Hi, Miss Raven! What're your thoughts on the new characters' designs and the new cards we're getting?
[You can see the designs for the Halloween 2023 cards and other related TWST news here!]
I'll post my general thoughts below! I unfortunately don't know enough about Pinocchio myself to point out all the little easter eggs in their outfits, so I'll leave that to those who are more knowledgeable than me.
***Spoilers below the cut!!***
Regarding the NRC boys' looks overall, I think it's a very fun theme and very fitting for the location of the event. I like that they all still wear masks, just in a different context than in Glorious Masquerade. One thing I did notice is that the masks seem... same-y? Like they all resemble thick tree roots or something like that. So maybe they aren't masks at all, but they're associated with whatever the conflict in the story is. (I previously suggested mind control or the loss of consciousness, so maybe the "roots" play into that???)
You can see the marionette theme Yana was going for, as well as some design elements from Black Butler's circus arc, very clearly. The poses for each of the boys, even the R cards, are extremely dynamic and imply a strong sense of movement. The ribbons are such a simple detail that contributes a lot to this sense of whimsy and flow.
Some comments I have on specific designs and poses:
Suspenders are so... Trey 💀 THERE'S REALLY NOTHING ELSE FOR ME TO ADD HERE, THEY JUST SUIT HIM
I like it when Trey makes these kind of slightly sus but plausibly deniable faces... He should make more of them...
I can't see the front of Jack's outfit that well, so I don't know if I can fully comment on it??? But I can see his. Like. Physique... coming through... That chest to waist ratio/j
Seeing Jack's tail like that kinda weirds me out. I think that's the first time we've gotten a "full" view of how the tails look coming out of the pants??? So maybe I'll get more used to it with time...
J WORD MY BELOVED dghgqwktvwukdviu1vdutw1513FR7vuofOTVUofvfaafvfyivs.,bk;mobsdb;ibuafetvuqoffSEythTOTqebivfguovqnafCUtuiUIEtt please ignore my bias 🤡 The way his top hat is angled and how there's a dark blue ribbon around him... It vaguely looks like he's trying to pass as Crowley, LOL
I like how his undershirt is frilled and how he has that sash at his waist it reminds me of the genderbent design for my TWST OC! The fact that both he and Floyd have the eel emblem that resembles a heart is also really cute~
Lilis is my favorite design of the R cards!! There's a very good distribution of ruffles throughout the look, and his knotted skirts fit well with his personal flair.
I'm not a huge fan of the style of hat Cater's wearing (sorry to all the Cay-kun stans out there), but I can appreciate his look. His dress appears more militant than Trey's, and his posing is certainly more aggressive--it's nice to see him in this new light.
FHIBBAILAIBASIADIHBLBUDB EVERY TIME I SEE L*ONA NOW I'M GOING TO THINK OF THE ONE REBLOG I SAW THAT SAID "of course leona has his tits out again" BECAUSE THEY'RE RIGHT, HE'S LITERALLY THE GIRLIE THAT DRESSES SLUTTY ON HALLOWEEN AND SOMEHOW NEVER GETS COLD 😭 You go, king... Live your best life!!
Love L*ona-san’s new hairstyle here!! 👀
The way Floyd is posed reminds me of those people that walk around on stilts. I think I much prefer the coloration on Floyd's outfit than on Jade's, but I prefer Floyd's jacket to Jade's. I think Floyd's the best of the SR designs!
Shockingly, Vil's look doesn't stand out to me that much??? I enjoy his sash, but I don't immediately pick up on anything in his illustration that catches my eye.
His pose resembles that of a ballerina, which just makes me think about the time he assigned Epel and Deuce extra (ballet) dance lessons in book 5 ajdbhasivldsadued
Of the SSRs, Ace is definitely my favorite one. He just looks so dramatic soaking up that spotlight and trying to look cool while doing it... Bro's 100% thinking, "heheheheh, I'm SO awesome :))" in his head.
Ace's design also reminds me a lot of Jack Hearts (from Disney Villain Recruiters). Not sure if it was intentional or not, but I'm definitely super into it!
HHNNNNNGNGHGHHGHGNGNGHHGHGHGHGHHHHH I WANNA BITE HIS HEAD OFF AND BULLY HIM SO BAD, I WANNA WIPE THAT SMIRK OF FHIS DUMB FACEe Am I seriously about to revert back to my Brat Loving era for Trappola... Maybe so...
I was pretty much expecting a SSR Ace (because he's a trickster with a brother that works in an amusement park) and Ortho (literally a robot that became a real boy), but Kalim took me by surprise. In hindsight, I guess it makes sense though...? Kalim has a similar immature vibe as the other two (plus I do remember there being this one scene in Aladdin where the Sultan was dressed like a jester that was being maneuvered on puppet strings).
It's great that Kalim gets to be a little out of his usual element and make darker, more mysterious expressions like what we see in his new illustration. I'm not sure if I entirely agree with how he's dressed (the yellow jacket is WAY too bright), but I love his his coattails (???) trail behind him in waves.
OR-KUN MY SON 😭😭😭 As is the case with all of his gears, I adore how the devs creatively adapted clothing into metal parts for Ortho! The half-caplet is easily the best part of the whole look for me (the pattern on it reminds me of stars falling down)--and because Ortho has a smaller stature, the type of hat he's wearing isn't as offputting; it actually looks very cute on him.
ANYWAY, VERY HAPPY THAT ORTHO GETS TO HAVE A HALLOWEEN SSR TO MATCH HIS BROTHER'S HALLOWEEN SSR FROM LAST YEAR... They match!!!
... Is that the fucking cricket on Ortho’s cape... and the goldfish on Kalim’s scarf… AND THE CAT ON ACE’S WAIST… What does this meeeean 🤡
And now for my thoughts on the two new boys!!
Honestly?? I don't actually have much to comment on in this regard because I try to reserve my judgment of characters until I've actually seen them in action. I haven't seen Pinocchio either, so I don't have a strong basis for what their personalities would be like based on their original Disney counterpart. I only vaguely understand that Honest John and Gideon trick children into visiting Pleasure Island... That's it, that's the full extent of my knowledge on that pair. I don't have any other expectations going in other than "yeah, these two are going to swindle me".
Gidel looks like a mix of Cheka and Ruggie to me (because of the hair and the eye shape). He seems like he’ll be the other guy’s goon, similar to how Jade and Floyd/Ruggie follow Azul/Leona. Nothing else for me to add, Gidel seems alright… Just a silly lil’ guy!
I have more… mixed thoughts on Ferro. One one hand, he looks like the exact kind of shady bitch I’d love. (You know, the ones that smile and lie and manipulate and drive a knife into your back and—LOOK, HE’S VERY J WORD CORE) On the other hand, I’m beating back the “you like cat/dog boys” allegations from my friends, so 💀 I can’t give in so easily/j
Looks-wise, Ferro’s iteration of the rat tail hair is not as ugly to me as Malleus’s is. (I think it’s because it looks more windswept!) I also really like how he dresses—very dapper 😌 and he can pull off green eyeshadow well!
I’m wondering how they’ll make Ferro different than the other con artists we’ve seen so far *eyes Octavinelle* but I’m keeping my hopes up since the devs did a good job remixing the “I have a dead brother and I feel immense guilt about it” backstory for Rollo (when Idia had a similar one). Looking forward to that~
I’m sure my thoughts will chance once I actually get to see them in the event! ^^ I’ll keep you posted. For now, I’ll keep cautious. (Actually, this fan art basically summarizes my current feelings on the two! I’m Rollo/j)
167 notes
·
View notes
I want to lore dump about my BG3 storyline and OCs so bad, but at the same time I don't want to release any information before it would come out in the future chapters of my fanfic, so to stave off the dark urge, here's.... 🥁🥁🥁
Team Tadpole doing sweet things for each other part 2!
Sometimes, when Astarion has trouble resting at night, Gale will stay up with him and play chess- They started with card games, but Astarion cheats like a fox. He still cheats at chess, but not as often.
Karlach probably notices when her comrades are in pain after battle, and will hug a sack of rocks until they heat up to make a sort of makeshift heating pad for sore muscles.- Bonus points, She'll borrow some scented oils from Halsin to add an element of aromatherapy.
Gale has 100% done talis card readings for Team tadpole when they deal with heavy emotional stuff, if only to help them find their path forward. Maybe he isn't the best at verbal comfort, but magic is one thing he knows he can use for at least some benefit.
I feel like Gale also notices when people aren't dealing well with things, and will purposefully annoy Durge so they have someone to pick on and hopefully feel a little better afterwards. They're definitely the sort of friends that pretend to hate each other, but are there when you need them. Durge definitely brings out his petty side, but its all in good fun. Usually.
While maybe they have a bit of a rocky relationship, I also believe Durge would indulge Gales special interests and let him ramble about things, because they know what it's like to have to shut up to make other people happy. I also feel like Gale would return the favor and deliberately ask about weird, macabre things so that Durge actually has an excuse to bring up topics that interest them.
Wyll has a knitting hobby. You probably wouldn't expect it, but he definitely does. And he's really really good at it, too. He uses every holiday as an excuse to gift people things like socks, scarves, mittens, etc. And I mean EVERY holiday. Earth day, valentines day, national owlbear day (Which is totally not something he made up as an excuse to give people their presents early), etc. The thing is, he notices when people complain about their socks getting worn from traveling, and gets random ideas for gifts at 3 AM, and then spends the rest of the night knitting. He has also been known to make cute little knitted outfits for the group pets in the winter, because he thought Scratch was getting cold.
Adding onto this, Lae'zel is the only person Wyll is willing to go to for a blunt and honest opinion on the gifts he makes before he gives them. Lae'zel doesn't take this lightly, either. While maybe she doesn't show it, she takes this very seriously and is somewhat honored that Wyll came to her instead of anyone else.
Shadowheart tends to replenish Wylls yarn reserve without telling him as well. She asks Lae’zel what colours he's run out of, and then sneak some extra spools into his pack. Wyll still doesn't know who's been doing it, but he's thankful nonetheless. And it's one thing the cleric and the gith can actually be somewhat peaceful about.
Durge doesn't take all of their kills lightly. When it comes to someone they actually respected, there's a ritual they perform afterward that they read about in Withers old temple. They'll grind bone and ash into ink and take time to write out the names of those they respected, and bury it with the bodies. As well as little offerings as well. It isn't a short process either.. Durge will spend the entire night locked in their caravan burning incense, praying their name to Jergal in hopes that the spirit will find rest, and doing little things in honor of the dead.- It isn't hard for team tadpole to figure out when Durge has taken the life of someone they held a genuine respect for, and will be careful not to disturb them, or leave bones or herbs/flowers on the steps of their caravan. Karlach and Astarion will occasionally come to check on them. While maybe it doesn't happen often, it does happen. Withers was particularly surprise to begin receiving prayers after all this time, but it strengthened a sort of bond between the two.
69 notes
·
View notes
i keep thinking about ocelot takarazuka i dont really see the influence like he just looks like a middle age guy with masc features manner and fashion so what do you think the artist actually meant? there's nothing feminine about ocelot like how does the "is that a man or woman" thing play in here cause i don't see it. He's not like raiden or raikov. He's just a guy 🧍♂️so how does the all female theatre thing apply
Hello Anon! Full, immediate disclosure, this answer is messy and disjointed. I probably don't even answer the question your asking end of the day, but I'll try my best.
I believe this is the post you're wondering about?
As I said in this earlier post I'm not a Japanese speaker, so I have to go on interpretation, and what has been offered by the translations available. I can't help but think there is going to be some sort of nuance missing as a result, but I'll do my best.
To start, I think you and I might have a slightly different view on masculine and feminine-to me the two concepts are pretty interchangeable, but I do understand where you're (probably, I don't know you personally after all) are coming from and that, no, Ocelot doesn't have many traditional 'feminine' characteristics.
You'll note that in the original post, Shinkawa refers to getting inspiration from the idea of 'women in their 40's (the age Ocelot almost is in MGSV)' and 'long, flashing eyelashes'. (My interpretation here is that by this, he means in the way long eyelashes that are considered sexy have an eye-catching flow to them. Sort of like how we can say 'fluttering lashes'. Intended to draw a person's gaze in, and command their presence).
Doing some cursory research tells me that the Takarazuka Revue (because Takarazuka is also a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.) is an all-female musical troupe located within that same city. Started in 1913, by Ichizō Kobayashi.
(I also got distracted by this version that is a performance of Casino Royale, so there's that)
Anyway, ahem.
"Kobayashi believed that it was the ideal spot to open an attraction of some kind that would boost train ticket sales and draw more business to Takarazuka. Since Western song and dance shows were becoming more popular and Kobayashi considered the kabuki theater to be old and elitist."
Throughout the article, there is also this;
"Takarazuka has had a profound influence on the history of anime and manga, especially shōjo manga.[27][28] Osamu Tezuka, a highly influential manga creator, grew up in the town of Takarazuka. His mother knew many of the Takarazuka actresses, and as a child he knew them and watched many of their performances"
I can assume that the performances have a lot of influence on media, and it's not uncommon for MGS to take inspiration. There could be an entire article on the things MGS takes inspiration from, even outside the most obvious like Escape from New York, character model bases, etc.
Cycling back to the original point, (there is also a video that exact post comes from, but I don't have the link on hand, on YouTube *no translations). I think that it's entirely possible Shinkawa took 'loose' inspiration, or a little more. I can see why and how he might've based Ocelot's look on the idea. (Loose shirt, tight pants, scarf open neck). But there is also the element of which Takarazuka is a performance, more than anything.
It's acting. Playing. Something Ocelot does all the time. Half of his time on screen, he's putting on some kind of performance. While this is something he does the least in MGSV, that never fully changes 100%. (And after all, he's also hypnotized for most of the plot). So there's a counter argument to be had that this is one of his greatest performances pre-MGS4. But that's a different post.
Ocelot presents/is masculine. But, he has longer eyelashes, his clothes are a little more 'free' than the standard military garb when he's allowed to choose his own outfit. (Again this is specifically MGSV Ocelot, though there's something to be said about his chosen attire being such a sharp 3 piece later on).
At the end of the day, maybe a way you can look at it is to say that, Shinkawa looked to Takarazuka when designing MGSV Ocelot to give him a sort of 'flow' to his looks. He was attracted to the idea of taking elements from Takarazuka, because Ocelot is a performer, and he sees some possibility for feminine additions in his looks *or* might've thought it more 'fitting' than Kabuki.
But again, I don't know if we see fully masculine and feminine the same way, (and maybe Shinkawa personally associates long eyelashes with sexy women; or women made up to look like men but with longer lashes) I can't know for sure myself. I think you would need a native or very good Japanese speaker to interpret it fully.
If I was to offer you a personal opinion-I can see it. I can see where there's a draw that one might have with the look, and where Shinkawa might've gotten said inspiration. But I am not entirely certain how to put that into words either? My perspective isn't going to be 1-to-1 of yours either.
Maybe someone else can interpret all this better than me, I definitely feel as if I've not done this justice at all. Because at the end of the day, I don't see a hard divide in masculine and feminine in Ocelot, but I think that you, Anon, see him as 100% masculine. But again, I can't speak for you and I am not sure.
46 notes
·
View notes
Thinking about how everyone wears different colours in mlc and how they're all connected...
Li xiangyi wears red. Yes it means happiness and joy and luck (ignoring the wedding symbolism for now) but it is also the colour of blood. He wears this bright, bold colour and still ends up dying on that ship.
Di feisheng's main colours are, for the sake of simplicity, black and red. Red for lxy but it's always darker and more muted on him - there's more blood symbolism for him (based purely on his reputation in the jianghu) but also more wedding symbolism compared to lxy. Black, tragically enough, corresponds with the element of water - it was a pitch-black night when he fought lxy, on a black sea, on a black ship - and that even fits with the western idea of black being for death. But he also wears bolder colours - we've seen him in purple and blue, for example - and this parallels fang duobing's outfits. Inherently a lot of the characters obsessed with the past (jiao liqiao and shan gudao, to name some) wear bold colours while characters who have left it behind/who are looking towards the future wear lighter colours (more to be said about this) and I think this is dfs turning away from the last and towards that future.
Brilliant example of this is qiao wanmian. She wears lighter colours and she gets over lxy and but I think it's important that one of her most iconic outfits is pink. Yes we all know how she and dfs are foils - this is yet another element of that. Pink is white and red: white, for death, for lxy; red, for happiness and weddings, also for lxy. Learning to live with her grief was definitely a long and lengthy process but it also helps her become her own person - she lets go of lxy and eventually learns that she has her own power, that she's strong in her own right, that she doesn't have to rely on men. She leaves xiao zijin and becomes the new leader of the new sigu sect and, while it's likely last her time to become a legend in the jianghu, she's certainly an inspiring figure.
Opposite of this is jiao liqiao. She's firmly still chasing after the past - her desire for dfs to love her back, her one-sided love rivalry with lxy. Her red is wedding red for dfs but it's also a giant fuck you to lxy - look, I'm better than you, I've got his attention and you don't. It's still true to an extent in the present, since she believes it's still dfs' attention that li lianhua wants (it is not). A-mian lets go of lxy (with some help for llh) but jiao liqiao never lets go of dfs, even when he outright rejects her. She's chasing her ideal of dfs, not who he actually is.
(I'm not going to talk about shan gudao. Same colours as dfs but the evilness is boosted to 100. He wears black and red as the classic Evil Colour Combo.)
Then we have the con man himself, li lianhua. In this new life of his he wears lighter colours - some blue, some green, but an overwhelming amount of it is white. As the show progresses he loses the blue and green. Yes he's looking at the future now but it's in the manner as someone staring down the barrel of a gun. There's nothing to say here because llh has it all planned out. He's already started dressing for his own funeral.
Lastly, the one and only fang duobing. He wears lighter colours too (in fact, he and a-mian are the only two I'd truly describe as wearing pastels). It's fascinating to note that there was no distinction between blue and green (his main colours) in old China. The symbolism of it is while it's the colour representing east (hahahahaha) it's also the colour of spring. I will never stop with the fdb/spring symbolism - he brings new life, he brings a new beginning, life will always go on if there's spring. (Spring is also the season when peach trees bloom, and isn't that something.) An interesting note is that he never wears any of li xiangyi's signature red. He really does leave lxy behind because he accepts that he's gone, because he loves li lianhua.
48 notes
·
View notes
Rating the New Champions Variant Covers
So marvel recently revealed a bunch of Varient Covers of "What if every hero had a sidekick/youth counterpart" and while I love most of the designs, some definately are better then others
#22
I hate the Vision Design and I dont know why. Something just feels fundamentally off about it/ Maybe its the fact its a pitch white, skintight 8 year old? Maybe its the posing? The Debris? IDK Man is feels weird.
#21
and
#20
These two get paired together for a single reason
It's just Billy and Teddy. I love Billy and Teddy, their some of the only actual Gay Men in Marvel, but come one guys. Certainly you can do a young Dr. Strange and Young Hulk thats different? Strange goes higher if only because I like the art more, the Young Hulk I just dislike entirely
#19
Speaking of uninspired, the only reason Miles is above Billy & Teddy is that at least shes a different gender then her mainline counterpart. Other then that its probably the laziest design here. Also, you may notice the webbing seems off, that will be a recurring trend here where limbs or background elements were layered improperly or something.
#18
I actually really like this character design. It looks like a fun character in a superhero elementry school spin-off book. The only issue um... thats Storm. Its the next gen Storm and she's white. That's basically my only issue, and why shes above the 3 I actively somewhat dislike designwise, but... Storm is one the premiere Black Superheros. Having her next gen counterpart be white feels so weird. I
#17
On one hand, I can 100% see normal Deadpool wearing this. On the other, the My Boy adds way to much charm for me to rate it with the other uninspired ones, and at least I dont feel like its whitewashing anything. We are at the point where I'd unironically love to see any of these designs in a book, even if its an Elseworld instead of main universe one.
#16
Teen Female Wolverine has been done to death, but I do like how this one goes for a more monstrous Angle compared to Laura and Gabby. The tattered, beast up costumes, beastial feet, large Ponytail giving off the deelling of a mane, nasty looking teeth, and BONE CLAWS very much makes it feel more like a feral forest mutant then the more clean, assassin design Laura had.
#15
The big thing I like here is it isn't a reimagining of Carol Danvers current, captain marvel outfit, but her Miss Marvel ones. We already have Kamala for a new gen version of Carols current design, so a reimigining of the old one, in a way that doesn't feel super fetishy is nice. First I thought it was a dude, but it might be a girl? Unsure.
#14
I really love this design, but it doesn't really scream Black Panther... and I honestly dont care. I love bright colors, makes my brain go byr, and the fact she has a completely different powerset most likely intrigues me.
#13
I have a weakness for fishpeople of all types ok? I find the designs naturally appealing. Even still, Starlord's Chibi Starfish Successor is neat, but not amazing. The ideas done a lot better later on.
#12
He looks like he is having so much fun with his Mentor. I also like how, unlike everyone else, Black Cat's Apprentice is kinda chubby. I don't know man he just seems like he'd be a fun guy to hang out with at college.
#11
Whats better then a succesor to one hero? a Succesor to TWO HEROES! The Captain America Succesor I feel very much has some elements of Wasp design, and I always am down for High Tech Wingspans even if they weren't intentionally going for it.
#10
Instead of being the Scarlet witch they made her the Magenta Witch. All in all I just really like the sorta sorceror design, especially the chosen color scheme. Also ghostly mystical fire is fun you should follow it into the swamp.
#9
Listen I love this design. Its in the top 10 for a reason but man... that arm. Every time I see the image I cant help but notice how insanely small his arm is, like he was supposed to have both arms resting but they decided "Have him twirl a stake so people know its blade."
#8
Moon Squire is here to kick ass and pass third grade math! I just like the Cowl mixed with baseball cap design lol. Moon Knight always fucking kills it with the drip though so im not surprised.
#7
A Friend told me It's Gwen Tennyson cosplaying Magneto and now I cant not see it. I do like that shes implied to have a different powerset then Eric as well, always fun when they did that.
#6
The better Chibi Venom. Only missed the top 5 since I dont think he'd be able to carry a book as the main protag, he is the perfect sidekick though. Just this mildly creepy cutie pootie handing with the fairly creepy Symbiote. After Extreme Venomverse shouldn't be surprised the Venom varient is amazing, but I am suprised thats the direction they went.
#5
If Next Gen Storm and Next Gen Moon Knight are in the Elementary School book, Wee-Hulk is the main god damn character. She's just a very fun little kid hulk, I especially love how shes doing the Iconic "She-Hulk holds a Car Above her head" pose with an electric scooter.
#4
Listen, Non-Binery Latin America Iron Man with the Criminally Underused Grey Armor design is great. They gpt Green Hair, Pronouns, and the backing of Americas #1 Arms Dealer, ready to take on the world!
#3
The Thing has become one of them Yancy Street Kids, and the Fantastic Four are his gang. I just love the design, Spiky Rock person is always a favorite of mine.
#2
Miku Ghost Rider. On Roller Skates. With a fucking Hellfire Flail. I am imagining she has an entire like, Magical Girl Transformation Sequence whenever she transforms, just with a lot more demons and fire then normal.
#1
Listen, I get it. Legs dont bend like that. She is objectively less creative then the last 3 or 4. But, I like Crows. I like Ravens. I like Thor. And this Thor looks like she wont take any of Odins BS when he goes shit dad mode.
36 notes
·
View notes
Welcome Home
Being an adult is shitty. Specially when you don't feel like one. What do they mean, getting a job, paying bills and constant responsabilty??!! This is exactly why you couldn't live alone for long, you were fast to let your thoughts take over you and because of that spiralling was quite frequent.
You tried convincing some of your friends to move in with you, offered to do all the dishes for an entire month, accepted to move into the smaller bedroom, but in the end no one wanted or could accept the offer. Hope was starting to fade but you're not a quitter, at least that's what you try to tell yourself in situations like these. The last resort was to advertise it online.
Surely someone would accept it, however there's many risks that come with that possibility and you want to live for a long time. Despair and frustration, the worse pair, was teaming up against you, and they had a very high chance of winning if you look at their record sheet. A ping made you jump off of your chair, you weren't talking to anyone so this was definetely unexpected, but not unwanted, you could use the company.
yuyu:
Are you still looking for a housemate?
y:
IAM, PLEASE TELL ME YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND!
yuyu:
No sorry ahaha But i have a friend who is interested.
y:
Do I know them?
yuyu:
Kinda? I mean you've guys spoken to each other before, at my birthday I think. It's wooyoung.
That name is familiar, as you started to search through your memories, Yunho's birthday party folder showed up, a brief replay of the moment you introduced yourself to everyone and there he was, sitted next to San. You only have good things to say about him, super approachable, funny, helpful... This situation was starting to fix itself.
y:
Give him my adress and my number. Oh and tell him to meet me here tomorrow at 11am. So he can see the place and we get to know each other.
yuyu:
Okay, he said he'll be there.
9:00am and you were wide awake, you wanted to leave the apartment spotless, look good and also grocery shopping. The plan is to make him lunch, something easy because you don't intend to burn the place down. So off to the supermarket you were.
The walk home was much worse due to the heavy bags but nothing could discourage you. You exude happiness ever since you got Yunho's text yesterday, cloud9 was so close, the only thing left was wooyoung saying yes.
Food prep? Done, House duties? Done, last step, getting ready. You already had chosen the outfit in your mind, nothing too fancy just an oversized t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The special element was your kuromi socks since the neutral ones were in the wash.
11:00am finally comes around and your excitment can't contain itself, you're walking from one side of the living room to the other, looking at the clock every 5 seconds, wondering when he'll get here. After almost 100 laps around the couch your phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's Wooyoung, I'm downstairs, I didn't know which floor it was so I decided to call you instead."
"Oh yeah, second floor on your right."
"Thanks, I'll be right there."
As soon you hung up, you threw your phone back on the couch and ran to the door. You put your head on the peep hole to see him from the elevator. The doors opened and he stepped outside, heading torwards your place, but something was different, his hair was longer. A knock on the door woke you back up and you opened the door.
"Welcome to your future home, please come on in." you said while smiling.
"What makes you think I'll want to stay here?"
"Great area, spacious apartment, plenty of transportation, close to Yunho's house and an amazing housemate. You'll be dumb if you pass up this opportunity."
"Not even 5 minutes in and you're already insulting me?" he acted shocked.
"If I didn't know you better, I'd actually feel guilty about my comment and besides, it only counts as an insult if you don't end up wanting to stay. So choose wisely."
"So tell me about you." He spit out.
You gave him a tour, told him the house rules and so far so good. He seemed very pleased, your hope was growing by the minute. Your food was also tasting extra good, you couldn't tell if it was your skills improving or the delusion speaking.
"Me? Well there's not much to tell."
"Then why were you so desperate to get a house buddy?"
You choked on your food.
"I WAS NOT DESPERATE OKAY I WAS JUST PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS."
He couldn't stop laughing he even put his fork down to clap.
"No need to get embarassed I was just wondering. I wanted to be closer to the center of Seoul for professional reasons but also to experience more of the city life. But everything is expensive nowadays and what isn't is already taken or doesn't have that much of great conditions."
"So we met at each other at the right time! Well sure we first interacted at Yunho's house but you know... officially."
"I must say I really liked you at that time, you were very cheerful and loud kinda like me. I mean when he said you'd show up I was a little scared cause we can be a looot but you handled us pretty well."
"Yah did I ever look weak to you Jung Wooyoung!!"
The conversation flowed so well he stayed ever until it was dark outside. It's safe to say that in the end he said yes.
previous// //next
69 notes
·
View notes
Chapter 204 Trivia
What we thought may be a politics arc may in fact become a brotherly feud…
Galileo's quote is taken from his book "The Assayer", considered to be one of the pioneering works of the scientific method. At the time, most science was done by philosophical arguments rather than observation and trying to understand the mathematics behind them.
Math is the universal language because the symbols may change, but the meanings/axioms cannot. Because of this, the cover of the Golden Record placed on Voyager 1 (the probe leaving our solar system) has instructions written in math in the hopes some future beings can understand.
Ryusui wasn't wearing two swords last chapter, I wonder where they came from and why he's wearing them now…
(Maybe this is why Sai was running from him haha!)
Mathematical errors have ruined a lot of space missions: the Mariner 1 was destroyed because of a missing hyphen, and the Mars Climate Orbiter was destroyed on landing because of a failure to convert units.
Avoiding these errors was very difficult when it was all done by hand.
This seems to be at least partially true, however the practice has lessened over the decades. Indian-educated parents and grandparents may remember, but students these days probably only need to learn up to 19x19!
The HR industry in India is incredibly large, and are a very useful resource to have for any business looking to scale up. It's not surprising that the Nanami Corporation set up a university there!
Sai appears to be the 554th most popular name in India and can be used for both genders, but it's generally a male name.
The equations in the background here I haven't identified yet, but the gamma (γ) thrust here may be alluding to the thrust equation used with rocket engines in space. The gamma is the specific heat ratio of the gas.
The day is October 1st, so the team likely left Spain sometime between September 15th-20th if it did in fact take them 10 days to travel the distance (with some delays because of the Suez situation).
The food here may be a somewhat generic curry as the sound effect seems to indicate, or it could also be lamb gosht based on the color, region, and spices used.
Technically we don't know that Ruri specifically called for the defensive positions, but we do know everyone in Japan is probably in them.
I think this is the same sky image as the one Tsukasa saw in chapter 188, but with a different star pattern.
The Fellenius method and what Senku is actually doing here is dividing the slopes into segments and calculating how stable each one is using the properties of the dirt and rock. Putting the segments together should give you how likely a rock slide is. Strata are layers of rock.
The many-armed pose Sai is found in is a reference to Durga, a major Hindu deity. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction and wars.
This comment I believe is Chelsea's from the "I'm not a fan" part, with the "baaad" learnt from Chrome's habit.
The meaning of her comment is confusing, but it might be because the last pretty-boy character introduced was a villain (Stanley), however shes also a fan of Hyoga…?
Sai's outfit is very simple and rather lacking compared to Ryusui's, however they share elements such as the collar type and addition of a belt.
The belt buckle is very interesting, it doesn't follow Ryusui's nor Nanami Corp.'s branding and looks like a C+.
My guesses for the meaning:
-C+, the programming language, based off the fact he was petrified on his laptop presumably.
-C, the Roman numeral, indicating 100+ because of the million-times brainpower comment (million in Japanese is 百万, 百=100).
-C, from E=mc^2, for light speed.
Sai's odd yell ("peegyaaaah!") may be a computer joke, as the sound effect "ピ" (pi) tends to be used for computer beeps, like pressing a button.
A similar sound has been used in the past for Xeno's encryption device.
Sai's character could go a lot of directions since he's unlikely to be one of the traditional nerds they described, nor one like Joel since Joel exists. What Ryusui did to scare off his older brother though, I'm very curious about…
24 notes
·
View notes
Steve and Eddie watch figure skating together. It becomes their thing, one of the things they always do together, that they love sharing with each other.
It's the one sport Eddie actually enjoys watching, he loves the theatrics and the outfits and he has all the jump types memorized and can 100% identify each jump in action. But he's always kept it to himself, been a little embarrassed to admit he likes it. Liking any sport doesn't quite fit his ✨️image✨️.
And Steve has always loved it, knows all the major skaters' programs and scores, loves analyzing the technical elements and predicting the scores for each element as the skaters compete. But by the time he was about 7, he was being told skating wasn't "a man's sport" by his dad, so he ended up following it in secret, never telling anyone how much he loves it.
Until he gets to Eddie's new government-funded house a little earlier than planned and walks in on Eddie glued to the screen during the 1987 World Figure Skating Championships (which Steve has set up to record, since he and Eddie had plans). Eddie, who hurriedly tries to change the channel, fumbling with the remote, until Steve excitedly jumps over the back of the couch with a, "Wait, you like skating, too???" and starts rattling off who his favorite skaters are and what he likes about their programs. And Eddie just sits there, awed that Steve knows just as much as he does about this sport, that he clearly loves it just as much, and he's never wanted to kiss Steve more.
Eventually, Steve trails off when Eddie doesn't say anything, a little nervous now about how enthusiastic he was, tells Eddie that it's fine if he'd rather do something else, they had planned to go to the movies after all, but Eddie just shushes him and turns the volume up. "No way am I missing Brian Orser's short program for some dumb movie. Settle in, Steve, we've got skating to watch."
They get so caught up in watching and swapping commentary that they don't notice Wayne coming out of his bedroom to eat something before work. He watches them fondly, chuckling a little when they both jump up cheering at the scores Orser receives for his short program. Smiles softly when they settle back onto the couch, Eddie curled up against Steve's side, Steve absent-mindedly playing with the rings on Eddie's hand as they talk about their predictions for the free skate, making plans to watch it together at Steve's.
And, two days later, in the wake of an exciting free skate, both of them cheering and grinning, when Steve turns, bright eyed, to Eddie and leans in and kisses him, barely pulling away before Eddie is tugging him back in, when they completely miss the medals being awarded because they're too busy making out, well, it's just one more reason for them to love skating, isn't it?
(Am I projecting my personal love for figure skating here? Absolutely. Can't help it, watching Worlds and needing the boys to love it, too. I will not be taking criticism at this time 😅)
100 notes
·
View notes
so can you tell us anything about the second aftershock oc child which would end up inheriting earth
Listen he's currently in limbo until we see how the Geo stuff pans out cuz I dun wanna make another probably impossible kid.....BUT-
*jazz hands* very quick sleep deprived sketch GO
His name is Adrien Cole, which you may already know if you've been following the next-gen stuff!
He's adopted by Cole (most likely during his ~Wu Quest~ that we won't get to see rip, hence the last name) when he's 4-5 years old (still kinda waiting on some more DR info before locking that in) after being orphaned as a result of The Merge, but regardless of when he's adopted, he's still about five years younger than Cam.
Jesse: Who is that?!
Cole, sipping a smoothie: Our new son :3
Lloyd: My god he's collecting children like Pokemon, somebody stop him
Kai: At least that one didn't appear out of thin air
Jesse: ...I think he still kinda did!!!
...okay, it doesn't actually happen like that, as after their reunion post-merge, Cole and Jesse did discuss adopting another child (as Cole still felt terrible about missing a solid chunk of Cam's childhood). It just happened a little sooner and more abruptly than Jesse planned for. Cole was off on his quest and this sad, lost, merge-ruined child just started following him because he seemed like a safe person to be with ;w;)/
And Cole's not gonna turn away a child in need
It takes Adrien a really long time to warm up to Jesse, and even longer to call Cole or Jesse any form of 'Dad', but he's 100% all in on having Cam as a sister.
(And Cam is so excited to have a sibling that she doesn't even care if he's a sourpuss for most the time. He finds her constant zeal for life overwhelming, but refreshing. She's always teaching him new things when she asks without teasing him, which he appreciates)
He's not as energetic as Finn, Quinn, Blaire, Luci, or his sister, but not nearly as uptight Blythe, Seven, or Briar either. He is, however, a lot quicker to get upset with things than anyone else, and is probably the deadpan snarker of the group. Think Kid!Lloyd if he went all in on his emo and/or goth phases snksnksnk
He's a punk drummer! And a painter! But unlike the rest of the family he has a horrible case of stage fright + public speaking, so don't ever expect him to willingly show off....Unless Briar is around (one thing he can relate to Jesse with: having a hopeless crush lmao).
He and Finn have a similar dynamic as Cole and Jay, which Kai thinks is the funniest thing ever. He also gets competitive in physical activities with Quinn and Blair, and he bullies Blythe all the time for "being a nerd" (and is only nice when Briar scolds him for it). He and Seven are chill besties, and Lucina terrifies him (but he'll never say so).
Cole only gives up his powers to Adrien when Adrien says he's ready for it, but Cole does kind of want to do it ASAP, because he fears waiting too long will yield the results of what ended happening to his mom. On the other hand, with all the chaos going on during DR and beyond, Cole fears that he won't be able to protect his family or friends without his powers/strength and that makes him hesitate (even if they have the Blue Crystal exploitation).
Adrien, however, has exceedingly low attunement with the Element of Earth, due to a) his personality and b) not actually being a Descendant, and struggles with his powers even after he get them. His superstength isn't consistent, either (which scares the hell out of Jesse, because what if an accident happens—) but his Vibration Tracing is leagues better than Cole's is/was (to the point of being able to see just with vibrations in the earth. Like Toph, but not quite as cool).
ALSO his weapon is twin sickles which are not actually designed for fighting but are still enough to freak a person out when combined with superstrength hell yeah. it's basically Cole's Scythe + Jesse's Twin Naginata
ALSO he has pink in his outfit not just to rep his other dad BUT because in some older color schemes for Cole he has pink in there especially in his NRG form and I wanted to shoutout to that-
When he uses his equivalent of Earth Punch, instead of getting new markings, the scars along his arms glow instead. Where did the scars along his arms come from? I dunno! Accident as a child, weird birthmark, did it himself.......it's pending.
Anywaaaaay, that's about all I got for now. I didn't want to develop him too much if he was going to be doing even less than every other kid anyway :V
. . .
Adrien: Sooooo. ...were you adopted too, orrrrrr...?
Cam: I consider myself a ✨Bio-Magical✨ miracle child~
Adrien: Andddd I'm not gonna dig into THAT
9 notes
·
View notes
Blades 2 Inside Choices Blog: Blades of Light and Shadow 2
We’re so happy to be back in action with the gang we know and love! Where does Blades of Light and Shadow 2 pick up after the first book’s ending?
Emi: I will say that we don't pick up where you're expecting.
Kathleen: Unless you were expecting to get hucked out the back of the plot truck and onto the action highway at 80mph. (Fury Road theme plays)
Lil: (is overtaken by the Two Towers theme)
Emi: But rest assured, our original four love interests are back and dealing with their own challenges.
Lil: And they’re definitely going to need help with those challenges whether you’re romancing them or not. Though we support all variations of ‘mancers here. Mono-, multi-, and necro- .
Emi: Also they get some new looks that can best be described as "sleeves are B.S."
Jay: Don’t forget “badass pirate coat important”.
What kind of new main characters will we meet in the sequel? Or perhaps, any new love interests?
Jay: There is a strange but familiar hooded figure…whose hotness level was of great discussion.
Lil: He’s very constructive with his feedback. And a monster from Book 1 returns, but not in a way you expect.
Emi: I think we all know I'm obsessed with Valax. I mean, she's a badass purple lady who only has one sleeve. Obviously that makes her my wife.
Tom: EMI YOU HAVE TOO MANY WIVES!!!
Kathleen: Idk I'm still mad that hot scorpion lady didn't win the monster contest.
Lil: Sky whale supremacy how dare.
Kathleen: Okay I am excited about the dwarves and goblins though. New dwarf friend is just A+ chaos babe and I love her.
Emi: Honestly though, my fave character is the one who's "head empty, no thoughts, falls over a lot."
Making this sequel has been a labor of love. Does the book team have any must-tell stories/bloopers during production?
Jay: There was an accidental floating dwarf? And too many battles with code. Writers, please don’t do it to me again. I cannot take it. The while loop will win.
Kathleen: During one of my editorial passes I had to give Emi a note like "Okay when we first meet the Big Bad maybe we should use that moment to establish that she's really imposing/scary instead of just going off about how hot she is."
Emi: I may have made too many Aerin memes that are now weekly traditions for our team.
Danielle: I was instructed to design a character with “Vision as a hotness bar” as a guide, I ignored them and used Jeff Bridges instead 😏.
Jay: Danielle also came up with some incredible filenames, my favorite being “tentacle_monster_buff”.
Danielle: It’s accurate, is it not?
Are there any elements that you are particularly proud of?
Tom: The Shadow Realm was fun to make! Think the Upside Down, but more purple. And to make all the awesome new weapons and armor work with the outfits took 150 unique assets! You’re welcome.
Danielle: My first full book!
Lil: The lore guide for Blades was 60 single-spaced pages before we started adding things that came up during active production. I’m really pleased with how much actually ended up being discoverable in the book itself, so be sure to explore every nook and cranny of Morella and beyond! Because they are filled with beauty and chaos.
Emi: I cannot tell you how many spreadsheets we made to keep track of things. I mean, the outline alone was 100 pages!
Jay: My code built 😭. And that my production planning got it to you a little earlier than y’all had anticipated hehe.
At the end of the first book, we seemed to have wiped out the forces of evil for at least a day or so. What kind of dangers will we face in the second edition?
Lil: Evil never sleeps y’all. It gets its coffee from Aerin.
Kathleen: (Aerin, walking up to the counter): "I have a large non-fat birthday cake latte with caramel drizzle and four shots of espresso for (squints at label) ...Emile?"
Lil: In all seriousness, you’re really getting it from all sides in this book. There’s rival factions, shifting leadership, societal upheaval, and monsters. So. Many. Monsters. (Thank you for giving us the Shadestalker, by the way. Can’t wait for you to meet the beefy boy.)
Kathleen: One cool scary thing about book 2 is that THIS TIME, IT'S PERSONAL (like instead of you and your buds racing against bad guys to collect the magic things, you've now got a villain single-mindedly hunting you down so she can steal your <REDACTED> for use in her evil plans).
Emi: Kathleen may have called me out for it but our Big Bad is hot! Both literally and figuratively!
How much do you love QA?
Lil: SO MUCH.
Emi: Pour one out for our poor QA folks who have had to test what is the most complex book we have ever done! You are the real heroes!
Jay: QA peeps are my saviors!! Their work alone cures my anxiety.
Kathleen: Gawd I would be lost without QA my grammar is a disaster
Erin: Everyone on the Blades team is so wonderful to work with. I also tested Book 1, and to be able to contribute to Book 2 means everything to me. It’s absolutely a labor of love.
We know that years of hard work and passion went into this book. What would the Blades team like the readers to take away from this sequel?
Emi: So Kathleen and I actually helped to brainstorm the entire Blades world back when it first came into being, so it felt like coming full circle to be back and expanding it in new and fun ways. I was already in love with all of these characters and they're even closer to my heart now. I can't wait for you all to see what we've come up with!
Jay: Y’all better like it! This book has taken years off my life. *lies down on floor* (But seriously, we’re as excited about Blades 2 as all of you and hope that it brings as much joy to you as it did for us to make. I think the best word to describe the team as we wait for September 1st is giddy.)
Danielle: I hope you like our art :).
Tom: If you don’t, please keep it to yourself, artists are fragile :’}
Lil: I was one of the few people who was new at Choices when I began working on this book, and it was truly an honor to see this thing come together. These are the minds that brought you The Crown & the Flame, The Cursed Heart, Wake the Dead, and the first Blades. It was amazing to go from watching them work as a fan to taking this epic journey together.
Kathleen: THE REAL VILLAIN WAS THE IMPERIALISM WE MADE ALONG THE WAY
Lastly, how much does the team love Aerin?
Kathleen: I DON'T love Aerin he KIDNAPPED my WIFE.
Danielle: Which one…
Emi: Aerin is my sweet baby boi with a little dose of evil. He should be protected at all costs but also really needs to go to therapy. I live for the angst of him and Raine though. It's so juicy.
Danielle: Aerin has caused me, personally, a lot of pain.
Lil: Really, one of the fun things about the book is you can decide how much pain Aerin causes you. Unlike us.
Jay: He haunts my dreams and my Wednesdays.
Danielle: Livid and sad and livid and sad
Thank you team for taking us through the fantastical production journey of the Blades of Light and Shadow 2! We can’t wait to dive in and meet up with the gang. Launch day is so close!!
Thank you, readers, for supporting us and our book teams!
<3 The Choices Community Team
21 notes
·
View notes
I actually love that Mika Pikazo designed Engage's characters. Her art is so colourful and vibrant and fun, it's a great fit for the game itself! Alear's outfits make no sense, but we've gotta accept that's par for the course with anime. Male Alear looks so pretty that I wish they'd used her art for in-game portraits, instead of his 3D model. I love Celine's ridiculous bell skirts, and Alfred's impractical ruffled sleeves, and Nel and Rafal's cool spiked collars that look like crowns, and everything about the Ivy Trio because hey, let's have three of the most unreasonably hot characters join all at once and create an utter menace to bisexuals across the world. Everyone has their own distinctive silhouettes, and shared style elements between certain characters, like the stripes of black lace on Firenese royals.
You know what else I love? No paired endings except for Alear! Now I can enjoy watching an entire support chain between different units, without worrying I'm going to accidentally get them locked into a romantic ending that I don't like (which happened several times in Three Houses) or instigate any child unit weirdness (one of my least favourite features in Fates). All the fun of seeing their bonds develop and personalities shine, with none of the awkward drawbacks.
Plus I get to recruit every single character that I like, no choosing factions, or feeling like I'm missing out on chunks of the game if I get too attached to a particular side. I want all my eggs in a single delicious basket, please. Replay value? I'm happy to play the exact same story over 500 times if I actually like it, the same was rewatching a favourite movie until I can quote half the dialogue off by heart.
Oh, and the way genderlocking S-supports got kicked into the garbage like it deserves? The way gender just...absolutely does not matter in the slightest, at any point in this game? Perfect. It feels like I'm finally 100% welcome. I could make a whole separate post about why Engage means so much to me on this specific issue, but for a quick example, look at Alfred. One of the characters whose S-support is most obviously a romantic confession. Look me in the eyes, and tell me that if this game were made ten years ago, and the developers had to pick just a few characters as same-sex romance options, he would've been included. Not a chance. Wlw players would probably get Yunaka, mlm players would get Rafal. Do you see what I'm saying here? Yeah.
There's myriad other things I love about Engage, but I just wanted to shout some positivity for a few that I've seen mixed responses to (except removing the genderlock, I haven't seen anyone small-minded enough to criticise that yet, but I like saying how great it is regardless).
13 notes
·
View notes
What made Nessa your favorite character? :3
THANK YO UFOR THIS ASK, I can distract myself from a couple of real problems by talking about my favorite fictional person rn <333
Since this is about how she became my fave character, I will write about musical Nessa (for a change) since I watched the musical first and already loved her there. She and Elphaba were my faves- I apologize to fans but I 1st found Glinda annoying :( so I focused more on the sisters. I also found Fiyero pleasant, but I never obsess that much over male characters, and Boq... I first found him so irrelevant I struggled to remember his name lol.
I know now Glinda is a very deep character, thanks to the fandom writes amazing things about her, and all while my initial annoyance I saw that she has a sad underlayer. Like, I get it. She is actually secretly alone because "no friend truly mattered besides Elphaba," etc. But still, she is liked. She has social and intellectual skills. She is able-bodied. She is pretty in the most conventional blonde way. She has... opportunities.
But Nessa, Nessa is the one truly alone AND disliked. The things she's told all her life that will be her saving grace (mainly, her beauty) are *never* actually valued by anyone. Not even she loves herself. She's super needy but totally incompetent at keeping people around. She messes up the only good connection to a person she had, Elphaba's (not Boq because that never worked; not Frex because he wasn't truly a good one + he dies). Her emotions drive her to a breaking point which, narratively, eventually give Ozians a valid reason to hate her. She dies and no one truly mourns (well, Elphaba did, which proves my point).
All of this is why I instantly loved her. Not upon immediate first appearance, of course, because my expectations with her showing up were like "oh, she's going to be Elphaba's one-dimensional protected sweet little thing, and then she'll die so we feel bad for Elphaba"; I was pleasantly surprised by seeing a dark arc, an arc that wasn't "women/sisters hate each other bc jealousy and looks," which is sadly how many men write women's relationships. The love and hate between Elphaba and Nessa is sooo more complex.
I caught all of this upon first watch because, again, I was focusing on her. Elphaba, while also hated by most Ozians, is liked by Fiyero and Glinda, but also presented to be liked (& successfully so) by the audience. The real people not liking Nessa gives her an extra meta layer of relatability to me (which also fucks me up because there are <10 Nessa stans spread through history and I'm the most active rn ;~;). The thing is, she's not even written as a cartoonishly 100% evil guy like Musical!Frex or Morrible; I see as much humanity in her as I see in myself. For all her musical self gets criticism (ableism + change of interesting book elements), it does a pretty good job of balancing "victim of the circumstances and a failure to boot" and "still, the consequences are her fault," which is so cathartic to me, when one knows themselves deserves punishment/karma and not forgiveness.
I don't think I miss out on the thematic aspects of the musical by not focusing on Gelphie because, as I've pointed out, there are many similarities in the arcs of Glinda and Nessa but temporally inverted, so to say, especially in relation to Elphaba, except, well, any romantic undertone I guess.
Adding a couple of superficial reasons:
In terms of character design (i.e. features that are consistent in how she's played- her outfits, her usually brown hair and hairstyles, mannerisms), I thought she looks the best. 💖
I thought it was adorable that she liked a cute munchkin boy rather than the popular hot prince haha.
9 notes
·
View notes
Okay but would J word have the opportunity to see miss Raven on the masquarade outfit?
(And not Sebek without anyone telling him Raven and Malleus aren't actually related 😭😭😭 this would only make her get into more sheningans someone save the poor bird. I don't know if Silver would be able to see that it is actually not true or believe what Sebek says)
[Related Posts: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10]
Here’s my attempt at a masquerade design for Raven 😂 (Emphasis on “attempt” because I threw this together very quickly and I’m still not 100% satisfied with it—)
The overall look is a mixture of visual elements pulled from 15th century French women’s fashion, Malleus’s masquerade outfit, and Enchanted’s Narissa. Raven’s hairstyle and eye makeup is also very heavily inspired by Narissa. Many of the additional details and accessories (cursive scrawl on the fabric, feathered fan, the “cage” of the skirt, pearl beading and jewelry) are flairs that speak to Raven’s own style and personality.
Her mask is meant to be “fact and fantasy” themed. The feathered half is her true bird self, and the other half is meant resemble her dreams and desires (manifested as the words she writes).
I thought it was fitting to draw ideas from Narissa, since she has water-related powers (a contrast to Malleus and Rollo’s fire) and can turn into a dragon (which feeds into the dumb Masquerade subplot about Raven and Malleus being mistaken for relatives). I tried to make Raven’s outfit somewhat similar to Malleus’s (incorporating the colors and the feathers) while still making the look uniquely her own.
Oh, I’m sure J word will see the masquerade look somehow 😌 Raven could easily send Jade a picture of everyone altogether in their masquerade attire (via text) or maybe post it on Magicam (and he spots it on there)? Alternatively, Raven sends a pic to Crowley and Jade happens upon it while filling in for Azul’s duties as dorm leaders while he’s at the symposium—
NBC has prepared these outfits for us, Raven captions the image. She’s positively glowing in the photo, holding up an awkward peace sign at the camera. The same excited nervousness she always wears before daring to discover something new. We’ll tour the city in their celebratory traditional garb. Can’t wait!
Fufufu. It is a relief to know that she is enjoying her time there. There’s a keen glint to Jade’s sharp eyes. I shall have to inquire about all the valuable information and insights Miss Raven has gleaned from Noble Bell College and the City of Flowers upon her return.
Weeeeeell, Silver is dense in his own way so 🤡 I don’t think he’d catch on that Sebek thinks Raven is an actual relative of Malleus’s. Silver would just assume that Raven and Sebek really bonded during their trip to NBC. “Good for you, Sebek. You’ve found a reliable new ally in Raven.” (Silver’s so used to having to negotiate between the two of them that he’s just glad they’re finally “at peace” with each other.)
30 notes
·
View notes
I just stumbled upon this gem again:
https://twitter.com/chimchimbabyyy/status/1528761533618069504
And I've never discussed it (and couldn't find it on your Masterlist, or maybe I'm blind).
But this moment has me on my knees.
Even with me usually being overly critical, this feels 1000 % romantic. It's a choreographed moment, yes. But it's chorepgraphed to perfection. Jimin almost burying his head in JK's chest, the slow turn, the soft movements of Jimin's hand on JK's shoulder, JK being calm and serene. This is so soft, romantic and intimate...aaaand now I have to ask the question of all question: Fanservice or queercoding?
When I first saw it, my immediate thought was: fanservice.
BUT, at that point I wasn't really familiar with their bond and as I have found out lately, I still have the occasional bout of heteronormativity. Sucks, I know, but I'm working on it.
Back then I thought: there is no way this is more than an act for fans. Because if it isn't, well then...
I know there are moments where Jimin flirts with Hobi. But the atmosphere is always very light hearted and goofy.
There is nothing goofy about the Dynamite Holiday Remix Jikook hug.
I know there are way more intense moments between KPop idols that can clearly be labeled as fanservice.
But the reason why the Dynamite Holiday Remix moment stands out to me is the intimacy. It's not overtly sexy, there's not a lot of skin showing or even skin contact. But the skin contact that is there is so incredibly intimate, it almost makes me feel like intruding.
This moment is neither goofy, nor ambiguous. These are unambiguous soft, romantic vibes. To me this is one of the most bold Jikook moments out there.
Add to this the matching outfits...it almost feels like them saying "yeah, we know that we have so much tension and chemistry, you could cut it with a knife. Sue us!".
So nowadays I'm leaning towards queercoding (similar to the MAMA 2020 Black Swan performance, the mother of all artistic queercoding Jikook moments).
But to this day I'm asking myself: what was the reason?
Why were they so bold and included it?
What do you think? Is it an important moment for you? Or am I seeing things? I would love to hear a second opinion on this.
You talking about this moment here, are you?
That was literally my reaction the first time I saw this.
But I'll try to be serious for a second here.
"... the reason why the Dynamite Holiday Remix moment stands out to me is the intimacy. It's not overtly sexy, there's not a lot of skin showing or even skin contact. But the skin contact that is there is so incredibly intimate, it almost makes me feel like intruding."
I agree.
I'm still not 100% sure this was actually choreographed, as in planned and thought up by the director, or was it something JM and or JK came up with and they just allowed it to stay in the end product.
I do think that at the end of the day it's a combination of fanservice and queer coding. Because, to be honest, I don't think they would leave it in the end product if it was queer coding alone. Knowing there are elements of fanservice in this case allowed for the queer coding, if you get what I'm saying?
I don't think you're seeing things. End of 2020 was super loud for the two, and we see just how loud in memories 2020 and Mots ON:E dvd. Not only were they loud, they were 'allowed' to be loud in official content, such as the Melon Black swan performance. And this is just one more of those loud moments.
But again, I think perhaps they were allowed this because there were also elements of fanservice here too.
In this clip you can see this moment was staged, in the sense that it wasn't them being caught suddenly in 'a moment' as it feels like in the original clip.
It's hard for me to give this moment too much weight because of that, in a way, although the more I think about it, it's more about JM and JK doing their thing and the company allowing it in.
I personally prefer to give more weight to moments that feel spontaneous, they just feel more authentic, and the level of fanservice in them is lower, even more so moments that aren't meant for us, those that are behind the camera.
60 notes
·
View notes
Obsessed with the idea of Miguel and V. taking a trip down to Florida. She advises Miguel to take short sleeve shirts and shorts. He doesn't think it'll be that hot. Poor guy has no idea what it's like to be in 90° weather with high humidity, as Nueva York is generally cool all year. Olivia secretly packs him the correct clothes, knowing what's going to happen.
Imagine Miguel going to the beach for the first time. They're probably in a private area so that people don't see her tentacles. V. puts sunscreen on both of them, and he helps with her back. He has no clue how intense the sun is when you're in the water. He is soon to find out. He also suddenly understands why Olivia insisted he change to these very dark goggles she gave him instead of keeping his sunglasses on, as the waves are intense.
They shell hunt, and V. is braver than Miguel is when it comes to swimming out to a sandbar easily 100+ feet from shore. They stay and watch a sunset. They then take a very, very long shower, struggling to get the sand out of places Miguel didn't know sand could get. It takes V. a long while to get the sand out of her tentacles. They're waterproof, but not sand-proof. Miguel goes to bed and she's like "I'll join you in a few" and then Miguel wakes up a few hours later at like 2am and she's barely done with the 2nd tentacle.
The next day they stay in so that Olivia sleeps a little. The day after, Olivia doesn't get in the water. She does, however, fall asleep on the towel she placed down while Miguel does whatever. Eventually, he joins her. They both sleep in the sunlight, faces covered by the umbrella. A towel on top of sand is a disturbingly good bed.
Even with the sunscreen, Olivia still leaves bright red. Pale bitch problems 👍
Also there's now a tan line across her stomach from where Miguel's arm was while she slept. As well as a handprint tan line on his from where her hand was on his forearm, albeit much more subtle than hers.
OMG BEACH DAY WITH MIGUEL AND OLIVIA AJDHAKDHAKDHSJHSS
they literally sound so cute imagining Miguel just feeling this humid and hot weather for probably the first time and being like “h u h” sounds so funny lmao (here in Cali it might seem like a normal winter but then BAM 90 DEGREES JUMPASCARE HEHEHEHEHE)
I remember going to the beach and getting so much sand on my legs even though I was FAR FROM THE WATER and being so shocked like “how did it get there??” I was still in the water for this to happen tho and even when I thought I was safe the waves decided to do a hehe haha and get my jeans all wet. I had the perfect key west kitten outfit until I walked out looking like a drenched cat (with ruined jeans). Imagining this with Miguel looking all soppy and wet while Olivia is just laughing at how out of his element he feels just looks so goofy SKFHSKDHD.
also idea: imagine it actually snowing in Nueva York and (I’m assuming it doesn’t snow in Florida) Olivia not being used to the snow, gets shown a bunch of cool activities to do during winter in Nueva York. They also go ice skating and they both struggle to stand up (meanwhile Xina is skating like Kamila Valieva here LMAO)
just them getting to know more about each other and becoming more comfortable through that>>>>>>
3 notes
·
View notes
M!ik 271 thoughts part I
Finally the chapter that I was looking for the most. We have Iruma and Amelie together again for another date and What. A. Date.
Because I'm a shipper first and a person second, this is going to be a long post, reviewing almost every page one by one. So bear with me, please ❤
Irumeri fandom this one is for you!
The color page is lovely, in honor of the beginning of autumn and Iruma's birthday. The art is gorgeous (as always), the trio is enjoying yummy conform food. There's even a bunch of sweet potatoes for Iruma that Azz reserve for him as "Iruma-sama's spot" (like Amelie does in the chapter, reserving dinner), and some little devi-bears want to steal it, so cute. Share is care, Azz
(also I made an observation about this color page here)
We start by seeing Amelie making reservations for "dinner 4 two" (So elegant, such a classic, Idk how he didn't notice, the word date is everywhere). I have to say, I love when girls take the initiative, inviting the guy, making the plans, picking up the the bill. And there have been times when Iruma makes the first move: after walter park, backing sweets at his home, pick her up to dance in deviculum; Even so I would really like for Iruma to make actual plans to go out with her at least once I don't think is that crazy of an expectation. I cut him some slack bc he's literally new in the netherworld so he doesn't known many places.
We see them in the restaurant all dressed up. And let's talk about fashion. I'm not an expert, but whatever is going on with Iruma's outfit is not right. Too much print, seriously the suit in general is nice but he looks like a grandpa (Maybe Sullivan dressed him, why did you let him Opera-san?). Amelie. GOD, AMELIE. She is a queen. Perfect from head to toe, did she go to a beauty salon? 100000/10. The lace over her chest and the veil in her bun are very elegant. And the spider web necklace put me on my knees.
And how they exchange compliments, so cute. Amelie you are being nice. Iruma you are 100% right, my dude. She is so happy about it, and I'm happy that she is happy about it.
Now we enter the "Devil's Ring" and it's more elegant inside. Super stylish. So it's not only Deviculum, but there are also exclusive public places for high ranks…I must say that this contributes to the segregation and prejudice among demons (Kirio is crazy but he was right about the unfairness of the ranking system).
Iruma is so excited about the fancy food. Every time Iruma shows such excitement about eating, I am reminded of how he was used to eating very poorly or not eating at all, it just so bittersweet, thank god he's now so much better. I wonder what would be Amelie's (or anyone's) reaction to know that, finally and painfully understanding all the fuss.
Back to the cuteness. We can see the duality bw them. Iruma is still very green about these things (Kudos to Opera, always the Capitan of this ship) while Amelie is in her element, born and raised in the upper class. And just as Iruma admires her for knowing all this, Amelie doesn't blame him for not knowing. She makes sure that he feels comfortable with her, explaining and guiding him.
Standard or not, Amelie picking up the bill is very hot. I'm sure Iruma has enough money, but she wanted to treat him for his efforts. I read once in tw that they thought that she looked like his Sugar-mommy, and hope that was a joke, because this is a girl with the money and the confidence to ask out the guy she likes. If the roles were reversed, they would call him chad. Also she's not that old, they are like a year apart.
The toast is a perfect show of how they treat each other as equals despite their differences, because there is compassion for when the other needs it, there's trust to share the thoughts, feelings and opinions, or mundane things like a meal or simple small talk and commitment to maintain and appreciate all that (with those words, they might as well have been married)
They enjoy the other's company. I don't get ppl who says there is not chemistry bw them, their interactions are so genuine and cute. They are no forced, most of them are initiated by one or both. They want to be with each other, talk and have good time.
But not everything is fun and yumm, the serious talk comes in the next part
The "oh, so juicy" part of this date
21 notes
·
View notes