heyyy besties so i watched mota ep2 and it was very fruity. what was that. i know it's supposed to be about serious war. but [minor spoilers] the phone scene where curt calls buck and egan (am i supposed to first name basis them? gale and john?? idk bro) gave me Thoughts, alright.
hear me out. tall stern serious keeps-his-boys-in-check bf (gale) x tall loud rowdy riles-up-his-boys bf (john) x short affectionate golden retriever looks-at-his-boys-like-they-are-the-sun bf (curt).
We get a vague understanding of what life was possibly like for Artie before coming to F. O. L. Orphanage...
...and we learn that Artie and Theo already knew each other before then, too.
But what does Artie mean by telling Theo to not "get scared now" after knowing Artie so long? Afraid of holding a gun... or afraid of Artie? Makes me wonder what Artie did before they both ended up in that orphanage!
Before Artie can elaborate (though he probably wasn't going to right then anyway), he and Theo realize more staff are headed their way.
Of course, that fan translation of the above page was very wrong about what Doll says. She doesn't say she will find a way to keep him/make him hers. No one calls anyone "baby". 😮💨 This does not, however, rule out the possibility that Doll tries to have Snake turned into a bizarre doll, if he dies. We do have to worry that bizarre doll Snake might turn against Finny and our earl simply because Finny left him to die. Same problem if Snake somehow lives (which I highly doubt); he could feel abandoned and choose Doll. Snake remaining loyal to our earl might not matter, though; Undertaker could turn him into a basic bizarre doll in order to simply show him off to our earl -- and possibly Finny, too -- later, just to make them feel worse about his death.
The fan translation of the next page isn't nearly as bad. The language here is more formal, but the gist of it was right:
I agree with @fwippysays, who said Finny might be thinking back to his master being arrested, then comparing it to now with Snake dying, because these are moments when Finny feels powerless to help those he cares about.
I hope Snake hears Finny's heartfelt apology for leaving him behind. Thankfully, the snakes are there to witness this: that Finny wanted to destroy Doll and take Snake with him. It's just that he felt he had to focus on their mission, otherwise Snake's death would be in vain.
Now what? Kill the approaching staff?
If Snake dies, I hope the snakes paralyze Doll and find the kids outside. Then they could burn the barn down. No bodies, no bizarre dolls.
In honor of the Kings birthday I'd thought I finally share this
"Moody Blue" 20x24in done in oil
I think I'm in love with this one ngl, it took me a while to finish
Edit: I am currently working on getting a high quality scan so I can put this on my redbubble. Prints will be available soon, check out my pinned post!
Love the POV flip storytelling device where the character everyone else thinks is incredibly capable, calm, and collected turns out to have an internal monologue that sounds like:
Captain’s Log: It has been 73 hours since my last existential crisis and 5 days since the last time I felt compelled to scream in to the void. Both are new records. Note - is this what they call “Progress”?
To me Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley, an antifascist sci-fi space opera about trans lesbians fighting against the Intergalactic Police, works really really well, because it perfectly captures the ethos of queer sci-fi, a subgenre that rose out of the entire idea of human "aliens" relating to the "aliens" or unfamiliar sci-fi creatures (same with postcolonial sci-fi and xenophobia narratives, like the aliens from Butler's Xenogenesis). The lesbian couple in Junker Seven are literally like aliens, fleeing and travelling across planets, trying to find queer allies to rebel against the fascist government. This is deliberately political sci-fi, sci-fi that allows queer hope to flourish but also gives a bombastic side eye to the idea of "escapism" by erasure of vital narratives of marginalization.
I've spoken about this with high fantasy too, and how some people glorify Samantha Shannon over Seth Dickinson or Shelley Parker Chan for making her worlds "queer normative", despite, you know, xenophobia and misogyny being very much a thing in her "comforting" universes. So there's no need for queer rebellion and protest- just romances or incidental background "casual rep" aka one that is comfortable and palatable to bear.
When genres with their own loaded political implications like sci-fi and horror are sanitized into little aesthetic packets: "cozy horror", "horror vibes but not really scary", "slice of life sci-fi" I'm like, cool, cute I guess, but I actually love to see political themes in these types of literature, because of the history of their evolution. Think Octavia Butler. Think southern gothic a la Toni Morrison. And I'm not shaming anyone for seeking comfort from the harshness of their realities in these "cozy" subgenres, but I'm just saying I love political art and literature and I love that Kelley is a nonbinary lesbian writing about nonbinary lesbians who fight and suffer and emerge victorious together in an entire dictatorial GALAXY of state sanctioned propaganda and violence. It's so refreshing after all the quirky cute romances.
Why do they look like brothers that were forced to take a family photo after the mum promised them ice cream if they behaved 💀💀 n the backdrop rlly ties it all together 💀
oliver baez bendorf // daniele buetti // ocean voung // evan m cohen // ny times // karen nyberg and others // yiyun li // margaret nazo // florence and the machine // alexei leonov // @solbieglr // karla irby // finn butler // karla irby // jacqueline woodson
onversation between an aurgur and the universe via constellations
so, i will only translate a little bit of the second CG (image in the right) because if i translated everything, it would be a loooot... and i would stay here for days and days. but there's context, i will also talk about why the nickname, if it's too different from the name! here is part one of the princes.
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King Oliver & Prince Arthur (“Watson”).
why the nickname Watson? Prince Arthur said he couldn't tell about the future to Oliver, then got the nickname from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.
King Oliver, MC and Prince Arthur went out for a walk on Oliver’s birthday and, in the middle of streets, two chefs were fighting over a pizza, complaining about copying each other. Oliver then proposed they jointly promoted the pizza, so the public can say which pizza taste better. the two chefs liked the idea, Arthur was amazed. after coming home (and Werner yelled at Oliver), Arthur decided it was the best time to give his father the birthday gift, a book he made. Oliver started reading and praising the drawings too, making Arthur embarrassed. MC and Oliver were moved after reading that Arthur wanted to protect the country’s peace just like his dad and they hugged as a family. next few days, taking a break, Oliver said he likes to read Arthur’s book every day, the kid saying he'll make a lot of drawings. Oliver thanked MC for raising such a kind child.
King Max & Prince Anselm (“Muu”).
why the nickname Muu? Prince Anselm was seen with a sheep plushie when he traveled to the past + the last katakana of his name, Muu.
Prince Anselm was anxious for his speech on King Max’s birthday party, so he froze in front of everyone. Max and MC were worried for their kid, she was going to help Muu-chan, but Max stopped MC, saying he believes Muu-chan will do it on his own time. little by little, Muu-chan steps to his dad, giving him a bouquet and an album, full of photos of them. MC is relieved, and then comments the album is incomplete, it's missing the last photo. Max is curious, and Anselm says it's reserved for a photo of the three of them. they ask Butler Gaston to take photo of them together, everyone applauding the family. Muu-chan and Max are relaxed and MC thinks it's a good time to take a picture of them again, asking for Gigi’s camera. later, MC talks about how Gigi is partner in crime of Anselm, taking the photos of them together.
King Lyuo & Prince Theodore (Teddy).
King Lyuo and Prince Theodore got sick after spending some time together, and MC was worried about Teddy not being fully healthy for Lyuo’s birthday party. Prince Aslan appeared, making Teddy happy, he really likes Aslan. MC let them talk and Aslan ask what Theodore is feeling, who admits he feels sad for being sick and not getting a gift for his dad. Aslan then, secretly gives an option to Teddy. after party, MC cooks for Lyuo, who was feeling sick and occupied and ended up not eating much. they celebrate as family. when getting ready for bed, MC notices Lyuo and Teddy sleeping and accidentally wakes them up. she feels happy to see them hugging, they weren't feeling very well before. Teddy admits he is feeling guilty, thinking he was the reason why Lyuo was feeling bad too and tries to make a spell for Lyuo to get better soon. Lyuo feels happy and hugs his kid really hard, feeling very hard to spend time with him again.
BONUS:
Butler Jin & Ren + Prince Shion & Ruito.
because it's the first time there's an event with Shion & Jin with their son, that's the event their son travels back in time.
Ren thinks Jin and MC doesn't get along, because MC always deny Jin’s touches in public. she is just a little shy with it plus thinks it's not an appropriate way to behave in front of their kid.
Ruito is worried that Prince Shion and MC are feeling overwhelmed with work, so he asks Butler Kent to help him make omelette, because he knows eating a delicious meal makes him feel better. MC and Shion are very happy to see their son being so caring, and there's the sense of they did something right in the future. after Shion’s birthday party, Ruito gives him a bouquet he made himself to Shion, congratulating his father for his birthday and Shion is feeling very proud of his son. after hugging Ruito, a light appears and take the kid back to the future. Shion comments Ruito is really MC’s son, for liking flowers and aromas.
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some of these images aren't mine, it's from some of my friends but they allowed me to post it, besides it's from voltage’s anyway.
Oof, Yeah. Artie has Polaris' aptitude alright. A bit like Sebastian, too, but he's meant to be a "copy" of Polaris.
Artie has Theo get the head matron's gun.
There's commotion down the hall, it seems. Probably more staff coming after hearing gun shots.
I can't tell if Snake is dead already or just still suffering. Theo might be saying something about having to deal with Doll, but it looks like Finny doesn't think she's much of a threat right now.
It could also be that Finny knows Snake won't survive a wound like that (if he's even still alive).
Meanwhile, people are coming down the hall and about to turn the corner to find them.
I can't tell if Finny is about to automatically kill those people... or beg them for help.
Fledging day. Fledging is the moment a baby bird leaves the nest and tries to fly independently.
Ginny, this girl here, made a ruckus before as she didn’t want to ride on a horse after an accident. Theo helped her to overcome the fear. She did. It was a success.
The same day Doll needed fresh blood to revive her and left Snake and Finny alone. Later the caretakers then announced that Ginny is going to celebrate her Fledging Day.
Much to the surprise of Artie and Oliver. Artie is distraught especially.
This is so ominous. I wonder if the most talented of the breeds Theo, Artie, and Oliver knew the deal of the orphanage.