constantly-reading31

Latest Posts by constantly-reading31

Caves are weirder and more varied than you think

Supportive space-uncle

uh racing au??

meet the archons

better quality

Wild horses crossing a river in Iran Photo: Eydi Heydari

New York City ballet production of Midsummer Nights Dream

Kunugigaoka's Garden of Eve Podcast: The Introduction

Kunugigaoka, Japan's top junior high school. All thanks to a man having climbed to the top with his bare hands and sheer ambition. After such a harrowing journey, he then selflessly chose to pass down his wisdom accumulated from the top to his humble students, inside the classrooms of Kunugigaoka.

Kunugigaoka: where Class A reigns supreme with their academic, athletic, and all around perfect aptitude, while the rest fall at their feet in order to learn and educate themselves to be even greater. Our grand leader and son of the possibly omniscient principal, embodies this system with his whole being.

And yet this year, End Class, bottom of the barrel, the shadows of Kunugigaoka's light, has soundly beaten the rest in one very clear aspect.

Now, you may be wondering what this aspect is, wondering if it has anything to do with the sudden competence 3-E has shown in the second quarter midterms. Some students, such as Takebayashi-san and Kataoka-san have even risen to unexpected heights, directly challenging the kings of the school.

And let's be honest people, Class A are not ones you want to tussle with. The likely-hood of you coming out unscathed, mentally sound, and without a lawsuit after you is not great. Luckily Class E's accomplishment isn't so grand as to warrant such actions, seeing as the majority of them were in the average zone. (Akabane totally dropped big time)

Besides, grades can be won back with enough studying, which is simple enough for the cream of the crop.

However! There is something no hour long study session can hope to overcome unless you resort to either a) plastic surgery, b) spend time on pampering that you could be spending on studying your ass off for the next exams, or c) the most difficult of all: be a good person.

(Not that I'm thinking of anyone in particular for the latter…)

End Class, better known as Eve's Garden between the illustrious academy whispers, are all hot as hell!

How do they, those who will grow to shine the elite's shoes and kiss our asses in hopes of a promotion that will never come until the day they die, have such charming features that seduce our on-campus companions till this day?!

Victims who have since gone back to the right side are reportedly ashamed of their transgressions and claimed that they were deceived and manipulated by Class E's honey-sweet words and their devilish reputations, pleading for the purehearted to fall into sin alongside them.

But I don't think a few well placed compliments would be enough to sway such a vast number of our kind. Something was amiss.

It was right then and there that I decided: in order to protect our dear students, I shall arm them with weapons of knowledge. Knowledge of 3-E's weaknesses and most importantly of all: their strengths. For whatever better way to prepare oneself than to face the threat head on, albeit in simulated form?

Join me, an unnamed/anonymous member of the Light Radio Club as I bravely dissect and disassemble all of Class 3-E's succubuses and their wicked charms, each spell designed to bewitch the good student's minds and lead them off the path of virtue.

I am AC, host of Kunugigaoka's Garden of Eve Podcast. Tune in next time for my next report on the dangers of Class E and how to defend against their devious tricks. [Peace out!]

(BTW, don't listen to Kunodon. Beauty on the inside matters the most in the end kids! Also, don't worry Class President-kun, you're still number one on the hotness chart and in my heart ;p)

Pay Attention to Palestine

I really don’t mean to guilt trip anyone, but the word needs to be spread about Palestine and no major news outlets are covering it. Hundreds of Palestinians are being injured by the Israeli Occupation forces trying to defend their homes from settler violence and ethnic cleansing.

For the past month lynch mobs and anti-Palestinian pogroms have filled the streets of Jerusalem, this is an extension of over 70 years of ethnic cleansing, dispossession, occupation, settler colonialism, and murder that has effected Palestinians, and Israeli courts have ordered the eviction of 12 Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and to hand over their land to Israeli settlers. If you are American, this is what your tax dollars are going to, the least you can do is spread the word and voice your support for us. 

If you are able to donate, here are some donation links for Palestinians in need: 

Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS) 

Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association 

Save the Children 

US Campaign for Palestinian Human Rights

Project Rozana USA 

Adalah Justice Project

Medical Aid for Palestine (UK)

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

Palestinian Policy Network

Electronic Intifada 

Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU)

International Medical Corps (GAZA) 

Human Concern International (Gaza) 

Playgrounds for Palestine

Watch to Donate: 

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Please Reblog is Your Blog is Safe for Non-Binary People.

I posted this on my oc blog (surprise, I have an oc blog! mostly because I panicked when I posted an oc on here for some reason. I think because of the discrepancy?) but I like how I inked it, and even though I can't photograph for shit I still think it's good enough to share.

This is Marcus, my oc. He was originally supposed to be a werejaguar (hence the moon) but now I'm not sure if I want that or just a regular ol' shape shifter. The flame thingies with eyes hanging off of him are supposed to be the embodiments of the creatures he turns into. The lack of eyes and mouth are there because I think it just looks cool.

A general summary of his role in my story, is that basically he was tricked into joining Agent Tatsuo (I'm working on something for him rn) in his mission to hunt down a rogue spirit with a huge bounty on his head all because he saw a little too much.

Artemis sketched out the design himself

So, some facts to consider:

-> Katsuki Bakugou sweats nitroglycerin from his palms

-> He sweats a lot of it, particularly when in combat/excising (see: the giant bracers he can fill on his arms).

-> Quirks often have negative side effects on their users, usually related to not being immune to some element of the quirk ex: being able to create fire but not being fireproof.

-> Nitroglycerin is used medicinally as a strong vasodilator (lowers blood pressure).

-> Nitroglycerin can lower blood pressure dangerously even at low dosages.

-> While people can build up some immunity to it over time, high exposure like Katsuki would have would still be dangerous. Unless his body had some sort of counter.

-> There’s lots of ways a body could raise blood pressure. One of them? Stress.

-> Stress (adrenaline and cortisol) can significantly raise blood pressure and do so fairly quickly.

My conclusion? Katsuki having No Chill Ever is actually his body’s way of keeping his blood pressure even. He’s constantly at 99/100 stress level for everything because of this. It’s why he does everything so intensely, he’s got near max levels of Adrenaline in him at all times.

Now whether or not this is canon or what canon intended is up in the air, but it’s now my personal canon. Ideal results of this:

-> Katsuki’s stress levels are discovered when he and his classmates/maybe teachers are exposed to a fear/panic quirk that shoots your adrenaline and cortisol through the roof. His classmates are sent into a panicked frenzy, running around and hiding. His teachers are either also panicked or just barely holding on to rational thought through many years of practice. Katsuki…. is just fine? Mostly he’s confused as to what the hell is wrong with everyone else. Whoever they’re fighting isn’t actually that tough without their quirk, so Katsuki takes ‘em down. Everyone is put through medical to determine what happened and why Katsuki wasn’t effected. They discover the quirk didn’t work because like, the quirk is made to take someone from 5-10% stress to a sudden 90-95%. Katsuki has a resting 96.7% or something. The extra 3.3% doesn’t change much.

-> They try to put him on anti-anxiety meds or something to help. He starts to calm down for the first time in his life which lasts all of 5 minutes before he passes out and almost fucking dies from the blood pressure drop.

-> “So you’re telling me being calm for once in my life literally almost fucking killed me?”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Hang on, I need to call my mom. I have an argument to win.”

So THAT'S where the twin Barbatos fanart came from! I knew he didn't have a secret twin.

if Gilbert Gottfried isn’t voicing this slamming power bottom then what are we even doing here

The Reptile King

Shane! My first time drawing him. Haven't even figured out his character design yet, but I'm ok with how he looks rn.

{The crocodile skulls and bones are different sizes, whoops. Let's call it individual difference shall we?}

Heroes of Erdas, all together!

(You can kinda see an erased Uraza next to Abeke. Animal heads are beyond me for now unfortunately. I thought about making another guy too, but ehhhh)

Some Doug family details I thought would be nice to add:

His mum had him at 20 with her college boyfriend at the time who bailed on her and left her to raise her kid in her own. She dropped out of college and went back to her hometown to live with her father, who set her up with a job working at a friend's company.

Now, she's trying to earn a biology degree online while working as a mechanic. (She sounds like a Dorothy to me)

Doug's aforementioned grandfather, whom I affectionately call Grandpa Bo, is also a mechanic, a car mechanic to be specific.

He likes to work on a little more delicate things like clocks and cameras sometimes as a hobby and dabbles in wiring and coding. A bit of a gruff old guy, but sweet nevertheless.

He owns a car mechanic shop called Bo's Auto Repair Shop, or BARS as everybody calls it for short.

Doug works part-time there, although he's less of an employee then a barely willing volunteer

As for why Dorothy isn't working there, in her own words, "I would die before I let my paycheck be decided by my old man"

The whole family is into anime, so they make that into their Movie Night Friday. Whoever wins rock-paper-scissors gets to choose.

Doug's family, while on the rough side and prefer a pounding on the back then a hug, is completely and totally there for him.

Bo doesn't really get why his grandson wants to spend the rest of his life writing articles upon articles of some other people's business, but he does know that Doug needs a good camera and help making a website, and he's the best guy to go to for both.

Dorothy understands more then her dad, and while she secretly hoped that he would pick a more, er, secure job, she supports Doug nevertheless.

Does anybody else think it's weird that nobody in Lolirock has a last name? Personally, I think the surname Irving fits well with this family. Doug Irving has quite a nice ring to it.

Wasting time.

Aka. I just wanted to draw kitty cat.

#pascalcampion

Happy four days late Valentine's Day from Rollan and Meilin!

PS: You ever have that moment where you realize that you messed up in your drawing but you already lined the part you messed up? Doing traditional art sucks when you don't have a back button...

Meilin of Zhong [Spirit Animals] Doodles

A doodle session of Meilin from Fall of the Beasts in really inconsistent art styles. (And an unnecessary story below about her clothes)

According to Google, Zhong (Meilin's country if you're unfamiliar) is based primarily on China and a few other Asian influences. While looking at the cover art on some of the Spirit Animal books, I've determined what Meilin is wearing kinda resembles a white cheongsam under a blue puffy parka looking thing.

(I'm not an expert on clothes, just a rabbit hole diver)

Looking up what dynasty would have their women wear cheongsams and blue parkas, Google says that women apparently wore cheongsams in the Ming Dynasty. So I said great, I'll base off her clothes off of the hanfu (Chinese historical clothing) from the Ming dynasty.

But then I got deeper into the rabbit hole and thought, "Wait... The Tang Dynasty looks pretty cool and pretty accurate to her outfit in the beginning"

You know the fancy ceremony outfit that Meilin wore for her Nectar ceremony? According to the book, she applied gold flakes, rouge, and white face paint among other things to her face. Tang Dynasty women wore gold flakes on their faces too (I looked up Ming Dynasty and their makeup seems totally different)

Tang Dynasty is also more accurate to what I imagine Zhong was at the time, open to the other three countries and flourishing in trade. It reflects in the fashion, as women's fashion became more diverse with so many different influences. I've also read articles that the fashion was seen as more aggressive, which suits Meilin.

However, I cannot ignore that the cover art Meilin's fashion was most likely made in the likeness of Ming Dynasty clothing. (As it turns out, the not-cheongsam is actually an ao)

And that's how I ended up deciding that (headcanon) Zhong's fashion is mainly inspired from the Tang Dynasty, especially the outfits popular in the imperial court, but there's Ming-esque athleisure I guess. (Conveniently ignoring that women wore pleated skirts and preferred pastel colors)

For her court outfit, I decided on a qixiong ruqun, which uniquely has the waistband above the chest paired with a scarf. As for her casual Hero of Erdas outfit I have her wear a double layered top called an ao (well, ao is the shirt in aoqun the word, so I'm assuming it's just called so), which is worn untucked above the waist over a skirt or in this case a pair of pants.

Obviously I took artistic liberty in literally everything, so please forgive me if I am inaccurate in anyway in the explanation. Just looked up a bunch of stuff and tried to piece everything together, so don't take this explanation too seriously.

Note: @ziseviolet is a good source for those who want to learn more; I simply browsed through their stuff this time, but I plan on reading more cuz it's super fascinating

Lookit I made a gif

How Nathaniel got his job at the smoothie bar: Part 1

It all started with a tradition

Every week, without fail, since seventh grade Nathaniel and Doug have been coming to the same smoothie bar down the street.

Always the same routine; sit down at the counter, wait for the other to come back from whatever club activity kept them, order a smoothie, and dive into fandoms, school, the latest middle school drama, and in general just hang out.

They were there since during the cafe's early days, so the owner, a nice middle aged dude who just had his first kid (congrats!), and them are friends thanks to their long time patronage

And so, one day in freshman year of highschool, Nathaniel was complaining to Doug about how he doesn't have any money and that his mom had really been getting up in his business about college now that he's in highschool.

The owner overhears and tells Nathaniel that he's been thinking about hiring a new employee since his last one quit on him and says he could go for a trial run. Nathaniel of course jumps on the opportunity. How could he pass up the chance to work at one of his favorite place to be?

It was a disaster. Pineapple chunks spewed everywhere, strawberries mashed in the sink, mangoes tossed into the fan, and in the middle of it all was Nathaniel, on his phone, furiously questioning Google.

As it turns out, Nathaniel was terrible in the kitchen. Well, more like he's scared of everything in the kitchen. Ovens, knives, and, you guessed it, blenders. (A past trauma from one of his older, more rambunctious cousins.) The only kitchen appliance/tool Nathaniel wasn't scared of is a microwave and that's not very helpful in a smoothie bar.

As much as the owner would like to hire Nathan, the owner really doesn't want or have the money to hire someone who can only do cashier work.

The owner helps him clean up his mess and in his gentle tone, albeit with more then a hint of exhaustion, to maybe find a job as a cashier at a McDonald's instead.

Giving the newly fired Nathaniel a pity smoothie, the owner waves to the embarrassed Nathaniel goodbye. The man himself was too busy dreading his mother's response after he had bragged about the job to wave back.

Thinking that maybe he should run away to Hawaii, he walks by Doug's house. Wait.

Backtracking in an almost comedic fashion, Nathan finds himself just standing there in front of the house as he argued with his inner voices.

On one hand, if he goes in he'll have to tell his best friend that he's afraid of blenders. On the other, if he goes home then he'll have to tell his mom that he got fired on his first day. In the end Nathan chose the short term option.

Smiling as the door opened, his smile twitched when Doug's jaw dropped.

"Heyy Doug! Um, do you mind if I crash here for a bit until I figure out how to tell my mom about-"

"Holy shit dude what happened."

"I'm getting to that."

So starts the 4th longest weekend in Doug's entire life.

The freaking Avatar shows up and he's just like, look I'm just here to warn you about my girlfriend, she's coming here on my grandson's dragon friend right now, so don't run it only makes things worse

Fire Lord Zuko passing a law that forbids challenging anyone under the age of majority to Agni Kai

Fire Lord Zuko waiting until the day he reaches the age of majority to pass this law, lest anyone think he is a coward

(No one. Literally no one would have thought that, but it’s generally regarded as a very classy move regardless)

Doug and Nathaniel’s Friendship: The Start

According to what I saw on the official Lolirock tumblr @teamlolirock , Nathaniel and Doug were apparently best friends, so I thought I would give a go at attempting to figure out/add on to the story of their friendship.

They met in middle school, 6th grade perhaps. 

Doug was really shy back then and just listened to music secretly by himself on breaks, insecure because of past bullies and jealous of people like Nathaniel who always seem to have people around them laughing with them.

That was until little Nathaniel came by and saw he was listening to anime theme songs and then got super excited to find a fellow fan. At first Doug isn't very open thinking that he's just there to make fun of him for something, but slowly after more and more interactions he starts to trust Nathan

After getting over Doug's initial mistrust, they just generally click together, as surprisingly they have a lot of shared interests as well as a shared sense of shock humour.

Nathaniel, as a result of having made friends with Doug, drags out his new friend to meet his many other friends and helps Doug further his social group.

Till this day the pair still hang out all the time, whether at Doug's flat or at the smoothie bar

By now Doug’s mostly grown out of his shyness although he's kept his shyness for meeting new people. He can fake confidence pretty darn well though.

And after years of dealing with the blond, Nathan is still thoroughly befuddled at his long time friend, longing for those days where he wouldn't be assaulted by text messages at 2 am in the morning about the extinction of honey bees.

Note: If I were to assign them an irl friendship counterpart, I would say Josh and Ollie from Korean Englishman and Jolly. Their interactions are similar to how I imagine Doug and Nathaniel interact.

Auriana's Take On Love

Auriana was a romantic at heart. Yes, it's true her ventures in romance were many, and she admits that she may not stick around for long. But she loves love nevertheless. There's just so much to love about it afterall.

Falling in love, for one, is always a blast. A sudden bout of carelessly slipped passion that has her cursing underneath her breath. Playful foot fights and knocking of the knees, leading up to shy shoulder brushes, and the ever hinting touch of the fingertip. The tell-tale rhythmic pulse of rushing blood and drenched palms. Stolen glances from the other side of the room that either break off immediately or turn into heated stare-downs with neither wanting to back off.

Ah yes, the falling. Ironic, seeing as it isn't a fall at all. Rather, when her heart jumps onto the cart, there is no falling but anticipation until the top. Unsure of the new course as she reaches further and further up, until she is hanging off the edge. It's always the highest hill that's first, the one that takes up your whole view because all you can see is down. A guaranteed promise of risk and adrenaline, and a slight bit of stomach turning. Exactly the kind of ride she signed up for. Auriana knew this since her first kiss with the court magician's son. (He tasted like Iris's attempt at lemon curd pie)

But as nice as the metaphor is, whereas a rollercoaster, with all their dips and loops, can never satisfy her needs with a single monotonous attraction, her loves had no such blueprint. They may buck like an untamed stallion and throw her off the rails, damn safety. They may tease her with a swerve as she settles into the dips. They may ease her with steady winds lapping her face as they cruise with leisure. Auriana prides herself to picking only the interesting after all. (Her standards are not recommended to be followed)

So is it all a sport for Princess Auriana of Volta? Does she simply ride until another catches her eye? Or until she decides that this one has not the strength to move her heart no more? Many would say yes, her bandmates included. But nay, the lady herself thinks otherwise.

Although she has been called flippant in her attitude towards love, there's a lovely hope, deep in her heart, that this one would be her last adventure. For them to be her last ride.

Of course, she has had no luck thus far. The trail of broken hearts and cut strings are plenty proof of that. Indeed, there were many sweet Earthlings that pulled at her heartstrings, some rather spicy ones that intrigued her curiosity, not to mention the roughened Ephedians that come by and remind her of home.

Despite that, she still dreamed of cuddles late at night, gazes meant for only one other so often shared by lovestruck couples, holding hands to the annual Dawning Festival in hopes of future luck, sharing scarves to shield from the cold, lazy bedtime kisses…

Maybe her expectations are too high. Or perhaps, as her close friends have hinted many times, too low. In Auriana’s hopeful (albeit unlikely) opinion, perhaps the Great Destinies of Volta had put her in a lover’s path and she has guided them to a better part of life in what seemed at the time to be an insignificant, now fateful action and would thank her for the rest of their life? A stretch, but not one without evidence. They have gathered at least three Oracle Gems from her voyeurs afterall.

For now, as Auriana sips her strawberry kiwi smoothie, she still hasn't quite found "the one." But that’s alright, she mused as she purveyed the small sandwich menu. Iris’s shanila just passed, Talia hasn't murdered her for tardiness yet, and Lolirock keeps getting more and more popular. Time is everything, and everything moves in due time, as her Father always said.

Maybe she should take a break from love. Focus more on sightseeing and taking back her kingdom after they defeating Greymore.

“A steak and cheese sandwich please,” Auriana ordered to the part-timer, deciding on the first sandwich that caught her eye after all. Checking her phone, she realized that for once, the schedule was subjectively free. (subjective because Talia had scheduled a strategy meeting; like they ever actually use any of the strategies against the twins in the heat of the moment.)

Sucking down her smoothie as she waited, she considered her options. Iris and Nathaniel are going on their not-double date with Carissa and Lyna, so she can't risk interrupting the romantic atmosphere. Talia was studying Borealis spell formations back at the house so no way in hell was she going near that place. Ticking off names off her mental list of friends, it was then that she realized that everyone else that came to mind all had plans or were her exs. What to do, what to do…

Skrrrck

Settling down onto the stool, the newcomer looked at the menu nervously. She looked to be around Auriana’s age with long blonde hair and a face that reminded Auriana of Earth’s bunnies.

Turning to Auriana, who was faking choosing a drink but was secretly side eyeing the new girl, she seemed to be quietly debating to herself about whether or not to risk talking to her before making a decision. Stuttering a quick accented greeting and introduction, the blonde turned to Auriana.

“Uhh.. Do you know any... good food?” asked the girl slowly, peering at Auriana through her lashes. Her head was faced down, most likely from the nerves talking to a foreigner. She’s cute, Auriana thought as she turned toward the nervous girl.

“Oui, les smoothies sont à tomber par terre,” Auriana answered cheerfully. Whipping her head up, the girl grinned toothily, happy in finding someone to communicate.

“You know French?” she asked, switching to her mother tongue.

“Yep!” Auriana said enthusiastically, just as happy to find someone to talk to.

“I went to France for work and picked up the language. It’s pretty cool how you can go from sounding like a gorbleck to a swiggle in a sentence, Like right now,” Auriana said, thinking back to the days when she and Talia were still searching for Iris.

The girl giggled, thinking it was some kind of joke. As the two talked, it wasn’t until she got the French girl’s number that Auriana remembered that she had left her sandwich at the smoothie bar.