^ JunNana are interesting because they have a dynamic that instantly fits together and is arguably the most domestic in the show- they're not as competitive as MayaKuro, not as naïve as KareHika and not as mature as FutaKao. I call them newlyweds because they're at the arguable peak of their relationship- they've been together for long enough to fall in love with each other, clashed a few times over minor issues (like the Class Rep position), and know exactly what to say in order to support each other. There's no need to dramatically prove their love, and no need to renew it- it's incredibly stable, even within the revues, without the greenness or the rot.

Of course, this is all from Junna's perspective- in Nana's eyes, their relationship is essentially a chemical formula that's painstakingly recreated year over year, with everything measured out and maintained, isolated from new elements. It's a flower in an artificial greenhouse that feeds off itself, blooming without ever creating something new. The newlywed metaphor still works, because Nana is striving to keep them in that ideal space.

Your point about Homura is quite pertinent, because I think Starlight is what you'd call a post-Madoka show, made at a time when brutal deconstructions of optimistic narratives were quite popular. While it's more inspired by Utena in terms of aesthetics, the time-looping and the deal-offering giraffe were anime-original elements specifically meant to evoke Madoka. Nana is quite similar to Homura, Hikari wants to be both Homura and Madoka, and Karen hilariously just goes, "Guys, this isn't Madoka. Can y'all stop being so edgy?". It's basically what you'd get in a universe where Madoka as a show was super-popular and became adapted and imitated across every form of media, butchering and time-looping countless lesbians for tragedy, until a bunch of girls in 2018 took a look at the script and went, "Well, this is nice, but don't you think it's a bit too melodramatic, contrived and edgy for our time? Screw this, let's show all those edgy audiences that a happy ending can be simultaneously more intelligent and more entertaining than a bury-your-gays tragedy." And boy, did it work magnificently.

Also a rather long comment, but I will gush about Starlight till the end of time because it's a masterpiece.

Crazy pairing. Also, Remilia may be short, but the three fairies are shorter. The sizes are wrong here.

^ I do ship Nami/Robin but Robin, to me seems to be asexual~
Can't sink my ship though~

^this breathtaking art being vertical won't stop me from using it as my pc background. almost all of my recent bg pics are vertical tbh lol

^^ Definitely Nico.

Hiladorbs.

While working as maids for the Scarlet Devil, the Three Fairies were caught sneaking sweets out of the kitchen by Remilia herself. Contrary to the usual, only Star could not escape her fate, and was promptly punished by the mistress.
Not long after, Sakuya fired them (glaring at one of them in particular).

Unfortunately yuri one piece ships are very rare but that aside, this picture is 10/10. //

^Yeah sounds kinda rough to hear that without Kaoruko, Futaba's role would be unfullfilled but i think that Kaoruko more than end like Maya, she would be more arrogant like an "extremist" version of her, it would be certain to say, that maybe nobody could stand her at some point, Futaba is like that part that put her limits in how she behave. In a few words without her she would be like those antagonist helpers that die or become good and after that become irrelevant for the plot. I like how you describe those pairing btw

^I cant stand having a narrow verticle pic with huge borders as a desktop myself. I wish more pics were fit for desktops.

Some that are square can be clipped easily without compromising the good bits, to fit the width- and sometimes you can easily extend the background to make a square image into a widescreen one- when the background is quite simple you can easily copy/paste, and do some simple touch ups to extend it.

images that are tall though like this- its gonna be even smaller and very thin on a desktop- with WAY too much work needed to extend the ocean background to fill the screens width.

I've probably got about 30 or so images i've made suitable for desktop by making them fit.

last edited at Dec 19, 2020 1:00PM

^^So have we come full circle, deconstructing the deconstructions?
I believe "edginess" to be a fault in the writing rather than something inherent to the genre; PMMM was followed by many copycats that tried to recapture the same aesthetics on a superficial level, but I think the original iteration can still be appreciated in isolation.
Tragedy will always be a relevant genre; at the same time, since its birth society and human relationships have evolved quite a bit. This means that sometimes fictional lesbians might suffer and perish for the sake of artistic expression, but that shouldn't be labeled a case of "bury your gays" without a second thought.
Not trying to criticize anyone here, just voicing my opinion on the use of certain tropes nowadays.

last edited at Dec 19, 2020 11:31AM

If anything... I think Ollie would suit Shion better, if I understand the context of this image properly XP

Cute

Love these two, a Cute pair❤️

Kiara's face is my favorite part of this.

^ Cute pair of cute pairs ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

^ Fair point. Although it's worth mentioning that shows that feature magical girls getting hurt, killed and deceived are as old as the genre itself, and Urobuchi's take on magical girls isn't anywhere near as original or groundbreaking as many fans believe (Phantom Thief Jeanne did the 'your familiar is actually evil all along' thing way back in the 90s, and the TV tropes page on Magical Girl Deconstructions lists various other examples that predated Madoka). This, ironically enough, would made Madoka closer to the 'copycats' than the originators (although it's definitely better than some of the shows it inspired). Starlight is less of a deconstruction of a deconstruction and more of a metatheatrical glimpse into the nature of tragic narratives themselves, done from an extremely clever audience-centric perspective that dresses itself up as an allegory.

If you're looking for a 'deconstruction' of Madoka, I'd say Yuki Yuna Is A Hero does an excellent job in more ways than I can describe here, featuring a protagonist whose character arc is the polar opposite of Madoka's- she's a popular, well-adjusted kid who serves as the perfect magical girl and gets the chance to become a god, but hates the prospect of self-sacrifice and ends up just wanting to go home instead of becoming a martyr, along with a Kyubey-parallel that actually undergoes character development to the point where it sacrifices itself to save the magical girls instead of serving as an antagonist.

^^^^^^^^ haha bottom

^^^^^ i think everybody secretly wished for something like this to happen

Dia can't handle that much level of praise in one sitting.

This art hardens my heart and softens my boner

I do think there is a lack of Asuka seducing Rei art (and vice-versa).

The ice/water spoke itself... HOT

Dey dunkin' on ma homie squishy-shi, just because she's bottom.

Without bottoms, all you'd have is useless tops and a lot of frustrated people. This also looks like people just modifying the "haha, poor" meme, which is so cancerous and disgusting itself. Not a good look, people.

last edited at Dec 19, 2020 5:08PM