#There is definitely a theme with the names

[buffythevampirelover]

currently obsessed with the theme/trope of history is repeating itself. how could it not? it was always going to be this way.

[jadestone2]

Voice of a melody 

Theme: fluff

Summery: your a famous singer who came to Sumero to perform, someone catches your eye. You could feel something brewing between you both

Pair: alhaitham x chubby reader

Stay here                              Next

A/n this is me building up the start, they just met after all! I can’t believe I already finished part 1

Rumors say that her voice was as pure as a melody, her eyes shining brighter than the richest ore in Liyue. She travels nation to nation, singing for people who live there, you were the talk of most conversations. 

You remember the day you performed on the stage of Fontaine, lady Furina and chief justice Neuvillette would be watching. You were extremely nervous, but everything went smoothly. 

“Your concert was a delight, I hope you visit Fontaine once more! I shall throw you an outstanding welcome that not others could do!” Furina’s voice rang in your head, her words made you feel so prideful. You even made the stoic chief of justice smile, his nod in approval. 

Sure, Fontaine’s theater was a great place for your concert. But that didn’t spark you that much, it was the land of overgrown vegetation that made you interested. 

Sumero was a land of many skills, from arts to dancing. It intrigued you, you’ve heard the scenery there was something that you could never experience again. 

The problem was, you were walking into a nation but yourself, you didn’t even know how to get there! But luckily, a group of people recognized you. 

They offered you a free ride to Sumero, which you gratefully took up their offer. The boat sailing through the quiet waters of Sumero, the soft music playing.

It was true, the scenery was perfect here! The grass was the greenest, the trees grew tall and reached for the sky, the flowers were bright in color.

The people who gave you a free ride told you countless stories of the dendro archon, she kept certain wisdom hidden to keep her people safe, the desert that contained many artifacts and secrets of kind Deshret. 

 You dip your hand in the cool water, giggling when the fish swam away from your hand. You grab at a lotus as you pass bunches of them, the light blue water flower in your hand. 

You quietly sing to the music, smiling wider when one of the children attempts to sing along with you. You feel a bit sad when the boat slows down at a dock, not wanting to leave the comfortable environment.

You pluck the leaves of the lotus off, putting the blue flower in the child’s hair. Warmth fills your heart when they cling onto your leg, not wanting you to leave.

Their parents had to pull them off, saying that you had important things to do. The child pours but eventually lets go of your leg.

“I appreciate you for giving me a free ride, I hope to see you guys another time!” You say, a big smile on your face.

You step out the boat, waving at them as they float away from your view. You couldn’t help but feel a tad nervous, after all you're in a land with nothing! 

Honestly, what were you thinking?! You just showed up on land without any idea how this was going to work. 

Your eyes shine as you notice flowers, you quickly walk over, plucking some. The flowers seemed to trail somewhere, you follow the path. 

The quiet sounds of music plays, you must be at a local place. You meet with people walking around and chatting with each other. 

You listen to people’s conversations, some of them were talking about a girl named Nilou who recently performed on stage. 

That’s exactly what you needed to hear, but where can you find her? Your face morphs into confusion when you see people walking out of a big door, the door led inside a tree? 

You quietly walk through the door, many little stores scattered inside, along with a stage in the middle. 

“Hey, isn't that the singer who’s supposed to perform here?” You hear a couple of people say, they definitely are talking about you. 

You accidentally bump into a red haired girl, almost falling down. She stumbles  not, before turning to face you. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-“ You say, panicking.

“You're the singer! You came to Sumero to sing, right?” She says she seemed quite excited to meet you. 

“You’ve heard of me?” You ask, are you dumb? Everyone knows you, even the fatui knows about you! 

“Well of course! You managed to make everyone in Sumero eager for your arrival!” She replies, she gently pulls you with her. 

She helps you set up everything, now you have a place to perform! If it wasn’t for her you’d be so lost and confused about everything 

“Thank you so much, if it wasn’t for you I’d be so lost” You say, smiling at her. 

“Anytime! Oh, I’m Nilou! I already know who you are! Did you just arrive?” Nilou giggles, moving some of her hair from her eyes. 

You nod your head, now that you go where you're going, the song is figured out. All that is left is, where are you going to rest? 

That is extremely awkward and embarrassing, showing up to a place with nowhere to sleep. Maybe Nilou can also help you with that, though you don’t want to put too much work on her.

“I don’t exactly have a place to sleep” You mumble, blushing in embarrassment. 

“Oh! No worries, I have a friend who can help you out!” Nilou says, tugging you with her. 

You pant, she made you run to someone's house. She said her name was Layla. 

“Layla! Open up, please!” Nilou shouts, you awkwardly stand there. 

The door slowly opens up, revealing a blue haired woman. She seemed extremely sleep deprived, barely awake. 

“Oh Layla, you still haven’t improved your sleep schedule” Nilou scolds, her hands on her hips. 

“Mmh, I’m sorry. So much work” Layla says, rubbing her eyes tiredly. 

“Layla, do you think you can provide her a room? She’s a famous singer who is going to sing for the people of Sumero!” Nilou says, putting on puppy eyes. 

Layla nods her head slowly, it seemed like she didn’t even hear what Nilou said, just nodding her head. Nilou notices and takes her chance, smiling happily.

“Wonderful! Thanks again, Layla! Come on, we have many places for us to see!” Nilou says, gently grabbing your hands and leading you from Layla’s house. 

“Bye..” Layla says, closing her door.

“So, have you heard of a certain scribe and his roommate~?” Nilou asks, trying to indulge in a conversation. 

“A scribe and his roommate? Nope, doesn’t sound familiar” you say, almost bumping into Nilou again when she suddenly stops. 

“You’ve never heard of the scribe and his roommate?! Alhaitham and Kaveh?” Nilou asks, her voice getting louder. You nod your head no, shrieking when she pulls you with her again.

“Alhaitham is the scribe, he is super stoic and barely says anything nice. While his roommate, Kaveh, is loud and can be obnoxious sometimes” she says, leading you back to the heart of Sumero’s city. 

“I’ll tell you more about them, I’ve got some things to do. We’ll meet again!” Nilou says, giving you a quick hug. 

You watch her walk away, blending into the crowd of people. You let out a sigh, deciding it would be best to take a walk. You walk away from the busy city, sitting down at a nearby lake. 

You could see your reflection, you looked so worn out. Everything happened so fast, you desperately needed a break. 

Your performance was today, you needed to get ready! Somehow you remember the way back to Layla’s house, knocking on her door. 

You could hear the loud snores suddenly stop, someone scrambling to get the door. 

“Oh, it’s you” she says, mildly uninterested, or maybe she was just so exhausted. 

She opens her door wider, allowing you to come inside. You thank her, wandering inside her house. 

“Your performance is tonight, right? There will be a music festival happening right before..” She asks, she seemed happy to share information with you.

“Will you be attending?” You ask, looking at yourself in the mirror. 

“Mmh, I’ll go with you, if you want..” she says, you could hear the hint of joy in her voice. You smile, feeling the sudden burst of energy.

“I’d love that” you say, smiling.

It was now dark outside, Layla did end up coming with you. She chatted to you about astrology, you could tell she hasn’t been able to chat with anyone for ages. 

“You’ve got this” she says, watching you walk up the stairs of the stage. 

You wave at her, almost screaming when someone touches your shoulders. 

“It’s almost time, everyone is gathering up here. Are you ready?” Nilou asks, rubbing your shoulders to calm your nerves. 

“Just a bit nervous.. I think I got it” you say, wiping the thin sheet of sweat on your forehead. 

Nilou nods her head, sending you thumbs up as she joins the crowd. Every eye was one you, your voice flowing like a melody through the room. 

Your eyes dart around the room as you sing your heart out, making eye contact with a green haired man. You could feel your heart flutter, almost losing concentration. 

Everyone around him sways to the music, humming your tune. While he says there with a stoic expression, you could see that he seemed intrigued by you. 

The sun fully went as the night took place, the stars twinkling. Your voice fills the Sumerian people’s ears, the night filled with your melody. 

You were able to catch the eye of the scribe, you made him feel a certain way he’s never felt before. 

You could see Nilou and Layla standing together, poor Layla. Nilou was shaking her, she must have been excited to hear you sing. The quiet night is filled with your voice echoing. 

Please don’t make me beg, I desperately want to make this a series! taglist: @ihatelifesm @shyfurina

[tacomanarrows]

Between the Sea and the Sky!

Hi everybody! Meet the TWO new guys I made between last night and today! Their names are Tarmac (an Aeromorph dog) and Soda (a pooltoy fox), and they've filled a desire for these two specific kinds of OCs I've had in mind for MONTHS lol. They were super fun to design and draw and I'm super excited to do more with them soon!! This piece is relatively simple but more so serves as their introduction hehe

See more about them, including refs and some additional pieces/information below the cut :] (it kind of turns into a huge braindump lmao)

Tarmac is an aeromorph, although a bit more towards the furry side of things rather than the plane side lol. His design is influenced primarily by the Concorde and the Space Shuttle! I couldn't decide for the life of me which of those two things I wanted to use so I thought "why not use both?" and here we are lol. I'm super happy with his design, with the black/dark gray markings mean to emulate the look of the Space Shuttle's thermal insulation tiles and then I really like how the red and blue stand out against the gray. I really like his icon too! I wanted to make it look like a stylized depiction of a plane (mainly a Concorde hehe) breaking through the sound barrier with a sonic boon! In terms of personality, I don't have a whole lot in mind yet. Mostly that he'd be the brave, adventurous type and since he can fly both in the air and through space, he's gonna be friends with Astro too :3

Soda is a pooltoy fox! I have wanted to make a pooltoy OC FOREVER (blame my mutuals for always posting/reblogging so many cool pooltoy OCs hehe). I finally got brave enough to actually give it a shot, and I love how he came out! I was mainly just thinking about summery themes and as I was just trying out different colors and stuff, I thought about orange soda, and that's the direction I ended up going! He's got a big stupid tail [affectionate] and can have either rounded bappy hands or have actual fingers, you're free to stylize that either way! I've only ever drawn a pooltoy character once ever before, so this was something way out of my realm of familiarity, but I'm so happy with how he came out! He's so shaped I love him so much already <33

So those are my two new guys! Making two new OCs at the same time is already a rarity for me lol. The only time it's happened before was when I made Rye and Pumpernickel back in August of 2021. And then making these guys when I had only gotten Astro about two and a half weeks ago means this is an exceedingly rare event for me lmao. My friends know how infrequently I make/get new OCs, so this just goes to show how much these guys have been bouncing around in my brain lately lol.

They are definitely gonna have some sort of connection to each other, but I'm not sure how I wanna go about that yet. Since I made them back to back, they are already connected in my brain, but I'm not sure how I wanna express that in a meaningful way. I don't wanna make them siblings bc, well, they're obv very different from each other lol, but they're kinda parallels (with one being in the sky and the other being in the water yknow), so as of right now they're definitely good friends with each other. I might upgrade that to bfs at some point in the future, but we'll see how things go hehe.

Anyways huge braindump of a post lmao, thank u for reading if u did! I'd love to hear your thoughts on these guys since they're so different from all my other characters! Also if anyone may wanna do an art trade of either of these guys (or Astro as well! I'd like to get more art of him too!) let me know hehe

[lxmelle]

“Best Friend” / 親友

I’ve been mulling over this for a few days, wondering if I’m overthinking things, or if there is actually something to it.

Gojo and Geto are like a pair of parents. And I think it’s deliberate. Hear me out.

See, from a non-native pov, I can pick apart this coined phrase for best friends, shinyuu “親友” or “family friend” into its individual kanji: 親 and 友

The first kanji on its own, oya “親” can be read as “parents”. The second kanji on its own is tomo “友” can be read as “friend”. How a kanji character is read changes according to context within a sentence, topic, or what it is paired with. It can be difficult to explain if you’re not used to the language, so I’ll leave it at that for the purposes of not complicating this post.

They both considered each other their 親友 - best friend. There is only one pair of people who considered each other this “best friend” terminology in the series. Gege could have used Nakama 仲間, or Brother, or even just Tomodachi 友達. TaisetsunaHito 大切な人 is definitely a step too far. No other best friend. Yuji is several people’s “brother” but not best friend. Gojo and Geto are a pair. A duo. The canon-confirmed “たった一人の親友” my one and only best friend status is mutual.

As friends, we know they split up. There is no mention of 親友 / best friend-ism at this point. But they unequivocally considered each other as such, and they never ever had another 親友 until their dying day.

The fact that there is the kanji for “parent” in the phrase for “best friend” is poetic. “Oya/親” is obviously the same word used by Gojo in the kfc breakup scene, because that’s the kanji for it, and that’s what Geto did - kill his parents.

I’ll use this to illustrate:

親 = parents (consisting of mum + dad).

親友🤍 + 親友🖤

To add to the latter, this potential theme, they both go onto adopting kids. Their different parenting styles speak for themselves ofc, but that’s by the by.

Gojo and Geto’s separation played a part in setting off this huge domino effect too. Geto also described how his parents are not his only family now. We also know he considers close non-blood-related persons to be as “family” - like how he offered Kuroi the acceptance of her feelings towards Amanai as “family”. He saw Gojo and the school as family - that is, until he saw how the system was willing to sacrifice their own kind. It isn’t a stretch to see the parallels between what Geto is sharing about severing that bond with his parents (and also with Gojo) and finding another “family” by choice.

Obviously Gege isn’t drawing the parallel by bringing parents into it just due to their best friend status. I headcanon that it was to start anew, not be a hypocrite, to spare them from the monster he’d become, and to eliminate the likelihood they’d be used against him in any way. The last 2 reasons would be to drive in the emphasis that there is a similarity with Rika (who was rumoured to have been the reason for her parents’ deaths although they occurred separately) and... that this would mean that Geto was also separating from his “family” in HI - the duo that was Gojo and Geto. Gojo ascended without him in his quest to become the strongest, and Geto descended to pursue his twisted form of meaning to make his ideal a reality.

It might just be reaching and a coincidence, but I remember that Gege loves these little itty bitty details in character and lore design - like birthdates, dates, flower language, religion, specific kanji used for names, etc - just to name a few. It helps him illustrate significance and I guess adds a touch of sophistication and layering in his storytelling. I absolutely love it. We know by design SatoSugu / Gojo and Geto are meant to be counterparts, so black & white, yin and yang, light and dark, elite and common, even their names are quite fitting, GojO SatoRU and GetO SuguRU .

The kanji / characters selected are also deliberate - Satoru 悟 being “enlightenment” and Suguru 傑 being “outstanding”. The Gojokesa 五条袈裟 was also deliberate, Geto 夏油 has the word “summer” as part of his name and his birthday is setsubun (1st day of spring) where ghosts/evil spirits are chased away. Gojo’s is the heaviest snowfall.

My examples are limited to just satosugu, but you know other characters have similar situations with how the kanji for their names were chosen - e.g. simplest that come to mind is 七海建人 Nanami : 七 = 7 and his ratio technique 7:3 and his hair style too 70%30% parting, 海 = sea, 建人 = human builder (…lol, Gojo entrusted Yuji to him after all…); utahime 歌 = song/music, etc.

My point is that there are a lot of little details like these, so I concluded that I’ll just share this thought I had. The pair of 親友 breaking up is a bit like “partners in crime” no longer being partners anymore, and went about their separate ways but fostered “families” of their own.

TLDR: scene in front of the KFC was really a breakup (◞‸◟)

[trashytoastboi]

Day of Lust - Asmodeus

~NSFW Alphabet~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warning: NSFW content ahead (whole bunch of this and that)

A = Aftercare (What are they like after sex?)

💅🏻 Asmo knows the importance of aftercare and is very good at it. The pillow talk from his end is a little one sided; you'd think he’s having a conversation with himself. Asking if what he did felt good for you- but then answering his own question saying he knows it was great. Asmo does genuinely check in to make sure you’re fine especially if there was some kind of intense play involved or a heavier scene that Asmo wanted to try. (He likes a lot of different things) Aside from his quality control questions he will ground you, bring you back to the present and make sure you’re feeling okay physically and mentally. 

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partners.) 

💅🏻 Asmo is an anatomy genius for all the wrong reasons. He knows how to locate and sound out the exact erogenous zones on the human body. (His skills are not only limited to the human body) he doesn’t have a singular part of your body as it depends on whatever is the most sensitive. His favourite is whatever he knows will elicit the most response for you. If your back is sensitive then he’ll love to tease, touch and kiss your back. If it’s your thighs then he’ll turn his attention to your thighs, your neck, your sides etc etc. As for Asmo, his most loved part of his body is everything. Early on into his adjustment to his new form he never thought he’d be able to love himself but over time he came to love himself dearly, his new self and all the charms he possessed. 

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum, basically) 

💅🏻 Loves cumming on your face or body. He just adores how sexy it is to see you covered in his cum. If Asmo does happen to cum inside you then best believe he’s going to lean down and clean up his own mess with his tongue (he is nasty in the best way). Asmo gets a rise from seeing how shy you get when he does it. As for quantity, it's an average amount. Thankfully with the amount of times he makes you swallow you’re thankful he's not giving you those monster loads because you just know you’d choke. He’s also pretty conscious about taste and tries alllll the methods to keep it tasting on the sweeter side to make it more palatable. 

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs.)

💅🏻 Asmo picked up a few interesting hobbies, his regular, somewhat secretive cam shows being one of them. What better way to feed his need for attention while displaying the purest form of the Avatar of Lust. Frequently made little jokes about wanting his partner to join him during one of his cam sessions. There were already tons of people who already watched him, even a few fans who always suggested things! Asmo wanted to share his beauty in every aspect. It was the least he could do for his adoring fans. But now he wanted to show off your beauty, oh those adorable little moans and whimpers when you call his name. He would be so selfish to keep it all to himself. The idea alone of fucking you on stream had Asmo all hot and bothered. Asmo usually proposed the occasional theme, or took suggestions, maybe buying some kind of sexy outfit for you to show off and wear when you two were together. He decided to suggest a masquerade theme to make things exciting. Asmo's dirtiest little secret was never telling you about the hidden camera. Nor the live audience who were tipping Asmo everytime he made you cum. You also realized in future it might be a good idea to use your account to suggest more fun things since Asmo loved listening to his followers and you were one of his favourite fans that suggested many fun things, not that he realized it was you. 

E = Experienced (How experienced are they? Do they know what they're doing?)

💅🏻 Asmo definitely knows what he’s doing. It would be stranger if he didn’t. He knows how to do things and in a variety of ways too. You didn’t realize that the same act could have so many variations and alternatives, it was almost like taking a masterclass everytime he fucks you. Asmo loved exploiting your lack of knowledge to surprise you with something new every time. It’s more prevalent whenever Asmo himself learns something new, he’ll be running to give you a demonstration of whatever he learned. Oh look, a new position, he’s pulling you into his room already, some crazy new tongue technique that he wants to perfect while using you as his practice dummy. Asmo after all is so very generous with knowledge. Pleasure makes the world go round.  

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying.)

💅🏻  Listen Asmo truly has a taste for the challenging, but you can say for certain it’s unique and sometimes just a little bit on the challenging side to master. 

💅🏻The Spider - You weren’t so sure about this one, Asmo gave you the rundown and the how to. But it just didn’t seem..Comfortable?? Asmo did explain it should be treated like an appetizer kind of position. It can rub all the right spots if done right it just never really gets you there, but that’s precisely why Asmo loves it. (Despite his poor partners having an aching back for the next few days) 

💅🏻 The Star - This quickly became one of your favourites too admittedly. Also made you appreciate how strong Asmo’s back must be to pull this off for an extended amount of time, you were more impressed by that than the amount of times he made you finish. Especially when he spices it up with a really deep thrust as he grinds against you.

💅🏻 The Thigh rider cowgirl - It’s just a little upgrade from regular ol cowgirl and Asmo loves it from the front row seat he gets when you’re on top. Plus it’s hot that you’re getting all needy while riding him and grinding against his thigh at the same time. It’s so pretty to see you getting there, most of the time in this position,  he doesn’t offer you a hand because he loves seeing you getting yourself off by using his body. 

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment? Are they humorous? Etc)

💅🏻 Asmo is honestly so unserious and not in a humorous way. You’ll be so into it and catch him on Devilgram or something and you’ll just have to ask if he’s being serious that he’s literally doom scrolling right now. (He is) Sometimes he’ll be trying to show you a funny video or reel he found while rearranging your guts and you can’t keep up with whiplash. It can really kill your mood and he can sense that, then a switch flips and Asmo will get serious to make it up to you and get you back into the mood. 

H =  Hair (How well groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes? Etc) 

💅🏻 He is completely clean and ridiculously smooth. You’d swear that he has never grown any hair to begin with. You did ask if he’s even capable of growing a happy trail (or any body hair for that matter) and Asmo assures you that he can definitely do it! It might take a long while. Hard to believe and you’ll believe it when you see it. I mean you’re not complaining but you’re hounded by curiosity to know if the carpet matches the drapes since you’ve never seen the ever elusive and mystic carpet. 

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment? The romantic aspect) 

💅🏻 Asmo is a very sensual soul, he’s tried his hand at romance and can’t really go beyond the aesthetic of romance. Scented candles, rose petals and the like, the emotional aspect of romance isn’t really his style. If you had to find a way to describe it. Then the best way would be saying it’s like a summer fling. It’s hot, passionate but lacking a certain intimacy to it, like a deeper level of the corny romance. When you’re wrapped up in the moment you don’t miss it all that much, however, you do wish that you could experience something of the romantic variety with Asmo. It just doesn’t do it for him though and he won’t feel a reason or urge for romance in that sense. 

J = Jack Off (Masturbation Headcanon)

💅🏻 A little self love, Asmo is all for it. Very pro self pleasure. No one can learn one’s body quite like they can. Every time he does it he considers it an opportunity to get acquainted with his body again. He’ll also encourage you to do it! (Not Asmo suggesting watching each other masturbate) While in most cases he’d argue that he prefers having a partner or partners, he doesn’t mind giving himself a helping hand. Uses a lot of toys and sometimes calls you up so he can hear your voice while he’s busy. Asmo loves it when he learns something new about himself. 

K = Kink (One or more of the kinks)

💅🏻 He’s a kinky one and while that would be a bullet list so long you might confuse it for a shopping list, here’s three worthy of mention.

💅🏻 Exhibitonism - Asmo loves putting on a show and he loves being watched, or at least thinking he’s being watched. If there’s not another person to play the role of a voyeur he’ll propose taking photos and videos and in that sense the camera becomes the watcher. 

💅🏻 Bondage - Either on himself or on you. There’s a certain charm to being all tied up and at the mercy of someone else, uses it on you more for teasing purposes because he knows you can’t do anything while he’s driving you made with pleasure. 

💅🏻 Role Playing - This is really where Asmo lets his kinks shine, all the different roles he assumes and those he wants you to play. You’ve done the typical ones: Nurse and doctor, lonely spouse and repair man, cop and criminal. Asmo loves it so much and he puts ridiculous amounts of effort into cultivating an actual story for the scene?? (Came for the porn stayed for the plot) 

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

💅🏻 Anywhere - No seriously he has 0 issues about location 

💅🏻 He’s had you in more than a few bathrooms of the high end nghtclubs of the Devildom, his personal favorite are the ones that have LED lights on the mirrors because he says they make for the nicest pictures. Plus he loves having you bent over the sink looking at yourself in the mirror while he’s ruining you (affectionately of course) and then will use the same mirror to fix his makeup.

💅🏻 Asmo has had you just about everywhere in the House of Lamentation, save for (most) of his brothers bedrooms… Once he managed to convince you to fuck in Lucifers bed, you honestly don’t know why you agreed and were all the orgasms really worth the punishment?

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going?)

💅🏻 Asmo doesn’t need all that motivation when he’s the motivator, he’s a hair's breadth away from getting needy whether by something sexy or absolutely mundane his brain can spin it any way he wants it. Well only when it comes to you, everything and anything you do can get him going. You're attractive in so many ways that he can’t help getting all hot and bothered while watching you perform boring day to day tasks. He likes when you initiate contact with him and it doesn’t have to be of the sexual variety. 

N = No (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

💅🏻 He’s pretty kinky and he’s tried everything at least once, kudos to him and his curiosity. Things that he tried and will probably not do again has to do with certain body fluids, nope- it ruined his skin, the smell was a major turn off for him and overall the most enjoyable part of the experience was the shower and full body scrub afterwards. He’d permit blood, not tons of it and with your permission of course but he will not delve into watersport territory again. 

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

💅🏻 He’s a giver and a taker, it’s a two way street for Asmo and he couldn’t choose because it’s 50/50 for him and he loves them equally. There’s a charm to going down on his partner, sucking, slurping, maybe a little nibble or two to drive them mad while he works them over with all the accumulated tongue skills. He’s also not a major meanie who makes you choke on his cock or anything like that (unless you want to of course) Asmo really likes seeing you get all brave and try to take him all, something about seeing your throat bulge just drives him feral.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? Etc) 

💅🏻 Baby he can do anything you want. Asmo changes his mind halfway through sometimes and it might start rough, hot and heavy and end up being all soft and sensual (Whiplash) but different strokes for different folks (not kidding) Asmo will learn what really gets you going and how to cater to that. He sticks to it enough to know that you’re getting just what you want but also switches it up to keep it exciting. If you’re energetic and up for it, Asmo could easily have you screaming into his sheets while going at an inhuman pace, but if you're a little more on the tired side he’ll give you some Asmo therapy and really take care of you. 

Q = Quickie (They opinions on quickies, how often etc)

💅🏻 Biggggg fan of these. They’re cheeky, daring and exciting. Plus there’s a real appeal to the rush of it all just trying to get each other off as quickly as possible. Watching you get all whiney and needy while not even taking your clothes off properly and begging him to not tease because there’s no time and you need him right now. (Makes his brain go brrrr) 

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment? Do they take risks? Etc)

💅🏻 Do I need to answer? It’s hard to find something that Asmo hasn’t already tried. He believes he can only decide on hating something after trying it, and with you he knows you might have some reservations. So he’ll assess something in depth, looking at the risk and doability before bringing it up to you. He’s very informative about what it will entail, what to expect, and some things to look out for. Asmo does encourage you to experiment and push your limits but he’ll do so gently and respectfully with full boundaries intact.  

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?)

💅🏻 While I would usually say he’s a one and done, he's got a crazy amount of control and endurance and can make that one round last an eternity.  Could push for a second round if he really wants to though it’s rarely needed by the time he’s done. You’re usually too fucked out that the second round actually sounds like overkill. Besides he’s got a mouth, hands, toys, a whole arsenal at his disposal and he might just make you regret asking for more. 

T = Toys (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or on themselves?)

💅🏻 He has the whole collection; nipple clamps, anal beads, monster dildos, fleshlights, buttplugs, chastity cages, vibrators- if it exists Asmo probably has it. There’s some things in his collection that you've never seen nor knew existed and some you now wish you didn’t know existed. Asmo knows how to use all of them and even gives you recommendations telling you which are the best for a little self love, which are great for playing with partners, and what's great for teasing. Loves using them on himself and you, honestly it’s hard to say you’ve been together without a toy being integrated into the mix somehow. 

U = Unfair (How much they like to tease?)

💅🏻 He’s just soooo mean, he’ll tease you just for the sake of teasing. Asmo loves hearing you beg and will really deny you under the guise of calling it foreplay. He wants you to save yourself for the main event but god does he know exactly how to get you to the verge only to deny you and keep you frustrated. Asmo does it just to see how far he can push you until you’re desperately begging him to give you what you want already. He’s lowkey a little sadistic about it. 

V = Volume (How loud they are? What sounds they make? Etc)

💅🏻 Whines, whimpers, moans, talks, yelps - he’s got a range. He’s so shamelessly loud and does not care about keeping it down, even at the sake of disturbing his poor brother's sleep. Trust the whole House of Lamentation knows when ya’ll are fucking because he practically announces it. Half the time you’re in public it’s a struggle just trying to get Asmo to keep quiet, all of your close calls have been because of him being too loud. Asmo loves hearing his own voice honestly and will talk a lot just to talk. 

W = Wild Card (A random headcanon for the character?)

💅🏻 Matching lingerie sets ♡ he loves buying you lingerie and he’ll get himself the same pair in a different colour. The designs are ridiculously intricate (and hard to put on) He treats it like unwrapping a gift and wants it if it has a lot of things to pull on, untie and undo. Especially with his mouth, he wants you to figure it out too, but it’s hard to beat a demon that just unlaced an entire corset in under a minute with nothing but his ungodly tongue skills. 

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on under those clothes?)

💅🏻 Not very thick, more on the longer side. Slight curve and the prettiest shade of pink on his head. He has a prince albert piercing, he knows how to use it so it gets the job done (and very well you might add) lots of smaller veins along the underside that are all super sensitive and make him shiver if you touch him. 

💅🏻 Demon form - Not much change to size but changes shape a little. Gets a more horned tip, (perfect to really bump against all your sensitive zones) and gains a few ridges the texture of which feels pretty interesting and intense at times. 

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

💅🏻 Very high- he’s a needy boi. He’s just always down for that kind of fun and hopes you’ll join him. If you’re not in the mood then he’ll help himself along (honestly doesn't mind) buttttt he’d appreciate it if you watched him while he put on quite the show for you, an orgasm (or many) a day keeps the sad feels at bay! 

Z = Zzz (How quickly they fall asleep afterwards?)

💅🏻 He’ll deliver the swiftest, most amazing aftercare, proceed to bathe and do his skin routine before tapping out and going to bed. He does it out of necessity to meet his beauty sleep quota more than exhaustion. Loves cuddles afterwards though and helps him to sleep a little deeper than usual. 

Taglist: @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf

[thecryptidzenith]

Thinking about. Rizbert. Erizabeth. Rizwalda. Riz has to be short for something because... because why? Is he 'too good' for a short name? (a goblin name?) Isn't he surrounded by non-goblins who cannot think outside their cultural perceptions of what a name is supposed to be? Riz both as a name and as a person seems short & lesser but don't worry, he's really something greater, something larger and longer than can be expressed with his native name. As if something small cannot be powerful and important without secretly being large. As if there is only one way to be great. It's like Sklonda said, his name is Riz. Just Riz, as if there's anything 'just' about it.

[starry-bi-sky]

i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.

He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.

And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.

And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.

Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.

Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."

There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.

It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.

Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.

At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.

"Do you like to do anything?"

Nothing. Just silence.

Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.

Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.

Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.

And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.

He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.

Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.

So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.

"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"

"Don't."

He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.

Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"

"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."

It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"

The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."

Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."

And they fall back into silence.

Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."

He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.

(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)

At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.

Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.

("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")

(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)

(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)

It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."

The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."

The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.

When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.

Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."

When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.

Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.

[viperwhispered]

Too Hard

Woop part 2 of the trip inside Jamil's head. Part 1 here.

The next time Jamil caught sight of you on campus, his first instinct was to turn around on his heel.

What a stupid thought to have because of you.

Besides, that would only make him more conspicuous, not less.

So, when your eyes met his, Jamil gave you a short nod in greeting. He would’ve left it at that and kept on his way, had you not walked up to him.

“Hi Jamil! How’s it going?” you said with that impossibly disarming smile of yours.

Why was it so difficult to look at you like he normally would? You had no right to make him feel so stiff, so unnatural.

On autopilot, Jamil exchanged a few pleasantries with you - those lessons from his parents had been instilled too deep in him for him to falter too badly in a simple exchange such as this. Still, Jamil quickly excused himself by telling you he still had to find Kalim before his next class.

Jamil didn’t miss the way your smile faltered. Had you hoped to get something out of him?

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you two later, then.”

Something about that irked him, though Jamil did not allow himself to dwell on it further.

His heart really had no business still racing as it did when he walked away, unaware of the frown on his face.

Just act normal. That’s all he needed to do.

After all, he had no time for dwelling in silly fancies.

If Jamil had been acutely aware of you before, it only seemed to worsen now that he was making a conscious effort to not act any differently with you. In fact, the harder he tried to keep you out, the more you invaded his thoughts, unsettling him.

The most innocuous words from you looped in his mind, and even the simplest actions caught his eye. For goodness's sake, he’d found himself staring at you while you were queueing up in the cafeteria the other day, not even doing anything other than standing around and looking bored!

For once, Jamil found himself grateful for all his duties. At least they provided him with something else to occupy himself with.

After all, if he was busy enough, it was difficult to think about those bright eyes of yours, your sweet laugh, or the way you bit your lip while thinking.

Still, sometimes it felt like no matter which way he turned, you were there, ready to throw him off-kilter. Not like it was his fault that often the most convenient route to class intersected with your daily routines. Or that your face seemed to jump out from any crowd, catching his attention.

Which certainly did not help his basketball performance. Jamil certainly did not recall you having such an interest in sports before, yet suddenly you were always there, distracting him. What had changed?

Could you possibly-

Jamil scoffed to himself, forcing his thoughts back on track for the nth time that day.

He picked up the tray of food and started taking it to Kalim. After dinner, he’d need to help Kalim with his homework, there were some housewarden tasks that would need dealing with, not to mention the preparations for the next-

Jamil froze in his tracks.

The voice he heard was quiet, but it was unmistakably you.

Really, it should not have come as such a surprise to him. You had become a rather frequent visitor to Scarabia, and Kalim often invited you to stay for meals. In fact, Jamil had started planning the dorm’s meal prep with your tastes and dietary restrictions in mind, just in case.

Jamil rounded the corner with strange exhilaration, his heart fluttering needlessly.

Yet, his mood evaporated when he saw you.

Why did you stop talking and look so guilty as soon as you caught sight of Jamil?

Jamil knew that look you gave to Kalim, had used it himself a thousand times. The one telling Kalim to keep quiet about something.

What could there possibly be that you would be comfortable sharing with Kalim, but not with him? That would give Kalim reason to sit so close to you, a comforting hand on your shoulder?

Jamil's mind raced with possibilities, yet could not settle for any single explanation.

He’d have to ask Kalim about it later.

Jamil gave you a short, polite greeting, his eyes lingering on you in an attempt to read what you were hiding.

“If I’d known you were coming over, I would’ve prepared something for you to eat as well,” Jamil said, already thinking about which parts of the dorm’s dinner to spruce up for you.

“Oh, no need, just figured I’d pop by. I’ll get out of your hair soon enough,” you said, something sheepish about your expression.

As expected, Kalim asked you to stay and dine with them, and with just a bit more persuasion you agreed - though not before telling Jamil that he should join you too and have himself a breather.

And since Kalim agreed with you, Jamil soon found himself sharing a meal with you and Kalim. Yet, even as he sat down with the food, his mind raced.

Had you been getting particularly close to Kalim lately? But surely Jamil would’ve noticed such a thing. Maybe someone from the dorm had been giving you trouble? But if that was the case, then surely you could let Jamil know about it, too. Unless for some reason you did not want to? But if it was something that concerned Kalim, then sooner or later it was bound to concern Jamil, too.

All the while, Kalim was talking to you about this and that, the latest topic being the animals kept on the Asim estate.

“I’ve got some pictures, let me show you!” Kalim said with an excited grin.

Only, a thorough patting of his pockets and a look around confirmed that Kalim’s phone was nowhere to be seen.

Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose. Where had Kalim left it this time?

Before Jamil even had the chance to say that he would handle it, Kalim sprinted off. Jamil hesitated for a moment, automatically halfway up from his seat, before he decided that leaving a guest unattended would be a worse offense than not helping out his master.

Jamil slumped back down with a sigh, mentally tracing the path Kalim took today, trying to recall the last time he saw Kalim handle his phone.

“Breathe. He’ll manage,” you said. There was the faintest of smiles on your lips, and Jamil could not decide if it was knowing or amused. Perhaps both.

Somehow, despite his frustration, Jamil’s own lips wanted to curl up too.

“Hmm. Maybe he will.”

Sure, Jamil could’ve called Kalim’s phone, to make it easier to find, but it was not that urgent, was it?

Jamil took another bite of his food, keeping an eye on you from the corner of his eye.

How was his mind so empty and so buzzing at the same time?

“You know-”

“So-”

You looked at each other, both just as surprised that the other had spoken up at the same time.

Even your surprised look was so-

“You first,” Jamil said. The way you bit your lip... Jamil had to raise a cup to his lips, slowly sipping his drink.

“Just… Feels like it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you be still, you know. Or exchanged more than two words with you,” you said. You were attempting a light, joking tone, yet it was quite clear there was more to it.

“You say that like it would be unusual for me to be busy.”

He was not prepared for the way your soft sigh tugged at his heartstrings.

“No. It is not.”

You were both quiet after, poking at your meals. Normally, Jamil would’ve cherished such a moment of peace, yet this particular silence between you two was decidedly awkward.

Where was your usual chatter? Why weren’t you looking at him like you usually did?

“If you’re worried about me, don’t. I’m fine,” Jamil said, some softness creeping into his tone despite his best intentions.

“That's what Kalim said too,” you said. Yet the way you looked at Jamil made it clear you were still skeptical.

Wait.

Had you clammed up earlier because it had been Jamil you had been talking about with Kalim? That Kalim had comforted you about?

The thought twisted his stomach into knots.

Eta: you can find part 3 here. Hasdhfsdf the way I fought with that last scene I swear. I don't even want to know how many versions I went through, trying to figure out how to say what I wanted without rubbing it into your face or making it too veiled. The joys of trying to convey things through a limited pov. Hopefully it came out reasonably balanced in the end. Rip to all those sentences that were lovely on their own but didn’t work for the whole. Hopefully I can rehome y’all one day. I do have thoughts for part 3 and part x (might be some chapters between those two as well, who knows at this point), so maybe we'll see those at some point, too. Tag list: @colliope @crystallizsch @diodellet @jamilsimpno69 @jamilvapologist @twstgo If you'd like to be tagged for future works, let me know! (Just be aware that sometimes I do also write nsfw, though you can certainly ask to be tagged only for particular kinds of works.)

[the-crooked-library]

Dune, or: "The House of Atreus continues to be mega-cursed even in the distant future in space"

[st4rstudent]

Hey guys just another drawing of the thr- wait what happened to them.

(bonuses + notes under cut)

i've actually been sitting on these designs since september - october/november. The color are... subjective to change. I chose Mac and Winn's colors today. I think Winn's is fine but Mac's keeps throwing me off. Here's the first drawings I did for Mac and Winn.

I like to imagine they're in their own little department. Something to do with tech like an IT department (also to kind of play off of how they're not in the game but run a lot of important events outside of it). So they're not any cog type in specific (like boss, board, law, etc..etc).

Mac's a Macintosh 128k and Winn is just a computer mouse (the tail is supposed to be a little mouse pointer and those are wires in the back. Technically speaking, wires for mice are in the front by the scroll but we can get inaccurate here). Mac's screen can change colors and display options. Together they make the Matrix Team

Here's some Brian's that I did during class last semester. He was originally a mouse, but I found trying to design him was much more annoying than I thought. Then one day during class I had a beam of light hit into my head and made him a big. He's not specific or anything, I tried to do just a stereotypical bug (like how all dogs/cats in game are the same type). He has a triangular head to match his faceplate though :-] you could maybe imagine an ant if you'd like. I figure ants work like cogs in a machine.

The desk jockeys are there too! I haven't really drawn them, but they remain somewhat the same. Instead of being made by toons to look like cogs, they're now made by cogs to look like toons. They also can't teleport so it takes Brian 3x longer to get places, but do they act as multitoons kind of.

This is the only drawing I really have to show my design basis. And YES they are still taller than him because its funny. Ok I think that's all

[harbingersecho]

six fanarts thing - ty to everyone who gave me the chs!!

[laniemae]

Ok milgrammies I just need to tell you this because this is really good stuff and may give us an idea on where we can expect milgram to go in the future. So basically The Caligula Effect 2 which was also produced/directed by Takuya Yamanaka has a trans/gn character in it and it’s really well how it’s handled and stuff.

Like seeing the Caligula effect games really makes me understand the thought process behind milgram more (especially with the music/psychology themes and all the flower motifs) and seeing that Yamanaka is supportive of the LGBTQ+ community like this and is able to to incorporate themes like that into the game makes me definitely hopeful on where milgrams going. And especially how with Fuuta and Muu’s T2 interrogations having a question “are you satisfied with your gender?”. And the whole thing with Es using they/them pronouns and not really having a gender would be very interesting to explore with their backstory.

[sysig]

I can’t stop drawing tiny Watchdogs (Patreon)

[balis77]

Canto VII/Season 5 Abnormality Speculation

Ok, so each abnormality that is either part of a sinner's dungeon or their season pass egos (In the case of Heathcliff) usually has some connection/symbolism for them ala each of the ego used during Realizations in Library having some symbolism towards the emotions/memories displayed within. Since we have a pretty damn big list of mirror dungeon abnormalities and they seem to primarily draw on those for new bosses as opposed to making new ones, I'ma speculate on some options for things we'll face in Don's personal dungeon.

Pagoda Veneration

This one is pretty self explanatory. It's focused around wishes and the granting/destruction of them, which fits Don's character to a tee to the point she already has an EGO for it.

Rose Hunter

So, this abnormality is effectively a rogue hunter that seeks to bring Snow White's Apple (Or Ebony Apple, possibly both) back to fulfill the role they had in the original tale. Effectively, cutting their dreams short to drag them back to their original fate, which could possibly be the problem Don faces in her Canto or faced in her own past. It would effectively represent reality trying to drag her back down.

Sleepyhead

This one mainly correlates to Don's fascination and association with toys, along with it giving a lust gift which matches the Sin of Don's base ego. It also has a blood motif in that you need to offer it blood to get its head to raise back up to give you the gift, which also matches with Don's base ego translating to "Blood of Sancho".

Tomorrow's Expression

Tomorrow's Expression is an Aberration of Today's Shy Look, which in Library stood-in for Angela's having to mask her true desires to reach out to the others in order to fulfill the Seed of Light plan. Tomorrow's Expression is effectively Shy Look's opposite, being something that asks how it should express itself as opposed to something that wanted to find a way to express its own emotions. This can correlate to the possible origins of Don and her worldview, and the original story of Don Quixote and how people tried to cruelly snap Don out of his delusions.

[wisteriasymphony]

y'know i might vibe with the whole mtf adrien thing this fandom has going on if it weren't for the fact that i immediately projected tboy swag energy to him on sight. he's a twink to me too, but in the milo thatch/jerma kind of way

[markiafc]

to fulfill my promises to @ananeiah and to expound on @seventh-fantasy's post, there are many conceptions of enlightenment. because buddhism is a massive and old religion with a very robust canon, enlightenment goes by many names, it's articulated and imagined in many different ways. let's play the game of how many of them are adopted by the show...

popular metaphors that embody enlightenment include a refuge, a flame going out, or a firm island - because this world is often described as an ocean. all human beings are floating in the 生死苦海 sea of rebirth and suffering. to escape it, one must make their way to the island or to get on a boat. mahayana buddhism (aka. chinese buddhism) is literally named 大乘 the great vehicle, the primary idea being that enlightenment = to board a vehicle of transport, it will take you away. however, buddhism doesn't just envision this as an ambiguous vehicle. 乘 the vehicle specifically refers to a 船 boat.

the mortal world and the cycle of suffering is a sea and the way out is enlightenment, envisioned as a boat.

an extension of this is the concept of 彼岸 the faraway shore (alt tl: the further shore, the distant shore, the other shore, or at times the opposing shore). it draws on the same notion of 苦海 the ocean of suffering. to achieve enlightenment is to swim to shore, where there is finally safety and stability, free from suffering. this is why the euphemism for enlightenment is to 度到彼岸 reach the faraway shore.

此岸 this shore, is this ever-changing world full of agonies. you wade across the 苦海 sea of suffering, and reach 彼岸 the faraway shore. this is enlightenment.

as @seventh-fantasy depicts in this post, the final shot of ep 40, and as seen in the bonus ep 40.5, this is where llh is. ep 40 ends with the camera moving further into the distance, moving further into the sea. and the bonus ep 40.5 makes it clear again that lxy/llh has found his way to a different beach. llh has crossed the sea to another beach. he is on another shore, the 彼岸 faraway shore, far from 东海 the east sea where everyone else is.

let's look even closer at this.

enlightenment is also conceived as a place: 淨土 the pure lands, 极乐世界 the realm of greatest bliss, and so on. one of the geographical markers of this idea is 西 the west. this "land" accessible only to the enlightened (佛 buddhas, 菩萨 bodhisattvas, and 阿罗汉 arhats) is also dubbed 西方淨土 the western pure lands and 西天 the western heavens, etc.

enlightenment is imagined to be westwards. the opposite direction and away from 东海 dong hai = the east sea. where the story began and lxy famously plunged into; he fell into the 苦海 sea of suffering located in the 东 east. from this starting point, llh makes a meandering journey to his final location in the show. he makes his way 西 west, towards enlightenment, and reaches a 彼岸 faraway shore, the enlightened "after" and what is beyond.

now that we're on the topic of the pure lands, it's worth mentioning that this concept is furnished with a lot of descriptions in buddhist sutras. it is a beautiful, glorious land brimming with lotuses. because, of course, the lotus is yet another ubiquitous image that represents enlightenment.

the lotus position is crucial to the buddhist practice of prayer cultivation, especially in 禅宗 zen buddhism that is built around the central practice of prayer. lotuses are motifs in buddhist art, and buddhist myths (the legend goes that lotus flowers bloomed under the buddha's feet when he took his first steps as a child). people practicing buddhism are referred to as 莲友 lotus friends, 芬陀利花 the white lotus is a synonym for the buddha. lotuses are also integral to buddhist canon; the pure lands are detailed to have seven 宝莲池 treasure lotus ponds. every buddhist has their own lotus waiting for them in the pure lands; it is believed the more you cultivate, the more your bud in the pure lands grows/blooms.

of note, every living thing residing in the pure lands are made from lotuses. in fact, buddhist canon states that the enlightened are reborn inside a lotus bud, similar to an incubation. their new body is reconstituted from lotuses and they emerge anew when the bud blooms. crucially, it is also stated that every enlightened in the pure lands will have 莲花座 a lotus seat. this is a vehicle of transport, usually likened to the magic carpet from one thousand and one nights. it is described as 随心所欲、飞翔自在 something that acts after your heart's desire, something that flies free. the lotus seat is about boundless, freeing travel.

this isn't comprehensive at all, there are tons of other ways lotuses come up throughout buddhism. but the connection to the show is straightforward and self-explanatory. the primary motif in 莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook is the lotus - a famous marker for buddhism itself. one of the dominant illustrations of enlightenment, the cultivation process to achieve it, and enlightened entities themselves.

the buddhist notions of rebirth are similarly heavily intertwined with the lotus. it is your body; you become it, it becomes you. from then on, you are surrounded by its image and its presence. you even have a lotus vehicle that becomes your main method of travel, a mode of travel defined by carefree contentment. sound familiar? llh's identity and his living carries major markers of enlightenment. it is one of the primary concerns of his character arc.

quick detour. a prominent moniker for enlightenment is the setting of the sun, as yet another epithet utilized by the drama.

detour over. crazy connections time.

discussions of death and suicide is, to my knowledge, particularly prominent in japanese buddhism. but as a whole, a significant portion of buddhist canon and a good number of buddhist media deals with this too. dying as a means to get closer to enlightenment, equating death and enlightenment, the subject of suicide itself. characters seemingly pass away and become enlightened, or characters strive for death with this express purpose as death is connected to enlightenment. this is true. one does not necessarily cause the other, but the concepts are interconnected in buddhism. it comes hand in hand, dissecting one means dissecting the other and vice versa.

most buddhist texts and masters do not condone a direct correlation, suicide is not the way to enlightenment. there is no buddhist value to killing yourself. but the key exception lies in one of the most important buddhist texts: the lotus sutra.

"These include several themes dealing explicitly with death, such as how suicide was committed to speed up rebirth in the Pure Land based on the sanctioning of voluntary death as a superior form of sacrifice in Chapter 23 of the Lotus Sutra ..." [1]

the chapter 23 in question talks about a bodhisattva who turns himself into a human candle and burns himself up, in offering to the buddha. there is more to the story, but it mainly functions as a lesson about cultivation and enlightenment.

in the canon about buddhist suffering, there lies a subset dedicated to physical pain and torment. there is a heavy focus on our 5 senses, specifically (that's a whole separate topic i won't go into here). very briefly, to suffer is to experience the world through our 5 senses. to live as a human being is to suffer in a sensory way.

buddhism aspires to transcend this flesh and blood suffering. so annihilation of one's body is an essential step to achieve enlightenment. usually, this theory centers natural death and decay. you accept that you are always aging, your senses will lose their edge, your body is always subject to illness, injury and other failings. let the body waste away, it will do so regardless.

hence, the human body is set on a course of gradual deterioration. this suffering is processed through our 5 senses and is defined by them. in the face of this, the lotus sutra is the only notable buddhist text that looks kindly upon "voluntary death" to transcend it.

similarly, llh accepts the effects of bicha on his body. it mimics the natural decline of the human body, accelerating the degradation of his senses, his immune system, and his physical capabilities in general. his experience of this form of suffering is also emphasized through a period losing his sense of sight. it is a very buddhist torment. but at the end of the day, it is still a man-made, unnatural cause generating this effect. accepting this is not the same as accepting 生老病死 death via age, sickness and other natural processes.

llh embodies the sentiments and themes in the lotus sutra when he consciously chooses to let bicha run its course. he chooses to die, it is a "voluntary death". let this destroy his body. let this suicidal choice (though its more nuanced than simply suicide imo) free him from buddhist physical suffering. thus bringing him closer to peace, a version of himself that will be happier.

finally, enlightenment is about ambiguity.

凡人 the common people are incapable of comprehending enlightenment. it is understood that the human senses and the human mind is too inept and unrefined, too clouded by illusions, to grasp it. there are a million ways to express it, depict it, and name it. but there is a consensus across buddhism that these are simply aids for the common student of buddhism, and they are not accurate to the truth. at the core of enlightenment is an abstraction, an inherent unknowing.

it is, by definition, a departure and a continuation. it is a removal from this world and a transition into another place, another realm. all at once, the phenomenon straddles a greyness between an ending and a beginning. it is unclear whether the enlightened has left, or is it the common man who is so lacking he cannot recognize or even perceive the enlightened? in the theory of enlightenment, buddhism accounts for both factors. but we will never know for sure.

where do the enlightened go? where are they, where have they gone? these are questions buddhists often ask and explore, and it is also the question that the remaining cast engages with. what is enlightenment, exactly? there is a suspicion, some notion of what must have happened. it might be death, it might not be. only the enlightened can answer this, everyone else is left without clarity.

in the end, the seekers get close to the answer but there is no real fruition. and so the search lasts indefinitely.

that, too, is part and parcel to enlightenment.

as for how enlightenment narratives function, i leave you with this.

"Nirvana provides the full stop (period) in the religious story; it gives what one might call, to use Frank Kermode's well-known phrase, "the sense of an ending" - that is, a real ending and not a mere breaking off. Such an ending is only possible within a narrative.

[...]

Nirvana, I want to suggest, is a moment within a discursive or practical dynamic, a formal element of closure in structure of Buddhist imagination, texts, and rituals. One might say that nirvana has primarily a syntactic rather than semantic value: it is the moment of ending which gives structure to the whole. The fact of narrative structure and closure provides a meaningful and satisfying resolution, although in itself nirvana has merely the formal value of a closure marker.

[...]

Earlier I called nirvana the full stop (period) in the Buddhist religious story; now I can add that it is a full stop in an eternal story, a full stop which brings closure to individual lives in a master text which itself can have no final ending." [2]

Sources:

Tragedy and Salvation in the Floating World: Chikamatsu's Double Suicide Drama as Millenarian Discourse by Steven Heine ↩︎

Nirvāna, Time, and Narrative by Steven Collins ↩︎