#its just a silly comic she does not need to be perfect

[dirtmossart]

This lesbian was so direct with me I will never forget it

Click for higher quality

[fleouriarts]

sketchbook duuuuump :3 nothing to do in this town AND my stylus isn't working its a perfect storm for filling this thang up

descriptions and such below

feel like the fursona ones are self explanatory. the rileys are basically all inspired by this person's compilations... if you havent seen the clip that the bottom corner drawing is from please do yourself a favor

this was all development shit for the zakharovs who i posted last week. sergei is igor's former childhood friend who i have not come up with much about yet... all i know is he is also a fashion designer (who makes winter clothes specifically) and he has an illegitimate son named nikolai who is an arctic fox (and who i have not drawn yet)

omg okay so if anyone remembers my last sketchbook dump i introduced this character andre in there (and her name was andres but i changed it to andre bc i like it more for whatever reason). anyway ive been drawing him OBSESSIVELYYYYY and have decided that him and null get together at some point after argyle and jamie make up (i desperately need to make a jamie and co timeline post)... but it lasts like one semester and thats it. andre is too vain and too know-it-all for null's tastes even though shes like super hot and nice otherwise. anyway this is just a bunch of drawings of him. i really like how the one of him in my INSANE hat turned out

santiago and null's joint slay... both of them LOVE to gossip with each other and its instrumental to how jamie and argyle make up (will go into detail when i finally figure out all the actual events of that). also andre and null on a hike bc andre is a biology major. i actually drew that while i was on a hike in red rock canyon heres proof

5. mostly just scribbling trying to get better at drawing santiago including more of him and null and his prime Jamie Comforting Tactic of just letting him chill between his wool and sweater. also two drawings of jamie just 4 fun i draw him and his stupid big eyes whenever im out of ideas

6. idk this is just silly stuff. i draw johnny manhandling jamie a lot and i promise you jamie LOVES being treated like a stuffed animal he thinks its SO FUN to be spun around and wiggled and shit. ferret adjacent. him and johnny have been friends since they were in like elementary school because of this. btw santiago does not usually look like that (only having wool on his head) he just has to shear his wool in the summer because having full wool in the flurrida heat is AWFUL

7. comic i drew at the laundromat LOL. takes place either shortly before OR shortly after andre and null get together. johnny mostly hates andre for being with null (shes jealous) (she wants null all to herself even though shes super noncommittal) (johnny get your shit together) BUT ALSO andre being kinda pretentious makes her want to chokeslam him. andre is talking about bird farming specifically because johnny's family are chicken farmers... ive had a lore post about everyone's families in my drafts for months but i cant finish it til my stylus is fixed TT

8. more nonsense. top left corner is a continuation of johnny being a hater. bottom drawings are just mindless jamie doodles. top right is argyle and jamie during their relationship, i cant decide if jamie had REALLY short hair during it or hair like this that's basically just his current hair without the yellow dye and tiny ponytail. whatever

[ewingstan]

Halloween and cringetober may be behind us, yet I remain, coughing this up onto your back porch. Alec Lisa and Aisha were the only ones who enjoyed the costume party. Individuals and costume explanations below the cut:

Aisha and Brian: Power and Aki Hayakawa Chainsaw Man

This one goes out to the nine-year old I work with who wore a Denji costume for the school Halloween parade. Shoutout to you guy I don't know how you're allowed to watch that its the blood and sexual fantasies show.

I feel like miss suiciding-baiting-people-on-4chan would like Power. Aki works for Brian as they carry the "supposedly normal responsible one of their batshit group who very clearly has something wrong with him" niche of their series.

I feel like CSM is something that Brian and Alec would put on in the background when they were hanging out together. It's not really either of their thing, but it good pizza night fodder. Brian freaks out when Aisha mentions watching it.

Brian agreed to be Aki after he learned he could just wear a suit instead of making a real costume. Brian obviously likes objectively ridiculous costumes but it has to be something strained through 5 layers of machismo and a 17-year-old's idea of professionalism. He'll dress like something that gets painted onto a van but if there's too much whimsy or fun he'll start to freak. So halloween costumes would be weird for him. Aki just wearing a suit and a sword seemed like a good solution for this right up until the point where he had to explain what it was. Its from, hm, y'know, uhhhh this anime that my sister likes I'm just here to match with her.

Whenever he pulls the "I'm just in costume for my sister" thing Aisha makes everyone forget she exists. No escaping the weeb allegations for you Brian.

Taylor and Lisa: Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Don't know if I need to explain this one, Worm/Madoka comparisons are almost cliche at this point

The costumes were Lisa's idea. Obviously.

The costumes were also Lisa's purchases, and enough was spent on them to make a veteran cosplayer weep. Her refusal to die her hair black would also make them weep but for different reasons.

After taking a look at herself Taylor enveloped herself in a particularly dense bug swarm for the whole night.

She eventually retreated to some side-room she found Brian hiding in and chatted with him for the rest of the party. On the condition that he make a darkness cloud for her.

She started choking on a prawn half an hour in after remembering he could see through his darkness clouds.

Rachel and Alec: Jade Harley and Dirk Strider, Homestuck

They are not going as a matching pair. Rachel does not know that she and Alec are wearing costumes from the same comic. She does not know what Homestuck is. This is one of the many ways she's better than us.

Rachel thinks she should've just been able to wear her usual dog mask for this party. Its a costume. What do you mean it doesn't count.

And why is her usual mask not enough, but the dog ears Cassie was really excited to loan her are fine? Aren't ears less costume than a full mask?

Admittedly apart from the pseudo-mind-control Alec and Dirk don't have a lot in common. Alec probably thinks he's more like Dirk than he actually is.

Dirk is if the concept of being in your own head was a guy, nay several guys, while Alec literally has to outsource getting in touch with his emotions to other bodies. Honestly the closest worm character to Dirk would probably be Krouse, considering the whole "chessmaster-manipulator who puts everything on himself and overmanages all his relationships while self-identifying as the person who can handle being the bad guy" thing, which Alec doesn't have going on at all. However:

It let me put Alec in a silly little fancylad outfit.

(Also they're both SB&HJ fans, so honestly I think its the perfect choice).

[baudelairebizarre]

why the "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" movie didn't work

If you are a fan of the movie pease don’t take offence. In fact, I have a selection of compliments for it. on the other hand, if you don't like the movie, I hope you understand my few praises. in the end, I hope that fans or haters will take my points as they are, opinions.

spoilers ahead

Cast

Some of the biggest highlights is Meryl Streep and Billy Connolly. Connolly’s Monty was warm, filling me with hope for the short amount of time we saw him. Streep does amazing as usual, delivering each line with the perfect amount of fear and justification, even sounding as if she often gave kids too villains on the daily.

Jude law is fine, narrating the movie in the role of Lemony Snicket, just as he does in the books, he often appears to add suspense with his jammed typewriter. Never seeing his face, the mysterious atmosphere of unsolved questions is added to by a foggy figure. Mr. Poe, played by Timothy Spell, does a fine job. Only appearing at the beginning and end of each time they spend with their guardian, he does the best he can with the time he’s given.

As for the children, Emily browning is by far the best. However, Sunny steals the show. Her quick quips and funny jokes can bring a small light to the miserable tale. Klaus is good, no complaints or major compliments.

One of my major issues with the movie is Jim Carrey’s performance. Yes, count Olaf is extravagant, Carey takes it to a whole other level. The flamboyant performance adds a comical Layer to the character which isn’t needed. He makes an idiot out of a rather smart individual, not many people could get away with such a plot, and Carreys Olaf definitely couldn’t. In no way is he believable and would not be able to get away with such plot.

Olaf as a character is funny, his silly costumes, the accents, the ideas, even the people he surrounds himself with. He is meant to be played by someone who is enjoying themselves. For me, Jim Carey is not having fun, he just wants to seem like he is.

Costumes/sets

One thing about this movie I can praise is the sets. Each distinctive location is given a distinctive colour palette, letting certain colours pop against the overall gloom of the story. The buildings are all marvellously done, the warm yellow hues surrounding montgomerys home and outfits contrasts the cold tones of Josephines house. Count Olafs house is dark, dirty and I believe they could’ve gone further with it. It looks messy, but clean and organised messy. As if he meticulously placed each item to look chaotic.

The 40s/50s Americana sketches from the book are turned upside down for this gothic, victorian aesthetic they decided on. Not that I’m against this change, I just find it interesting. As the books never specified when they are set, they are up for interpretation. The dark glow of the costumes add to a miserable feeling of dread. One costume change I did not like was them not giving Klaus glasses. His whole schtick was the fact that he read so much he needed glasses. Not to mention that the fourth book revolves around him wearing glasses, further proving that they never intended to adapt any more of the story. Also violets hair was a whole choice.

Why it was never going to work

Shoving three movies into one would never give the satisfaction that the books or show does. Around half an hour per guardian, the bond is never formed deep enough to make the falling apart have such impact. Moving the wedding to the end caused a dragging pace with having to add a whole other scene where they almost get hit by a train. Making Olaf get punished pushes even further that a sequel was never in consideration, also showing absolute cluelessness to what makes the books so good. The fact that he never gets punished adds to it individuality and its charm. The movie makers clearly didn’t understand it and that’s what makes it so disappointing.

[larsisfrommars]

Wild Wild Reviews

The Night Of The Deadly Bed

Overall Score

Story: 4/5

Dame: 4.5/5

Villain: 4/5

Gadgets: 5/5

Disguises: 4/5

Bonus Points: Gay Subtext: 2.5/5

The Yikes Dated Factor: 0/-5

Score: 25/25

Tier: S (100%)

Previous Review • Next Review

FULL REVIEW UNDER THE CUT

The Story

This episode is up there as far as quality, it almost feels as though THIS should’ve been the pilot as opposed to TNOT Inferno. It’s finally got all of its limbs (meaning Artemus has his proper characterization which is what was missing in the pilot) and doesn’t have the same racist trappings as the previous installation. All the major elements pay off, the mystery isn’t sloppy, the villain and lady of the week are well written. The biggest drawback is that stupid unnecessarily complex death trap that gave the episode its name. Why does the hotel even have that?!Why didn’t Jim get sedated enough for that to even be an issue?! It’s so dumb that it borders on Batman series levels of comically avoidable. It’s just not quite a 5, gotta reserve that for the best of the best.

The Dame

Our lady of the week is Barbara Luna! Whom I know as Marlena from the Star Trek TOS episode Mirror Mirror!

Say it with my y’all, I. Love. Gatita!! She’s so awesome and one of the best female characters this show has ever had. Which is WILD cuz we’re like 2 episodes in and there’s a 102 more. She’s intelligent and brave, she’s got her own personality and motivations. She is working for the baddie to protect her people who’ve been enslaved by him. She even fights back in her own way by giving his girlfriend food when he’s trying to starve her, not to mention attacking one of the guards! The relationship she develops with Jim feels genuine and relatively well developed. The only reason she’s not getting a perfect 5 is because she gets treated and written as “exotic” in the first half of the episode but that’s not a fault of her as a character.

The Villain

Our villain of the week is played by JD Connor!

What a great and hateable villain, he is cruel to women and minorities, he’s got an overdeveloped sense of class, and he’s got delusions of grandeur. Also he’s idea of a train killing train to take over the US with is extremely unhinged and silly which is exactly what we need in our Wild Wild West villains. He’s not perfect though. He lacks a certain uniqueness that would have him stand out amongst other egotistical traitors and invading powers that frequently pop up in this show.

The Gadgets

They knocked it out of the park again with the gadgets this episode. Particularly the explosive coal which was such a fun Chekov’s Gun this episode, with satisfying high stakes pay off. We also see our good friend knock out gas featured, and the first but not the last instance of Artie accidentally getting KOed by his own invention lol. The ring was also a neat gimmick and I’m kinda disappointed we don’t really get to see it again.

The Disguise

Artemus’s disguise in this episode was fun, well thought out, and useful. He successfully infiltrated the labor camp where Jim and Gatita’s village were being held. He used it (and a drunken rendition of one of my fav Spanish folk songs “Malagueña Salerosa”) to rescue Jim, and he also exploited it as means to start a revolt while Jim planted the bombs! The only reason it’s not a 5 out of 5 is because he didn’t really do a specific character, he was just trying to blend in which isn’t as insane or enjoyable as his more fleshed out personas.

The Gay Subtext

(Don’t ship it? Skip it!)

A joke could be made about Artemus giving Jim a specially made ring and to “wear it in good health”. There’s also a moment where Gatita feels like she could be making a joke about Jim being bi when she talks about “looking for a girl, now you’re looking for a man” which I think is hilarious even if it wasn’t intentional. Then of course we have our regularly scheduled story beats of Artemus looking like the world just fell out from under him when he thinks Jim is dead, and looking bitter (or dare say jealous) and exasperated when Jim makes out with the woman of the week at the end of the episode.

The Yikes Dated Factor

When I put yikes dated at 0 that does NOT mean there was nothing problematic in the episode. However there was very little that was straight up cringeworthy that made me embarrassed on behalf of white people or made me wanna turn the episode off. There were microaggressions and casual nationalism for sure, but no shoe polish or wildly inappropriate caricatures. For the time this show was made it was very respectful and for that I will give this episode props!

[this-thing-saved-me]

This Show Saved Me - BTVS 7x22

7x22 Chosen

I will never not find it funny that to stream Buffy I have to go to Disney+. Or the fact that the most recent episode I’d watched (whenever that was) was this one. Since I’m pretty sure I left my rewatch mid-season 3.

But that’s the thing about this particular episode. It’s practically a perfect finale. And felt like the right place to start, because who says everything should happen in order. That’s not always how life works. 

THERE WILL LIKELY BE ABUNDANT SPOILERS FOR A FINALE THAT AIRED OVER TWENTY YEARS AGO. There, that was your warning. And now for some Cole's notes “Story so far.”

Okay, so Buffy’s been through it by this point. The First has annihilated her self-confidence and Caleb has been on the warpath. Spike has told her she’s the one (!!!), whether she fully believes in herself yet or not. (SIDENOTE: yes, I ship Spuffy. Yes, there are very, very valid reasons not to. However I am a big fan of redemption arcs and where they land by the end of the comics feels like as healthy a place as possible with a very real love.)

And Angel shows up trying to be all tall-dark and forehead. Which I get, he’s Angel, he needs to be in the finale. But ultimately he's a delivery boy and he didn’t need to do it in person other than to prompt the first on my list of loves for this episode. 

Which is what I lovingly refer to as the "Cookie Speech." Buffy knows she has more growing to do and she’s self-aware enough to share that with the first love of her life. She’s come a long way from the season of post-resurrection depression, but she’s still not quite ready for what Angel might like her to be (granted he’s JUST lost Cordelia so the fact that he is back at Buffy’s door is a rant for another post.) The idea that things aren’t working for her romantically because she’s not done baking. She hasn’t figured out all that she wants to be. While I love love LOVE this analogy, I wonder if there’s ever really a time in our lives where we are done baking? Besides the end of course. We’re supposed to evolve. We’re supposed to grow.

Spike is her Champion, not Angel. They’ve seen the best and the worst of each other, remember? He knows she needs someone strong, someone with a soul, and despite the bad, she knows he’s earned the right to the title through growing and atoning. Motivated people can change, and that’s something I believe that Spike has shown.

“He had to split” - the joke is LHF and I love it. Does its utterance deserve a place on this list? Yes. Because it's very me-coded. I’d have a very hard time not making the same joke if I had just rendered a man from stem to stern. But I digress. This episode is serious and still silly. It’s the epitome of BTVS episodes. I mean Spike waking from a dream yelling “I’m drowning in Cool Whip,” come on. It’s akin to “the cheese wears me” in off kilter nonsense. Plus Anya later finding her strength in her hatred for "floppy, hoppy bunnies" will never not kill me. (Or her, again spoiler.) I adore Emma Caufield.

Willow is afraid to use magic because of her history with the darkness. Not knowing if she’s stable enough. I can identify with her at this moment after clawing back from my own mental health blip a couple years ago. She went dark. (I went, arguably, nuts) She’s regained her balance but how secure? It’s going to turn out to be really secure because “Oh my goddess” she’s got this. AND…

The fact that Kennedy is there for Willow to help keep her grounded. Her very presence supports Willow but isn’t the deciding factor for victory. Willow needs to believe in herself that she won’t go back over that edge. She touched the darkness and it freaked her the f out. (Once she came back down from the overwhelm and shock of her grief.) I lived in that fear for a long time. And I’m grateful for the grounding I’ve found outside of the support of others, but within myself.

Just for fun, let’s chat about the DND session. Even the scoobies needed to disassociate before the big thing. And self-permission to have fun during challenging times is key. It can’t all be doom and gloom. Sometimes you recharge that nervous energy through Trogdor the Burninator references and that’s more than okay.

Ultimately we have the’ shared power’ speech. “Here’s the part where you make a choice” more specifically. Because they could easily choose to let the First and its legions overwhelm the world and finally be the apocalypse they couldn’t handle. It’s easier to stay down. It’s easier to say I can’t. But where does that get you? Making that choice to take your power back and say I am more than what wants to overwhelm me is a beautiful moment. This moment, where all the Potentials get their piece of the power pie is tremendously moving. I get shivers just thinking about it. Male or female, we don’t need the permission of Slayer power to take back our own. To say ‘no more’ and get back up off the ground. (Although Slayer strength would be badass, let’s be real.)

The bottom line, this episode epitomises what I love about Buffy and the Whedon-verse. Real characters in a fantastic world who battle larger than life caricatures of the demons we fight in our daily lives. This show saved me in a lot of ways. My very first boyfriend got me to watch it back in 2005, which he may have regretted as it CONSUMED my brain for most of grade 12. It was the perfect time for me to experience this show. I credit it for helping me find my voice offline. I was always a nose-in-a-book girl or heavily distracted with FanFiction. I was one of the quietest in my friend group, not really feeling like there was a value to what I had to say. The message that we can choose to be strong and fight back? That’s one that I’ll eternally be grateful for and will carry with me, always. What’s your favourite episode? And why is it “Once More With Feeling”? ;)

(Honourable mention goes to this eye contact where my headcanon is convinced he sees she really does love him despite him telling her otherwise seconds before. THOSE SMG EYES! I can't.)

[stellarunimoon]

im so scared right now. this is the first time ive posted on here in a WHILE so my artstyle is :skull: completely different. i plan on revamping this whole uhh profile. ill still keep up the artwork though so my growth can be visible :- )

so this is a part of my blue diamond au i was doodling. i dont plan on making any comics or anything just some little silly pictures cause i like that kind of thing.

so i kind of felt like keeping all their previous personalities, i dont like when they take after the one that they were replacing, but thats just a personal preference. im just gonna infodump lmao

yellow - since shes more of an easily aggrivated one and has a superiority complex, i thought instead of controlling gems like white does, she could paralyze them, so the finale keeps its effect while still being in character. her pearl is still the same, likely a different outfit or form though, i havent decided yet.

pink - she's still childish and tempermental, but it's more forgiven due to her rank, and it's less because of her responsibilities. her old pearl, pink pearl, was still given to white, however white also already had a pearl. she just has two now. ( it is not our regular pearl, its a new one with a new design ill give. ), she's probably the one who needs them the most, and they will NOT be controlled, pink pearl will just be rejuvinated and given a new form <3 more on that later. our pearl does not exist in this au, or she does, i guess, but since our pearl is just the "default" settings, i feel like THIS pink would give her a form that actually matches her, and due to the different style of her being raised, she felt less remorse for damaging pink pearl. still remorse, just less so due to her desensitization and her having to shatter gems with her role.

white - this was mentioned in the artwork but my handwriting is sloppy so ill repeat it. she controls all the gems in her court, because she wants perfection. this includes the gems of different colors, for example.. our peridot, our peridot WILL be a different gem, and she'll probably be a light pink naturally, white when controlled. during future all of whites court will be freed. these gems are controlled from screens, like the ones in yellows room in SU:F. most of her gems remain idle until necessary, but her pearls would assist her in controlling them because. That's a lotta work. she likely has a lot of different gadgets to figure this out cause, yeah, the gempire is big but . . i made this up like an hour ago so cut me some slack.

blue - blue will still be emotional, and that's likely a causation of her rebellion. her pearl is the same as hers in the canon, she did not hit her like pink did. their relationship is still toxic, and like rose in canon, she was trying to change. she just failed. while pink affected the gems because she didn't realize the power she held, and never finished what she started ( spinel being abandoned... she's a little freak for that honestly. also commanding pearl to stay silent, (i don't think that was intentional, i think she just felt like it was a normal request, and didn't realize how much power she still held. that could be debated though cause "for my last order to you as a diamond"..) i think blue affected them emotionally. guilt tripping, self pity, and 2-D thinking. blue was probably more prone to shattering, but would also be very hypocritical. she could not see from the rebel gems perspective EVEN THOUGh she's trying to recruit them. to her, she just wants to win.

anyways that was what i was thinking lmao i kinda just made this up #Sorry

i only drew banded white agate because i did "random steven universe character generator" and it was like "holly blue agate" and i was like Yea Sure im down.

thanks for listening if you did. if not i dont really care i mighjt just add do this IDK WHAT IM DOING!!! this is probably just gonna be a doodle account for my different fixations. (except saw i dont like drawing real people. yet.)

[centrally-unplanned]

I recently re-read Lost at Sea, the first truly-published work of Bryan Lee O’Malley (author of Scott Pilgrim), which is one of my favourite short-form comics. It's a re-read inspired by all my FLCL work; I commented before about the ways in which our main girl Raleigh is a distaff-Mamimi. I definitely still see it; she is what I am now referring to as a “Sadamoto Poet Girl”, those people who express their feelings in waves of metaphors they never truly clarify:

It helps that Raleigh is a teenager; it makes sure that any risk she might have of becoming pretentious is buried by how pathetically lost she is. She also may not be rocking any of the emo drip of the time but she has full depression vibes where it counts:

That mask you're wearing is bleeding black from overuse, frikkin hardcore Raleigh. This is definitely a teen angst book but I am highlighting the peaks here, a bunch of its silly chatter with her new roadtrip friends. She isn’t haughtily looking down on a world she knows is useless; she just has no clue, yet, how to make it useful. A key trait for the Sadamoto Poet Girl; their ambiguity of expression is how they cope with the ambiguity of how to relate to their own existence.

Which I think is what makes them work, both for me and in general; the actual ‘plot’ of Lost at Sea is that Raleigh has just meet up with her online older boyfriend for the first time, it went amazingly, and then he (probably) broke up with her and she has no clue how to deal. That is very concrete, and could be very basic - but by making the entirety of Raleigh’s emotional spectrum abstract and confused, the singular plot event becomes a drop in the ocean of her generalized ennui. This is a short story, and to make an impact it needs to be efficient in its expression. Abstraction is, ironically, very good at that; with no singular concrete meaning an abstract idea can hold a dozen simultaneously. Raleigh feels very real in a few short pages due to how much ground her in-her-head narration covers, without it being didactic.

Beyond being a proto-Mamami, though, what I was struck by was how similar she is to another Ash-favourite: Mara from Perfect Tides, a visual novel by webcomic artist turned game developer Meredith Gran (that, coincidentally, Bryan Lee O’Malley playtested as they are comic-artist friends). To start, how terminally online Raleigh is did not sink in for me the first time reading this, which is Mara’s defining trait in Perfect Tides; it's not as big in Lost at Sea, but her estrangement from her physical reality due to the superiority of the virtual is readily apparent. There are these two scenes in both stories that hit directly on that beat (“this place” being their writing forum in PT):

They share other traits too - both of them, being women online in the 2000’s, are fiction writers, and being fiction writing alt girls they both live incredibly in their own heads. I have talked already about how Raleigh does that; Mara has this great way of having an idealized version of *everything* that could be that she constantly holds reality up to. There is this moment in PT where Mara smokes a cigarette for the first time, and is shocked to find it is not an effortless habit:

The author in her playthrough cackles during this scene, and describes it as “some real foreshadowing”, and it absolutely is - Mara can never glimpse reality cleanly because her abstractions about reality constantly interfere. Raleigh is more self-aware, but equally cursed by her own hallucinations.

They also just cannot handle the few moments they break through their walls of awkwardness and socially “succeed”:

Mara hilariously abandons the entirety of her emo identity and thinks she has finally Found Her Tribe until the next time some inanity triggers her spiraling self-doubt, while Raleigh is mature enough to know it's not gonna last; but they both experience the same assault from the idea of social acceptance. They are both downstream of their anxieties, if that makes sense - they build castles of rationalizations in their heads in order to defend against the emotions that beset them from elsewhere. Its why the “poet girl” vibes work - they are (generally desperate) attempts at self-understanding as much as self-expression.

I enjoy typologies, and all of this is me saying that within these characters I see a type, and I see causal linkages to the context of said type. The way a girl in the 2000’s would build an identity out of forum posts and metaphors, because society ~sucks~ but she can build an alternative online, in writing, in her head, a place for the alts and weirdos. But the very limitations that attracted those weirdos in the first place also snap back to prevent that new world from being a full substitute. Reality always wins. That identity exists today, for sure, but there is something of the time and place, of the era, that cohered this identity with a specificity I see in stories (or even people) that capture it. It's structural, and the structure has changed. In things like FLCL I see it, but you see the differences too - how the structures of Japan & the US (and Canada, Raleigh represent) intersect and how they don’t. My kind of gap moe, I guess.

Though, side note: something Raleigh and Mara do not share is that Raleigh, typical for an alt-indie 2000’s teen girl protagonist, is effortlessly pretty:

I will credit the comic, ‘effortlessly’ is overselling it - another of the petty normalities that breaks through her emo shell is how she has favorite dresses and brought them to look hot for her boyfriend. Still, the 2000’s era reeks through here; audiences wanted hot leads, even indie audiences. Mara meanwhile is a full 2020’s girl in her squat, pallid normality; the relatability privileged over the aspirational. Her story may take place in the year 2000, but it's still written for today.

[sshbpodcast]

Won’t someone think of the children?! A Dal R'El Appreciation Post

By Ames

Okay, I meant to only do a Rok-Tahk appreciation post because a) she’s the best and b) who has the time to write all these blogposts? But I just can’t help myself. The community’s efforts to #SaveStarTrekProdigy have motivated me to keep the posts going, so here’s some more love for Star Trek: Prodigy. These installments probably won’t be as intense as the Rok post, but check out what makes Dal R'El such a great character.

[images © CBS/Paramount… I guess? For now? Yikes.]

Dal starts off as a terrible captain

The great thing about starting off a character with a lot of messed up personality flaws is that there’s that much room for them to grow. Like I said in Rok’s post: Perfect characters are boring. We saw a similar guided development in Julian Bashir in Deep Space Nine; he was downright unlikable early on until his relationships with other characters on the station gave him some foundation and his experience throughout the seasons provided the building blocks to becoming an ethical, respectable, and likable person. We’re seeing the same thing with Dal, whom we first see as a jerk for a lot of the show. He’s selfish. He’s clueless. He sees his crew members as things that do his bidding while he only does what’s best for him. You’re meant to hate his character. And that’s a good thing, because he’s not done cooking.

Dal comes clean to Janeway

One of the first really redeeming moments we see from Dal is when he first comes clean to Janeway about being Starfleet at the top of “Time Amok.” Damn, I just can’t say enough good things about that episode apparently. It provides so many learning moments for the characters, as you can see in spades in Rok’s plot in that episode as well. Dal could have continued the lie that they are cadets, but he’s growing. And out of some combination of frustration, guilt, and finally doing the right thing, he starts thinking of people other than himself. “Time Amok” is the perfect place for that first step in the right direction since it’s when the kids start acting like a crew themselves, way near the midseason break! Baby steps, Dal. He’s getting there.

Dal has inner demons

The longer character arc for Dal over the course of the season is his quest to find out who his people are. Being the only one of his kind is a huge weight for him to bear, and his loneliness guides his character for better or for worse (very frequently for worse, as mentioned above). He feels alone and so it’s fitting for his character to look out for only himself. It’s a long road to discovering his origins in “Masquerade,” an episode which expounds on his character isolation right when he was feeling like he might belong, and turning that character trait on its head by shifting it to his being an abomination. Dal is incredibly fragile, and it’s only through love from his friends that he starts to accept that he doesn’t need a family because he already has one in them. Sure, that’s a cutesy message, but it’s a kid’s show. Duh.

Dal goes fast

Okay, this one’s silly, but considering the whole Star Trek franchise has decided for some reason that all captains need a catchphrase and also a comical little metascene about them creating their catchphrase, Dal’s quote “Go fast” is probably my favorite. Okay, Captain Pike’s “Hit it” is pretty good too and always delivered excellently (that man can say anything and it’ll sound great), but there’s something innocent and sweet about “Go fast.” Dal is almost always out of his element when captaining the Protostar, and shows his naïveté by calling things childish names like the “pew pew button” and the “beamy part,” and it’s all a nice little giggle because he’s a kid. “Go fast” is the sort of silly that’s appropriate for his character, who is faking it until he makes it. And boy does he make it! Go Dal! 

We love you, Dal! We love the other crew members of the Protostar too! We love Star Trek: Prodigy! Check out the other character appreciation posts for Rok-Tahk, Gwyndala, Jankom Pog, and Zero while you’re here. I know I can speak for not only the other hosts here at A Star to Steer Hey By but for myriad other fans when I seriously hope someone picks up this wonder of a show. We’re really looking forward to seeing more from these amazing child characters, and we’re seriously wishing we get that opportunity. #SaveStarTrekProdigy

[isfjmel-phleg]

All right, this is my one (1) gush post that I have been granted permission to do. I will try not to be too annoying about it. I'm going to talk about Young Justice, which is a comic that ran from 1998 to 2003 (not to be confused with an animated series of the same name that is almost nothing like its namesake). I've been rereading it lately after having read some of its characters' solo titles and have been reminded of just how good it is.

The series is about a group of young heroes (about 14-16, but for some of them exact age is...complicated). There's the usual battling villains and saving the world, but ultimately the heart of the ongoing story is how these kids have to navigate being a team and facing their own personal struggles. The tone tends to be light-hearted, and yes, it's frequently very silly and very 1990s and you have to go into this expecting all that. But the humor is well-balanced with more dramatic plotlines, some of which are quite poignant, and the series is unafraid to acknowledge when something is serious and shouldn't be brushed off with a joke. It tackles some surprisingly deep issues: war, mortality, loss of innocence, identity, trust, etc. But the sense of optimism is never lost, and the series ends on a (mostly) joyful note.

What I especially love about this series is the excellent characters. Most of the team are connected to well-known adult heroes, but they are not just smaller versions of their predecessors. They all have distinctive, well-developed personalities and arcs, and this extends even to the four major female characters (there's an equal number of guys and girls in the cast!), who do not exist simply to be love interests. Which is a big deal because this was not the norm in comics of this time, including those in which some of these characters also feature.

There's this scene in #7 in which the newly formed team is on a camping trip, and as they sit around the fire, they try to get to know each other better through a game of Truth or Dare that turns into a discussion of the question, "If you could just be normal, would you quit the superhero game?" And the ensuing conversation sets up the arc for every single character.

One of them would give it up "in a heartbeat" because the only circumstances in which he could do that would be if "mankind had entered utopia." Another, who was forced into heroics by her mother, would "ask my mother's advice...and then do the opposite." Another one declares she would never give up her opportunity to be part of "an epic of heroism and adventure that goes back millennia!" Another already considers himself normal; "it's the rest of the world that's weird." Another, who is a literal ghost, would give anything to be normal and able to connect with other people again. And the last one is vehemently in denial about how his unusual circumstances are actually hurting him.

Which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about where these kids are coming from, and where they're going. The stories are character-driven, and these arcs are followed through on.

I also appreciate that the writer clearly understood all the characters well despite not having created any of them (except for Anita and Slo-bo, later in the series). Their characterizations are consistent with their appearances in other series. And while you don't need to have read the solo comics that were running simultaneously, familiarity with them does enrich the YJ stories and vice versa--everything fits together.

It's a fun and satisfying read, unusually cohesive for a long-running comic due to having the same head writer throughout, and not perfect but an example of a comic from this era at its best potential. If this is your sort of thing, I highly recommend it. And goodness knows I can't say that about just any comic.

[henriettalamb]

A (long) explanation to why I restarted the series

I’ve had a fair share of comments asking why I made the decision to restart the comic series (and for those who don’t know, there was a previous run of the series in 2014 to 2017) and I realize people were very attached to this old version- but there is a simple reason to why I rebooted it: I had to.

In what can be a cautionary tale for young & aspiring creators: I was a teenager and a total novice when I first started the series (it was an ask blog before i switched to full pages!) and I had no real roadmap or plan for where the series would go, and this started to manifest in ways that caused problems for me: not knowing how characters would act, not knowing proper panel placement, and essentially coming up with stuff on the spot, it was not sustainable from a creator standpoint in the long term.

But the other, more real reason to why I restarted it all is because the world changed. And I changed too.

The unfettered and bubbly & silly optimism that I had in those years were no more- starting in 2016 the world was in an increasingly new, dangerous place ranging from unhinged, ultra-nationalist fascism rising in my country and around the world, that hate manifesting into acts of violence against numerous oppressed communities- including my own, and the environment of the world started to get more violent and its future bleak.

And while this sort of hatred rose in many areas of society, I was realizing I was transgender and needed help getting to a place where I wanted to be. With the increasing apparent bleakness of the world compounding any mental issues I already had, I lost the drive to continue moving forward with art and even parts of my life.

When my former outlook of hope ended abruptly, the type of style and humor i put into the old-run of the comic felt utterly alien to what I became, what I was feeling, and I had no clue to how to continue it in a way that was not awkward. Thankfully, I got new meds, I transitioned, I moved out and got a good change of pace- and I finally had a clear outline of what I wanted this series to be and how I wanted it to go, and conclude. And the only way I could do that was start it again, on my own terms, older & a little bit wiser, and (while not perfect) my writing and art skills leaped miles above what I was originally making years prior. It’s a work that I make because I want to keep the reasons for moving forward alive and well, and putting that into my work- clinging on numerous reasons to live is not just something *I* need, but *everyone* needs right now... and the past self of me as a teenager who paid no attention to the world, assumed things would magically get better on their own- all without any self-growth, could not provide that type of narrative in a world that is intrinsically challenging and now radically different.

Yet, the old comic is still precious to me, and an important stepping-stone to how I am today- it’s of its own time and I just simply don’t want to change that, it’s almost nostalgic and comforting how that old comic’s aura is just of me, feeling more safe than I ever do now. I wouldn’t rid of that work in a million years. And yet, even as the new comic has its tense turns as the world does- I still want to infuse the newfound and very real love that deserves to be felt and spread in these troubling times- showing that amidst everything, there’s still someone- no, *people* who will love and care for you, and will keep you moving forward and support you up even if the world crumbles around you- and ultimately, you can even help do the same for them.

That’s Henrietta’s story! An outcast, in a new world in front of her with new and familiar challenges, even constantly dealing with inner demons, she can have new people in her life that can give her a reason to live. It’s an increasingly important aspect for me that I don’t think I could ever grasp back then.

So, stay safe, be good to one another, and all the while I’m going to give my all for you, and hopefully the story, world, and characters resonate to you the same way they do for me. <3

[wulvert]

SHE'S SO ELEGANT,,,PICTURE PERFECT GRACE. THROWING UP GARLIC BREAD LIKE A CAT HACKING UP A HAIRBALL. she looked so comfy in that one panel being held (🏳️‍🌈) i think thats her peak. i wana be as sleepy as her,,,snnnnzzzz

ALSO IM LOOKING THROUGH THE COMMENTS TO SEE IF I MISSED ANY DETAILS. WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE THINK AVERY IS A MAN. ITS BEEN 53 PAGES????? I LOVE ROTATING GENDER CODED AVERY IN MY BRAIN AS A SILLY SELF-PROJECTION HEADCANON BUT THIS IS BEYOND ME. WHAT DO THEY NEED TO MAKE IT CLICK. "HI ITS ME, AVERY, WOMAN FROM HIT LESBIAN (NOT HETEROSEXUAL) VAMPIRE SERIES PAPERTEETH"??? theres somethign deepr 2 be said about this tht pisses me off nd im too tired to express it correctly. im goign insane sorry. anyways

scarlet's t-rex hands at the end mean so much 2 me!! thnak u,,,i have seen them in ur comics before nd they r so important as someone who does them 24/7. this may also sound weird but i like the extra detail u put into the legs. i do NOT mean this in a strange way oh god. um. u get it i hope.

awesoke page in general im gnna eat it.!!!

literally so sleepy and is held. sure she passed out from fear but thats irrelevant now bc shes unconscious I want to be that cozybut i dont think i ever will be

yeah! uptick of ppl who think shes a man this page- Ig it got featured on a banner again the other day so a few new ppl probs skim read past the part where shes outright referred to as a woman idk. I think the reason it bothers me a bit is bc avery is a character im rly overly attached to bc shes pretty pathetic like me and shes the same flavour of girl as me, which i dont rly relate 2 a lot of fictional women as someone whos kind of a struggle, so its like nice to make them for myself i guess? idk having her makes me feel better. is that a comfort character. i dont know. i care her.- so i feel like ive failed a little when ppl just look at her and go oh, this character is clearly intended by the author to be a man.

I cant rly b mad at ppl who honestly just dont realise though, I'll admit i commit the crime of mistaking cartoon men for cartoon women sometimes- I am a little mad at ppl who say things like its hard to believe shes a girl when they find out .like. shes a vampire. you can suspend ur disbelief far enough to believe shes a vampire. but not enough to believe shes a girl... interesting ...hm ....funny how that works anonymous webtoon commenter.......................

TL;DR: Averys my bbg and im too attached to her.

& no of course! i like giving characters raptor hands, I am for serious when i said i injected the autism myself. & ITSNOT WEIRD DW i like drawing legs even if i make them far too long.

&thank you!!

[lumilasi]

Finished Franziska's redesigns. I just felt the old one came off too much like a "old Hollywood diva Wine-aunt", which, nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I needed for her character at this point. It's not what her character is like lol

(side note; the "dress" referred to in the second pic is the black-and-yellow one, not her magenta skirt look)

Bio below:

Name: Franziska Belmont

Nicknames: Frankie (Angus) Franzie/Cat of Doom (Youko, little Chimera child)

Age: Like with her brother, her exact current age is unknown, but she was in her late twenties/early thirties when she was infected with Reverence and became a demon. (She is roughly 5 years younger than her brother though)

Height: 168 cm

Former heiress who ran away from home and became a Bounty Hunter to spite her parents, blaming them for her brother's supposed "death" 

Role: Works under one of Hanzoku's "family heads," Amalia Marek. (She'd actually met her sometime before Amalia left to find the source of her powers, and followed after her once she was infected as well.)

Family: Big brother Angus

Love interest: None

Friends: She gets along with most people around them, but especially likes talking with the Heart House head Taiga, and acts almost like a big sister for her boss' newest protege, Kujaku

Rival: Akiko & Toshiko (her stealth/tactical/speedy fighting style is similar to theirs, only more advanced due to having more experience and being stronger physically)

Powers:

She is incredibly fast and agile, and generally has an inhuman level of strength that can allow her to break trees in half and shatter walls with a kick. Frankie is also generally really stealthy, easily able to sneak up on people and slipping into even really secure and highly guarded places, without being noticed.

Her demonic powers have given her plenty of feline type abilities; her vision is excellently sharp even in the dark, she can move about dead quietly, her claws can cut through even metal, and Franziska is far more flexible than average human. She can also leap quite far and high.

She's very good with bladed weapons, and has an extremely good aim with throwing weapons, or firing a firearm. Franziska is also really good with picking locks.

She has some basic medical knowledge for emergencies, and like her brother is multilingual (this world's equivalents of English, Polish and Japanese, though unlike with her brother she only learned the latter after gaining her powers)

Weaknesses:

She's very afraid of losing her brother again due to their past, and might choose protecting him from perceived harm over doing her mission properly.

Franziska doesn't like water much due to being a feline demon, and therefore tends to not want to fight in areas full of water/someone with water based powers. (it does sometimes lead to comical situations when they try to get her to bathe...only Angus can convince her) It is likely that she developed this fear herself because the way she managed to kill the demonic beast was drowning it, in a way inheriting its fear.

(She wasn't like this as a normal human, and sometimes does feel frustrated about having this 'silly' weakness.)

Personality:

Franziska mostly appears as the opposite of her brother; friendly, social, clearly enjoying spending time with people and having attention to herself. She does however still value her own time, and can be very blunt if she wants to be left alone. She's generally seen as quite fearless by most, outside her odd water phobia.

Franziska has always been curious about more morbid topics, like Death and beliefs around it across the world/legends about dangerous beings, horror stories, etc. She often even asked Angus about his more difficult, gory jobs while he was a doctor. Something her parents of course did not approve of, as it didn't fit in the mold of "perfect daughter" they had. This has left her with some confidence issues, and needing approval for any sort of mentoring/parental figure.

While she appears friendly at first glance, Franziska is very cautious person and never lets on too much about what she's really thinking. She also really hates liars due to the big lie her parents told her, and will become very angry if she feels someone is trying to/has manipulated/lied to her/her brother. (foreshadowing to her story)

Her moral compass was twisted both by her life as a Bounty hunter for a while, and her demonic power infection; she wasn't always as ruthless and cold blooded as she is now, and sometimes laments on the fact/feels conflicted about how she's become nonchalant about death and killing people without even blinking.

BG STORY:

PART 1: Family Trouble

Franziska and Angus were the children of a well known merchant family, but neither was really happy with the role that was being pushed on them; Angus taking over the business he barely cared for, Frankie to go and find a husband so she could birth a heir. Franziska spent most of her time secretly reading about things her parents did not approve of, sneaking out of her home and pretending that she hadn't found "the right one" yet. Lot of her stealth skills/lockpicking skills were developed already at this phase in her life basically.

The only person she felt accepted her desire to be free and do whatever she wanted was her brother, Angus, and she often visited him in his workplace at the clinic. During one visit however, Angus' mentor caused an explosion by handling an object he did not understand properly, causing Franziska to lapse into a coma for months. Once she finally woke up, her parents claimed her brother had died in the explosion. (something she discovered was a lie later on.)

Furious, Franziska blamed her parents about his "death," as in her mind they had forced him to study magic in secret that resulted in this explosion, instead of providing him a safe enviroment with proper mentoring and no risk of someone ignorant touching his objects. She ends up running away eventually, as her parents are trying to force her to marry someone she did not like.

Part 2: Bounty Hunting

Sometime after running away, Franziska ends up joining a group of Bounty Hunters after managing to outsmart and steal their price from them. The group takes a liking to her and begins mentoring her, teaching her how to use weapons and how to fight properly. This group was led by a woman called Amalia Marek, who had some bizarre demonic powers that Franziska was curious about. She bonds with her a lot and Amalia becomes almost like a surrogate parenting figure for her for the few years they spend together.

Eventually, Amalia leaves the group in search of the origin of her newfound powers after developing some issues with them.

Then, during a mission Franziska's group is ambushed by a demonic mountain lion, and it kills all of her comrades, infecting her with some sort of dark magic. She eventually realizes it was the same power their former leader had, and decides to head after her in hopes for some guidance on what to do now. For her utter shock, once she finds Amalia, she also finds somebody else; her brother Angus, who was alive, and also infected with this power that was apparently called "Reverence." She decides to join the group, wanting to stay by her brother's side.

Unknowingly to her however, her parents had sent hunters after her to find and bring her home, and during a fight between them her power destabilizes briefly, almost killing her. Furious over the incident, her brother heads out to confront their parents once and for all, resulting in both of their deaths (one intentional, one accidental self-inflicted)

Fun Facts:

Unlike Angus, her blond haircolor (and dark eyebrows) is natural.

She's pansexual, but due to not trusting people easily, doesn't really have anyone she'd let that close.

She respects Amalia a lot as her former mentor, and takes her betrayal twice as hard as a result. (SPOILERS: Franziska is the one who ends up killing Amalia by the end of the story, as revenge for her brother's death that she blames her and Belladonna for)

She can get high on catnip, though not as strongly as actual feline beings.

Franziska gets along with her brother's boss Belladonna, although is aware as to why Angus does not like her, and mainly does it out of politeness and wanting to keep an eye on the witch in case she tries anything against Angus.

She sometimes jokingly rubs her cheek against her brother's face, making a purring noise. She's the only one Angus allows in his personal space without warning for the most part.

Franziska wasn't that phased after hearing about her brother's "research" phase, just commended him for being selective with his test subjects.

She did feel a little sad hearing how her mother accidentally killed herself, but ultimately did not have much sympathy left for either of them, given she felt extremely betrayed and used by her parents for their deceit and need to dictate who she was supposed to be.

Due to his water element powers, Franziska is a bit spooked of Azure. Because her fear is more connected to water than him as a person/his soul eater powers, Azure finds it more bizarre (and kind of funny, all he has to do is hold up a bubble of water and she hisses at him) rather than slightly upsetting as he normally would.

Franziska has only ever been afraid of her opponents when facing the Soul Eater twins Kuromoya & Kouka, namely because they seemed to actually be strong enough to match her brother who is immensely powerful now. (She's basically only afraid of people who feel powerful enough to actually kill Angus, typically meaning their Big Boss Hanzoku, or the Spider's son Soul Eater Jurou & Vigour Spirit Shura from the good guy side)

She doesn't always wear the suspenders-overlay skirt, mainly having it as an extra layer of protection for missions. She also tends to not use the suspenders properly when wearing it alongside her local-styled outfit, feeling it just doesn't look good together.

The magenta patch showing from her shirt collar opening is part of the shirt, rather than separate garment.

[glowyjellyfish]

OUAT Rewatch Report Part 3: Skin Deep through The Stranger

…yeah, I really binged the hell out of it with this session. I only intended to get past Dreamy and the next thing I knew I was almost done with the season.

1. Skin Deep is so good. I forgot how powerful Rumple’s breakdown in the past and present was. And it’s so interesting how Belle was both right and wrong about his rejection of her. Yes, he didn’t believe she could love him, but he also couldn’t give up his power because his entire plan to find his son would fall apart. And the fact that he lost his son is something he feels unforgivable and unlovable for, and he can’t let go of it because he let go before.

2. I’m not totally sure why Regina inserted herself into Rumple’s business in Skin Deep; clearly she figured he’d either lose his power with his curse broken or get his heart broken, but… why? She believed they were roughly on the same side at that point, I think? Probably just to get power over him, but I feel like it would be interesting to put the flashbacks in order and see whether there’s something she’s getting him back for. Although putting the flashbacks in order is a TRAP, I fell down that rabbit hole before and that way lies madness.

3. All I could think about with August the whole time is the silly stick figure comics I once drew making fun of his very bad plans to get Emma to believe. I enjoy him a lot, and had some feelings about him in these episodes, and his plans are SO BAD it’s hilarious.

4. I find myself constantly thinking about an old theory that I don’t think I came up with myself, about how all the cursed characters also lost the thing they loved most about themselves, and I think it’s strongest with David and his very wishy-washy behavior. This run of episodes are very clear, he does not have the bravery and honor of Charming.

5. god I hate the episode Dreamy it’s so bad and so cheesy. the worst thing about it is that there are good things, mainly in the present day B plot, but the flashback A plot feels like it was written for five year olds. and what’s worse, they could have taken this plot and made it be about how dwarves are manufactured slaves working for the fairies, or about how Blue is manipulative and unsympathetic when it doesn’t serve her needs. Getting something interesting out of it. But they didn’t, it’s just dumb.

6. I still think Red-Handed may be the best episode of season 1. Such a good, well-told story. Complete arcs in both the flashbacks and present day that complement and inform one another while also advancing the plot. Not exactly the most surprising twist to Little Red Riding Hood, but played to perfection. I’m a sucker for a werewolf story, but come on this episode is fantastic. Going out of its way to show Red’s strengths and how they aren’t what one would expect just knowing surface things about her. (and I am of the opinion that Whale was trying to be gentlemanly by escorting her where she was going, and it came off badly because of his past behavior)

7. This run of episodes is when the Snow and Charming and Mary Margaret and David melodrama began to get tiresome. I think it was supposed to be that way, because Regina is trying very hard to keep them apart and punish Snow, but they could have made that more clear.

8. I love how Rumple basically does everything but smoosh Snow and Charming together yelling “NOW KISS”

9. I’m not the biggest fan of Jefferson; I like him better in flashbacks and am still annoyed people wanted to ship him with Emma given his entire creepy nutball behavior in this episode. But Sebastian Stan does act his little heart out, doesn’t he? I would have liked it more if they pushed “memories of both worlds plus 28 years in a gilded cage Time loop drove him even more crazy than he already was” more than “oooh mad hatter sexy” but whatever, he gets the job done. I really wish they had actually explained him at any point, though. Why does he have a magic portal hat, especially if he doesn’t know how to make one? If he didn’t make it, why is he the only one that can use it—I know in the long term he isn’t, because the actor stopped being available. For the sake of his episode, I guess Regina mainly needed him to show her how it worked and to serve as ballast so she could get her father home, and she played up admiring his skills so he would feel like she needed him and not the hat… but still. how did this random guy become the portal-jumping keeper of the hat.

10. So, we more or less know that Regina went out of her way to curse Victor and Jefferson, despite them being in other worlds, because they were involved in destroying what hope she had left (or something, I’ll see when I get to that episode). I already speculated about how Regina designed Victor’s cursed personality, so… Jefferson. He’s quite clear about the way in which he is cursed, but it’s also kind of a big complicated knot. For some reason, she wanted him to know he abandoned his daughter for wealth—that’s how she would describe it, anyway. I can see how she took offense at that even though she manipulated him into it, but I’m not sure it makes sense that she also apparently wanted him to know everything. How could she guarantee he’d never have anybody stumble upon his house? Magic I guess, but dude Regina you could have just given him a cursed personality where his daughter is being kept from him with a restraining order or something. Why take the risk?

11. it is incredibly sad that Regina took all her anger at her murderous, manipulative, abusive mother and focused it on an easily manipulated child and then defined her life around that hate. And Young Regina insists she would be happy with Daniel no matter how they had to live, and she does seem to enjoy being hands-on, but my gut tells me that if Cora hadn’t murdered Daniel, they might have ended up more like pre-OUATW Will and Anastasia than Snow and Charming. Which is, of course, a similarity that OUATW noted and played with. I’m not sure how badly I think it might have gone, but Regina likes nice things and it would have been harder than she’d expect.

12. It fascinates me so much that despite all his power, Rumple is still constantly brought down by his cowardice. He thought having power would remove fear, but he still doesn’t know how to deal with it. At least, I’d have to track his behavior through a carefully sorted timeline to see if he improves or just keeps stomping out potential fears with his power; it’s a flaw of his that keeps popping up.

13. This run of episodes features key evidence for the Blue Is Shady theory, the theory that I believe is constantly hinted at but never once followed up on. She seems very eager to eliminate the Dark One, and quite dishonest and manipulative in how she is going about it. It does not seem to be the source of Rumple disliking fairies, and either way I’m with him on that. They are super cheesy and their outfits are dumb, and it’s not hard to conclude that their cutesiness is meant to distract from their own agenda and manipulative actions. why was Blue so invested in granting wishes to the Gepetto family? What’s up with that? And can’t help but feel like she went to a lot of trouble to arrange herself a potential foot soldier in August, keeping him behaving the way she deems correct with the threat of turning back into wood. And what preparations did the fairies have to make when the curse happened? So shady.

14. this show was very good at dropping Intriguing hints all over the place; the problem was when it stopped picking them up and resolving them. I suspect I like some degree of that. I like shows that leave enough puzzle pieces and holes lying around for me to lose my mind trying to fill, only to then lose interest when it becomes clear the show never intended to follow up on any of those things.

15. I always lived for moments like tiny baby Pinocchio getting terrified by a plane. The other ones I remember right now are Rumple getting on a plane, and in OUATW Cyrus and Alice being amazed at Will’s apartment and playing with the light switch.

Tonight I should finish season 1 and start season 2. I’m also planning to insert OUATW during s2 when it takes place, alternating between the two shows, so it’ll take some time to get through.

Also, I had trouble picking out good gifs for each episode, so today I am just doing a set of gifs describing August, because let’s face it he has now peaked, this is his only moment to shine. I probably could have made a bunch more, because Bart’s an easy comparison, but these were all gifs I already had.

[surejess--arc]

TASK 001: MUTANT FUCKERY !

what is your ability?

fun lord with clown physiology

what is your character’s government-assigned classification level?

level four. she can essentially bend reality... and the past and the present, as long as it’s fun to any kind of third party. that said, at inspection, she does not look entirely human, but she’s far more passing than most level two.

what can you do?

use all silly powers, master cartoon physics ( fun lord is the highest form ), grow stronger through laughter, make people burst out into song, induce a party, attack with any weird forces, and fully control the plot ( amongst other things ). however, before this... ‘i’m you but stronger’ side of her mutation was unlocked, she simply had clown physiology -- that said, she is a master of all powers related to that.  she’s a class act with hilarity, and definitely the power she has the most control over (otherwise her audiences would literally fucking die). she’s also very good at controlling the simpler ones – card generation, balloon manipulation, prank intuition, performance art intuition. and, although she no longer has much use for it, malleable anatomy and pain suppression are both skills. her final few years in kappa (or barnum depending on hf timeline) did her one favor: introduce her to the miming variation, thus meaning she can mime any action and thought waves will will it to happen in real life (such as miming a gun and shooting – if she wants to, it can actually have the same effects as an actual bullet). she has her own pocket dimension to keep weaponry – both real and gag – within. she is more bound to the laws of cartoon physics than she is to the laws of nature, thus making her very existence more... comical (for example, you best bet that if she got slammed through a wall, it would leave the perfect silhouette as opposed to a gaping hole). they don’t all apply to her, but... so many do...

and a few other things that are just silly and goofy and creepy! in addition, although not due to her mutation, very acrobatic – being part of a traveling troupe can do that! she can also technically leave clown form™, but why would she ever give up the powers just to look like someone who doesn’t make bold fashion statements? ALSO, lest we forget her alien mind… love it for her…

what can’t you do?

since she’s only had the fun lord fully unlocked for a few years, she has not nearly mastered those abilities. she’s always had a touch of cartoon physics, but things like manipulating logic ? creating paradoxes ? controlling the plot ? yeah, she’s got no fucking clue. ( for fun lord reference -- just because it sounds so broad, but... i would not choose a power that is broad over fun, think about the looney toons and fleischer brother cartoons (betty boop, popeye, koko the clown) and how they can completely manipulate their reality. there’s also this one toon i was shown in my animation class last year... so sad i can’t remember it, but the characters made the author change the plot. so fun stuff like that ! ) she’s generally good at not just fucking building bombs, but every now and again… a balloon will almost go ka-plow! rip :-( she’s also got a pretty immense fear of using her miming, but that… you know, stems from mutant caterpillar trauma… how they chopped off her limbs for that one to see if it was reality warping or she really did need to action it 😔

what are your weaknesses?

well, she always looks like a clown with one pink iris, so jot that down. ( that said, very lucky in that the clownery aesthetic lends more towards e-girl than it does ronald mcdonald. ) in addition, mentally blending in with the people who surround her is not very easy. it takes a lot of work to pretend to see the world in its real hues as opposed to some brilliant vibrancy, a la ‘ldn’ by icon lily allen. there are also some people who are just boring who her super fun powers won’t work on 🙄 then there are also all the fun lord powers, but you know...

how did you first come to the realization that you were a mutant?

she was born looking a little bit different, but it was chalked up to a kid with some human genetic defect. after suspicions increased, driven by weird-ass magic clown shit, she was shipped off to go live with some carnies and be their local clown ! then she told a not-funny-at-all joke that accidentally made half the audience literally laugh themselves to death :\ so like... that was confirmation... as for fun lord, after extracting some of her dna to inject into kian to see what the hell happens, an upgraded mutation??? was unlocked. she was working beyond the realm of clownery, working beyond the realm of regular cartoon physics ( mastering them, instead ). there were times that she could swear... she was contacting her creator ! someone named may ! and, upon release, there were times that she would say any ‘i wish’-adjacent statement and... it might just happen. nothing grand scale, but she could say ‘i wish i had chosen rye instead of pita’ and history would rewrite itself.

if given the choice, would you remain a mutant? why or why not?

mhm ! can it be difficult ? for sure. has it presented a lot of obstacles and torture, whether the hf timeline keeps kappa or i move to an original affiliation ? yea :\ but the world must be a dull place...

what do you hope to see change in the future, with respect to the current strife over mutant acceptance? short-term? long-term?

some legit comeuppance. while she would never join the damned -- hierarchies and organizations just aren’t her thing! ( hf doesn’t count by reason of not being a group that relies on the standing of mutants... and by reason of being headed by january with her as the right-hand ) -- she does agree with the part of their cause that basically says: humans gotta take responsibility or get fucked! ( but so do mutants who helped :\ it’s so messie :\ )

[saewokhrisz]

ALSO!! BIRDIES 👀

HERE WE GOO

who is more likely to hurt the other?

aloy has the erm..tendency to be harsh without thinking about the consequences of the words she says

who is emotionally stronger?

id say pretty evenly matched, However id have to say talanah is a bit more resilient, (this is a surprise even to me now that i thought about it a bit more)

who is physically stronger?

my sweet beefy daughter, aloy

who is more likely to break a bone?

sigh....aloy.....everyone act surprised quick !!!!

who knows best what to say to upset the other?

theyre even and thank god theyre friends and not against one another cuz if they were theyd make eachother cry under 40 seconds

who is most likely to apologise first after an argument?

i dont see them arguing all the often, but when they do ,,,oh god,,,but regardless my answer is aloy, but that doesnt mean talanah wont admit when she's in the wrong in an arguement (after they cooled down cuz lord knows these two will burn the world down with how heated their arguement would get if its serious)

who treats who’s wounds more often?

ms khane padish is aloys resident medic atp...que intensely gay wound patching and a "kiss it better" move

who is in constant need of comfort?

aloy, but she wont admit to it, however talanah doesnt need to do much for her walls to come down

who gets more jealous?

Talanah Khane Padish.

who’s most likely to walk out on the other?

hold on let me just ...[pulls out the first pages of the sunhawk comic]

who will propose?

talanah will plan a Perfect Moment to propose only for aloy to blurt it out in a nerve-ridden moment of flusterdness

who has the most difficult parents?

next question.

who initiates hand-holding when they’re out in public?

lanah :] who comes up for the other all the time?

they cannot escape hearing about eachother, not like they mind, theyre proud of their wives !!! (except when some fucking asshole carja talks shit abt talanah, hands are gonna FLY)

who hogs the blankets?

talanah !!

who gets more sad?

OOF i think neither get outright Sad? but they evenly go into waves of melancholy

who is better at cheering the other up?

theyre phenomenal joksters both and great at comforting someone, however while lanah does it with intention and skill, aloy just kinda finds her way around making the other cheer up a little

who’s the one that playfully slaps the other all the time after they make silly jokes?

insert "youre still my favourite thrush" clip from the begining of burning blooms, ill let that answer this question for me (its talanah)

who is more streetwise?

*street* street wise, talanah , but wilderness street wise? aloy

who is more wise?

.....depends?????? in some situations id say talanah but ive been questioning this stance

who’s the shyest?

loysie;;

who boasts about the other more?

talanah: so my WIFE, slayer of redmaw-

who sits on who’s lap?

talanah has big cat energy and she loves sitting in aloys lap..and aloy loves it (esp being able to hug her from behind ueueueu)