUPPOSED TO BE A GOOD THING AHHHHHHH

The Believix powers are super creepy, they just mind control people into acting right—remind me to never argue infront of Tecna

Have I mentioned my desire to push both Musa and Riven off a cliff??? Bc I thought about that multiple times while watching this season. Bloom and Stella can join them

No mention on how fairies being on earth affects humans

The Believix wings and the hand out fairies. The Believix wings were dumb, but the hand out fairies made everything so fucking boring man

Nabu gets fridged, by Orgon's ugly ass too. This show has managed to be dark without permanently getting rid of a member of the main cast, and due to the shitty writing of this season they had to fall back on permanently ridding of Nabu

During parts of s1-3 I could forget I was watching a kids show bc I was so enraptured, s4 won't ever let me forget

Stella, Flora, Aisha, and Tecna all giving up on their dreams to live Musa's. Because Stella obviously wanted to be a guitarist and not a fashion designer like she said all of s1-3 jfc

Flora and Diana not getting the boss battle they deserve

Why were Sibylla's fairies weird sayter things??? Aren't they supposed to be earth fairies???? I'm not even mad they're like that I just want an explanation

Flora not getting enough screen time in general

Nebula should of been allowed to fight Tecna too, I think they're similar and strong personalities would of made for an amazing dynamic and Nebula just deserved more fights in general. This show honest to God wasted time on some four boring ass goth bitches with no motivation outside of murder, when we could of had Nebula going crazy for all of s4 as the main antagonist

Neither Roxy or Bloom pulling the "I WAS RAISED BY HUMANS, DIPSHIT!" line on Nebula, what the fuck was she expecting

Morgana wanting to kill humans but being in love with one is never explained. I think Moragana should of been the extreme passive counterpart to Nebula, who took power years ago

The fact that Aisha's joining of the revenge fairies barely lasting any time. I think Tecna would of been a better choice for this (change Nabu dying to Timmy I guess) bc Tecna was always shown to be agressive first vs Aisha being passive until forces persuade her to be agressive. Tecna and Nebula would have a terrifying dynamic too! Tecna would of been a much scarier commander of the earth fairies, and been harder to convince, AND it would of given her an arc that isn't the same "Tecna learns to express herself" and it would give poor fucking Aisha a break. She was blinded last season, and nearly murdered before that. LET THE GIRL REST

The Winx choosing to stay on earth for some fucked up reason that I hate and don't understand. Earth was fun, we can leave now

Aisha not being allowed to drop Orgon. Cowards

Musa's and Bloom's civilian outfits. Musa would never and Bloom hurts my eyes. If there is nothing else you remember about me it's that I fucking hate Musa's s4 outfit so fucking much

The near constant shitting on Enchantix in the beginning of the season. Put some respect on her name

The weird drama between the guys and girls because the girls suddenly have egos the side of Riven's when he was a villain

Believix in general, form the way it was introduced to the way it is was earned

Stella and Brandon not being the best and most healthy couple, I call bullshit

The sheer amount of dick sucking that Believix gets. You will never be Enchantix

The fact that they still have fairy dust and never use it

Stella being a bitter single bitch at Aisha for no fucking reason

Morgana is fucking boring and only exists to have a reason Roxy is special

The fact that the Winx accepted Orgon's surrender after they were hunting down and trying to murder Roxy

The destruction of Nabu's weird personality to make him the perfect victim, and the warping of Aisha's and his relationship to make his death sadder

The fact that Aisha and Riven never talk or hug or anything when they're both the closest to Nabu! I want them to bond dammit

They guys being happy to work a public service job. Everyone but Riven is being a liar

THATS STILL NOT MUSA MOTHERFUCKERS!!!! WHERE IS MUSA!?!?! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU HIDING HER!!!!

Things I liked about season 4:

The lack of magic on earth was set up in s1, and going back to explain that was fucking amazing

Roxy, in general. She's an amazing Bloom analog and if utilized correctly she could of been the perfect book end to Bloom's arc. Tho I wish she was more obviously different from Bloom's story

Fairy on fairy violence, both with the earth fairies and Mitzi. Yesssssss!!!

Stella's designed outfits. They were nearly all fucking wins in the pretty aspect. That's my girl!!!

The earth fairies, all of them and in general. The show only really became fun after they were introduced, before that I was dragging my feet though this nonsense

Nebula. Cool, sexy, as a agenda. Should of been the main antagonist above Diana and Aurora and I'm right. She has presence and she's nothing like Icy and Valtor. She has her own thing going on, and her redemption could of been so much stronger if she was allowed to go ape shit for longer and have more time for Bloom to convince her to not blindly attack everyone and only attack the people who actually wronged her

Literally all of the cute Tecna moments. This season was the era for cute Tecna along with Tecna Enchantix and I am THRIVING

The dark fairies. Give me more fairy villains, they're so much fucking fun. They'res a vibe to girlie on girlie violence that is so much fun to watch. The girlies are much fun to watch, only Valtor and Riven make it to this level as villains. The rest could be improved by being girlies

Diana. Sexy, powerful, gets bitches, didn't fucking hesitate, is a girlie. Must I go on? She was fucking unhinged and I loved her for it!! Now this is a villain with some STAGE PRESENCE

Sophix and Lovix, Sophix is superior. Like I don't care for it narratively as a sub form of Believix, but I love the designs. If they were additional specialized forms on top of Enchantix I'd have nothing from stopping me form saying I love them

Aurora, ma'am are you single?? I love her soft girl enegry while she also pulled out the most violent and deadly plan between her and Diana. I wish she got a fight like Diana, and was much harder to convince while seeming more reasonable on the surface

Bloom throwing Mitzi and Nebula—Bloom's fairy v fairy fights in general

In conclusion

Season 2 > season 3 > season 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> season 4

[transsexualunderground]

SYCORAX IN: DAY OF THE DIESELS

i really want to hear about sycorax!!!

Oooh aight aight!

This one is my DOTD AU, because, as much as I like bringin' back ol' unhinged D10, this movie's got some major flaws, yet major potential, too. And look, Percy's got friends other than Thomas.

Enter Sycorax, a slightly-pretentious, dramatic, artistic, silly little Shakespeare fan of a BR Class 12 that lost their wheels in an accident and got tiny little narrow gauge Co-Co bogies slapped on 'em. They work on the UHR, which, is a whole can of worms to explain on its own.

The UHR, or the Ulfstead Heritage Railway, is an absurd little heritage railway going in and around Ulfstead, and is linked up to the Skarloey via a long, straight, boring line with one water column in the middle (until a Little Caesar's is installed, long story). Not to be confused with the Estate Railway, as this was built using Mid Sodor track, and is basically me taking that portion of rail shown in Toby's Discovery and adding to it.

(And It Was At This Point He Realized This Post Would Be Very Long, Because Now He's Recapping the WIP Because He Is Convinced He Won't Finish a Script Version After He Finishes This Outline-Thing)

Anyways. This one's about Sycorax, who I've decided has a few different levels of envy (the closest thing to engine gender envy and envy of his claw, mostly) when it comes to Diesel 10, yet, also an intrigue and a desire to meet him. With a claw like his, you could do a multitude of things Sycorax yearns to do, and most of that boils down to creative endeavors.

So, this is a tale with D10 written a bit closer to his personality in TATMR (campy ridiculousness yet being genuinely menacing), with some splashes of his DOTD tendencies in there (the scheming! the manipulativeness! I think TATMR Diesel 10 is very capable of this, but I'll tap into DOTD D10 a little more for this, too.) Also, Splatter and Dodge are 'Arry and Bert Headcanon Antics. Because once, a friend of mine came up with the HC that 'Arry and Bert are Splatter and Dodge because model reuse. (Diesel 10 gets to call them "Barry" now instead of "Splodge." Seems like they had a competence upgrade in general but they can get silly with it, too.) (While I'm at it, I gave Pinchy its semi-sentience back.)

Now onto the actual plot, it follows quite a few of the beats from DOTD except with less of the friendship envy and fire antics (at least in my planning, I need to set up how we get to the fire in the climax).

Diesel introduces Sycorax to Diesel 10 at the Dieselworks, which now have narrow gauge tracks for Plot Reasons, Sycorax finds themself in sheer admiration of Diesel 10's claw and Vibes and his appreciation for the arts (see: that sculpture Pinchy made in TATMR. I like thinking he has a comical amount of knowledge about art, specifically sculpture, and also, @sudriantraveler's "Diesel 10 is a theater nerd" concept is an absolute blast) and of course that makes them a good pawn for all this, in a slightly different flavor to Splodge Barry, because part of this is keeping Sycorax in the dark about how shitty this is gonna be.

So D10 gets Sycorax aboard, and it's time to go steal a crane from the Steamworks. Who better to get into theft, though, than She Who Pranks, aka Forsythia, Sycorax's fellow narrow gauge engine! (She's a steam engine, which, IMO, makes this even funnier.) Sycorax doesn't fancy themself a thief anyways, they think they'd suck at it. So they promise that their affiliate would be more than happy to do this. She is. But then she proceeds to ask her coach Nicolas and some trucks to give her a bump of a lifetime to send her to the Steamworks. This isn't what Sycorax planned, and they have to drag her to the Steamworks anyways. (She isn't too happy about this because she's getting separated from Nicolas for this, but she can handle it.)

Sycorax brings Kevin around, and they suggest the diesels perhaps postpone the raid of the Steamworks until nobody's going to be there, but Diesel 10 is willing to take hostages. He's already taking the building hostage, after all. Sycorax is opposed, but is coaxed into going with it. See indented excerpt.

When they return with their stolen crane companion, Sycorax explains, “Apologies that took so long, Diesel 10, but my… affiliate, she stupidly decided to get to the Steamworks via being sent there to have damage taken care of, and I was sent to bring her there. The good news is, though, that I have brought this crane. Very important. Didn’t… you say something about storming the Steamworks earlier? Can the operation even wait until she’s done?” “We’ll just have to storm the place with her in it.” “We’re going to… what, now? Truth being told, I never did ask why we’re trying to take the Steamworks… What’d they do to us?” “Have a crane,” Diesel 10 says. “Your brevity truly is the soul of wit,” Sycorax responds in a way that’s hard to read as genuine or sarcastic. “Not really. We’re using it as a bargaining chip. We give the hat guy his Steamworks and whoever's in there back, and we get our better Dieselworks.” “...hostages, Diesel 10?” ���If you don’t like it, you should’ve backed out with the cranenapping!” “That was willing on all parties’ accounts, Diesel 10! We can’t just take unwilling hostages! Albeit, knowing Forsythia, she’d love to be there amidst a takeover, but what about everyone else that’s there?!” Diesel 10 is annoyed that they’re questioning him now. “We’ll deal with them later. We’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”

They lead the charge, and all hell breaks loose. Sycorax sits back and watches in realization that this is... not a good thing at all. Diesel 10, instead of joining in the mess, hangs back for a bit to try and manipulate Sycorax a bit more. It doesn't really pull through, and Sycorax just says they'll... catch up with the others in a moment. Diesel 10 begrudgingly leaves them to their devices, and we get the moment that really shakes things up for Sycorax.

Sycorax does stay put for a moment, watching Diesel 10 as he goes off on his own... only to watch him start ripping things up with his claw. Sycorax realizes his claw is a claw of destruction and not creation, and after a lovely little monologue, they declare that they won't let this become a tragedy, and they go to think about how to right their wrongs.

But we get a cut to the absolute CHAOS happening down at the Steamworks. Forsythia got put into a crane and is just swinging around and spinning. This is the best hostage situation she's ever experienced. Someone explained what was going on to her and she just embraced it, as one does.

Enter Wesley, who is literally just a steam engine here to bring some stuff over really quickly. He observes the chaos, isn't sure what's going on, and needs to figure out where to put this stuff, so he manages to muster up a loud, almost commanding "HELLO THERE!"

Everyone looks at him like this:

At least, they do until Syth swings down asking what Wes is doing here, explains the situation very casually (much to Wesley's bewilderment), and assures the others that he'll comply with the hostage situation nonsense. Everyone goes back to their business, and Wesley decides if he's going to be stuck here he may as well find someone to have a good conversation with. See indented excerpt.

“Cousin Wesley! Fancy meeting you here! Have you come to join the party?” “What party?” Wesley asks. “Oh, you know, the diesel takeover of the Steamworks!” “The… the WHAT?!” “Yeah, uh, now that you’re here, you can’t really leave, but, I’m sure it’s fine, because this has been the most fun hostage situation of my life.” "You know this guy, Forsythia?" a diesel asks. "Yeah, yeah, he'll comply with staying around for a while, I'm sure. The party's back on, everyone! Wooo!" She swings off and the chaos starts again. "Well, darn. Guess it's time to try and have a good conversation with… someone who makes alright conversation." Then it cuts.

Meanwhile Sycorax is still pondering how to fix this, so far from their own railway.

...and when we cut back to the Steamworks, Wesley and Paxton are having a nice casual chat about that time Wesley ran into some geese, before it's revealed his crew went to get the Fat Controller. Aw shit. Cue the model era theme!

He puts a stop to this nonsense, explains there were already renovation plans for the Dieselworks, 'Arry and Bert make some comments about how that kinda throws things for a loop (in classic Splatter and Dodge dialogue fashion) before D10 tells them to shut up, and he explains that there's just been a misunderstanding, and then Syth busts in with a "oh, so that's why you sent Sycorax to steal who then sent me to steal?" from above, much to TFC's utter confusion.

"Shut it, you two," Diesel 10 mutters before clearing his lack of throat and focusing on TFC again. "Then, clearly, there's been some misunderstanding here, I assure you. We don't even have a working crane back at the Dieselworks, we thought action was necessary." "Oh, so that's why you sent Sycorax who then proceeded to ask me for help stealing a crane?" Forsythia says, dangling from the 'bove. "Forsythia? Whatever are you doing up there?" the Fat Controller asks. "Having a good time, Sir, but that aside, Diesel 10 said he'd keep anyone who entered here by chance or was already here hostage as a bargaining point, so the diesels ensured I was safely within this. Luckily for me, this thing is VERY fun to swing around in. I'm… not going to get into too much trouble for this, am I?" "How come we never put the other one in a crane, then?" a diesel just offhandedly asked. "You guys were way too distracted by your shenanigans. Rookie mistake," Forsythia tutted.

TFC gets everyone back on topic, saying that he needs any accurate accounts he can get out of Forsythia and Wesley, he needs Diesel 10 to go bring back Kevin, and he needs everyone else to start cleaning up this disaster. But D10 ain't fond of that.

Diesel 10 approaches the Fat Controller with his claw. Snapping and snapping and spanning at Sir Topham, but he stands his ground. Pinchy keeps snapping, closer and closer until… it draws back. "Pinchy. Pinchy, buddy, you can't be doing this now. Why are you acting like you don't wanna do this?" Pinchy makes a gesture akin to shaking one's head and cowering back. "Pinchy." Then Pinchy hits Diesel 10. "I HATE IT WHEN YOU DO THAT!" Sir Topham gets himself out of harm's way in case Diesel 10 manages to get Pinchy to listen, but it’s more “out of range” rather than “backing away,” y’know? "Diesel 10. I need you to bring back the crane,” he says. "You want your dinky little crane back? Fine. I’ll give it back." He goes outside.

Cue Diesel 10 getting even more menacing.

We cut back to Diesel 10 heading to the Dieselworks. "Pinchy, I get it. Maybe you just need to warm up a bit before getting messy. And I know just the way to prove our point." As it's starting to turn out, it was never about the Dieselworks. It was about Diesel 10 wanting to abuse his power over others. "We'll let them have their crane back alive, or in pieces. Then they'll listen."

Leave a violent diesel and a clumsy crane in a place with flammable materials, and what do you get?

A fire, of course. Never quite sorted out how exactly it happens, but it does.

Sycorax sees the fire, startled. "Rails below and sky above… that's not normal engine smoke, is it? It's a lot bigger! There's a fire!" They and their crew kick it into high gear. Their aim is to see if they can do anything about it and then get help. Sycorax sees Kevin just staring at the fire in horror and snaps him out of it with a, "Kevin, what are you doing? You need to get out of here!" "Diesel 10's trapped! He was trying to get me with his claw, but then he started a fire!" Kevin exclaims. “There’s not much we can do except call for some firefighters. Come on, Sycorax, we must hurry," their Driver says. "There’s something else we can do!” Sycorax exclaims. "Kevin, go get help! Driver, there's a fire extinguisher in the building! If it's safe to get it, we can get Diesel 10 out even quicker!” And luckily for everyone involved, they can get to it because the fire hadn't spread to the front yet. The two rush into action, putting out enough fire to get to Diesel 10. Having realized there’s two tracks here, Sycorax’s driver has gotten a cable to tie these two together for a bit so Sycorax can pull him out of there in case he can’t move himself. He could’ve probably but… proactivity. "Sycorax?! Are you stupid? There’s a FIRE. What are you doing?" "Helping you. Kevin's getting the firefighters." "And you didn't just leave me for them to save?" "Every second counts in an emergency like this, that's why it's important to get out of it as soon as possible! You're lucky I even remembered the fire extinguisher that’s inside! Now hurry!” The two get out, and the fire crew of Belle and Flynn arrive. The two stay out of the way.

And then we get the final bit from this WIP, one I'm especially fond of.

“Thanks for getting me out of there, I guess,” Diesel 10 ends up saying. How are you supposed to react to someone saving your life? Nobody does that. Especially not when you're Diesel 10. “Let this be a lesson to you, Diesel 10. Your ambition could have been your downfall. I know this fire was your doing, and, goodness, you even tried to bring harm to Kevin! ‘Tis ironic that I found myself saving you after I had renounced this entire thing and wished to make things right, but that doesn’t change the fact that my opinion of you has changed drastically." We get a shot of Diesel 10's expression. This situation is clearly some sort of uncomfortable for him. "...and I shall let this be a lesson to myself, too," Sycorax adds. "'Tis not wrong to admire another's traits, but to idolize someone else without knowing their character? That would be my true folly, had I not realized it any sooner. They say never to meet your heroes, Diesel 10. I think I know why." "You speak like you came outta the sixteenth century," Diesel 10 complains, because cracking one-liners whenever shit goes wrong is kind of his thing. Sycorax half-laughs.

There's some Sycorax dialogue here and there in this WIP I'd like to improve, because they're a wonderful character that's in constant flux between using whatever's up-to-date in terms of words and random older terminology. I could definitely see them slipping into a "tis" and "thou" sort of mood during all of this, though, makes sense when you're getting morally contemplative.

So, yeah, that's Si:DoTD.

[hamletthedane]

I was meeting a client at a famous museum’s lounge for lunch (fancy, I know) and had an hour to kill afterwards so I joined the first random docent tour I could find. The woman who took us around was a great-grandmother from the Bronx “back when that was nothing to brag about” and she was doing a talk on alternative mediums within art.

What I thought that meant: telling us about unique sculpture materials and paint mixtures.

What that actually meant: an 84yo woman gingerly holding a beautifully beaded and embroidered dress (apparently from Ukraine and at least 200 years old) and, with tears in her eyes, showing how each individual thread was spun by hand and weaved into place on a cottage floor loom, with bright blue silk embroidery thread and hand-blown beads intricately piercing the work of other labor for days upon days, as the labor of a dozen talented people came together to make something so beautiful for a village girl’s wedding day.

What it also meant: in 1948, a young girl lived in a cramped tenement-like third floor apartment in Manhattan, with a father who had just joined them after not having been allowed to escape through Poland with his pregnant wife nine years earlier. She sits in her father’s lap and watches with wide, quiet eyes as her mother’s deft hands fly across fabric with bright blue silk thread (echoing hands from over a century years earlier). Thread that her mother had salvaged from white embroidery scraps at the tailor’s shop where she worked and spent the last few days carefully dying in the kitchen sink and drying on the roof.

The dress is in the traditional Hungarian fashion and is folded across her mother’s lap: her mother doesn’t had a pattern, but she doesn’t need one to make her daughter’s dress for the fifth grade dance. The dress would end up differing significantly from the pure white, petticoated first communion dresses worn by her daughter’s majority-Catholic classmates, but the young girl would love it all the more for its uniqueness and bright blue thread.

And now, that same young girl (and maybe also the villager from 19th century Ukraine) stands in front of us, trying not to clutch the old fabric too hard as her voice shakes with the emotion of all the love and humanity that is poured into the labor of art. The village girl and the girl in the Bronx were very different people: different centuries, different religions, different ages, and different continents. But the love in the stitches and beads on their dresses was the same. And she tells us that when we look at the labor of art, we don’t just see the work to create that piece - we see the labor of our own creations and the creations of others for us, and the value in something so seemingly frivolous.

But, maybe more importantly, she says that we only admire this piece in a museum because it happened to survive the love of the wearer and those who owned it afterwards, but there have been quite literally billions of small, quiet works of art in billions of small, quiet homes all over the world, for millennia. That your grandmother’s quilt is used as a picnic blanket just as Van Gogh’s works hung in his poor friends’ hallways. That your father’s hand-painted model plane sets are displayed in your parents’ livingroom as Grecian vases are displayed in museums. That your older sister’s engineering drawings in a steady, fine-lined hand are akin to Da Vinci’s scribbles of flying machines.

I don’t think there’s any dramatic conclusions to be drawn from these thoughts - they’ve been echoed by thousands of other people across the centuries. However, if you ever feel bad for spending all of your time sewing, knitting, drawing, building lego sets, or whatever else - especially if you feel like you have to somehow monetize or show off your work online to justify your labor - please know that there’s an 84yo museum docent in the Bronx who would cry simply at the thought of you spending so much effort to quietly create something that’s beautiful to you.

[egophiliac]

bring back zooterkins, the best 17th-century swear word

I don't normally do Just Characters Swearing, but. ...this kind of wrote itself and then wouldn't leave my head. it comes from both a piece of character-writing advice that has always stuck with me, and also my conviction that Leona is 1000% funnier as a character if his dialogue has to stay G-rated. let Kalim say fuck, but don't let Leona say bastard.

(I'm sorry)

[fanficmemes]

Love when writers do an insane amount of unnecessary research for their fics. I follow an author that did like 8 months of intense research into 14th century Scotland so they could write smut about it, and guess what. It was some fucking incredible porn AND I learned about old Scottish politics

[shadowtraveled]

"mithrun is the only real monsterfucker in dungeon meshi" is objectively the funniest bit you can get out of his everything, but in all seriousness i think his attraction to his love interest is deliberately overstated—and that makes sense, because romantic jealousy is a classic and digestible motive, which is explicitly what kabru was aiming for in condensing mithrun's backstory, and also because until chapter 94, mithrun wasn't willing to admit to the true nature of his desires.

but because romantic envy is both classic and digestible, it probably isn’t a unique enough or complicated enough desire to tempt a demon’s appetite. mithrun’s wish, as far as we can figure from kabru’s reduced retelling, was to have a life in which he had never become one of the canaries, and that carries like 3857 implications and desires within it. that’s delicious. his love interest acts as sort of a red herring to his motivation for making it, though. (side note: i'm saying "love interest" here because, keeping in mind that i barely speak japanese on a good day anymore, "想い人" is something i'd usually take as just kind of an old-fashioned and romantic way to refer to a lover, but in context i wonder if both the connotation of yearning and the vagueness are intentional, and i think this phrasing gets those aspects of it more effectively. anyway.)

mithrun considered his love interest to be untrustworthy. there was a minute where i thought that comment might be about a similar-looking elf (yugin, one of his squad members), but comparing the two…

the "sketchy" arrow is definitely referring to the elf we know as his love interest—the bangs go toward her right, she only has the one forehead ornament, and, most notably, her ears aren't notched.

every time she’s given a full-body depiction in his dungeon, she’s drawn as a chimera, with the body of a snake from the waist down. (side note: the “what if a dungeon has chimeras before reaching level 4?”/“then the dungeon lord is unstable” exchange just being mithrun grilling his past self alive is so funny. he’s so. but anyway) there are a couple things about this.

first, the snake part of the chimera appears to be modeled after some species of coral snake mimic

which, in the biology-for-fun manga, i… doubt is a coincidence, especially with the added context of the “untrustworthy” comment. the dungeon’s conjured illusion of mithrun’s love interest was a harmless copycat of a venomous original. for whatever reason, he felt this person was a threat and made up a "safe" version of her to be in a relationship with, and while it’s definitely possible to be attracted to or even love someone you find to be toxic and/or intimidating, when you take that into consideration alongside the configuration of her body, you get some interesting implications.

which brings us to our second point: if we assume that mithrun was not in fact fucking a snake, then sexual attraction, at least, was so far removed from his idea of a relationship with this person that he did not even bother to keep her dungeon copy human enough to maintain the illusion of the option of a sexual relationship. this is somewhat echoed in the depictions of their interactions, which also imply a frankly unexpected romantic distance. she kisses his cheek and he doesn't seem to react; she's at the edge of a narrow bed with only one set of pillows, on top of his blankets while he's underneath them.

the kiss is particularly interesting because it seems to contrast the text. kabru's narration tells us this was everything mithrun could have asked for, but mithrun is there looking unreadable to pensive, likely because this is right before the panel that makes it clear things in the dungeon are beginning to go wrong.

walking through this backwards for a minute, we have the physical barrier of his bedding and the spatial separation inherent in a bed made for one person, the emotional barrier of his mounting anxiety getting in the way of his ability to enjoy the affection he sought, and... the snake, which historically carries the connotation of temptation, yes, but also mistrust, barring physical intimacy. okay. ok. if a dungeon reflects the mentality of its lord, all of this might suggest that mithrun was not able to have any real desire for a relationship with this person. his unwillingness to be vulnerable or let another person in was insurmountable. but in that case, why was she such a focal point that she remained to the end, after his dungeon had stopped creating iterations of his friends to come and visit him? why would he get so upset over her meeting with his brother that he became lord of a dungeon about it?

well. mithrun's brother was also interested in her, probably genuinely. and mithrun had to win.

you have an older brother who your parents completely ignore, probably in part because he is chronically ill/disabled and almost definitely in part because he received a ton of recessive traits that resulted in rumors that he was an illegitimate child. you are aware, most likely because those same parents fucking told you, that you actually are an illegitimate child. but they keep you around because you had the good fortune of looking just like your mother. what can that possibly teach you but that you, like your brother, are disposable?

it's utterly unsurprising that mithrun, under these circumstances, developed a pathological need to be better than everyone around him. people don't keep you otherwise. i'd argue this is also why he says he looked down on everyone he knew while milsiril claims his dungeon reeked of feelings of inferiority—he sought out people's worst traits and prioritized them in his mind to protect his already extremely fragile sense of self-worth, and all the while he tried to be as likable and high-performing as he possibly could be. his parents disposed of him anyway, but even then he tried to keep up the performance. he was kind to everyone. he never once lost to a dungeon.

when he saw his "love interest" meeting up with his brother, what he saw was himself being replaced by a person his parents had always treated as worthless, and if that was what they thought of the child they'd kept, what value could anyone possibly see in the bastard they'd given away to die? mithrun and kabru tell the story like he wanted to win this unnamed elf's heart, but it was never about being with her. it was about cementing his worth, proving that he didn't deserve to be thrown away.

and so it's particularly cruel that his demon discarded him, too. but maybe it's also particularly gentle that, in the end, there was someone who refused to even consider giving up on him.

kui laid it out in three panels better than i could hope to.

yeah. it's love. you wanted to be loved, even when the only way you were able to understand it was through the desire to be wanted, and you wanted that so badly that the idea of being consumed felt like the promise of finally mattering to someone.

[ozlices]

another super insulting part of the watcher situation i haven't rly seen ppl addressing much

ryan deadass saying smth like "nobody else on youtube has made tv quality content"

like... i really feel like it's important to highlight that bc not only do they obviously have no respect for their audience, but that statement shows they have no respect for their peers in the industry, either.

not to mention it is a shining example of bleeding arrogance to such a high degree, you will straight up fucking lie bc you're truly convinced you're that special when you're anything but.

there's been NUMEROUS online creators who were recognized by entertainment industry workers BECAUSE they made tv quality content & even full stop blockbuster quality content.

bo burnham started on youtube & is now one of the most wellknown & loved standup comedians of our generation, with numerous netflix specials & even a movie he wrote & directed under his belt.

the try guys, fellow ex-buzzfeed employees, had their own tv specials on food network (based off their youtube shows, btw) & a documentary made about them as well

rosanna pansino has also been on numerous food network shows both as a host & a judge

quinta brunsun, another fellow ex-buzzfeed employee, went on to create her own whole ass sitcom that has been highly praised

matpat cameo'd in the fnaf movie because of his theories & multiple other fnaf creators had small cameos through the employee of the month board easter egg

markiplier made multiple high-quality shows on youtube & is now working on a highly anticipated movie (he was also planned to cameo in the fnaf movie but couldn't due to conflicting schedules with his own movie)

hot ones got their own tv gameshow due to their popularity & they are still one of the most wellknown, beloved & respected internet shows

many short films made on youtube went on to premiere at film festivals & even in theaters

the hit horror film "talk to me" was created by youtubers rackaracka

webseries of actual fucking tv shows have also existed for literal decades

the list goes on.

to seriously think that overproduced bullshit is all you need to make "tv quality content" is not only tone-deaf, but shows they do not even know what they're talking about. many tv shows & huge blockbuster movies are made with absolutely microscopic budgets & small teams, & they still get praised & awarded for the passion, dedication, & creativity that shined brightly under those restrictions.

the blair witch project is probably the most wellknown & highly praised example of this, but it is far from the Only example

it is a whole other slap in the face, again ESPECIALLY when puppet history is one of their most popular shows, to spit in the face of internet history. to see the success of their predecessors, even ppl they fucking worked with at buzzfeed, & deny them of all their success & efforts to get where they ended up.

no, y'all are not the first people to make "tv quality content" on the internet. FAR from it. because your crap isn't even genuine "tv quality".

but you are the first ones to ever disrespect not only your audience, but your own fucking industry & your peers on this level.

& you are the first & i sorely hope the only fuckwads dumb enough to pull a stunt this fucking stupid, out of touch & utterly tone deaf.

[doctorguilty]

bruh people ID'd the estrolabs person it's a known neo-nazi

People figured it out by matching domain registry stuff and the fact that his name was connected to the paypal account being used on his site

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[andthebeanstalk]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[tubbytarchia]

so ranchers huh

[charmixpower]

I'm sure we've all seen @/4kidstv's power swap post, with the context of magic Winx coming back

So I was thinking about s4, and the tragedy that is Believix (despite how good it looks) and how nonsensical it is (how the fuck can it harm the Wizards?? Like seriously, shouldn't they be able to absorb these attacks too?? This is before most of the world believes in the Winx, so it can be because the Wizards are some how weakening due to belief, however the fuck that works—)

Anyways, I'm sure you all know how little sense the Wizards of the Black Circle's powers make, so I won't talk your ear off about how Believix is confusing

But the idea of Fairy Hunters being able to fuck with a Faries powers is goddamn amazing!! But the writers accidentally wrote themselves into a corner with the passive ablity of magic absorption, which makes all spells useless before making Believix into a deux ex machina without properly explaining why Believix works and Enchantix doesn't (except to spend the whole season dissing my girl Enchantix)

The context I just set up speaks for itself, right? We know where I'm going with this, yeah?

The Wizards of the Black Circle's powers! Except it's like the magical version of body horror

The Fairy hunter's abilities come down to magical enegry manipulation. They can absorb a fairy's power and send it back to them when they concentrate (it's not a passive ablity like in the show), they can switch around people's powers if they trap them in a magical spell circle (essentially switching out the girls magical core's), reflector spells are they're bread and butter, and they're their one of like 2~5 known groups actually able to steal someone's powers permanently (I say someone like the person they're stealing from is still alive, that is not the case)

This both makes them very good at their thing of hunting magical users as all their powers are specifically based around fucking up a magic users, makes the guys useful one last time before higher levels renders them completely meaningless as the Wizards arnt specialized to handle guys with swords lmao. Like they have attack spells, and I really need to iron out a lot of things this whole post is just ideas in a rambly mess, but this isn't their area so they fumble a bit

This is ALL because I remembered how they have Mitzi powers??? Where the FUCK did they get that from? They're not faries so how did they make Faries? Simple, they have the ability to manipulate magic and magical core's so they just shoved the power of Magic into Mitzi

The Dark Fairies are low magical people with the magical cores of dead faries inserted in their body (which is not safe mind you). Plus it gives a reason for a name as cool as Disenchantix to have something genuinely horrifying and badass attached to it. Mitzi the Disenchantix fairy of Mirrors, for example. That magical core was ripped out of the actual fairy of Mirrors

(Disenchantix was such a let down, plus it would of been so much more fun of Valtor gave the Trix a new transformation based on the magical things he had stolen. Like the Trix empowered by the spell of the elements, that would fuck!!)

So Disenchantix would be from an Enchantix fairy, Disbelieveix would be from a Believix fairy, ect. It's like the normal fairy forms, made of real fairy magic, but twisted and wrong. The Disenchantix forms would look like Enchantix, but like with shorter gloves or arm warmers. They sandals wrap all the way up their legs or only cover part of the foot. It's like the uncanny valley of the magical forms

This comes with the draw back that the Wizards cannot attack directly because that's not how their magic work, in good news for them they own magical artifacts....artifacts that can be broken 👀👀 or stolen 👀👀

Or on the other hand they can use the magic they stole to augment themselves, giving themselves the ability to shape shift....run fast....sound waves...what the fuck does Ogron do again??

It's impossible to actually steal a living person's magic because their magical core will produce new magic, so swapping the base enegry of the magical core's is as close as they can get while still handy caping the winx

Plus it would give a reason they need Sophix and Lovix, they're pretty weak right now and are really wanting for a power boost before they get their asses kicked. I'm imagining it being given by Diana and Aurora instead of the hand out faries tho. After convincing the vengeance faries to maybe not attack the humans, the Winx are allowed to connect with the external magical cores the Major fairies keep around

(they're three types of magical cores 1 The one that people have inside their bodies ala inner fire alta, 2 planets magical cores aka the second Sun of Solaria and that stuff that Valtor keep stealing magic from, 3 relative ones like Cloud Tower's heart. This is an example of the third type)

Maybe Nebula has on too and each pair of girls gets to vibe with one of these transformations while they fight the Wizards, cheating to reach higher powers while everything is wrong

Once the Wizards are defeated they spell is reversed automatically

Bonus! They're at the same level as Roxy during this season!!! Which could make the Bloom+Roxy arc so much more interesting

And it would make the Fairy Hunters that much more intimidating without trying to pretend that they're magically stronger than Valtor (who is implied to actually have destroyed some planets). They're just smart and creative. They're strength isn't in raw power like Valtor's is, it's in knowing their enemy like the back of their hand and using their magic in creative ways

Make them less like in canon where they just beat the shit out of people and win, and more like actual hunters. Specifically ambush and endurance predators. They collect information before they attack (which means that they give a lot of down time in the season for the vengeance faries while they plan and stalk lol)

Also!! I know I cut Wizards from my rewrite but I'm bringing the word back but in a new context. Wizards are defined as people who can use both witch and fairy magic. I define fairy magic kinda like alta fire bending, and witch magic like the other kinds. Fairy's make their internal magic external, while witches manipulate external magic (Faries can manipulate whatever their the fairy of but that's because it connects to their internal magic, like a fire bender bending pre-existing fire). Haven't decided if they can be born naturally like that or if you have to commit several drastic human rights and ethics violation to aquire that kind of power (to let Valtor's and the Wizards fucked upness speak for itself), but I like it

Ok, I think I've rambled about everything relevant. Thank you for listening to me scream about this idea

[ink-the-artist]

Rabbits

Some bonus art, I initially started making this in a totally different art style but changed my mind about halfway through lmao, here are the parts I finished

[bigfatbreak]

I'm sitting very politely and asking if it would be possible to see Adrien akumatised by Viceroy. Even if you don't want to, letting you know I'm insane about all your AUs (and your art in general, alien behaviour Shadow was so cool), you do such amazing work and I am completely normal about it

(Caspases' concept art beloooow)

[winter-seance]

Most of David Tennant's Filmography, 1988-2023