#this isn't a meme this is just....MAN IDK

[mariekanker]

im sooo smart i couldnt find the blank template but i have now but its fine . classic deviantart meme font.

explaining my self under the cut (EGGHEAD SPOILERS INCLUDED)

Favorite character: Franky, Robin and Usopp. Franky is my favorite but Robin and Usopp are the best characters. For Franky it's mostly that I like weird guys in hawaiin shirts and I also like inventor/engineer characters and he's both which is not fair to my psyche. And a lot of the shit he makes is so silly all those extra vehicles in the sunny all have to be cartoon animal themed and that's so cute. Silly guy making his silly machines, aww aww. I like Robin because she's a little weird a little offputting. Wish they went way further with that but I still enjoy that element of her character. And that she's the designated smart one but not in a killjoy way, and it's so sweet seeing her find happiness over time. I like that Usopp is the straight man or everyman type guy of the crew, and how most times the thing he chooses to do is the most "yeah i would have done that in this situation". I like that at no point he suddenly overnight becomes some brave boy and is a shounen anime badass now, but instead he's anxious about everything but pulls through regardless. He could have quit back in water 7 but he didn't !! New world scary as hell but he's still here having not given up or died !! There's something i really appreciate about having a character who isn't a badass or anything like that succeed too because its harder for him. And I lovee a good usopp fight, his fighting style is so fun and the usopp vs perona fight is one of my favorite of the whole series. I think it's fun that he was able to work around his fear of close combat by getting experimental. And of course the whole thing with how they make a point in Enies that Usopp doesn't have to be insanely capable and competant to have value and have his friends love him and i think that's nice. Everybody's valued on the crew even if their unique skills are more "niche" or whatever. :] .

Liked by everyone but me: Sabo. I think I would have liked him a lot more if he wasn't introduced immediately after Ace died as Luffy's secret brother he also has (anime adaptation is way worse for this because they can't even hide that Sabo didn't die !! It's so obvious !!) I know they have a whole passing the torch thing going on and the fire fruit thing is very cute but i feel it kind of takes away from the impact of ace dying to give luffy a different fire brother yknow ? either way though, he has the personality of a slice of white bread like i really dont find him endearing at all, all i get out of him is he's kind of fun to draw i like pulling a brightheart warrior cats fan design on him. as far as i can tell most OP fandom people generally like him i never see sabo slander LOL but that's just me

Didn't like at first: Orochi. Choosing him more out of what I felt was appropriate given some characters i.e. franky are clearly supposed to start off on a bad note then be likable later. Orochi never gets redeemed or even becomes particularly silly and charming in the ways many other villains do. Him being an over the top piece of shit who was also scared of everything then had beef with Kaido just appealed to me idk lol plus all the stuff with how he's doing all this out of some kind of paranoia/trauma response and like yeah fuck sure i'll take that some kind of a reason over nothing at all. he's a little like arlong if arlong was like really really lame. i think it's funny he fake dies like twice + his actual(?) death scene is honestly pretty badass that was a good ass scene. one of my more favorite villains tbh and he pleasantly surprised me because i really assumed he was just going to be another comically evil annoying lame guy in a different coat of paint. think again it's annoying lame guy but a little better.

Would like to know more about: Crocodile, Pudding, Kiwi, and Mozu. Honestly there's like 27 characters I could put here. Crocodile stands out to me because of the implied trans thing mostly but regardless, I am curious about his relationship with Robin and his run in with Whitebeard and the thing with going out of his way to stick his neck out for Luffy in Marineford. <- that was probably just Crocodile being grateful luffy busted him out of impel down and not wanting to say it, but i like to think there's some kind of "luffy reminds crocodile of himself when he was younger" type deal because yea croc wanted to be pirate king before whitebeard shat all over him, yeah? yeah i wanna know this guy's deal. and yeah what were the circumstances of him and Iva's initial meeting? Out of everyone I chose he's probably the mostly likely to get some kind of detailed backstory and such. I assume Pudding is probably going to be very relevant eventually what with the opening of the third eye or whatever the fuck. Excited as the prospect of more Pudding, really hope we do not get another hancock situation where her entire character devolves into being really obsessed with a guy. Low expectations for this one I just hope she gets things to do that uh . don't suck lol. i really like her a lot. I think I kind of already explained Kiwi & Mozu yeah, in general more of anything on Franky Family would be nice. I know they're not important like Croc + Pudding but I hope they at least get some silly mini story shit. Filler ep where Franky reminisces on franky family . i will take antyhing.

Least favorite character: Orlumbus. don't like the columbus cameo. that's it, this one isn't deep, the fact he's a character at all is just dumb to me. i do rank him lower than villains or intentionally annoying charatcers because at least characters like Spamdam you're clearly supposed to want him dead so he's doing his job as a character.

Like the design, dislike the character: Zeo. Wasn't huge on the new fishman pirates in general. Would have to reread Fishman Island to elaborate better. Zeo's design is badass though.

Like the character, dislike the design: Usopp. Looks like a caricature

Same personality: Usopp and Pudding. Only 2 I could think of that have made me think yeah, they're just like me for real on a regular basis.

Favorite ship: Going Merry. I love that the Merry is just the silly little boat that could held together by duck tape and how comically smaller she is compared to marine ships, really bringing together this idea that the straw hats are just some scrappy weirdos who have no business being alive this long- Oh. Oh that kind of ship. Okay. Frobin is like the most . Sounds like a pairing that would actually happen, makes sense for how I understand these characters to be, etc. I'm not in the camp of believing they're end game or canonically secretly in love, you just don't have to like . Conveniently forget things about either character to force it into making some kind of sense. More importantly though, I think it's fun how they're counterparts to each other. Robin is history/nature themed, Franky is futuristic/technology themed, but both are connected through the pluton thing. They're both "keys to the ancient weapon" but instead of being destructive evil characters they're more interested in building the other up. Something like that. And it's a weird girl + silly guy dynamic and I like these kinds of "met you in the worst situation but we made it out together and are now both enjoying ourselves" relationships. If I was spamdam bringing robin and franky together for my evil scheme only for them to not only both escape but end up on the same crew and become very close I would have to quit my job out of embarrassment.

Least favorite ship:Crocodile x Buggy.I don't care for most hate love type dynamics anyways but particularly don't enjoy this one because seeing Buggy in this toxic yaoi with my boss type situation doesn't appeal to me at all. (Obviously not the worst OP pairing in the world, just as far as pairings I actually see with my eyes every now and again I don't really care for this one)

Would befriend irl: Kokoro. I just like her. I would listen to her talk for a long time about whatever the hell.

Would not befriend irl: Sanji. I mean like more than half of all OP characters are people i would not stand but I have a dunking on Sanji quota to achieve.

[mumbledramblings]

i had a vision from god the other night

anyway i love how some of wolfwood's first character-establishing scenes in both animes is him trying to scam people

[zuzu-draws]

Not only did he adopt Toji's son but stole his 'fit as well.

Gojo Petty Satoru, fellas

[thegoldenherd]

So... I love the "Spiders-man" concept, but don't have access to any of his comics, so I've basically just made a whole new OC with the same concept.

I'm still working on the character design and whatnot, but I'd like you to have this.

[spokelseskladden]

no but actually, when I was like 16 I decided to get in deep with the cult, like fanatically deep. Donating my entire allowance and dedicating myself to biweekly bible study deep. Mainly because I had deluded myself into thinking that if only I could become a perfect jehovah’s witness, god would heal my crippling gender dysphoria by either taking pity on me and simply give me a dick and testosterone for the low price of my freedom and dignity, or alternatively taking it away all together and let me live my life blissfully as a cis woman for all eternity in paradise. The latter never sounded appealing to me, and I’m not going to pretend that the blatant sexism within the cult wasn’t a part of it at all, but even if you removed it, I still didn’t particularly care for having tits. I did realize that the former alternative probably wasn’t likely to happen in the end, and that’s probably one of the big reasons I never could admit to actually just being a guy, even though it was kinda obvious. Cause when you know you can’t ever have something, it’s easier to pretend you never wanted it in the first place, lol

[zmediaoutlet]

🛼 🧃

(Thanks for the ones you sent me! Hoping to get to them after work tonight 🤞)

(thank you, too! what's the point of the bluesite if we aren't high fiving each other!)

🛼 describe your latest wip with five emojis

Uhh. Let me pull up the Windows+. keyboard and stare into the distance for a few minutes...

🏚️🥃☠️😭🛫

🧃 share some personal lore you never posted about before

[that feel when you've been on here for a decade+ and have to remember all the shit you've blabbed about in that time]

When I was little I sometimes went to boy scout troop meetings with my brothers, because my dad was traveling for work just about every week and my mom had to take them to the meetings instead, and I was too small to be just abandoned all night on a Tuesday. My mom had this horrible blue Chrysler van and would ferry like 6 boys 'into town' (we grew up very rural) for the troop meetings. This was the non-Mormon troop in town, which a) meant that they actually did camping and learning instead of just churning badges to Eagle, and b) these kids were fuckin' degenerates, lol. There were lots of pranks and assholery and vicious games of shirts-vs-skins pickup football and also good-natured teasing and showing up for each other and trying their best, sometimes, or trying at all if their best wasn't possible. A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. I don't know if they hit every marker -- I know for a fact that some of those boys didn't grow up to be the best men -- but it was a good thing in their lives, for a while, and sitting in the back of the meetings playing or reading or boredly watching was a good way to learn about the way that boys are. Plus there's this all-time quote, from my mother, after she bought Taco Bell for the neighbor boys and for some reason let Eric get an enchirito: Eric, if you fart one more time, I am throwing you out onto the highway!

[welcometoteyvat]

navia leaks just dropped today? holy shit maybe i'll skip furina actually

[merrilark]

hm.

// world news for ts

[seokwoosmole]

Mark Tuan's solo career does interesting things to my mind cause every now and then I remember that the same man that gets me in my feels balling my eyes out with his soft low voice and heartbreaking lyrics is the same one who said "YoU aRe ApArt of ME. youandme...we are...ONE" And then I think about other idols in groups whose full talent isn't properly showcased the way it should be like huh...it's a brain cruncher

[ladyimaginarium]

“you can’t write that plot or expand the worldbuilding in that universe!! it’s too far out!! it’s too complicated!! it’s too unrealistic!! you’re just throwing random twists and connecting narratives together and linking these characters in the plot via time period or character relation!! besides it's not canon!! those characters would never meet or get along!! you can't just make new narratives or perspectives or skillsets for that character!! you can't racebend white characters into muses of color!! you can't hc that character as trans or nonbinary or genderfluid or gay or bi or aro or ace!! you can't write villainous, toxic or abusive characters because that means you condone those behaviors!! you can't hc that character as mixed or jewish or native or autistic or neurodivergent bc you're self projecting!! you can't write about social issues and the grievances you suffer through your muses!! you can't make your female characters overpowered or they'll be mary sues!! you can't—” 

[bunnyb34r]

I am way too cranky today and idk what to do ab that :/

[dtaegis]

idk if this is a bold take but like, i feel that if jyp was a conventionally attractive old man (the ones people are like daddy? sorry. daddy? sorry), kpop stans wouldn't shit on him that much

[uglyducklingofthe2000s]

My Girlfriend is a Menace (Menace series) - LN

Summary: Lando's girlfriend finds anyway to embarrass or torment him but he loves her regardless

Kind of love the idea of Lando dating an nightmare of a girlfriend for his PR team but her loving her regardless and always defending her or protecting her when it comes to people being too harsh on her. Maybe a new series? Idk.

Lando honestly loves his girlfriend. He loves the fact she trolls haters online, she has the same sense of humour as him, she is his PR team's nightmare and most importantly she bullies and annoyed the hell out of him.

"Lando, mate...what is y/n doing there in the background? I keep seeing her moving around in the background there." Max questions making Lando smile sarcastically before shifting back, knowing the inevitable.

Y/n appears on the screen sitting on his lap and leaning into the mic while Max already start laughing.

"Hi, Max. Lando promised that we could have a skincare night then forgot and came on here. So I'm doing it anyway, because he promised." Y/n states while he smiles behind her.

Truth be told, he may not have forgot, but sometimes he loves showing her off to the world. Plus she's became a meme within the F1 community from her responses to haters in his chat that are against her dating Lando.

"Did he?" Max hums unconvinced Lando forgot a promise. If there's one thing Lando isn't with y/n, it's forgetful. "When you two come back to England, can you come feature in my stream?"

"Is that an invite?" Y/n pouts looking completely touched by the idea that Max would want her on his stream.

"Don't make my girlfriend cry, you know she'll shed tears over anything." Lando jokes while poking y/n's ribs teasingly which tears her eyes from Max before she spots the chat and immediately rolls her eyes.

"Sorry, Lando. The chat is right, I'm dumping you to pursue the real love of my life...Max."

"Told you mate. I'm irresistible." Max laughs then earning a grin from the young woman before she remembers what she's meant to be doing. "You know, I think we should just pause the game. Lando, your skincare routine has been asked for for months. Time for the fans to know."

"Y/n, talk them through it."

"Ok, baby." Y/n smiles turning around to tap his cheek. "Need to cleanse first-I need a cloth, wait here. I'll be a minute Max."

Y/n takes off jumping up from his lap while Lando grins not being able to shake off how good it feels to see her so excited.

"Jesus, did you do this on purpose to show her off again?" Max questions while Lando just raises his middle finger to the man through his camera. "Could just say yes."

"I could." Lando hums before she reappears moving back onto his lap with her mumbling something about him not distracting her. But once she's cleansed his skin she gets out the face mask. "Ah, no baby. No-"

"You promised." Y/n pouts making him groan since face masks are only annoying because it means he has to tame his facial expressions. "It doesn't dry down. This one is a yoghurt one."

"Uh, ok? Does that do something good?"

"Shut up, you muppet." Y/n tsks while Max cackles watching her wipe it on his face, he's turned the chair so it's not just a view of her back blocking the sight of what she's doing. "Does it feel ok? I don't want to give you an allergic reaction or something."

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Can he play the game with the mask on?" Max asks making her look and nod with a thumbs up.

Another minute later of Lando actually realising how relaxing it is for her to do his skincare.

"Ok, I'll leave you to play on the game, it's a 20 minute mask...don't touch it, or try to eat it." Y/n instructs earning a nod before she leans over kissing him softly while he rolls his eyes at her feeling the need to tell him not to eat it.

"Thank you, I'll see you soon." Lando smiles before she climbs off of his lap and blows a kiss to the stream.

"When I come over to see you Max, I'll do your skincare on stream too so the chat can really get riled up." Y/n smiles sarcastically sending Max into some hard laughter before she's up on her feet and Lando smacks her ass clearly as a warning but also just because he can.

-

Y/n smirks looking at Lando's Vegas helmet since she giggles at him, since she's seen posts and comments about the helmet which she just thinks are really funny.

"What?" Lando questions, immediately recognising the expression from her.

"Everyone is saying it's great that you've got a helmet dedicated to Taylor Swift."

"You're so annoying." Lando groans while she just laughs at him before he shoves the helmet on her head and pushes her onto the sofa in the McLaren unit. Smiling to himself as she breaks into hysterics from his actions.

So far in Vegas, y/n has been even more of a menace to the point that the McLaren PR team has begged Lando to essentially leash her. Apparently her being at the casino in a fairly immodest dress and blowing through quite a bit of her own money, all of which she documented.

"Ah no. You already got shouted at and nearly cried. Don't leave my side." Lando states catching her arm when she tries to make a break for it.

She did actually get yelled at by the PR team while Lando wasn't around, since they wouldn't have dared speak to her like that in front of Lando and he had words with them about them not cornering her whether he is there or not. But also, he knows they're stressed and she does have a questionable public image. She's young and just doesn't care what people thing.

"Lando..." Y/n pouts while he sighs knowing that she likes to go out and socialise with others around the paddock. "Ok...I'm sorry."

"I love you." Lando whispers softly knowing that a strong-willed and bold his girlfriend is, she can also be quite sensitive behind closed doors and she isn't always so quiet and softly spoke so when she is he knows to try and reassure her.

"I love you too." Y/n murmurs as he moves closer and kisses her forehead before tucking her head under his chin while he hugs her tightly. "Does that mean I get to sit in the car with you for the race?"

Lando can't even stop himself from laugh as she shifts back to look up at him with a grin.

"No, you're going to your second boyfriend."

"Maxie! Where is he actually?"

"I don't now, we can go find him though." Lando smiles knowing his friend always perks up his girlfriend's mood, if only because she likes to make Max constantly wish Lando was still single. She's like an annoying little sister who lives to frustrate Max when they're side by side.

-

Y/n not being a fan of the cold, the first skiing trip with his friends doesn't involve her but that doesn't mean she's inactive.

"Hi, everyone. I'm on Lando's stream. He uhhhh...he's on holiday and I'm going to try to figure out how to game. He always tries to get me to do it...no I'm not going to break it. I know how to turn the damn turn otherwise you wouldn't see me right now." Y/n smiles then sighing. "But...I don't know how to get the game screen up...No! No. No one tell him! No one tweet him or message-oh actually he's skiing right now so he won't look at his phone."

After nearly an hour she finally gets the chat to guide her before she is up playing COD.

"Oh yeah, baby. Time to play." Y/n grins then sighing and settling back in the seat. "When I was younger, my dad used to want me to play games with him...but that was on the PlayStation 2. So we're going to see how I cope with this change. Lando is actually coming home tomorrow, I've just ran out of things to do at the moment and I saw his stream set up."

Y/n ends up gaming with all sorts of people through hours of playing and slowly but surely she picks up her skills again and the chat goes from primarily telling her to get off to actually rooting for her and telling her to make her own channel on twitch.

What she doesn't realise is that she ends up playing for the better part of the whole day till Lando appears in the dark background and she literally screams nearly breaking his headset that she'd had to wear plugged in after the battery started to die.

"Baby! Baby! It's me. Stop hitting me!" Lando laughs kneeling on the floor as she slaps at his back, not really hard but enough to keep him down. Though he's wheezing from his laughter.

"No! You scared the fuck out of me. Who grabs someone like that? And why are you home early?"

"I'm not! And you're supposed to be ready to leave for our trip home." Lando cackles as she finally stops clearly confused. "And I've been trying to call and message you for hours since my fans told me you nearly reached the 24 hour mark of playing on COD."

"I-what?"

"Alright, guys. Y/n is done, I'll help her set up her an account another time. We have to go and she has to sleep. Thank you for watching her completely destroy everyone on COD, thank you for sharing clips with me." Lando smiles before ending the stream while y/n rubs at her eyes realising how sore they are.

"Fuck...now I know how you manage to play for so long." Y/n groans rubbing her eyes and yawning as it all hits her at once. "I didn't break anything I promise."

"I know, but you did make enough unhinged and unfiltered comments that I think my PR teams messages about how your temper might be a risk to my safety were genuine and not just jokes." Lando smirks while she smiles and rushes to him, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist as he catches her and there's an immediate kiss.

"I missed you. How was your last day of skiing?"

"It was good, but we need to get over to Woking." Lando states while she hums resting her head in his neck. "No. You can't sleep yet, wait till we're on the plane."

"Mmm...but I'm tired now." Y/n yawns latching onto him when he tries to encourage her to get down.

"But we have to travel." Lando chuckles shaking his body till her legs finally drop and he cups her face lightly. "Alright, baby. We'll be quick. But maybe next time keep an eye on how long you're gaming for."

[wombywoo]

Ok! I've finally decided to put together a (somewhat) comprehensive tutorial on my latest art~

Please enjoy this little step-by-step 💁‍♀️

First things first--references!

Now I'm not saying you have to go overboard, but I always find that this is a crucial starting point in any art piece I intend on making. Especially if you're a detail freak like me and want to make it as realistic as possible 🙃

As such, your web browser should look like this at any given point:

Since this is a historical piece, it means hours upon hours of meaningless research just to see what color the socks are, but...again. that isn't, strictly, necessary 😅

Once I've compiled all my lovely ref pics, I usually dump them into a big-ass collage ⬇️

(I will end up not using half of these, alas :'D)

Another reference search for background material, and getting to showcase our models of choice for this occasion~

When picking a reference for an actor or model, the main thing I keep in mind (besides prettiness 🤭) is lighting and orientation. Because I already kinda know what pose I'm gonna go with for this piece, I can look for specific angles that might fit the criteria. I should mention that I am a reference hound, and my current COD actor ref folder looks like this:

Also keep in mind, if you're using a ref that you need to flip, make sure you adjust accordingly. This especially applies to clothing, as certain things like pants zippers and belt buckles can be quite specific ☝️

Now that we've spent countless hours googling, it's time to start with a rough sketch:

It doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just a basic guideline of where you want the figures to be.

The next step is to define it more, and I know this looks like that 'how to draw an owl' meme, but I promise--getting from the loose sketch above to below is not that difficult.

Things to keep in mind are--don't go too in-depth with the details, because things are still subject to change at this point. In terms of making a suitable anatomically-correct sketch, I would suggest lots of studying. This doesn't even have to be things like figure drawing, I genuinely look at people around me for inspiration all the time. Familiarize yourself with the human form, and things like weight, proportions, posing will seem a little more feasible.

It's also important at this stage to consider your composition. Remember to flip the canvas frequently to make sure you're not leaning to one side too often. I'm sure something can be said for the spiral fibonacci stuff, which I don't really try to do on purpose, but I think keeping things like symmetry and balance in mind is a good start ✌️

Next step is just blocking in the figures. Standard. No fuss 👍

Now onto the background!

It's frankly hilarious how many people thought I was *hand-drawing* these maps and stuff 😂😂 I cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult that would be. So yeah, we're just taking the lazy copy and paste way out 🤙

I almost always prepare my backgrounds first, and this is mostly to get a general color scheme off the bat. For collage work, it's really just a matter of trial and error, sticking this here, slapping this there, etc. I like to futz around with different overlay options until I've found a nice arrangement. Advice for this is just--go nuts 🤷‍♀️

Next, I add a few color adjustments. I tend to make at least 2 colors pop in an art piece, and low and behold, they usually tend to be red and blue ❤️💙There's something about warm/cool vibes, idk man..

Now we move on to coloring the figures. This is just a basic block and fill, not really defining any of the details yet.

Next, we add some cursory values. Sloppy airbrush works fine, it'll look better soon I promise 🙏

And now--rendering!

I know a lot of beginner artists are intimidated by rendering, and I can totally understand why. It's just one of those things you have to commit to 💪

I've decided to show a brief process of rendering our dear Johnny's face here:

Starting off, I usually rely on the trusty airbrush just to get some color values going. Note--I've kept my sketch layer on top, but feel free to turn it on and off as you work, so as to not be too bound to the sketch. For now, it's just a guideline.

This next stage may look like a huge jump, but it's really just adding more to the foundation. I try to think of it like putting on make-up in a way~ Adding contours, accentuating highlights. This is also where I start adding in more saturation, especially around areas such as ears, nose and lips. Still a bit fuzzy at this point, but that's why we keep adding to it 💪

A boy has appeared! See--now I've removed most of the line layer, and it holds up on its own. I'll admit that in order to achieve this realistic style, you'll need lots and lots of practice and skill, which shouldn't be discouraging! Just motivate yourself with the prospect of getting to look at pretty men for countless hours 🙆‍♀️

I'll probably do a more in-depth explanation about rendering at some point, but let's keep this rolling~

Moving forward is just a process of adding to the figures bit by bit. I do lean towards filling in each section from top to bottom, but you can feel free to pop around to certain parts that appeal to you more. I almost always do the faces first though, because if they end up sucking, I feel less guilty about scrapping it 😂 But no--I think he's pretty enough to proceed 😚

They're coming together now 🙆‍♀️ Another helpful tip--make sure you reuse color. By that, I mean--try to incorporate various colors throughout your piece, using the eyedropper tool to keep a consistent palette. I try to put in bits of red and blue where I can

Here they are fully rendered! Notice I've made a few subtle changes from the sketch, like adjusting the belt buckles because I made a mistake 😬 Hence why you shouldn't put too much stock in your initial sketch~

The next step is more of a stylistic choice, but I usually go over everything with an outline, typically in a bright color like green. Occasionally, I can just use my initial line layer, but for this, I've made a brand new, cleaner line 👍

And the final step is adjusting the color and adding some text:

Tada!! It's done!

All in all, this took me the better part of a week, but I have a lot of free time, so yeah ✌️

I hope you appreciated that little walkthrough~ I know people have been asking me how I do my art, but the truth is--I usually have no clue how to explain myself 😅 So have this half-assed tutorial~

As a bonus, here is a cute (cursed) image of Johnny without his mustache:

A baby, a literal infant child !!! who put this wee bairn on the front lines ??! 😭

Anyway! peace out ✌️

[ignitesthestxrs]

there's something about the way people talk about john gaius (incl the way the author writes him) that is like. so absent of any connection to te ao māori that it's really discomforting. like even in posts that acknowledge him as not being white, they still talk about him like a white, american leftist guy in a way that makes it clear people just AREN'T perceiving him as a māori man from aotearoa.

and it's just really serves to hammer home how powerful and pervasive whiteness and american hegemony is. because TLT is probably the single most Kiwi series in years to explode on the global stage, and all the things i find fraught about it as a pākehā woman reading a series by a pākehā author are illegible to a greater fandom of americans discoursing about whether or not memes are a valid way of portraying queer love.

idk the part of my brain that lights up every time i see a capital Z printed somewhere because of the New Zealand Mentioned??? instinct will always be proud of these books and muir. but i find myself caught in this midpoint of excitement and validation over my culture finding a place on the global stage, frustration at how kiwi humour and means of conveying emotion is misinterpreted or declared facile by an international audience, frustrated also by how that international audience runs the characters in this book through a filter of american whiteness before it bothers to interpret them, and ESPECIALLY frustrated by how muir has done a pretty middling job of portraying te ao māori and the māoriness of her characters, but tht conversation doesn't circulate in the same way* because a big part of the audience doesn't even realise the conversation is there to be had.

which is not to say that muir has done a huge glaring racism that non-kiwis haven't noticed or anything, but rather that there are very definitely things that she has done well, things that she has done poorly, things that she didn't think about in the first book that she has tacked on or expanded upon in the later books, that are all worthy of discussion and critique that can't happen when the popular posts that float past my dash are about how this indigenous man is 'guy who won't shut up about having gone to oxford'

*to be clear here, i'm not saying these conversations have never happened, just that in terms of like, ambient posts that float round my very dykey dash, the discussions and meta that circulate on this the lesbian social media, are overwhelmingly stripped of any connection to aotearoa in general, let alone te ao māori in specific. and because of the nature of american internet hegemony this just,,,isn't noticed, because how does a fish know it's in the ocean u know? i have seen discussions along these lines come up, and it's there if i specifically go looking for it, but it's not present in the bulk of tlt content that has its own circulatory life and i jut find that grim and a part of why the fandom is difficult to engage with.

[sincerelystesichorus]

let's talk about that one scene in oops

(and fizzarolli in general bc me and my autism r obsessed with this scene and haven't seen someone break it down. also ft. blitz lmao)

just a general scene and vague character breakdown/analysis!

i first of all want to admire the perfect representation of best friends to enemies with blitz & fizz because ugh.

And like Blitz tells everyone this but the way it's so malicious here. Just the perfect simple dig and Fizz's little shit eating grin because it delivered how he knew it would sdfkjsdkf. Shoves Blitz to the side because really that's all he cares to say. Fuck you and what you did to me, bye bye <3 Fizz is so for talking shit and dipping (House of Asmodeus) I love how messy it is but also shows how he really doesn't hold malice for Blitz otherwise. Obviously we see this front and center later in the episode once they start reconnecting, but I like the subtlety and how he's so willing to snap at Blitz despite his usual anxiety with confrontation.

Blitz also knowing exactly what to say to really piss Fizz off once things escalate <3

(Fizz literally so smug and content with himself lmfao)

(smirk wiped off bc hey that's the thing i'm sensitive about!!)

But Fizz keeps his composure. And if you'll let me be alarmingly gay for a second, I love how his version of keeping his cool as a messy gay is managing to basically recreate this drag race confrontation in what is probably my favorite set of Fizzie lines.

eat him up babes. also it's so important that that shitty coffee and fizz were on this side of the street for framing i'll talk about it more in a sec jfskjdfksf.

and now my personal favorite exchange of this entire scene that is criminally underrated imo:

love his face after this line. I SUPPORT DISABLED PEOPLES WRONGS sfjdlkfsdd. literally so fucking nasty with his clown wit but also so justifiable because yeah blitz did just pull this nightmare and dip in fizz's pov. i cannot wait for that to get touched on more likeeee why were they kept apart ugh.

and finally!!

this cut to blitz,, specifically the scarred side of his face is sooo good.

the face of a man who just achieved critical vicious mockery vs. the face of a man that knows he can only win this interaction one way now

Blitz does deserve a little violence maybe <3 Fizz underestimated his ass jjdkfsdlk.

Idk I just love how indicative this whole interaction is for their characters but especially Fizz, it's a perfect build-up for him. Fizz has major imposter syndrome with dual layers because of general haters but especially because of Mammon and Asmodeus. Not on any fault of Ozzie's,, we just see Fizz obviously thinks he isn't fully deserving of their relationship/his situation and the healthy dynamics of it and so do most major news outlets apparently askjfsk.

(full fizzy meme post & also i like how this is a special also like damn do u think they were also apart of the crossword??)

It'll be really interesting to see how his character develops in future episodes because I feel like a lot of what I've rambled about here has come to a resolution after 2 Minutes Notice in the musical special lmao. I really like how here when he goes to compose himself, this is how he does it.

Makes me wonder how many times him and Ozzie have had the self-worth and imposter syndrome conversation before it finally stuck in the Mammon Musical Special. I just love their relationship and how they compliment one another,, and how it projects into Fizz's other relationships because they're healthy for one another. Love my OTP love Blitz & especially love Fizzie. Obviously.