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zodiac-monkey · 3 years

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HELLOOOOOO!!! ;;W;; some time ago i received a PRECIOUS TREASURE BOX from @furubazine!!!!!

it’s PINK and has beautiful pictures on the cover inside of cute little riceball shapes!!!! 🍙🍙🍙🍙 it has a gentle, thankful feeling to look at, like looking into a window on all the seasons and the warm scenes of friendship and family--the words printed on simple, solid white feel so solemn and grateful all at once T--T i can’t stress enough that the presentation of this zine is GORGEOUS, everything is so carefully and beautifully packaged that i really feel like every item is a precious treasure that is looked after with loving care..!! \;;A;;/

SADLY THERE WAS TAPE ON THIS PART OF THE BOX and even though i was trying to handle it very carefully i am terribly clumsy and bad with boxes and accidentally injured this poor box!!! ;;A;; I AM SORRY!!!!! I WILL APOLOGIZE TO THIS BOX!!!!!! I WILL APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD!!!!!!! m(__ __)m

look at this gorgeous collection of treasures!!! ;;w;; i feel like there should be sparkles flowing out as i open this, everything is so carefully and charmingly arranged and feels so cozy together!!! TwT

BEAUTIFUL RAT YUKI SAYING SUKI DESU IS SENDING ME OMG IM CRYING;;;; WHAT A GORGEOUS PIN WHAT A GORGEOUS BABY;;;;; ALL THE MERCH IS PRECIOUS WHAT A BEAUTIFUL ZINE AHHHHH;;;; \T/////T/

they sent me this beautiful thank-you note with a tiny adorable furuba trio on it!!! the lettering is so gorgeous and fancyyyy!! \;;A;;/ thank YOU for letting me be a part of this incredibly special and heartfelt project!!! >////< i really really enjoyed working on it, everyone was so nice and relaxed and supportive of each other--it’s an absolute joy and honor!!!!! T////T

THEY EVEN WROTE ME A LITTLE SPECIAL NOTE IN THEIR OWN HANDWRITING!!!!! \;;A;;/ IM CRYING WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS OMG???? they are the ones who are kind people!!!! T////T thank YOU so much for your hard work putting together so many beautiful treasure boxes for all of us!! ;;A;; they said nice things about my picture that’s sooo sweet im so happy they thought it was pretty!!!! >////<

also they even told me not to be embarrassed about what i love!!! /)/////(\ wahhhhh!!!! it even has a little heart too!! i suppose this is because i said something in the discord server about feeling embarrassed for drawing cross-dressing all the time ;;A;; this is so extremely thoughtful and considerate of them to remember!!!! thank you so much for such kindness please take all of these hearts too!!!! />/////</💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

the zine itself is gorgeous!! the cover art by lluluchwan feels so peaceful and warm--i love how the light falls on them through the sunlit flowers, so restful and bright, and tohru’s smile fills my heart with warmth and gratitude!! ;;w;;

the merch comes in these precious little cherry blossom pouches and the postcards even come in a package with a window to see how beautiful they are!! it’s like a little sleeping bag just their size!! ;;w;;

i LOVE this foil postcard by @magesup it’s SO gorgeous?? everyone crossing the bridge together with the blooming cherry blossoms is so precious, like everyone is moving together towards happiness!! ;;w;;

akito is leading the march and kyo and tohru at the back look so happy together, momiji’s energy is so precious (even if kisa seems a little shy or surprised by it), ayame being extra and hatori putting up with it as usual, shigure probably making some joke to kureno and kagura full of energy as usual, rin is leaning over the bridge away from the others--she and hiro look a little aloof about everyone’s commotion--but yuki looks so lively and engaged talking with haru, and even ritsu seems calm and at peace! (RITSUUUUU!!!!!!! IM SO HAPPY TO SEE RITCHAN HERE!!! \;;U;;/)

everyone is so beautiful and their personalities really shine!!! AND LOOK HOW THE BRIDGE IS SHINING GOLD!!!! i had no idea it would be like that, it’s so beautiful!!!! \TwT/

OMG LOOK HOW THE FOIL PICTURE FRAMES SHINE!!!! \;;O;;/ i LOVE how this work by AmySunHee showcases so many of the characters and moments of the series, with tohru clasping her hands in front of them all like every one is precious to her!! the gold really makes it feel like each one is a treasure!! ;;O;;

BABY TOHRU WITH HER PARENTS MY HEART!!!! T---T EVEN THE LITTLE GRANDPA AT TOHRU’S ELBOW and even akito is close to tohru, she cares no matter what ;A; momiji looks so peaceful playing his violin, the little flowers!! kagura glomping kyo, his expression is CLASSIC, haru and rin together look picture perfect sitting back to back, and kisa and hiro match perfectly in their outfits!! hana and uo and the student council, the mabudachi trio and mine showing off ayame--even the yuki fanclub is there AND OMG THAT PHOTO OF KYO AND YUKI HATORI TOOK,, THEY JUST HAD TO FRAME THAT.. he even got their question marks in the photo sfhsgdhg AND RITSU IS THERE IM SO HAPPY in classic form i love the expression!! the ornate detailing on all the frames is gorgeous!!! T////T i love the exquisite patterns so carefully carved into them!!

THE CHARMS HAVE LITTLE CAT RINGS HOW CUTE IS THAT?!!! >/////< each charm is like looking in on a little scene, i love them!! the kyo and yuki buttons by lulu are just gorgeously soft and precious, and i love the motion in the petals and leaves in the buttons by hackwolfin, i can feel the different moods and seasons in each one, from cheerful to melancholy ;;A;; AND kyo sleeping with tiny riceball and rat yuki on the enamel pin--AGAIN HOW CUTE IS THIS!!! T////T HOW CAN ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING BE SO PRECIOUS!!!! \;;A;;/

EVERYTHING IS SO SWEET AND BEAUTIFUL IM CRYING???!!! the die-cut stickers by samairu are so gorgeously detailed and smooth, i love how close and cozy the characters look framed in the circle windows, and the rich colors really make me feel the bright spring day and deep autumn night!

the school defense force stickers by sleepy-crayonn are so expressive, i love how each character portrait shows their personalities matched with a season, and the hilarious mini reaction images?! XD the little festival stickers by dewream are sooo precious everyone is so soft and cute and tiny!!! >////< (TRUE TO HIS NATURE KYO CAUGHT A FISH) tohru is so happy and i love how gracefully yuki holds that fan!!

this postcard by @lumiiki is just SHEER JOY AND BRIGHTNESS everyone so happy together on a sunny day, the boys looking on contentedly at tohru with her arms full of flowers as she just radiates happiness!! i love the detail in her flowers and straw hat, the strong shading makes it feel like the sun is really really bright!! TuT

@vitaminpop‘s art style is so ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS i treasure these tiny little furuba cards so much???? everyone is SO SOFT i love the light inner outlines and highlights around the edges, tohru here with a big smile and flowers for everyone, yuki with this sweet little smile so tenderly holding the fresh strawberries he put so much work into growing himself, covered in dirt still from tending them but radiating this soft joy from the care he’s poured in T---T kyo so casually eating his food his big unconcerned eyes are so precious, shigure just taking his hat off like he’s come in from the cold, his smile is so soft;;

im blessed with all of these treasures omg!!! \T////T/

WAHHHH im so honored that my picture was put right next to the page for autumn?? \;;A;;/ thank you so much im sooo happy!! it looks so light and soft next to the soft leaves falling on the title page!! ;;/////;;

(of course looking at it in print im filled with thoughts like “maybe i should have left in more of the white border” and “i seem to have forgotten again that my monitor shows colors as more pink than they really are” BUT DONT WE ALL....)

THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN for letting me be a part of this project, it’s so absolutely beautiful and heartfelt and im so thrilled and honored that i could contribute!!! >/////< thank you soooo much!!!! \;;W;;/

#fruits basket #furuba #furuba zine #my art #i can post the full picture now so i will try to do that soon! ajvhsghd #ive been delaying for months bc i have to open it again and put my signature on it and it will take less than 5 minutes

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anzu-kaiba · 3 years

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Some thoughts on Hocus Pocus, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Magic Zine

A while back I backed Hocus Pocus: The Yu-Gi-Oh! Magic Zine (@ygomagiczine) at the “Breaker The Magical Warrior” level, and not long ago I received my rewards, as pictured above:

Top left corner (and what I was honestly the most excited about): a Yu-Gi-Oh! themed Tarot deck—a complete one, not just the Major Arcana cards

A postcard with the “Eye of Wdjat” on it (sort of; Yu-Gi-Oh! calls it the Eye of Anubis because of that extra “tail” it has going to the left)

An adorable bookmark with chibi versions of the characters in their Monster World outfits (including the oft-forgotten Miho!), complete with little dice on the end (note: keep away from cats who like dangles)

A magnet you shouldn’t stare at too long, lest you get MIND CRUSHED!

A book explaining the meanings of the Tarot Cards

A sticker crossing over Yu-Gi-Oh! with Sailor Moon, with Seto as Tuxedo Mask and Atem as Sailor Moon, holding the Millennium Rod. I have some... thoughts... about it, but it’s generally well-done, a quality sticker, and funny at a bare minimum

The actual Hocus Pocus zine, filled with all kinds of fan art, fanfiction, and other fan creations.

A “spell book” with absolutely GORGEOUS freaking art on the cover

A pin of... somebody (the white haired character with a pink face and red eyes. Is it Bakura? Is it Pegasus? I have no idea)

A pink “Anzu” chain featuring a tiny bottle of pink glitter, a feather charm, and a witch hat charm (which I assume is a nod to Anzu’s RPG character, an Elven Mage) - unfortunately the leather strap popped out of the jump spring when I tried to put it on, but it’s an easy enough fix since I have jewelry tools.

An “Anubis” eye pin inside of a gold “magical runes” circle

All the little jewelry bits came inside those gorgeous drawstring bags you see next to the Tarot Deck-- that same gauzy material most jewelry bags are made of, but with a beautiful metallic screen printing on it that looks like coral or branches of a tree or something. There’s also another, smaller one that has gold roses with silver leaves; reminds me of one of the Twelve Dancing Princesses books.

Okay, so let’s start with the zine itself. I’ll get to the Tarot Deck and Spell Book in another post.

The zine got delayed a bit due to some contributors unfortunately dropping out, but as soon as I heard (and they did have pretty immediate response times on social media and through email), they already had the empty slots filled, so that was reassuring.

Of what ended up in the zine, the art is phenomenal. There’s honestly nothing I can say I dislike at all in terms of the art. My absolute favorite is Magi Magi ⭐️ Magician Girls by @jujuoh; I’m still trying to figure out who each of the “Sailor Senshi” are! (I recognize all of the “Magician Girls” and Mahad, plus Lily, but I’m not sure about the other three in the back. If you know, please tell me!)

What isn’t art is fanfiction though, and here’s where things get a bit tricky for me personally, as I am a devourer of the written word, a librarian by trade, and an editor by profession (part-time).

At the start of the zine, there are the following tags:

Gen

Yugi x Ryou

Bakura x Ryou

Marik x Ryou

Bakura x Marik

Seto x Joey

Seto x Atem

Yugi x Atem

Duke x Rebecca

Yugi x Joey

Yugi x Atem x Seto x Joey

I can understand using the dub names, if the belief is that more of the contributors and readers will use/prefer them. Of course, that makes me the reader think that if a fic is tagged with, say, Duke x Rebecca, then I won’t see the names Ryuuji and Rebecca in the story instead. This is I think why the fandom ‘ship names, like Puzzleshipping and Prideshipping make more sense here, but I get why some people won’t know what ‘ships are what based off those names.

Second thing is that there are NO het ships of any kind on this list outside of Duke x Rebecca, and the fic isn’t really “shippy” at all. That kind of bugs me.

Also, despite Yu-Gi-Oh being about Yuugi, Jounouchi/Joey, Anzu/Téa, Honda/Tristan, Ryou, and Kaiba, with appearances by such famed and important characters as Mai, Pegasus, Isis, Rishid, and Malik, there are scant mentions/depictions of many of them. Anzu, I think, got depicted twice in fanart (I’m counting a comic as fanart) besides the back cover; Isis twice; Mai once. Mana/Black Magician Girl appeared the most out of any female character.

Despite the above list of tags, not all of them actually appear in the zine. So if you found your OTP in this list and flipped through trying to find the tag, you might be sorely disappointed. Now, that is assuming that they don’t appear in the stories based on the tag; if they did appear but they weren’t properly tagged, I don’t know about it.

There is a note indicating that the zine didn’t want to impose any styles, ideologies, voices, and formats, which explains why there might be shift in what the tags are vs. what the story uses. However, for a reader, that could potentially be confusing. I mean, it’s a fanzine, so theoretically anyone receiving/reading it should know that Ryuuji = Duke and so forth, but not everyone will. Your friendly neighborhood Tumblr Librarian would like to remind you that zines are often ordered by/donated or gifted to/end up in libraries, and that means people who are unfamiliar with a fandom might pick it up the way they would any other book or magazine.

Finally, while I’m 100% fine with a zine not imposing rules about names, ‘ships, etc., I do think basic grammar is a must. Sentences should end in periods, the font should be legible and printed clearly in a dark ink on a light background, and if you have a piece of dialogue “like this,” it should end in an attribute tag, like so:

“First, I’ll need to get some gold,” Yuugi explained. “Then I’ll need to buy a potion and two elixirs.”

GRAMMAR IS NOT A STYLISTIC CHOICE. It exists to make things readable. (Can you tell I really dislike those pretentious authors who think that capital letters represent The Man or something, or that one space after a period is simply too New School?)

If this is somehow difficult to enforce/gently suggest, an editor is warranted. That editor should have English as their first language and be intimately familiar with both the fandom and the written word. With fanfic online, if I see something that refuses to use periods or doesn’t properly space out its paragraphs (or whatever), I can just click back and be done with it. No harm, no foul to anybody. But with a zine I’ve paid for? I expect to be able to read a good percentage of the stories regardless of whether or not they’re my favorite genre/’ship/tropes. In fact, I feel like being able to read 100% of the zine is warranted, all other things being equal.

Next thing is that there are genre tags:

Fluff

Action/Adventure

Alternate Universe

Slice of Life ← I don’t personally regard this as a “genre” so much as a trope, but okay.

Afterlife ← Also not a genre, but could be a Trope and/or Trigger warning, depending on how it’s used. Except... it wasn’t used. At all, from what I could find.

Hurt/Comfort

These are followed by three handy trigger warnings:

Injury

Violence

Death

These tags are at the BOTTOM of the first page of a story, when they should be at the TOP.

The zine is written in English, by/for English-speaking audiences. We read left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Important information like tags should be presented at the top. Imagine if an archive like AO3 or FFnet hid that information inside a story rather than on a fandom listing page, or a search result page? You’d spend a lot more time sifting through things you really don’t want to read.

As far as the tags go, many fics have multiple tags, which makes sense; plenty of stories can easily fall into two genres, maybe more if you’re pushing it. But these are one-shots (short stories), and I really don’t expect a given story to have more than three tags.

The majority of the stories (8) were tagged Alternate Universe, with only one Hurt/Comfort fic and NO fics using the Afterlife tag that appeared in the beginning. Not to mention, there are plenty of other (hugely popular) genres that aren’t represented at all, like Drama, Romance, or even Comedy.

I’m not sure if the “theme” is meant to be magic (Hocus Pocus being the title and all), or simply a nice nod to the magical nature of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, but you’d think there’d be more of a balance between in-universe stories and AUs than such a preponderance of AUs over anything else.

Bear in mind that many of the stories were cross-tagged, so an AU might also feature Action/Adventure, or a Slice of Life just happens to be an AU as well.

I don’t have anything against AUs. But if I buy a fandom zine, I want to read stuff featuring the characters, situations, and themes presented in the original fandom, not necessarily people wearing “masks” of those characters but otherwise not acting like them at all.

That being said, I personally differentiate alternate universe stories from alternate timeline stories, where you ask a crucial “What If,” like “What if Atem never forgot his name?” or “What if Atem won the Ceremonial Duel?” or something like that, and canon DIVERGES from a specific point, even one that happened “off-screen,” like the real events leading up to Zork’s original sealing, etc.

I do like how there was more Gen than I initially realized, but it’s harder for me (personally) to enjoy Gen when it’s AU.

There should be additional tags. Some fics had crass/foul language, but there was no “Rating” system in place to indicate that (the MPAA/Fiction Ratings systems have simplified letters to tell you whether there will be mentions of things like sex/nudity, crass/foul language, drug use, and/or violence; tags help clarify WHICH ones will be present for fanfic). Basically, a fic in a zine should utilize the same tags it would on an archive like FFnet or AO3.

Ship tags indicate there will be some level of romance/sex: Name x Name (romantic/sexual), Name & Name (platonic/friendly), or Name/Name (romantic/sexual/usually same sex). If the tags are used to indicate which CHARACTERS are in a story instead (versus pairings), that’s just confusing.

Quiet Friend and Return, Regain, Refresh don’t have any ‘ship or genre tags at all; the latter story only has trigger warnings, which is also confusing.

My favorite stories of the bunch (bearing in mind I did not read any ‘ship stories, for the most part):

A Stranger to Your Soul by Inkyrius - The fandom needs more Mokuba fic. ‘Nuff said.

Two Roads Converge by @mainstream-deviant - freaking adorable, with a touch of “omg pls don’t sweet bebby no” because it’s NOT an AU

You Look Familiar by @ink-flavored - I’m 100% biased because I’m a cat fan, but this is a well-done AU with a fantasy twist. Joey as a werewolf is downright hilarious. Vivid and adventurous in very few pages.

In summary, a high-quality set of fanmade items, though with some weaknesses that I think could be improved upon for either a second printing or a second edition/volume.

I applaud every single contributor, moderator, and artist for the hard work they have put into such a beautiful package of goods for the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom.

As a Tarot reader, I do have some specific, detailed thoughts on the Tarot deck and its accompanying book, plus the only other book, the “Spell Book” that came with the set. But I’ll save those for another time.

#ygomagiczine #Hocus Pocus zine #Yu-Gi-Oh #fanfiction #fanart #fandom #fanzine

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twokisses · 4 years

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thank you very much @foolofabookwyrm @caitybuglove23@carryonsimoncarryonbaz and @aristocratic-otter for tagging me to do this!

I am a notoriously slow reader, but I have been making my way through some fics of late, and they’ve been absolutely incredible!!

(E) Fuck The Wavering Wood by @captain-aralias

“The Humdrum never sends the same thing twice. This time, he sends sex pollen.”

It’s no secret that I could read Captain’s grocery lists in my free time. This fic is 4 chapters of brilliant smut, impeccable characterisation, hilarious internal monologues, and realisations of love. Never read a sex pollen fic before, but I couldn’t think of a better introduction to it. It handled all the concerns about consent so brilliantly and cleverly, and is overall just such a good time. 11/10.

For Always by @scone-lover

“Today is Raksha Bandhan, an Indian holiday that celebrates the sacred love between siblings.

Ten years ago, Penelope Bunce drove halfway across England to find someone very important.”

I absolutely adore this fic for a variety of different things - the rep of Indian culture, for one. And the use of this tradition to depict the depth of Simon and Penny’s friendship, which Sconey wrote in an incredibly nuanced and beautiful way. The dialogue was on-point, the premise/settings perfect. Everything was just so well-written and sophisticated. Beautiful.

Dog Days by @annabellelux

“Baz persuades Simon to get an emotional support dog—which turns out to be the most frustrating, ridiculous, messy, and wonderful thing to ever happen to him.”

A Golden Days Zine fic!!! This was just so wonderfully warm, affectionate and lovely. I’m a huge dog lover so the premise itself was enough for me to go all bubbly with excitement and love. (Buttercup is the sweetest girl and you need her in your life.) But alongside the pure joy of a dog in the fic - and Simon Snow with a dog specifically - I just really appreciated and loved the way annabellelux depicted Simon and Baz’s slowly healing relationship. The way they’re starting to learn how to work through things, the way they communicate. This is such a good read, folks. Definitely recommend.

Hmmm it’s either not Thursday anymore or very late Thursday for most people, I think, but here are some tags anyway, in case someone wants to do this belatedly: first off, I’m tagging everyone I mentioned above, as well as @snowverylost @a-l-ias @subpar-selkie @thehoneyedhufflepuff @pipsqueakparker @xivz @amywaterwings and anyone else who sees this and wants to join in. (Yes, even you, reading this but feeling too shy to say I tagged you. I have. Go do it!)

#thirsty thursday #snowbaz #carry on #wayward son #fic recs

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womenwantedzine · 4 years

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Only 2 days left to apply as a writer for our zine!

Don’t miss your chance to work with these wonderful artists:

jccatstudios says: I wanted to show Robin’s complexity in these sketches. While she’s a calm and powerful fighter, she’s also joyful and imaginative! Her strength, intellect, and courage are inspiring to all.‬

Zorume-art admits: Perona is one of my fav characters in OP. I love her style and decided to draw her in other gothic clothes for the challenge ! I like to draw her, it’s easy and relaxing for me

Art_Of_Firefly reveals: Conis and Raki opened a bar after the mugiwara departure so I drew them during their break , I choose to draw Raki like the others members of her kin, with darker skin and more muscles. I always found it weird that she was the only one with light skin.

Art_Of_Firefly says: Kuina spend her days training so she have a lot of small injury she is also taking a break to breath a bit.

Art_Of_Firefly tells: Rouge is such a strong and devoted character i really admire her and i hope I did her justice.

Bui_giabao says: I really like her hair and her overall vibe. It’s because of her that we could see Nami’s awesome fighting abilities during the Alabasta Arc. 🙂 Her character seems spider-themed and kinda edgy, which is why I drew spider-webs on her trousers and a flashy fierce red jacket. Her skin is also darker because of the desert.

Bui_giabao explains: Water 7 is inspired by Venice, which is why Chimney wears a gondolier-inspired outfit. She also wears swimming shorts because she’s a good swimmer. (It could be because she’s ¼ mermaid. :P)

Bui_giabao tells: Dressrosa is kinda spanish-based, so Giolla is wearing a flamenco dress, which is worn at festivals in Andalusia, Spain. I can imagine, that Giolla would be an amazing dancer

Bui_giabao confesses: I love Galette’s design, so I tried to give her reddish edgy clothes to emphasise her devil’s horn more

Kiomiri warns: Both these girls are absolutely cute but don’t let that fool you! Holding steadfast to their ideals, and charging on when they need to, Nami and Tama pack a great deal of punch! I wanted to keep that in mind while drawing them hehe

Ameiiiko says: I was feeling the lack of Toki content (both in the server & in general) & decided to fix that

Ameiiiko states: Stampede!Nami was adorable and allowed me to draw the scars she has on her shoulders from Arlong Park and Alabasta. Plus, I figured that being out in the sun all day would give a girl a nice tan

Ameiiiko declares: I’ve also been wanting to draw Black Maria and since we don’t exactly have a colour palette for her yet it was fun to play around and experiment with possible combinations

Elamortieneoloraqueso states: I think she’s super underrated on the fandom. She is a woman i want to be like when im older. She was loving and caring with her children and the kids of the whole country, but Otohime was also super brave, willing to give her life to make the world a better place for mermaids/mermen and gyojins. I remember i cried at her speech about going to live to the earth with humans, below the true sun. She always had this attitude of “maybe you wont forgive humans, but think about the kids and the future generations”. Honestly a Queen. She changed the mind of a whole island and the heart of a Tenryuubito. But because of other issues the arc/saga itself had, she often is forgotten. But for God’s sake!!! How can someone not love her? Her design is also beautiful and creative, seriously, some people in the fandom are always talking about how Oda draws girls with big boobs, with no personality (this being an obvious lie) or just useless, but when a queen fighting for her people’s rights, brave, badass, kind, with an interesting personality and amazing design appears, people just ignore it or ‘forget’ about it.

So, what do you think?

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edorazzi · 5 years

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Well, here we are again! Twitter said yes to a review post for a Miraculous magazine that suddenly showed up in my local area. ‘Tis the season after all, and by that I mean someone bought it for me as a joke birthday gift and I was way too happy about that.

I’ve done previous reviews of the Miraculous Christmas calendar, Easter egg set, superhero fashion dolls and action figures, so let’s dive into the unknown world of merchandising yet again!

(As always, if you enjoy my posts, please consider checking out my Twitter page or supporting me on Patreon for lots of bonus content!)

4 FREE GIFTS! PACKED WITH ACTIVITIES! MEET THE KWAMIS! PRANKS & LOLS! CUT-OUT MEMES! FANGIRL ALERT! NAIL ART! 100% OFFICIAL! I’m overwhelmed! It feels like I’m having a seizure just from the packaging!!!

I should preface this by saying I haven’t bought a magazine like this in years. Possibly ever. I read things like the Beano, Animals & You and the odd Disney Princess zine when I was a kid but I have no idea what to expect from a free-gift-packed kiddie magazine in 2019. If the outside is anything to go by we’re in for a wild ride.

I’m noticing that it says “Miraculous #20″ on the back. Does this mean I’ve missed 19 previous issues? I’m genuinely a little upset by that. My local area is a complete dry zone for Miraculous so I haven’t had the chance to pick these up.

First step: let’s separate everything out and get a look at these freeeee giftssss. Except they aren’t free, because this magazine was like £3.99. This does seem to be the current trend - it’s kinda rare to see any kids’ zines without the excess packaging crammed with ‘free’ stuff. Is it really too expensive to just produce the magazine? Probably, in this economy.

Chat Noir is revealed on the cover! He was on the back of the plastic jacket, but it’s still nice to see the kids as a front-cover duo. Apparently we’re going to learn to draw Pollen, too, which sounds fun. I’m actually liking the look of the gifts as well, but we’ll get into those in a minute.

This hairbrush............. is adorable. Oh my god. It’s pretty cheap and flimsy but it functions the way it’s supposed to, and the Ladybug design has been taken into account in a better way than “it’s red/black, that counts” (lest we forget the UTTER BULLSHIT of the Christmas calendar, and YES I’m still mad about that). I don’t know how well I expect the outer sticker to last, but if it can take a bit of wear and tear this would be an adorable little travel brush. Nicely done, lads!

These nail stickers? Also adorable. They remind me of the kiddie makeup sets I had when I was little, back in the early 00s when plastic stick-on nails and decals were all the rage. Are they still a thing? That’s nice to know.

There are 13 designs (that I can count) - a Queen Bee mask, Chat Noir pawprint cake, macaron, cupcake, heart-print cookie, Ladybug stud, flower, lightning bolt, love heart, Marinette heart, bee, fox tail and star. The majority are directly related to the show and that makes them feel special. No Carapace though? :(

I’ve put a little Marinette heart on my furthest finger. At the time of typing this up (about a day later) it’s still firmly in place. I haven’t really knocked it around, granted, but it’s not flimsy enough to fall off after five minutes either. It’s also really cute to look at. Guess I’m still a decal-loving 2004 girl at heart......

These stickers though!!! Wow! They’re those holographic and slightly-puffy kind and they feel like pretty good quality, and the designs are so cute! I can’t fault these, they’re absolutely adorable. I immediately want to stick them everywhere.

So I’ve stuck them everywhere. I’m especially proud of the light switch pun. My room looks GREAT.

I saved these “mystery stickers” for last because I’m weak for the thrill of mystery bags, and there wasn’t anything on the packaging to indicate what kind of designs to expect. And OH!!!! OH, IT’S MY BOY!!!! Look at him!!!!

I made jokes with the Christmas calendar about all the Chat Noir items being stolen ahead of time, but that’s definitely NOT the case with this magazine. I have been SPOILED with the presence of my cat son.

These stickers are similar to the sticker sheet (and the Chillin’ Out design is reprinted), but they’re puffier and non-holographic. I’m deeply allured by the “decorate your phone or tablet” suggestion on the packet, but I’m going to see how the previous stickers withstand the wear-and-tear of my laptop lid before adding any more. If I damage these beautiful Adrien stickers I’ll be devastated.

Those are our free gifts! They’re actually very fun and cute, I’m really happy with them! I guess now it’s time to get into the magazine itself...........

I genuinely almost forgot the magazine was the main part of this package. I figured I was done, but we’ve barely even started! Here’s a splash page of the kwami. Kwami with a capital K? Kwamis? I still feel like it should be singular-lower-case-k-kwami. I’ve never been happy about this “miraculouses” business either.

But is that--

It IS!!!! It’s Nino!!!

I guess this is the new flavour of Miraculous tie-ins. Now they’ve broadened out to a full team we’re seeing a lot more of Adrien alongside the girls, and Nino is the elusive hero who shows up once in a blue moon. At least this time his name isn’t in the title of the gotdam show.......

Anyway, I can see I’m supposed to draw my “fave Kwami”. Better get to it.

Felix just wants a break. Just one break. But not in this magazine.

Speaking of seeing more of Adrien (and, tragically, less of Nino), this is the kind of splash page I want to see! Both kids are here! The banner themed with Marinette’s signature flowers is a nice touch too; that’s associated with her arts ‘n’ crafts in the show already and it makes sense to apply it to the creative portion of this magazine too.

I LOVE the promotion of Chat Noir nails as something the little girls buying this magazine will definitely want to try. I’d expect them to do Marinette vs Ladybug nails, but instead we get a boyish option! Hell yeah!

I’m a little confused by the Queen Bee masks apparently going on the Chat Noir nails though. I guess they’re friends? Is this secret AdriChlo confirmation? Watch out, Marinette, Kagami’s not the one to be worried about.

SURE WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE SOME TURTLE STICKERS FOR AN ALL-BOYS THEME BUT I GUESS NOT HUH

Next up is a short merch catalogue (why would you put the big bold arrow pointing right to the underoos.....). Would those Chat Noir socks come in my size? Asking for me.

Then there’s......... this page. FANGIRL ALERT. God. It’s like the Ladyblog, if only the Ladyblog ever gave a heck about reporting what Chat Noir’s up to.

THE SPELL WAS BROKEN AND THE FANDOM IMPLODED WITH JOY.

I really have to wonder what age range this is meant for. Do kids know what a “fandom” is? Do little girls consider themselves “fangirls”? I guess most kids have enough internet access to figure it out these days (all the hashtags and LOLs and memes speak volumes), but I can’t imagine being young enough to fit the target range of this magazine while also knowing these terms. I dunno.

(Also, the definition of ‘implosion’ is ‘an instance of something collapsing violently inwards’, so I’m not sure that’s the word they’re looking for. Unless the return to the status quo in Dark Cupid and the continuing stagnation of the love square was enough to make people quit in frustration? Probably.)

I’m filling it in, of course. Because I must.

I gave up on the pre-approved ratings system pretty much right away, but I think this is an accurate rating of my LadyNoir opinions.

I might be kinda cynical about it here, but I am actually pretty fond of how this magazine sells Ladybug and Chat Noir as a couple. The show’s portraying it as very onesided lately, with Chat pining over Ladybug who has absolutely no interest in him (Glaciator was a TERRIBLE episode and I’m still hurting from it), but reading this zine I’d guess they were already dating. It’s cheesy, but in a nice way.

I have to laugh at “the most amazing thing about this super duo is that they always look out for and protect each other” though. Chat’s usually pretty focused on LB, sure, but there are endless instances of LB using Chat as cannon fodder and just generally abandoning him to get mauled by akuma while she carries out her personal private plan to save the day. Maybe we’re just focusing on the better-written episodes, huh?

Moving ahead. I’ve been dreading this page since reading “Plaggs Pranks & LOLs” on the back of the packaging. I feel hatred in my very bones just looking at it.

I like that there’s ONE instance of the term “ladybird” in the joke column. This is a UK-based magazine and that IS the word we tend to use over here - “ladybug” is an Americanism - but it’s like they’re worried kids could have got to the middle of this magazine about a superhero named Ladybug and then not understand the bug jokes. Maybe whoever was writing this page slipped up?

OH NOOOOO. MARINETTE, NOOOOOOOOOO.

THIS IS WHY FELIX GOT RID OF YOU, PLAGG. THESE ARE ADRIEN’S PROBLEMS NOW.

(mmm whatcha saaaaay)

I mean........... YEAH, I guess, but we absolutely did see Plagg destroy Felix with an entire shelf of heavy books. I guess he’s nicer with Adrien. It’s all fun and games until someone has a nervous breakdown in the library.

I do love the concept of Tikki getting glitter-bombed by Plagg through the mail. She just curiously opens up the little letter which got slipped into Marinette’s purse, and-- WOOSH. One entire wall of Mari’s room is glittery except for a little Tikki-shaped silhouette.

Next up is a two-page comic which is absolutely adorable! Look at those little chibis! The warm and soft colour palette! This is nicer than most of the official Miraculous comic book art I’ve seen, I hope they keep giving this artist work.

Nino’s here too (and he looks great!), and I like the touch of Marinette and Adrien playing as each other’s superhero characters. Adrien even wins the match, though I guess there’s something to be said about Ladybug beating Chat Noir (again)......

It does raise the question yet again of where this tie-in merchandise is coming from! They’ve had action figures, a movie, music video features, now an arcade game... Who’s getting the royalties here? Who’s profiting? Is this how Fu can afford to buy all those rare ingredients for the magic potions?

Over the page we have an activity to Design your Secret Lair! Right away I love the Marinette theme of the page, the soft pink and flowers, and the drawing space looking like a page in a binder with marker tabs and everything.

I have to design my secret lair, of course:

What do you think? I’m very creative. I’ll need an adult to send in the drawing of my hideout but I think I’ve really got a shot at those unicorn headphones.

Now we’re on to puzzles and character pages. I don’t know what ol’ Gabe is doing trying to meet a 13 year old girl in the dead of night without telling anyone, you’d think if he’s got that much free time on his hands he could be spending it with his son.

I don’t know how those points in Ladybug’s power profile are awarded or what they mean, but you can tell this is a fan magazine. Official sources would have put her at a 10.

Standard House of Villains page! Most of these were good episodes but I’m deeply offended Riposte isn’t on here. Maybe her motives weren’t dramatic and cartoonish enough to be up in the ranks with Glaciator and Gorizilla?

“Cat Noir’s dad is also the evil Hawk Moth”, huh? I mean that’s not WRONG, but is it really something to put in his power profile when Adrien doesn’t even know yet??? Feels like we’re kinda jumping the gun on the poor boy. What if he picks up this magazine?

Apparently he’s one point weaker than Ladybug (seriously???), two points faster, equally as agile, one point less skilled and two points less cool. Despite all those lesses he still comes out at an equal 9, which is a relief! These kids are a team, putting either of them below the other would have been a big no.

I did the colouring page too, naturally. Je suis un artiste.

Now we’ve got a page fresh from the Ladyblog, a Miraculous quiz! Not a lot of excitement, but it’s nice to see Alya getting her own section.

I like that the qualifications of “you could be Ladybug herself!” are knowing what city Marinette lives in and what school she goes to. Well done, Mari! You’re doing your best!!!

TEACHER I AM SO HUNGRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

I gotta say, I’m not so sure about decorating donuts with fondant. I’ve never tried it so I could be wrong, but it feels like rolled icing instead of frosting(?) would be too heavy for an entire donut. The texture is totally different.

I mean I guess if you’re going to load your kids up on sugar you might as well go all the way. They’re going to look like they’ve eaten something horrible with all that black fondant, but they’ll have fun. Adrien would love these.

WHERE’S NINO. THIS IS JUST UNFAIR. You’ll have four out of five heroes, then a double of Marinette and Tikki? Maybe this just goes to show how little memorable dialogue Carapace has.

Though if “Spots On!” is Marinette’s dialogue and not Ladybug’s, why are the other transformation phrases attributed to Rena Rouge and Queen Bee instead of Alya and Chloé? Surely they could have picked something better for Marinette to justify having her on this list twice instead of Nino.

The next page brings us one of those flowchart quizzes! And ouch, yet again the absence of the other heroes is obvious. I can understand not including Chloé here since she’s technically not a “friendly” character yet, but no Nino? Alya and Marinette are close friends, but Adrien doesn’t really hang out with them without Nino around. Having the three of them together just seems strange.

I do like the little fashion page! They’re all cute and affordable and easy to find on the high street here. I’d love to see how other issues of this magazine are structured; is there a different fashion spot every time? Styles to channel each individual hero would be adorable.

Moving on to a tutorial for a Ladybug notebook! I would have made this, but I didn’t have the time nor a notebook to stick it to.

Between this and the donuts, it seems weird that these designs are based on, like... an actual beetle, eyes and antennae and all. Shouldn’t it be Ladybug’s symbol? These come across more like “fun animals” arts ‘n’ crafts instead of themed after Miraculous specifically. I think if I made this (or decorated the donuts) I’d miss out the head and match the spot pattern to Ladybug’s symbol.

The hidden message design is adorable though. I can see this being a craft kids are super proud of.

Another activity page! I didn’t have a go at these but they’re pretty standard. It’s cute that the coded message designs are the same as the stickers and nail decals!

Also, apparently Ladybug’s ‘secret’ is “LB mask + heart + CN mask”, which was (somehow) stolen by Volpina. Is that the secret Hawk Moth was talking about earlier in the magazine? Is he blackmailing Ladybug with revealing she has a crush on Chat Noir? How did Volpina ‘steal’ this secret? Is LadyNoir finally reciprocated???? THIS IS A WHOLE EPISODE IN ITSELF, I NEED ANSWERS--

Next page we have an ad for another girly magazine (Quizzes! LOLs! Celebs! Cringes! Puzzles!). I think I’ll pass, no matter how appealing that giant microphone pen is.

And a “Miraculous Identity” quiz! Tikki’s apparently super fickle with her wielders, three seasons of relentlessly praising Marinette and now she’s telling us we’re the Chosen Ones. You can’t fool me with those big ol’ eyes.

My inner superhero is Marvellous Fox, by the way. Though yet again I’m noticing we don’t have turtle options...................

And on the back cover... the memes. Oh, sweet lord, the memes. They’re hashtag-SoRelatable! And I can cut them out to keep! Oh boy!!!

Is this what kids do when they have limited internet access? Cut fresh memes out of magazines and carry them around? I need to know.

That’s a very sinister Ladybug at the bottom of the page though. What’s-- What’s she going to do to me if I don’t cut out and keep these memes. Ladybug what are you going to do if I d--

Well that brings us to the end of the magazine! And yet again I’m surprised by how much time it takes to just put a bunch of photos together and write about them.

This is a neat little magazine all in all! The ‘free gifts’ are pretty nice, there’s a fair amount of content and the whole thing is pretty cute for young fans of the show. I could see myself buying this again - if it ever shows up on shelves, Miraculous is so scarce around here that I fully expect it to disappear again after this one issue - just for the free junk, but it would be interesting to see how they’d structure different issues too!

I notice we never did get that promised tutorial on how to draw Pollen; the one advertised on the cover. Was the “draw your favourite Kwami” activity supposed to cover that? I’m not sure that really counts.

If you got this far, thanks for joining me on this Miraculous journey! We’ll meet again whenever I get another piece of weird ML merch to cover. Bien joué!

#miraculous ladybug #josie talks about things #josie's art #i really should get a review tag #ANYWAY there's a bit more art in this which isn't just the header image so give it a look!#and felix features a couple of times because WHY would he not on edorazzi dot com

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lit--bitch · 4 years

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Current-Reads (20/04/2020 - 26/04/2020) 🍓🐢

(Disclosure: I don’t know anybody I’ve been currently reading this week. 😊)

Adding the preface again here: every Sunday without fail I throw up the freshest literature and photography I’ve read over the week, sometimes it’s a book, sometimes it’s a piece I saw in a magazine or an online zine, sometimes it’s something I saw on social media, etc. Sometimes I add ‘RECOMMEND’ next to a few of the titles, but that’s not to say I don’t recommend all of them, I just love some pieces more than others. Not everything will be everybody’s cup of tea, yanno, c’est la vie. And any titles that you see in bold are hyperlinked so if you click or tap them they’ll direct you straight to the source… or shopping basket.

This week I’m gonna throw in a red herring and tell you about something I’ve been watching as well as what I’ve been reading, because I think it’s really cool and definitely appropriate for the age we’re living in at the moment.

So I’ve been reading: Susan Sontag’s As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh (Diaries 1964—1980) which was edited by her son, David. I also read an interview on Granta from March between Rachel Long and Morgan Parker. I’ve also tucked into a couple pieces on Fence, Lexi Welch’s ‘Astroturf’ and Anthony Michael Morena’s ‘The Whale’. I also saw Cecelia Knapp’s poem in Bath Magg Issue Three (but the whole issue is an absolute smacker, it’s great). Last but not least, I’m up to episode 5 of a brand new thing called The Midnight Gospel. It is crazy good. And it’s on Netflix right now.

***

Cecilia Knapp, ‘I Used To Eat KFC Zingers Without Hating Myself’, Bath Magg Issue #3: I really loved the whole of Issue Three, I guess I was quite struck by this particular poem for its “staccato-ness”. This poem is buttered with present-day references. But they’re not necessarily about creating a familiar environment. Rather the object of familiarity is found within the assemblage of places, snacks and thoughts, all of which compound the grief ‘I’ is experiencing. The ‘I’ ruminates on life’s banality and their personal insecurities in living banality: ‘I need a thigh gap. I use emojis / to avoid conflict. Worry I’m a gentrifier. Watch docs about murdered women’. The vapidity is funny. The pain is not. The insecurities deepen. Your body, your life, continues the ache of day-to-day routine, and finds no resolution in the things which may or may not stand to comfort oneself when ravaged by loss. The poem feels quite loose, and disinterested. It’s a sore poem, but its array of references make it colourful. It sort of reminded me of Édouard Levé’s work a little bit? But if Édouard Levé had been a pop culture fanatic chewing HubbaBubba bubblegum on the London Overground. Bath Magg is a pretty exciting new magazine, (been around just under a year I think?) and they’ve published a lot of great writers, many of whom are emerging and I’ve spotted some quite established peple in there too. Kudos to their rubber ducky logo. It’s run by Mariah Whelan and Joe Carrick-Varty.

In Conversation with Morgan Parker and Rachel Long, Granta Magazine: I deeply love Morgan Parker’s work, she’s, in my opinion, the master of titles. I can’t think of anybody who titles their work as well as Morgan Parker does. And I love the depth of honesty and charisma in this interview. Like yeah, it appears to be a generic Q/A but, it genuinely feels like a conversation, and it’s welcoming and unpretentious. Rachel Long asks some penetrating questions, and Morgan’s answers are so detailed and self-aware. Most of the discussion revolves around the action of writing poetry in general and where does that impulse arise from, but they do discuss Morgan’s latest collection Magical Negro which came out February last year. It’s a narrative on black womanhood, on micro-aggressions and reoccuring violence, it’s about breaking down white perceptions of blackness, and dissolving those projections. What I love about Morgan Parker is she’s tackling this fucking idiot thing where (mostly) white people think she’s attempting to represent all black women in her writing, which is, by Morgan’s own admission, impossible. Her work is a duty to herself, to the background she’s lived and lives, and to unpack that discourse in her own way. And if it resonates, then great! I felt all this was inherent in the interview and only adds to my respect for her, and to Rachel for being such an attentive interviewer. BTW Rachel Long has a debut collection coming out this July, My Darling from the Lions.

Anthony Michael Morena, ‘The Whale’, Fence Portal (Streaming) (RECOMMEND): I can’t tell you how much I adored this beautiful mass of whale and word. It’s an essay which references the American Natural History Museum’s Blue Whale model. The writing is thick with feeling and fat with concern. It blends monologue, memoir. It’s non-fiction and documentary. It’s elusive, enigmatic, fragmented. It’s like broken biscuits and blubber. To me it felt like a note on the offences of climate change, the emotional response and grief as we bystand erosion and corrosion, the loss of life, and the urge to merge something back together as it dissolves and fragments before our eyes. It’s as personal as it is public. A gorgeous and complex piece.

Susan Sontag’s As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh (Diaries 1964—1980) (RECOMMEND): I felt so afflicted reading Susan Sontag’s diaries, because y’know, it’s the equivalent of invading an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb. Like, leave people alone. At the same like, this woman. These diaries are still shaping me, and each section leaves you with the weirdest aftertaste. Her personality permeates through every detail, every line-break, every reference and articulation of feeling. You learn so much, you gain so much from her perceptions and observations. How do I contain Susan Sontag? How do I describe these diaries? Not at all. Just buy it.

Lexi Welch’s ‘Astroturf’, Fence Portal (Streaming) (RECOMMEND): My eyes locked onto this piece and just didn’t really stop reading. Lexi’s voice is enamouring and hypnotic. It’s so violent too. You’re lunged into friction burns and sports injuries, time and progression, the tensions between collectivity and individuality, family and sexuality, or as Fence put it, ‘lesbian eros’. This piece felt acidic. At times you can’t tell if the ‘I’ is indifferent or hurting to the point of numbness. It straddles so many different thematics, and breaks down a lot of conventions pertaining to the “ideal experience” of family relationships and team work. The resolution seems to be that in spite of people, our collectivity is defined by our collective solitude. This essay kicked me around a football field. It takes a good few repeated reads to appreciate its kaleidoscopic shifting, but it’s definitely one of my favourites.

The Midnight Gospel, from Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell, Netflix: (RECOMMEND) So the other day my friend Ben linked this to me and I had seen the trailer ages back and thought “Oh yeah I really wanna watch that”, but just forgot. After his reminder, I started watching it and ever since I’ve been saying to loads of other friends “Have you watched ‘The Midnight Gospel’ on Netflix?” because I’m d y i n g to talk about it with everybody.

I literally can’t categorise this “TV show” to you. It’s like if animation had a baby with a philosophy podcast and then put that baby onto an IV drip of psychedelics. It’s this swarm of different stimuli which you kind have to zone in on and absorb individually and yet somehow collectively.

So like, “Clancy” is a spacecaster who sets up “spacecasts” (podcasts) with creatures from other simulated worlds and he interviews them. But when Clancy transports himself into these worlds, it’s not like they’re sat down on some cream sofa with two glasses of water like it’s animated Oprah. No, his interviewees are like in the middle of fighting off a zombie apocalypse or meditating on a mountain or trying to find and save their lost lover. And Clancy just joins them on the journey and interviews them about their “specialism”. These are real people that are being interviewed like, the first episode is with Dr. Drew Pinker. And when you’re watching it, you think that the animation is totally separate to the conversation exchange the characters are having, but that’s not true. They have intersections, they have meaning. It only becomes obvious that it has meaning right at the end of each episode, but if you lock on you’ll see it’s all relevant throughout.

One of my friends was like “Oh I might stick that on tonight and have a joint” and I was like, don’t fucking get high when you’re watching this because it’s already intense enough as it is, like you know that Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell have felt some real shit to create this absolute rare jewel. In my opinion, you don’t need cannabis to appreciate these discussions. But if you wanna do it, then hey it’s a “free country”. And it’s not as though there’s a serious, central core plot like there is with Rick & Morty, I mean there is a kind of overarching plot but it’s not always integral. Like ultimately we’re invested in Clancy’s story but also all the stories of all the other people that come his way. There’s multiple plots, there’s multiple dimensions and ways of seeing. It’s a programme which delivers on multiplicity, which manifests itself in everything and everyone we see and know and touch and hear, etc, etc.

This production articulates some of the revelations that psychedelics can give you. Psychedelics don’t make you see the world literally like these animations do, but the sensations of the animation are reminiscent of an acid trip’s oscillating moods and sensitivities. It’s really cool, and it’s very poignant, and it’s my new favourite show to watch. And what’s so great about it is that, it requires multiple watches in order to really absorb everything in its entirety, so it’s a series you can just keep going back to even after you’ve seen them all. It’s re-watchable. Just fundamental goodness all round. Best way to indulge in it is with ice cream. 🍨

***

So that’s it for this week, next Friday’s review is Annie Ernaux’s A Girl’s Story translated by Alison L. Strayer, published with Fitzcarraldo Editions.

Stay safe and well as always, my little caramels. 💁🏽

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1milzine · 4 years

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Favorite Rarepairs!

@sacchariwrites said: One of my favorite rarepairs is EraserCloud because have you read the manga recently? *gross sobbing* They cared for each other so much. ;_;

Mod Muse: What a big mood, Sacchari! What. A. Big. Mood. You definitely aren’t alone in being bogged down by feels over those two.

Mod Echo is crying in this club right now.

@elf-tastingtheadventure said: Current favourite 'rarepair': Overhaul & Chronostasis

Mod Muse: Nice! Unfortunately, this ship does not qualify to be in the zine itself, but I can certainly see why you would ship it! Leader/Second-In-Command ships tend to be very enjoyable.

Mod Echo: I like this one too. ❤️ Glad to see so many villain stans--I’m excited to see what people come up with the zine itself...

@robealafrancaise said: My favorite rarepair is TodoShinDeku! Shipping my favorite characters together is a lot of fun, and I really enjoy the dynamic. Shinsou and Todoroki have a lot in common (they didn't come here to make friends), and Izuku has a lot of love and affection to offer! ❤💙💜💚

Mod Muse: You make a good argument for them! I’m glad we decided to accept polyships, because this sounds like a lot of fun.

Mod Echo: All I’m seeing here is three characters who couldn’t be more deserving of love and a stable relationship. So many good boys and good ships! ToT

Anon said: My all-time fav rarepair in this series has to be Monochako (Monoma/Ochako). Even back in the sports fest, he was already noticing her in her match vs. Bakugo, so I feel like he’d grow to be one of her biggest fans. And Ocha can read people’s feelings, like w Bakugo in the omake and Tsu in the dorm room scene, so if anyone can look past Monoma’s dickishness and see his good sides, it’d be her. I just see so much potential in this ship, and that’s why I love it so much!

Mod Muse: Oh man. I’ve never heard of this ship before, but you make it sound like something that would work very well. You clearly have the characters down pact! That’s honestly one of my favorite things about rarepairs - the shippers tend to put a lot of thought into the characters and have a solid understanding of them and you can tell.

Mod Echo: Signed, sealed, approved, count me in. I feel like Ochako would make a great match for Monoma’s antics since she’d just let it all roll right off her back. Love it!

Anon said: MonoBaku! Tbh I like angst-heavy recovery fics, and the pair seems perfect for that genre. They both can have some pretty heavy issues that they can work through together. And who doesn't love a good enemies to lovers gig?

Mod Muse: Lots of Monoma love in this post! I love it! You are certainly correct on all accounts, and enemies to lovers is addictive content indeed.

Mod Echo: This one too! Monoma’s phantom thief theme is too cool and every ship with him is under-rated. ~~And I know said angst, but why am I reminded of Tom and Jerry for some reason??~~

Anon said: Some rarepairs that I like are minajirou, todokiri, many ot3 djjfjf and such

Mod Muse: More ships that I hadn’t thought of, but definitely sound like fun! Minajirou in particular sounds like a blast.

Mod Echo: Kirishima would make a good match up for Todoroki, since he seems pretty impervious to fire and maybe even ice... I could definitely see these two gaining a lot from interacting with each other more. And MinaJirou is just... yes please! Ladies of the BakuSquad gotta stick together!!

Anon said: i absolutely love LOVE bakugou x toga (bakutoga) i just feel as if their personalities are a fun dynamic!! a hardass and a softie (kinda) are one of my favorite character dynamics :)

Mod Muse: You’re r i g h t. It’s even more fun when the hardass is a hero and the softie is a villain! Also, lots of enemies to lovers content for Bakugou today! He is good for it, isn’t he?

Mod Echo: Horikoshi!! Show us the forbidden Bakugou and Toga interaction after the training camp kidnapping!! Why are you holding out on us?!

@pinkdiamondprince said: Are you still asking for favorites? My favorite rarepairs are Shoujiida, two selfless heroes and comrades, and ShoujixShiozaki, a sweet gal and a scary-looking but sweet gentleman.

Mod Muse: Oooh, these all sound like sweet, wholesome ships with interesting dynamics. The sort of ships I look for for that good fluffy content!

Mod Echo: This ask is galaxy brain level. I never thought of Shouji/Shiozaki but you’re so right. I can totally see them getting along great and being an adorable ship! So many great ships here, I’m dying...

Thank you for submitting your favorite rarepairs! It’s been a blast reading through them and seeing all the variety!

#bnha ships #rarepairs #(minor) Announcement

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coolscar-zine · 5 years

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FAQ

What is this?

This is a fanzine dedicated to Cronus Ampora and his Alternian self, Orphaner Dualscar.

Why him?

Cronus is adorable and Big Fish Sexy.

Who’s running this?

Hi, I’m Fox, an unapologetic lover of Cronus and Dualscar. I’m masked-fox-creations on tumblr.

What kind of works are allowed?

Fanfiction, fanart (digital and traditional), cosplay, papercraft, other physical crafting like embroidery or sculpting. If you wanted to do a fansong we’d figure out how to make it work.

Everything should be your original creation made specifically for this zine, not an old piece. Redraws/remixes of an old piece are allowed.

What kind of content is allowed?

This is a zine to celebrate Cronus and Dualscar, so don’t submit content that depicts them as irredeemable monsters please.

To keep the zine at a T rating please follow these guidelines:

- No onscreen rape or other sexual abuse - No excessive gore or bodily harm - No on screen sex or genitalia; some mild nudity is okay

If you want to run your idea by me to see if it’s allowed please feel free to do so.

What about ships?

Any and all ships, but if it’s between one character who is an adult in the comic and another who is a teen all parties should be aged up. Other than that go nuts. You want two Cronuses in love? Hell yeah. Dualscar romancing Karkat? Let’s see it. Cronus listening to the Signless’ lectures? Nice. Dualscar with Gl'bgolyb herself? Beautiful, yes. Cronus/Dualscar should be the main focal point, however.

Amporacest?

Absolutely. Cronus/Eridan happens in the comic, after all. If it makes you uncomfortable that amporacest could be in this zine that’s understandable. Please make a judgement call on whether or not this would affect your decision to participate.

Are AUs allowed?

Canon divergences sure, but things like humanstuck, faestuck, aquariumstuck etc isn’t what this zine is about. That content is definitely cool, but we want these two as trolls, please.

Also, Dualscar should be referred to with the name Cronus since they are the same person in different universes.

How much will we be expected to do?

Fics should be at least 1k while art should be a completed illustration that is 8.5x11 inches and 300 DPI and RGB. Photographs of cosplay and physical creations should be 8.5x11 as well, and of high quality photographs. Portrait orientation and not landscape, please.

How much will the zine cost and how will it be available?

It will be free! Which also means digital only.

Who can apply?

Anyone 18+. Even though the zine itself will be aimed at the Teen rating, I would just prefer to work with other legal adults. There are plenty of other zines out there though that allow younger creators to apply and I fully recommend giving those a try! There seems to have been a boom in Homestuck zines recently so hopefully you’ll find something else if you don’t qualify for this one.

Where can we apply?

Right here!

What’s the timeline on this?

November 12th applications open November 30th applications close December 3rd all acceptance emails sent out February 15th all submissions due February 18th Coolscar Zine debuts

What if we have more questions?

By all means send an ask to the blog. If you don’t want it published please say so in the ask.

#FAQ #blog update #figure I should have the reblogable version too #fanzine #Homestuck #Cronus Ampora #Orphaner Dualscar

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crowdedchatroom · 5 years

Text

the most dangerous game (for the world’s biggest virgins) | Chapter One

the first fic posted on this blog! i posted a few mysme fics on my main blog since they were for zines, but since this one is sort of its own thing, i’d figure i’d make use of this silly little sideblog.

the idea of there being a chapter 2 is a little questionable, but we’ll see how it goes.

AO3 | writing commissions | main blog.

They meet over coffee. Jumin sits quietly in his chair, reading a book, and Zen sits across from him, impatiently drumming his fingers on the table.

“Stop that,” says Jumin, not lifting his eyes from his book. “I find it annoying.”

Near immediately, Zen counters with, “I find you annoying.”

“The feeling is quite mutual.”

They sit in silence for a few more moments, and Zen begins to get a little irritated. “Why am I here?” he asks.

“I wanted to have a chat with you,” says Jumin, and he pauses, “I never thought I would say that sentence in earnest. It’s an interesting change.”

Zen would probably make a snappy comeback, if he weren’t already so done with Jumin. “Then why have we just been sitting here, not talking for—” he looks up at the clock by the front counter, and MC waves happily at him. He waves back, then turns back to Jumin, “five minutes.”

“I wasn’t in a rush,” says Jumin, “and I figured now was as good a time as any to conduct a little experiment and see how long it took for the silence to get to you. That’s the thing about children, you know?” He lifts his head to meet Zen’s eyes. “They can’t stand boredom.”

He looks back down at his book, and Zen briefly ponders if his career could survive the inevitable controversy he would face for murdering the man in front of him. And Jumin is quiet for a few moments longer, giving Zen plenty of time to think, until he opens his mouth once again.

“So,” Jumin says, “What are we?”

There are a few blissful moments where Zen is only attempting to process those stupid, terrible words coming from Jumin’s stupid, terrible mouth. Not that Zen thinks about Jumin’s mouth at all, ever—shut up.

When he does manage to process said terrible words, it’s as if Jumin has poured water directly onto Zen’s motherboard in an attempt to kill him dead. If it were possible to short-circuit in real life, Zen would surely be doing so.

“What are we?” he manages.

Jumin turns a page in his book. “I believe that’s what I said, yes.”

Zen shakes his head, “We aren’t anything. We don’t have anything to do with each other.”

“I see,” says Jumin, “I assumed that was the case. I just wanted to clarify.”

More silence. Zen continues drumming his fingers on the table, now in the midst of developing a distinct rhythm. To be in this situation, he thinks, is surely the universe’s retribution for all his sins. Which ones? That is yet to be figured out. He begins to replay the interaction in his head, and something bothers him.

Jumin assumed that was the case? What does that mean?

Of course, there’s the obvious interpretation—which is that Jumin took the events of last weekend and deduced that they were the product of a lot of drinking between both parties. Then there’s the explanation Zen falls on, which is that Jumin thinks he’s some kind of commitment-phobic playboy. An astrological leap, to be sure.

And who is Jumin to make this assumption of Zen, who is totally dedicated to anything he puts his mind to— including relationships, thank you very much. Jumin, on the other hand, has probably walked through all of his relationships with indifference, letting them pass as quickly as they arrived. Last weekend probably didn’t even mean anything to him. In fact, that’s probably Jumin’s every weekend, and Zen is one of many—

In the midst of Zen’s spiral, Jumin speaks again, “You can dismiss yourself. I’m waiting on a cup of coffee.”

“—I’m not some kind of playboy, for your information!” exclaims Zen. Jumin looks up at him.

“I see,” he says, “Now, I’m not sure what logical leap you’ve been privately making over there, but rest assured, whatever you think I think of you is absolutely true.”

He’s messing with Zen, now.

“I mean, what do you want us to be?” says Zen, and Jumin seems to think about it for a few seconds.

“I’m impartial,” he says, “I think we have very little compatibility as ‘friends,’” he lifts his hands from his book to put ‘friends’ in air quotes, “so a relationship seems a bit hasty, but I didn’t know if you were the sort of person to care about that sort of thing, so I asked.”

“And what does that mean?” says Zen, tone accusatory, though this whole interaction has been pretty accusatory in general. They’re an accusatory pair.

“Well, I had reason to consider either possibility,” says Jumin, “You seemed to be trying very hard to forget the whole ordeal, but at the same time you did agree to meet me here, which I doubt would happen if you were completely uninterested.”

“It’s not hard to be uninterested in you,” says Zen.

“And yet you’re still sitting here,” retorts Jumin.

“You’re a dick,” says Zen, “and you’re really not funny at all. Or interesting. Or nice.”

“I see,” says Jumin.

“It just makes me so, ugh, to think that I—that you—that we—” says Zen, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Jumin is sitting across for him, observing him curiously.

“So you’ve been thinking about it?” says Jumin, and if Zen didn’t know any better, he’d say that there was a smile forming on his stupid, terrible face. Just awful. The worst. “If it makes you feel better, it was ‘only a kiss.’ Of course, I suppose that comfort depends on how much you value a kiss.”

“If it was with you, not at all,” tries Zen. Jumin nods.

“Same here,” says Jumin, “It was, as Lucien or Yoosung would say, ‘wack.’”

Zen’s brain is short-circuiting again. “Did you just say ‘wack?’”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to expand my vocabulary to something more current, in order to appear less stiff,” says Jumin, a man who is sitting in a coffee shop in a full suit. Had it been any other day, Zen is certain that said suit would be covered in pale cat hair. “Why are you still sitting here?”

“Why are you?”

“I believe I mentioned that I was waiting on a coffee?”

“Maybe I’m also waiting on a coffee.”

“I think that you’d have to order one in order to wait for it.”

“Die,” says Zen, “I just—nevermind your assumptions of me, what is this whole situation supposed to say about you, Jumin Han?” He tries to say Jumin’s name as if that were an insult in itself. Jumin merely raises an eyebrow.

“That I don’t feel we’re compatible?” he says.

“No! It’s that you’re a playboy!”

“A playboy?”

“A playboy!”

Jumin seems to consider this for a moment. “I suppose, from a certain perspective, it could look that way,” he says. “That said, I consider myself quite conservative with my sensuality.”

Hearing Jumin refer to his sensuality in conversation is quite possibly the worst thing Zen has ever heard. Instead of abruptly vomiting, however, he stands his ground. His very thin, shaky ground. “Well you aren’t! And it’s weird that you’re pretending to be all professional about this situation and trying to say that I don’t value a kiss or whatever. You—you’re weird!”

“Perhaps,” Jumin places his book down on the table, “we would benefit from a reevaluation of the incident. As I recall, it was you who leaned in for the kiss, Zen.”

“Oh, fuck you! That’s not what this is about and you know it—” Zen begins, fully prepared to go into a tirade about how he was drunk and how Jumin was being weirdly cool and how the moment was a particularly bizarre exception, as far as romance goes, but Jumin is just… looking at him. “What?” he says, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I’m thinking,” Jumin says, and there is the briefest moment of blissful silence before he says, “I don’t find you unattractive,” and Zen once again feels as though he has just been shot.

“I’m sorry, what\—”

“As insufferable as your personality is, you are fairly handsome, and I was fairly drunk at the time,” says Jumin, “and so when you leaned in for the kiss, I was receptive.”

“God. Why are you doing this? Are you trying to kill me?”

“I’m merely analyzing the events of last weekend in order to paint a clearer picture of my character, since you insist I fit some kind of ‘playboy’ stereotype,” says Jumin. “Now, I will admit that my decision to introduce tongue to the kiss was very questionable, however—”

“Stop! Stop! I get it! You can stop now!”

“Zen, you are making a scene,” Jumin appears serious at first, before a slight curve appears at the corner of his lips, and he blows some air out of his nose. “Though, I suppose that’s natural for an actor.”

“You’re not funny,” Zen says. God. Thinking about that night is—

(kind of hot)

—awful. What was he thinking? He has to live with the fact that Jumin’s tongue has been in his mouth forever now. This is a travesty.

“Zen,” says Jumin. “Was it such an unpleasant experience for you? Because if so, I—” he stops for a second, as if truly hesitant to say anything further, “I… am sorry.”

He’s apologizing. Holy shit. Zen just got an apology. Out of Jumin.

“What was that?”

“I’m not going to say it again, especially since I was not initially responsible for the incident.” Holy shit. Jumin seems flustered. This is hilarious. And kind of adorable. Or, not adorable—Zen definitely did not refer to Jumin as adorable, but it’s like… well, it’s something, and Zen is all about it.

“No, no, say it! You can’t backpedal.”

“I am,” Jumin sighs, “sorry for making you uncomfortable, if that was the case.”

“Oh, that’s good. I could get used to that.”

“That is an inherently weird statement to make, Zen. I believe you were arguing the point that I was ‘weird,’ earlier, and that only serves as incriminating evidence to your own ‘weirdness.” Jumin is turning a bit pink. “Where’s my coffee? Could you leave? I’d like to drink my coffee in peace.”

“It looks like it’s gonna take a while,” says Zen, “in the meantime, let’s review another point: you find me attractive?”

“Do not get me started, because I seem to remember that your hands certainly found themselves in some interesting places that evening, and—”

“Okay, okay! Point made!” Zen interjects. A few seconds pass, and he lets out a confession. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable. I just thought your apology was really funny.”

“I am going to kill you. I have the money to do so cleanly and without any trace to myself.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” says Zen, dismissive. “So, we’re agreed? We’re forgetting about the whole thing?”

Jumin nods. “It would be a service to the both of us. I mean, just imagine it. If we dated.”

Zen says, “Not possible.”

Jumin adds, “Completely incomprehensible.”

“Disgusting.”

“Terrible.”

“The worst.”

More silence. Extremely, wildly uncomfortable silence. The kind of silence that only occurs between parties with an it’s complicated status on social media.

Zen tries not to think about the kiss, but, well, it’s not like he’s kissed that many people in his life—and Jumin happened to be much more skilled than expected, and it’s hard not to think about that. Zen has barely ever kissed another person with tongue in his life, but Jumin was a total natural. A real team player.

And, well, he isn’t hideous. Kind of the opposite. There’s a reason this guy also models, Zen supposes. A cursory glance to Jumin only serves to confirm this. Sure, he’s pretentious and repulsive, but he does really pull that suit off. His hair looks soft (it is soft. Zen remembers, because one of his hands ran through it when they kissed. The other hand was kind of preoccupied with things below the waist, but whatever. Not relevant, right now) and his skin is immaculate.

“It would be kind of funny,” says Zen, talking before thinking. “If we dated, that is.”

“Oh, it would be hilarious.”

“Maybe we’d do it for, like, a trial run. You know, if I can tolerate you for a month, then you have to pay me some ridiculous amount of money.”

“That wouldn’t be much of a challenge at all. I’m very tolerable. And what would I get if you lost?”

“I have no idea. Maybe I’d have to do something stupid, like babysit Elizabeth or something—”

“Deal.”

Oh.

Oh?

“For real?” Zen says, incredulous. “You’d make this stupid bet on the off chance that I would have to watch your stupid cat?”

“Yes, absolutely. It would be hilarious.”

“Well,” says Zen, thinking about his impending sum of money and definitely not thinking about Jumin’s tongue in his mouth, “Then we have a deal.”

“Certainly. We’ll need to work out the details a bit later, perhaps in a written contract—”

“I am not doing a fifty shades style contract with you.”

Jumin shakes his head. “Nothing like that. This would merely cover the terms of the wager, in order to ensure equal chances of winning for both parties. My affinities are none of your business”

“Um, I think they’re totally my business. I’m your trial-run boyfriend.”

This banter would probably go on forever, if not for the sudden presence of Jaehee, who clears her throat. Zen instantly jumps in his seat.

“How long have you been here?” he asks, instantaneously. Jaehee looks at him with some unholy combination of grief and amusement.

“Long enough,” she says, before turning to Jumin. “You ordered coffee?”

This, Zen thinks, is going to bite him in the ass.

#juzen #jumin han #hyun ryu #myzme zen #mystic messenger #juzen fic

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avaantares · 5 years

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For the fanfic ask meme: 5, 10, 11, 26, 31 and 32. Feel free to only do one of these, I just couldn't make up my mind (so many interesting questions!). :-)

Yay, more questions! I answered number 5 in the previous post, but I’ll do the others, because I can’t make up my mind, either.

10.Have you ever written for a fandom without reading other fanfic for it?

Oh, absolutely. The earliest fandom for which I still have the fanfic I wrote was back when fan works were distributed via paper zines that you had to order with a money order sent through postal mail! (Yes, I’m old, LOL.)

Sometimes I’ve also written stories based on more obscure sources for which fic just doesn’t exist. The first fanfic series I ever wrote was a massive meta-humor crossover featuring characters from classic literature, mythology, television shows, movies, video games, etc., many of which didn’t even have fandoms as such.

I’ve also started several stories based on sources with fandoms I wasn’t heavily involved in and hadn’t read fic for, but then did some more digging into the fandom itself and decided not to post them for whatever reason (fandom drama, lack of readership, dear-goodness-why-is-this-entire-fandom-shipping-my-NoTP, etc.).

11.Have you ever written a fic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

*laugh* Yup. I joked so often about ticking boxes on my Fanfiction Bingo card that @gmariam321 actually MADE one and sent it to me. (I don’t yet have a Bingo, though. Still need to write that wingfic…) ;-)

Matchless is a soulmate AU, which is quite possibly the single most overused fanfiction formula since the creation of Mary Sue in 1973. Not that formulas are inherently bad, but there are just so many of them that I didn’t expect to have anything unique to add to that fic category. Then, while chatting with @gmariam321 about her (also quite unique) soulmate AU Animoré, I hit upon the idea of subverting soulmates-as-convenient-plot device and addressing the soulmate concept as the plot. Obviously it was never intended to be Ye Standard Olde Soulmate Trope, which made it unpredictable and therefore more fun (for me) to write. It ended up expanding into a 74,000-word sci-fi mystery, which was three times the length I’d originally expected it to be. I think some of my readers weren’t expecting such a complex plot from something tagged as a soulmate AU, but overall I got excellent feedback!

26. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

I love it when readers really engage with the plot (in longer stories) and comment that they’re trying to work out what the next twist is. I really like spooling out a mystery and getting people hooked. To me, it’s a challenging balance between revealing too much and giving away the ending, or not giving enough clues so that readers are blindsided with a plot twist, so it’s gratifying if people are actively thinking about where the story might be going.

31. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

Norton Folgate. I absolutely ADORE him and would love to write more stories with him, but I really struggled with his voice in the one story I attempted (Purge) and I’m not confident I can do him justice. (Also, I’d need a Polari phrasebook to get his dialogue period-accurate.)

32. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

Ianto Jones. His dry sarcasm-concealing-sincere concern is so close to some of the characters populating my original fiction that I always found it very easy to write him. Now that I’ve written well over a quarter of a million words about him, I feel like I have a pretty solid grip on his character. :)

#writing #my writing #fanfiction #ask thingy #thatlastdanceofchances

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franeridart · 5 years

Note

Merry Christmas!! I hope you are happy, and have a good New Year! 😁

Thank you!!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year too!!

Anon said:aaaaawwwnnn the good ol' platonic (or not, depending on the interpretation) bak*deku

I’m not anti anything anon, so you never gotta worry about that! I have ships I like and ships I don’t and ships I’m indifferent about, but I’m a firm believer in the ship and let ship principle~ sadly bkdk is strictly platonic for me (I see them too much as sibs for it to work in a romantic way, at this point), but I do adore their relationship and the way Horikoshi is writing it TT^TT it’s def one of my favorite Bakugou relationships, such a wonderfully complex story 💕

Anon said:Have you ever thought about drawing Bakushima as different ships? Like, from different shows. Put them in their outfits and such? I thought that wouls be pretty cool. Sorry if someone has already suggested this! I thought maybe Black Butler style ? Fruits basket, Death note, ect. ❤

I have in the past drawn them in AUs inspired by characters from other fandoms, if that’s what you’re asking! At the top of my head I can remember drawing them as Black⭐Star and Tsubaki from Soul Eater, Doumeki and Watanuki from xxxHolic and Jacuzzi and Nice from Baccano!, but I’m sure those are not the only ones... I’m never against that sort of AUs, if you have anything you’d like to see ask and I’ll see if I know the fandom you’re thinking about! :D

Anon said://squints// did your.... Did your lineart imPROVE??? holy maples Fran ur killing me with ur art I wanna survive my last 7 months of high school--

If you think so, then I’m seriously happy and glad to hear it! Thank you so much!! I feel like I’ve been getting sloppier actually, ngl, but I have been trying new tools for the line, so maybe that’s the difference you’re seeing!

Anon said:Gonna say anonymously caz' i'm too embarrassed to reveal myself for now, but I love your blog and art so damn much!!! Been following you for two years and you really inspired me to draw and really to stay in touch with bnha. Again, love you so much and hope you a merry Christmas!!!

Ahhhhh anon thank you so much!!! I’m happy I can make you keep up with bnha, ngl!! And I hope you’ve had a wonderful amazing christmas too!!!

Anon said:Sero with the long hair can murder me

He wouldn’t!

Anon said:what do you think of bakukamijirou 👀

I don’t ship it, sorry :( as far as shipping Bakugou goes, I only ship him around if Kirishima is involved - I do have a few Baku ships I like just for the aesthetics (like with Jirou, or Todoroki!) but I wouldn’t really call it “shipping”, I just like to see them next to each other cause their designs work well together haha

Anon said:Hello? Yes. Hi. Dave I love. Thank you.

I’m so happy to hear that!!! TT^TT thank you so much!!!

Anon said:Kamijirou cures my depression :3

WELL IF THAT ISN’T A MOOD!!

Anon said:Have you every considered a voltron au for your ocs? I know youve made a voltron au befores so i was wondering if you ever did it for anything else (i really love all your art have a lovely day

I’ve never, actually :thinking: the vld fandom is very scary to me so I try to keep away from it, ngl! I’ve also not watched past the first season of the cartoon itself so by now I don’t think I have the necessary information to make AUs based on that fandom, but the concept of my kids in space or piloting mechas is a wonderful one nonetheless haha

Anon said:Ah man I love dav so much. It makes me so happy when you post your sweet green haired boy. Day: brightened.

:sob: thank you SO MUCH!!!! TT^TT it makes me so happy to hear you like my boy!!

Anon said:I love and appreciate every variety of your ocs

THANK YOU!!!💕💕

Anon said:You: This is my boy. | Me: I love him so much and his hair and his shirt- 👌

Thank you so much!! His hair and clothes make less sense every time I draw him, but I have fun with it so I’m glad you like them anyway hahaha

Anon said:Hey! Who is he? He looks cool

Thank you so muuuccchhhh!!! His name is Dave!! He doesn’t really have much of a story, but he’s a uni student and likes music, philosophy and cats! He has a bunch of friends I draw him with now and again, and they mostly spend their time avoiding studying and being generally ridiculous :D

Anon said:Just wanted to let you know your art style is GORGEOUS. You're one of the few people on this site whose art always makes me excited to see it. I'm a huge Bakushima fan to begin with but your Bakugou is just...oof. lol I don't know if it's the hooded eyes or the undercut but you make him HAVE it!

That’s such high praise oh my god! TTOTT I’m glad you like how I draw my boy, he makes me so happy to doodle !!!!! 💞💞💞

Anon said:The two art post with "An unexpected sappy thought" and "Bunch of stuff from yesterday I finally managed to finish" were both flagged. i tried to send them to u, but couldn't. Just thought you should know if you haven't been notified yet! sorry that i cant be much help. (also the protest starts in like 10 min for me, so youre probably off already if youre doing it) sorry for bothering!

Anon said:hey your post (a colored fanart) of kirishima and bakugou cuddling w/ song lyrics as the caption got flagged, just thought i’d let you know if you didn’t see it :( stupid tumblr

These are pretty old asks at this point but I wanted to thank you for the heads up anyway! I have gone through my posts twice already and new flagged things always pop up, so the fact that you took the time to let me know was seriously huge help! Thank you so much!!

Anon said:hi i just saw your year summery-thingy and i just realized that i have followed you for more than a year now and i just want to say thank you for all the beutiful art i have seen !! you are truly one of my favorite artist i hope that you are well

Ah man thank you so much!!! I’m so so happy to hear you’ve been following me that long, it’s incredible to me!! I hope I’ll manage to get out of the slump I’ve fallen into soon enough orz meanwhile thank you for sticking around!! 💕

Anon said:Seeing your art summary makes my soul feel the urge to have your beautiful kiribaku art in a book. Have you ever thought about making a little zine with some of your illustrations? Or selling prints ;___; You're absolutely amazing!

Oh heck thank you so much for being interested in something like that! I’ve actually thought about something of the like, but if I ever did it would be a small zine with pieces made specifically for it! I have to research the whole thing a bit more, but in case I’ll reach a point where it’s a concrete possibility I’d first post something to check the actual interest in it between everyone! ;^;

Anon said:... Why BakuJiro tho?

Why not! They are good friends, have a nice dynamic, and their styles match together well! And Jirou’s so tiny next to him, I like the idea of Baku hugging her a whole lot as it might have become obvious by this point haha

Anon said:7w7r I see you there

I dunno what this is about but !!! neat!!

Anon said:Soooo,,, DabiHawks or Hawks single? I have curious for how would a drawing of them be made by you

I’ve said this a couple of times before, but I’m really only interested in dabihawks if Dabi is Touya at this point! I might change my mind if Hori develops their relationship more, but right now that’s how it is... and until I have more concrete proofs of Touya and Dabi being the same person I don’t wanna get too involved with the ship, in case I end up disappointed haha

Anon said:Fran, have you ever posted a selfie before? For some reason, I imagine you looking a little more like Kuroo from Haikyuu!! Haha.

I haven’t! I prefer being behind the camera instead of before it hahaha a couple years ago you would have been right! By now I have too much hair for it, tho lol also, I wear glasses and have a bunch of piercings and earrings that Kuroo doesn’t have (but should have, cause it’d be hot 👀👀👀)

#fran answers #i wanted to post something colored today but my health said no #*sad*#instead i finally got around to answering the asks #a lil bit of productivity is always better than none at all haha #anonymous

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pengiesama · 5 years

Text

2 Fast 2 Furious: Skeleton FuckMobile 3: 'Til Death Do We PARTY (Fic, TGCF, HC/XL)

Title: 2 Fast 2 Furious: Skeleton FuckMobile 3: 'Til Death Do We PARTY Series: Heavenly Official’s Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu) Pairing: Hua Cheng/Xie Lian

Summary:

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng get married.

Also Hua Cheng fingers him in the skeletonmobile on the way to the wedding banquet.

(Written for the @hualianweek Eternal zine! Check out the zine's Twitter here, and check out the zine itself here.)

Link: AO3

Read on Tumblr!

Hua Cheng’s step-litter was built to seat two. It was built for luxury, it was built for comfort – the interior hardly jostled at all, despite the breakneck speed of the skeletal attendants ferrying them across the landscape.

It was built for privacy.

“S-san Lang, San Lang, ah—”

Feverish kisses to the line of his shoulder caused Xie Lian’s train of thought to derail.

“This humble follower begs a favor, that His Highness might call him by the name he bestowed upon him just an hour ago…”

Hua Cheng’s voice was thick and warm and delirious with joy. Xie Lian could hardly refuse him even in the best of circumstances, and he had no mind to start now.

“Husband, my husband…”

The thick red curtains shielded them from the eyes of the outside world; allowing Xie Lian to keep the miniscule amount of face left to him. He was already such a mess. The beautiful wedding robes Hua Cheng had gifted him were yanked askew and hung down one shoulder; his hair and makeup, so carefully arranged by Shi Qing Xuan and a half-dozen of Ghost City’s finest beauticians that morning, were in utter disarray. His lip rouge was smeared across Hua Cheng’s face and neck – irrefutable evidence of his mouth’s whereabouts during this sedan ride.

Oh, they couldn’t appear at their wedding banquet like this. Xie Lian would sooner hide himself back underneath his bridal veil, and perhaps underneath one of Hua Cheng’s voluminous red sleeves for good measure.

But that was what had started this, hadn’t it? After being tenderly lifted into the sedan by Hua Cheng – as always his San Lang, and now his husband – Xie Lian had allowed himself the indulgence of tucking himself into Hua Cheng’s side of his own accord, without waiting for that arm to slide about his shoulders first. After a few slow, wonderful moments, enjoying the feeling of Hua Cheng’s arm tight around him, enjoying the feeling of lips chastely brushing his forehead…Hua Cheng’s sneaky fingers had darted in and stolen his veil; immediately stuffing it into the breast of his own robes before Xie Lian could properly react. Xie Lian’s subsequent struggle to reclaim it, and the struggle to kiss that naughty little smirk off his San Lang’s face, had resulted in Xie Lian on Hua Cheng’s lap, and…their current general state of disarray.

Xie Lian was aware that this was likely entirely what Hua Cheng had plotted for when stealing his veil. He was aware that he had played entirely into his hands (and his lap). He wondered how Hua Cheng had gotten this spoiled. He wondered whose fault it was.

His palms were flat against Hua Cheng’s bare chest. His own hands were so warm that he feared he was scorching Hua Cheng’s cool skin. But what could be done, when there were stolen goods to track down? This search required all of Xie Lian’s considerable deductive abilities. The veil was not here, between his husband’s lovely pectorals. Xie Lian traced his fingers along their defined curve, then down further. It was not here, in the folds of robes around his husband’s firm abdominals and trim waist. Where had this sly little fox of his hidden that slip of red gauze?

There were so many layers of silk to search, and so much skin to distract. Xie Lian traced his hands along Hua Cheng’s belt, losing his thoughts once more to the touch of Hua Cheng’s lips and teeth on his neck, and to the touch of—

Xie Lian squeaked and jumped, causing the silver décor and lanterns within the sedan to jangle and jostle. Hua Cheng’s chuckle was low and wicked, and reverberated through his bones.

“Did we hit a bump in the road?” he asked, sliding one slicked finger into Xie Lian, up to the knuckle. “Should I tell those fools to be more careful, when they are carrying something so precious on their shoulders?”

“N—ahh,” Xie Lian whimpered. He wrapped his trembling arms around Hua Cheng to ground himself as those clever fingers slid in and out, in and out, pressing deviously against spots that only made him shake more. “San Lang, husband, please…”

Hua Cheng made a blissful noise at the title, and buried his nose into the join of Xie Lian’s neck and shoulder. “You need but speak and this one will give.”

His fingers brushed against that spot inside, and oh, Xie Lian loved those long clever fingers of his so desperately. Xie Lian lowered his forehead to rest it against Hua Cheng’s bare chest, and tried to keep his sanity as his husband’s fingers pressed there, there, just as Xie Lian heard himself begging him to.

He gasped aloud – the pleasure building inside him was beginning to peak, and his San Lang hadn’t…hadn’t yet – Xie Lian clawed at Hua Cheng’s belt, determined to find what he was seeking. (Specifically, no longer his pilfered bridal veil, but instead, his husband’s cock.)

“Inside,” Xie Lian said, perhaps more curtly than he might have intended. “Put it inside.”

It was Hua Cheng’s turn to shiver – a full-body shudder that rattled the decorations on the wall again. Xie Lian would have allowed himself the pleasure of turning the tables if Hua Cheng would just take out his cock already, instead of just –

Hua Cheng’s fingers fucked into him faster, harder, and he dragged Xie Lian in to rest his cheek flush against his bare chest. No heart beat there, but the diamond ring strung around Xie Lian’s neck thrummed with energy; a racing pulse that resonated with his own.

“Later,” Hua Cheng began, his voice low and feverish. “Later, after this banquet. Later, when I’ve carried you off to our marriage-bed, and have the whole night to love you the way you deserve. Please wait until then, husband, please; this foolish husband of yours is a hopeless romantic…”

Xie Lian adored his spoiled husband so very, very much.

He came apart then and there, squeezing on Hua Cheng’s clever clever fingers and shivering his way through his orgasm. He distantly hoped that his cries were muffled by the silk privacy curtains, by the jangling of the decorations, by the bells attached to the sedan and the noise of the step-litter’s attendants at work. When he finally regained full awareness of his surroundings, they’d come to a stop. Xie Lian could hear the noise of the banquet outside; the cheers of the guests and the fireworks going off overhead. Meekly, he glanced up, ready to immediately avert his eyes if he couldn’t handle looking directly at Hua Cheng. Sometimes it was very overwhelming, handsome as he was, and with the way he always gazed at Xie Lian so sweetly.

The sight was indeed very, very overwhelming. Hua Cheng was looking at him with an expression of bottomless adoration and fondness on his beautiful face. Said beautiful face was still absolutely covered in bright red kiss marks from Xie Lian’s lip rouge, with extra smears around Hua Cheng’s own mouth. The marks trailed down Hua Cheng’s neck and chest; his robes still wide open from Xie Lian’s quest for his veil. He was still dressed as a bridegroom.

They’d just gotten married. This was his husband. They were married and his husband had just fingered him and made him come inside his bridal robes while they were being carted across hill and dale by Hua Cheng’s servants.

“Ready to greet our guests?” Hua Cheng innocently asked, moving to pull back the privacy curtain. Xie Lian darted to grab Hua Cheng’s wrist.

“No! No, you’re – we’re both—”

Fretfully, Xie Lian tried to straighten up their robes, and patted himself down to try and find a handkerchief to tidy up Hua Cheng’s face and neck. Chuckling, Hua Cheng dragged him in to rest a moment or two more against his skin; stroking his hand along the fall of hair that had loosened from Xie Lian’s complicated up-do.

“Gege is right as usual,” Hua Cheng said. “They can wait for us a little while longer.”

Xie Lian finally found his veil, tucked into the tie in his own sash. Clever little fox.

#天官赐福 #tgcf #heavenly official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #hualian #a tenderly crafted fanfiction #zines

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