#one begins the journey

[chloesimaginationthings]

Jonathan Joestar, also known as “Phantom Spider”

#myart #chloesimagination #doodles #jojo bizarre adventure #jjba fanart #jjba #phantom blood #JoJo part 1 #jonathan joestar #spiderverse #across the spiderverse #atsv #so begins my journey to draw each JoJo as a spider person #idk how far I’ll get in that but doing Jonathan was super fun #each one is gonna have a different style too #I hope you guys like these ahhh

[thestobingirlie]

post s4 steddie fic where eddie, finally free of high school, realises he doesn’t know who he is without the rigid cliches he’s defined himself by his whole life. he doesn’t know who he is if he’s not performing and loudly declaring himself to be a freak just to desperately grapple for attention and respect.

eddie who, like steve, realises it’s all bullshit.

eddie, who’s jealous that steve so easily understands who he is and how he fits into his life, regardless of any jokes other people make at his expense. who accepts people wholeheartedly, despite the fact that cliches would have them hate each other.

steve, who helps teach eddie how to be himself, regardless of the ‘munson doctrine’ and what other people would define him as. who teaches eddie that being a ‘freak’ doesn’t actually define him, and he can find and enjoy interests outside of what society dictates he can.

eddie, who gets into sports, and enjoys drama, and music, and tv shows that teenaged him would’ve mocked and bullied him for years ago. eddie who grows and changes as he gets older, and isn’t constantly trapped in his performance of ‘the school drug-dealing freak’.

#tired of it being the other way around </3 #steve doesn’t need eddie to teach him that school performance shit is bullshit. he already knows!!!! #we’ve watched him come to this realisation season after season #and we watch eddie begin that journey in s4!!! #steve isn’t who eddie thought he would be. he doesn’t fit the box that eddie shoved him into. #because no one does!!! #what made steddie so interesting to me at first isn’t the idea that eddie can teach steve how to be a freak #it’s that steve can help eddie realise it’s all bullshit #whatever box people put eddie in. whatever box eddie puts people in. it’s imaginary!!! it’s not real #it’s high school bullshit!!! #there’s so much more colour in the world than those black and white views #steve is so much more than eddie thought he would be #why shut steddie back into that doctrine when they can love and grow and be more than high school cliches #eddie munson #steve harrington #steveddie #stranger things #my post

[thebramblewood]

Now, what on earth could Caleb be up to? 🧐

@moonfromearth Do you think Veronica would mind being Lilith's blood dealer in these trying times?

Previous / Next

Caleb: [humming under breath]

[humming more loudly]

[continues humming]

Lilith, I'm... [hesitates] I don't mean to disturb you.

Lilith: [irritably] You already have. What do you want, Caleb?

Caleb: I'm going out. I've got errands to run. I'll be back before sunrise, obviously.

Lilith: I don't suppose you'd swing by the hospital and swipe me some blood bags?

Caleb: You know the answer to that.

Lilith: [heaves dramatic sigh] Wonderful. I'll have to hit up Veronica and beg like some common addict.

Caleb: Lilith... [trails off uncertainly]

Lilith: Speak your mind, brother, or I'll have to probe it. I know how much you hate that.

Caleb: [visibly cringes] That won't be necessary. It's just that it's not like you to sulk, especially over a human. There'll be others.

Lilith: I'm not sulking. I'm practicing self-care. Isn't that what you're always preaching, meditation over murder? Hmm, that's catchy. You should put it on a t-shirt.

Caleb: You're incapable of having a serious conversation.

Lilith: I'm busy, and your conversation topics are boring and played out.

Caleb: Fine. I'll be back in a few hours.

Lilith: I'm sure I'll barely notice you're gone.

#ts4 #sims 4 #sims 4 story #ts4 story #simblr #story: hzid #caleb vatore #lilith vatore #happy new year from everyone's favorite dysfunctional vampire siblings 🥳 #caleb hive we will be eating well in 2024!!! #this is only the beginning of a journey that will reveal lots of juicy lore #(after we check in on helena later this week) #thank you all for making this a creatively fulfilling year for me & here's to another one!

[beanghostprincess]

I know we Sanuso shippers sound like a broken record moving in between Skypiea, Water 7, Enies Lobby, and Sabaody, but... Those really are crucial arcs for both of them. They show their core personalities, even before their actual arcs (WCI and, hopefully, Elbaf, if Oda gives my boy Usopp all the attention he deserves there) and they're always together. They're paired together in each of those and they're together to witness each other's important moments and growth. And I just think it's something so beautiful. It's not exactly that they have crucial scenes, it's the fact that they're together to support each other in them.

#idk i just find it so beautiful like #wci is a crime for not having usopp but the way luffy acts in wci is different from how usopp would've reacted too #and i think that being together in their journey pretty much since the beginning gives such a beautiful perspective to their relationship #they're not invasive of each other's issues and trauma and they don't demand to be in each other's space. they just... they just are #it's like it's just obvious that if sanji is somewhere usopp will be there too #like they just exist next to each other #and this happened more pre-ts but it's quite obvious in gyojin island and punk hazard too that they're written to be together #and i am very sad #i love them a lot #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso

[pencil-ing]

imagine working out with your sporty f/o. ♡ | the way your f/o pushes themself harder to show off for you. sweat beads on their brow as they go for an extra set. they glance in your direction occasionally, hoping you're watching. your f/o is always there to spot for you, fully focused on their task as you lift. imagine wearing matching outfits to the gym, having matching colored gear (sweatbands, water bottles, pedometers, etc). how they always pack an iced water bottle for you, whether you request it or not. the soothing experience of massaging each others' sore muscles when you get home. ♡ | bonus: if you're just beginning your fitness journey ... the way your f/o gently corrects your stance, their practiced hands guiding you lovingly. your f/o never fails to congratulate you on your progress - they watch you closely, and notice things you might fail to. there isn't a single milestone they miss. prøship/cømship/ant!-ant! dni.

#rotating this one in my head lately because im beginning MY fitness journey! #𝐈magines #f/o community #fictoromantic #romantic f/o #f/o imagine #f/o imagines #fictional other #imagines #f/o #imagine your f/o #imagine f/o #selfship imagine #self ship #selfshipper #selfship community

[starfacedstudio]

finally on time for deltarune’s anniversary for once :D in celebration, i wanted to post my designs that i’ve finally finished for Folly of the Fountains - the deltarune comic that i’ve been working on for about 2ish years now!

I still have a lot to do for it, but progress has been pretty steady and I’m hoping to possibly get it out around the anniversary next year - these designs won’t be seen in the comic for a hot minute, but are technically defaults for them all

hoping to get to posting everything sooner rather than later!

#froxart #deltarune #character design #folly of the fountains #kris deltarune #susie deltarune #ralsei deltarune #lancer deltarune #noelle deltarune #its been a long journey to get to this point #im excited to share this all with everyone soon enough #noelles design gave me hell literally every time id sit down to work through it lmfao but im happy to settle with this one! #she and kris are the ones that have probably changed the most since the beginning of the process #i might spruce these up at a later date esp when i figure out my logo again for the comic #problem for <3 future me #hope yall like these though! its nice finally having colored refs for them done #when i finish any other ones that Arent spoilery i might post them as well #froxposting

[fictionadventurer]

Many men had offered her many things in the past, love and friendship, luxury and jewels, entertainment, dogs, amusements, homage--some she had accepted, some refused, but no man before had offered her work. Peter had offered her that, he had offered her a share of his--not noble or inspiring or fascinating work, just his work, what he had. He had offered it her, called her great energies into play, and set her to work beside himself in a furrow. And she was glad; for some reason she found it very good.

--Desire by Una Lucy Silberrad

#books #jo walton has done it again #almost the only reason i ever look at tor.com these days is to read her monthly roundup of the books she's read #because a good chunk of her reading is the type of classics i love #including a lot of forgotten light classics of the early 20th century #this was one of those #mentioned in a column from last year that i happened to read the other day #with a review that said this should be one of those classics that everyone knows and reads #instead of being this completely forgotten book #and since it happened to be on hoopla (a common perk of these types of book recs from her) i read it #i don't think it's all-time classic great #but it's a solid middlebrow novel #the beginning was a bit of rough going but after the major part of the plot kicked off it become rather lovely #because there was a lot of the above #explorations of the value of work and friendships and relationships #and because of things like the above quote the central relationship is one of my favorite romances of the year #it's a solid relationship built on friendship and mutual respect #with both of them having stories and emotional journeys beyond the romance #reminded me a little bit of gaskell in some ways

[pebblezone]

She is soooo Living Dead Girl core

#hellsing #hellsing ultimate #seras victoria #a #okay I need to explain myself I started a journey last week to get world without logos on Apple Music which worked but before involved me #searching through hellsing playlists and one of them had dragula and I was omg wait rob zombie I’ve never given you the time of day that #ends now to which I listen to all of hellbilly deluxe and am like this is sooooo seras core my baby girl #so starting Monday I’m evening what cool drawing can I make so I can be like living dead girl core #also so on Instagram I can have it be the little jingle that was the main driving point #the important thing to note is I finished ultimate Tuesday and decided that I have to watch the abridge because it seems like #required reading so that same night I begin watching the abridge as I’m finalizing the sketch for this #next day comes I’m going ham and I hit the 7th episode and imagine my absolute horror to find they used it for her going ham #I’m unoriginal beyond reason and I’m very distressed about it that’s it I’ve bared my soul to the harsh harsh world #abridged makes me remember that cishets interact with media too

[assiraphales]

I think what people dislike about Whiskey Peak is that they have this romanticized idea in their heads that Zoro and Luffy share a braincell and can hear each other’s thoughts and thus no miscommunication could ever happen between them, so Whiskey Peak seems like a sudden wake up call/OOC moment.

Imo the appeal of ZoLu is that Zoro is /loyal/ even when he can’t understand where Luffy is coming from because he trusts him wholeheartedly, not because he can predict where Luffy will go. He’s here for the ride and that means agreeing with a sudden throw down vs Luffy when his captain decides they need to duke it out

!!!

#one piece #much to think about !! #someone in the other post (I accidentally deleted thinking it was another one lol) said it’s bc it’s a fight that wouldn’t happen later in #the series so ppl r like ‘?’ #but it’s like yah it’s still the beginning of their journey! #they trust each other insane amount but it’s still building #but you’re so right bc zoro doesn’t always know what luffy is planning #but he’s 100000% on board and jumps right into the mix #they make me insane

[onesunofagun]

This is probably a wildly unpopular thing to say, but I see chatter and takes concerning Hyrule and the Hylians and Hylia where the fandom dissects them as white European, or more often British coded. I've seen it be argued that this is because of surface level European (like Greco-Roman and Celtic) aesthetics are commonly used for them, though these are pretty shallow wrapping paper at best in game. Not that similarities can't be drawn! I'm saying this with all my Irish distaste for Britain! But it seems to be more of a symptom of ignorance or unfamiliarity with Japanese culture and history, and its own tilt at Imperialism.

Which I get! The average Western Fan's closest touchstone to Imperialism is likely Britain.

But Hyrule represents Japan. It's narrative is deeply rooted in Japanese Shinto beliefs regarding the relationship between man, nature and spirits-- including spiritual purity and impurity-- as derived from Buddhist concepts. Hylians are a fantasy race of elves who are Japanese coded, their Royal Family and Imperial structure and attitudes reflect a Japanese Nationalism that is deeply tied to Shinto. Hylia reflects aspects of the Goddess Amaterasu and her role as a progenitor of Emperors in Japanese myth.

I fully understand that many criticisms that apply also pertain to British Imperialism and their own Divine Hegemony, which is valid. But I think it's also falling short to critique and dissect the meta and intention behind this franchise without bothering to have the context of Japanese beliefs and history, and without bothering to really seek it out.

JP Imperialism formed as a response to the Western encroach and their subsequent focus on forced unification of the east in order to defend against it is deeply reflected in how Hyrule operates. The localisation of games like SkSw and TotK have wildly missed their mark in the impression that they give of certain concepts to especially the North American audience, and entire concepts and references to cultural beliefs and history (and what they might imply within game) are simply invisible to many who do not have that context to connect back to.

And I'm not trying to say that what anybody takes from the story they personally received isn't a valid impression based on their own experience with the games and media around them. There are many interpretations and themes that you can take away and play with.

But I don't think that saying Hylians are just white people coded or following Christianised themes or 'basically Britain' and calling it a day is quite good enough if you want to meaningfully and accurately discuss and dissect the narrative and intent of the Zelda franchise. Being able to critically read it with both external and Japanese context is really important in having the full conversation about what it reflects on real world history, religiosity and nuance.

#shut up hero #And yeah I've been in the fandom since the 90s like I'm very aware that the eldest games had some particular Christian imagery #like that one illustration of Link praying to a cross and the presence of a 'bible' in game #as well as a connection to the idea of foreign knights #borrowed European religious symbols (and even other ones) was pretty par for course to see in Japanese fantasy and RPGs at surface level #there's really no depth to them beyond implying the vibes you know? #the og LOZ was inspired by Miyamoto exploring the forest behind an Inari Shrine #same shrine inspired starfox tbh #Ganon as was recently discussed is based on Cho Hakkai and Ox King in Journey to the West #but it's always been Shinto in approach and philosophy since the beginning #SkSw era forward has just made it undeniably more JP nationalist in shape

[daddy-long-legssss]

The Story Behind The Song: Arctic Monkeys’ early ambitions on ‘A Certain Romance’

Lucy Harbron – Far Out Magazine | January 17, 2024

It was 2006. Mortgages were crashing, and businesses were going bust. Tony Blair was on his last legs in office as the longest-serving prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, and the hangover of ‘Cool Brittania’ was beginning to set in with an unexpected ferocity. Things were bleak when a young Alex Turner sang, “There ain’t no romance around there” through the public’s speakers. Arctic Monkeys were about to write themselves into musical history as the voice of a new generation.

The final song on their debut album, there has always been something special about ‘A Certain Romance’. In 2022, after the release of their seventh album, The Car, Turner seemed to find himself reflecting back on that 2006 track. To the musician, that early cut holds a clue to everything that was to come as he said the piece “showed that we did actually have these ambitions beyond what we once thought we were capable of”.

Coming in at over the five-minute mark, ‘A Certain Romance’ almost feels like the Arctic Monkeys’ version of a rock opera, summarising all the themes, feelings and energy that came before it on their seminal album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. It has the cheekiness of ‘Fake Tales Of San Francisco’ and the catchy instrumentals of hits like ‘Dancing Shoes’ or ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. Utilising the northern charm of ‘Mardy Bum’, it stands as a final, neatly summarising point on the social commentary found in their early tracks like ‘From The Ritz To The Rubble’ or ‘Riot Van’. Really, it could be argued that ‘A Certain Romance’ is the ultimate example of Arctic Monkeys’ original sound, perfectly encapsulating all the things that made the world listen up and pay attention.

It’s like they seemed to know that, too, always allowing the song a special place. In fact, it was really the band’s opening remark. Years before the offer of a debut album came around, the group were a well-oiled machine with their own local hits. They had the northern live music scene in their hands as their homemade demo CD was passed around like everyone’s worst-kept secret. Beneath the Boardwalk features eight out of the 13 songs that would be on Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, albeit in a slightly different, lower-quality version. But the opening number, ‘A Certain Romance’, sounds just the same.

It’s all there, from the rolling opening drums to that final guitar solo. Recorded and produced in a rented studio at only age 17, the existence of ‘A Certain Romance’, one of the band’s most explorative and energetic numbers, in this form this early in their career feels like a diamond sitting in a mine. It proves that they were always onto something special.

They never needed any help. In fact, their producer, Jim Abbiss, noted that they even seemed nervous about the help. “I think they were probably a bit weary, like ‘who’s this guy? And is he gonna make our sound this or that.’”

They didn’t want anything to change too much, as the group already had the songs figured out. Turner certainly did, as the track’s meandering narrative about hometown lads, fights, and local boredom is already there. Talking on a podcast, original member Andy Nicholson revealed the story behind the song. “We had a practice room with a pool table in, and we had a party in there, and we invited another band who were friends of ours, and we all had some drinks,” he said. “Then something happened, someone throws a pool cue, someone throws a pool ball, and everyone ends up fighting,” he added, explaining the lyrics, “there’s boys in bands / And kids who like to scrap with pool cues in their hands.”

But the magic of Arctic Monkeys lies in their nuance. What begins as a snooty analysis of his local landscape is a genuinely affectionate take. “Well, over there, there’s friends of mine / What can I say? I’ve known ’em for a long long time / And, yeah, they might overstep the line / But you just cannot get angry in the same way,” Turner sings, looking around at his bandmates and lifelong friends. ‘A Certain Romance’ is not only a time capsule for the group’s beginnings but is an ode to all the people who were there with them. It’s an ode to the hometown that made them and all its various characters.

But as the last guitar solo roars to life, there is an unspoken statement that they’re going to be bigger than what they came from. “I remember when we were recording ‘A Certain Romance’ and having a conversation with the producer about the final guitar solo,” Turner told NME, recalling the moment these songs were reworked for their debut. But they wouldn’t let anyone mess with ‘A Certain Romance’, knowing exactly what they were doing and trying to say with that one. In the 2003 demo version, all the feeling is already there, and Turner wouldn’t risk it.

“There’s something that happens at the end of that track where we break some rules in a single moment,” he continued. What happens at the end of the piece feels even more special, considering how the album was recorded. “These are the songs we wanna do, and I think this is the order we wanna do them in,” Alex Turner told their producer, recounting the conversation in 2007 to RadioX, “And he goes, ‘alright, we’ll try to record them in that order as well.’” As the final song, that last guitar solo is the last thing recorded for the album, standing as a cathartic outlet and a chance for the band to prove themselves.

“We focused on the [emotional] effect of the instrumentals over the words,” Turner reflected on the track, concluding, “and I feel like we’ve been trying to do that again and again since then.”

+

#I could talk about 'A Certain Romance' until I'm blue in the face or a sobbing mess #lucy did a good job on this one #she perfectly encapsulated how this song makes me feel #the moment I heard it I knew that this band was something incredibly special #it is so near and dear to my heart I will never stop singing it's praise #the fact they made this song that is so compelling and takes you an emotional journey from the beginning to end over 20 years ago???? #and how protective they were of it when making the first album cause they knew it was something special #and Alex drawing similarities between 'ACR' and 'The Car' & letting the instrumental moments of the song convey more emotion than the lyri #like he always said they continue to follow the same instincts from the very beginning nearly 20 years later #i just want to write an ode to ACR so i can ramble on about it #but im gonna shut up for now #anyways please enjoy this article LOL #arctic monkeys #wpsiatwin #whatever people say i am that's what im not #a certain romance #alex turner #jamie cook #matt helders #nick o'malley #andy nicholson #far out magazine

[martianbugsbunny]

I love when the hero chooses their loved one over the world, like to hell with saving everything if you can't be part of it, but I also love when the villain chooses their loved one over the world, like to hell with destroying everything if you have to go down with it

#cherik #charles xavier #erik lehnsherr #erik x charles #charles x erik #xmen #xmen movies #xmen prequels #xmen apocalypse #literally one of the few decent moments that horrible movie gave us #Erik defended Charles instead of helping apocalypse destroy everything you don't understand how much this means to me #he'd been trying to do that for years but he said yeah no if you're going to kill Charles to do it I don't think so bitch #because let's face it Erik would never have killed Charles (at least on purpose) #also say what you will I think that bit where he slams down the girders in the shape of an X barring apocalypse's way is dope #also that's the moment when Erik starts on his Journey to Frogs #aka the beginning of him settling down and just living with and caring for mutants in Genosha instead of trying to kill the humans #martianbugsbunny ships

[itspileofgoodthings]

really really really enjoyed the “icon for good” he could have been/should have been/WAS to (frankly still iconic) “little bitch” pipleline that was Coriolanus’s journey. no way to choose evil and not shrink inside your own skin and become spiritually smaller than you’re supposed to be!

#when he was telling sejanus to get it together I for one very much enjoyed it akdkejjejejejejdjejeje #he was like ‘sejanus puhlease. stop spiraling and do some things’ #and it was funny! #but you hand over the icon card (the most important part of it) when you only care about victory for yourself #I thought the story did a nice job of showing that journey in large part thanks to Tom Blyth’s face #he??????????? #was so so so good #the way there’s so much life in it at the beginning and it closes off slowly #ballad of songbirds and snakes #this has been #3 text posts in a row with Maria

[sketching-shark]

i think zhuhou is funny (one-sided or otherwise) because it makes it look like part of zhu bajie's karmic retribution was "horniest man in the universe falls in love with a guy who could not be any less interested in sex" unstoppable force vs immovable object lmao

ASFSFGTGREAFWDEQAS you know anon that was basically the underlying assumption of my first prompted zhuhou fanfic. And come to think of it, given that Zhu Bajie was in some versions of his story apparently condemned to like a billion years of romantic tragedy as part of his punishment, all things considered spending some of your immortality pining after a guy who isn't slightly interested in you like that but also literally can't die isn't as bad a situation as it could be. And thus were any and all potential other Zhu Bajie love interests spared from a violent demise <3.

It was @antidotefortheawkward who also proposed some time back that the peak of Sun Wukong romantic-ish options is "he's aroace and everyone wants him." And I have to fully agree given that this does combine my preference for the pretty canonical aroace Monkey King and the hilarity of how between Niu Mowang, Erlang Shen, and Zhu Bajie Sun Wukong aka the world's most uninterested bachelor is also somehow simultaneously married to and divorced from three different dudes over the course of Xiyouji.

Well, it's part of this monkey's character to be multivalent. It can be extremely heartbreaking as well as extremely funny to see how that plays out in his romantic-ish relationships as well XD

#anon answered #sun wukong #monkey king #zhu bajie #zhu wuneng #zhuhou #swk really is the epitome of 'I've never lost my virginity because I never lose" #and you do have to give it to the married/divorced swk potentially romantic-ish situations with dudes #that they're far more entertaining than the 'she die/he sad' ones that plague many a swk 'romance' #probably because both sides of such relationships are usually clearly capable of being vicious a-holes haha #adds an interesting level of friction when both sides have a clearly defined & independent character #and sometimes that character is 'self-interested people-eating yaoguai' #but hey #that makes for a neat spot to begin or end your narrative journey

[phonopsyche]

hold your partners close

#the great ace attorney #dgs #tgaa #kazuma asogi #ryunosuke naruhodo #asoryuu #HI I HAVE NO IDEA IF I GOT THE WORDING RIGHT #this isn't my native language so i'm anxious about making captions #please tell me if it sounds weird #anyway there's a bit of simbolism here!! #ryunosuke is oblivious to a lot of stuff at the beginning of his journey. just a guy vibing #while kazuma is hypervigilant and keeps one eye open at all times. sometimes literally #dunno if that's obvious but. the more you know! #my art

[warlordfelwinter]

become what you must

#*griffin mcelroy voice* i could make a religion outta this #and thus fiver begins his journey to becoming a lightwarden #this whole eating of the light thing genuinely fucks me up so bad #fiver really thinks he's going to be ok at the beginning #he really thinks this is just one more cool thing he can do as the wol #and then y'shtola sees him #and then it gets bad enough that he can feel it #and then his thoughts switch to 'do as much as you can and then kill yourself somewhere the light won't hurt anyone' #man we kinda did become a lightwarden didn't we hang on #cause the light comes back after the wol consumes the last of it when they can't control it properly #they don't transform but the light comes back iirc #and the light is radiated from lightwardens #we didn't get a cool monster form out of it but we were a lightwarden for a bit i think #and our territory was like all of norvrandt jfdklsnf #fel's ffxiv #shadowbringers lb #oc: fiver