#and it makes a lot of sense given how they're drawn to each other and so physically affectionate so quickly

[hjea]

1899 - The Key

“Tut mir leid, Captain.”

[universe-prime]

At long last it's finally DONE😩

For anyone who's been following my old Fugitoid doodles, you'd probably notice that the design has been quite inconsistent between each drawing, so I finally made myself solidify just HOW I wanted my Rise iteration to look. It's kinda funny tbh because I originally started this entire journey thinking "man I like Fugitoid, it's a shame that it's only used as a plot device or exposition machine" to essentially building up an entire new backstory and lore as if this were my own child LOL

Anyway, here are some of my doodle notes and concepts for this lad, as well as other notes to expand even more!!

○ this version of Fugitoid doesn't possess any weapons, except for the tazer-like attachment that their hand can turn into. This is mostly for self-defense and as a last ditch effort because(for obvious reasons) they aren't physically very strong

○ speaking of self-defense, although they don't/can't fight, the Fugitoid is INCREDIBLY bendy and agile to the point that you gotta question if there's even any solid mechanisms in there at all. They can extend and shorten their limbs to an unknown length, all in an effort to be as hard to grab or hit as possible

○ along with these mechanisms, there are so many other attachments and configurations that the Professor is capable of!! What I've drawn is merely a fraction of what they can do, and the stuff I've thought of is about 80% practical and 20% just comedic effect. For instance, the built in skates and extending eye-microscope is totally a daily use thing, but I imagine if it was on the show, there would be gags where a button would be pressed and it'd have a toaster oven in its chest or a full knitting set stored away. My reasoning is mostly that A) the Fugitoid has had a lot of time with this body and wants to be prepared for any situation and B) I just think it's funny°☆

○ on the topic of being in this body, this Fugitoid is WAY older than they might seem. I can't accurately say if they're older than other iterations, simply because I'm not sure if an exact age or time was ever given for those bots, but I can say that the Professor has been dealing with this for many, many, many years. Too many to even count on one hand. It can't stay in one place for long or else it'd risk being found out, but its travels span across many different plants across many different galaxies, all with their own sense of time and distance. Not to mention the time dilation that goes on in travel like that, but needless to say...this bot is incredibly old LOL

○ for those that are curious, "my" Professor goes by any pronouns! They/he/she/it, it doesn't really care at this point. Maybe in its early life it did, but by now, there's bigger things to worry about

○ for any of those also wondering about how this Fugitoid looked before this whole...robot body situation well..👀 I plan on making a separate post for that, but for now just know that they won't look humanoid in the slightest. It always irked me a little seeing the Professor "alive" and he's just...a human or some pointy-eared guy because!! Come on!!! This is an alien! Let it look freaky!!! Where is the spice!! The flavor!?

○ Lastly(and this is mostly just notes on the design) but I added more teal/green to the look cause I liked the color and thought it was such a shame that the only use of it on the Fugitoid was in the face. I just thought it'd be nice to use it more to kinda break up the monotonous white and grey of their usual body

[greenerteacups]

hihi i saw you were semi-active on tumblr and figured i would ask if you'd be willing to elaborate a bit on the whole push/pull relationship theo and daphne have in lionheart? i've done a couple rereads but i still can't quite figure out how they feel about one another.

hope you're having a great christmas gt <3

i've got good news and bad news. the good news: you've read it perfectly well, because "can't figure out how they feel about one another" is exactly what's going on with them at any given moment. so this is greatly vindicating for both you as reader and myself as author. the bad news: you have just given me license to talk about theodore nott and daphne greengrass, a dynamic that gets an understandably small amount of attention and yet consumes large volumes of my headspace. so. spoilers ahead!

daphne and theo break my heart, because they're a story in wasted potential. theo and pansy are obviously old childhood friends, but i think daphne is just someone who knew them socially and only really got close to them at school — cf. her conversation with draco at the yule ball — because first year forced theo to make friends who weren't pansy for the first time, and daphne finally had a chance to socialize without her parents coddling her. they get along like a house on fire, pansy rocks up to join them in second year, and this is the cute little nega-Trio draco meets in book 2. it's a fashionable nucleus of dry humor and ferocious mutual protectiveness, which theo demonstrates especially in the hospital wing at the end of book 3.

but theo continues to suffer the chronic condition of Being Theodore Nott, and so when the plot comes knocking, things go south for him expeditiously, especially his personal relationships. daphne develops a crush on him as early as book 3, and being daphne, she's incredibly obvious about it, but being (1) a teenage boy and also (2) an incipient domestic terrorist, he naturally avoids dwelling on it — and then maybe-kind-of-starts-to-reciprocate, because hey huh wait a second you sure do care about this girl a lot, don't you, theodore? — but by that point the war's started revving up in the background and he has Other Shit To Deal With.

it doesn't help that the two of them are being drawn in radically different political directions, partly because of her friendship with draco, but also because of her own choices. theo's mistake here isn't malicious, but he really does ice daphne out (as he does everyone but pansy, pretty much, in fairness) for most of book 4, and by the time he realizes that he could actually lose her, it's too late. probably he doesn't realize how far she's migrating once she drifts out of his influence — daphne is incredibly susceptible to suggestion and is deeply influenced by those around her, which becomes clear once she's transplanted into gryffindor and discovers this much kinder, more chivalrous side of her nature. given that chameleon-quality of hers, it's understandable for theo to be shocked when she pivots away from him and pansy the space of less than a year. but also, I think it's telling that he's that surprised, since daphne hasn't been in good with the rest of slytherin for months at this point. and in turn, this surprise angers her, because like — dude, seriously? forget the romantic stuff; you're supposed to be her best friend, and you couldn't tell that she was doing a Character Arc behind your back? (strains of this feeling heavily inform what she says to draco during the Yule Ball, especially re: theo and pansy being each other's platonic soulmates. she feels locked out, in every sense: from slytherin, from her friends, from her parents, from everything. she wants in on something, and it drives her to do something pretty callous to draco and hermione, as she realizes and regrets. daphne is not always a kind person, even when she's a nice one.)

that anger, and theo's unfortunate failure to do anything useful about it whatsoever — slytherins! purebloods! low EQ! not great at the whole making-amends thing! — is what makes it possible for her to sever ties with slytherin completely, effectively terminating the close friendship she had with him and pansy (who's slightly less reconciled to that separation, but pansy is also much less politically involved than theo both philosophically and functionally, so it's easier for her to double-dip). it's my headcanon that if theo had even 15% less to worry about, he'd be making more of an effort to revive that relationship, but kid is in hardcore Survival Mode for most of book 4, and just knowing that daphne's not in immediate physical danger has to be enough for him. meanwhile, upstairs, daphne is discovering the Life-Changing Magic of Real Friendship, and like, it's kind of a blast? and lavender and parvati are really cool? and gosh now that theo isn't the center of her living universe, isn't it funny how all these tall good-looking boys are wandering around? funny, that!!

this isn't to say that their story is finished — it isn't! there's still a lot of gas left in this tank, and many, many things these two have left to say to each other — but that's where the story leaves us. they were close; there was a real possibility of something, and likely some degree of mutual interest; but the timing was never right, and it's not going to get any easier if things keep going in the direction they are now. (but who knows?)

[haleigh-sloth]

If we can condemn meneta for all of his gross SA and nonconsensual touching then why romanticize toga assaulting ochako? I'm all for togachako rep and gay pining but toga constantly assaults her and has since the beginning and it's specifically read as sexual. So idk how I feel about the double standard of guys assaulting = nasty but girls assaulting = gay happy pride 🏳️‍🌈

When has she assaulted her in a sexual way, ever. Like seriously point it out within the events of the manga, when has this happened.

Toga "assaulting her" is no different than Tomura getting up in Deku's space at the mall. It's an invasion of space. Now if you mean getting physically violent then man, lots of people are being assaulted in this manga. Oh wait, yeah they are. Wild.

I understand that Toga can be read as an allegory for being a suppressed queer person given that she is canonically bi, went through quirk counseling etc. But if we're talking legitimate literal storytelling, she is not that. She is an issue of having to suppress her expressiveness in general because she was born with a societally unacceptable feature ingrained into her. If you're choosing to read everything as literally sexual, that's a you problem.

How Hori draws them--this is where I feel common sense comes in. The author is a freak. He draws weird shit, on multiple occasions he does. It's not new. This is clearly a case of a situation that isn't inherently sexual at all (because, quite literally, it's not) made sexual because the author is a freak. Now, if you actually think this is a situation where Toga is seeking sexual gratification from this, well, jesus christ idk what to tell you that's just your problem because that's not what's happening.

Comparing her to Mineta who is like outright a sexual pervert when her story isn't literally actually about that is just silly and unproductive. And has no grounds because Toga has not ACTUALLY DONE ANYTHING IN CANON that the other villains have not done. They've all violated people via getting physical with them--violent, not sexual.

Now look, the image is absurd because it doesn't NEED TO BE THIS WAY. No Toga's hand didn't need to be drawn on her tit and there didn't need to be a close up of it. But technically and literally speaking, this isn't a sexual situation in canon. They're fighting and Toga is obviously making a move of some sort to further her fight.

Now when you say "Toga assaults her repeatedly", I'm assuming you mean in a sexual way---well that hasn't fucking happened at least once. However we can all agree that he drew Toga and Ochacko in a sketch ONCE where Toga was infringing on her space like, you know, non-consensually. Sorry but any other artwork I can think of with the two of them is either depicting them FIGHTING EACH OTHER or that one where they're like holding each other and it's obviously meant to be fan-service-y, but not the same energy of that one sketch.

I can agree that the panel is just not preferred like....it's unnecessary and clearly meant for the author's own enjoyment and whoever else will like it. But to call this a literal sexual assault I just do not agree with because the intention behind what's happening is just not that. I don't agree with you and honestly I'm not gonna get into this anymore. I respect your discomfort 100% but that's the extent of my agreement with you I'm sorry.

[yotonyokai]

In Defense of Indra and Asura

I feel like these two characters alongside Kaguya are easily the most contentious part of Naruto with a lot of fans saying that their introduction into the story outright ruined it for them. I can't really agree, I think they're such good additions to the lore and fit so well into the theming of the manga.

Starting out with the biggest problem most people seem to have is that it turns Naruto into a "chosen one" and seemingly goes against the series' stance on fate from earlier on in the series. I have a couple of things to say about this. The first is that Naruto and Sasuke inherit surprisingly little from their previous incarnations. it's a matter of will and talent. Naruto is intrinsically drawn to camaraderie and fails at anything he tries to shoulder on his own while Sasuke is intrinsically drawn to solitude while having a natural aptitude for the art of ninjutsu. These things affected their personalities, but Asura and Indra don't directly control either. This can be seen in Hashirama and Madara, the previous incarnations. They are similar to Naruto and Sasuke, but only because of these shared wills and talents. Otherwise, they're their own people. Naruto likens it to being haunted for a reason. An incarnate is still their own person, but with the ideals of the brothers constantly looming over them. When you begin talking about "Chosen Ones" and "Fate" it becomes interesting because as the chosen inheritor of Asura's chakra, Naruto is only chosen to do one thing - Fight Indra's reincarnate and either kill him or get killed by him. That is the way that the lives of Hashirama and Madara played out and presumably how every other incarnate pair has played out. Naruto's stance on fate is pretty interesting because in it's world, fate IS a real thing. There are certain actions that are simply fated to happen. However, fate can be fought, it isn't a hard rule. Someone like Rock Lee who has no aptitude for Ninjutsu is fated to never become a ninja... but he fights fate and does so anyways. It takes a lot more effort than simply following flow, but arguably the entire point of the War Arc is that humanity would rather struggle against a flow than take an easy answer.

Fate doesn't play out for Naruto because while he is fated to fight and kill Sasuke, he never gets to that second step despite having the chance to do so over and over again and when you look at Sasuke... He's also fighting that fate the entire time too, albeit more subconsciously. If he killed Naruto before leaving for Orochimaru he would have played his role well, but just... couldn't. Naruto and Sasuke are fated to kill each other, but it doesn't really make sense for them to. They are spiritually linked, soulmates even. No one really understands Sasuke like Naruto and vice versa. And this was the case for Hashirama and Madara, too. And probably also the case for Indra and Asura given that they were literal brothers. This entire reincarnation cycle is people killing the ones who know and understand them the most. It is a similar dilemma to what Gato mocked ninja for back in the first arc. The person most likely to kill a ninja is another ninja. Even though they have shared culture and similar traumas, they fight and kill each other for the will of those outside of the culture. Indra and Asura is the epitome of this and just a callout of what we do irl, humans have been killing the people who understand us for years. Wars are waged by kings, senates and presidents but fought by soldiers on both sides who probably didn't make that much and just would like to go home to see their families. There's brotherhood between the enemies and Indra and Asura makes that very literal.

I wanted to also get into why I don't mind Kaguya, buuuuut this is already pretty long and she doesn't fit super well into the brothers' story, so I'll just save that for another post

[tokiro07]

Cipher Academy ch.58 thoughts

[Thank You For Playing]

(Contents: Reflection)

I think it's pretty clear from this chapter that Nisio had a lot of other storylines planned, though I'm not sure how much attention each one would have gotten

Toshusai's mission to round up the Gun Eyes, Yosaimura's mission to dredge up the Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier, and of course Iroha's mission to save the Battlefield Dancer, all could well have been their own story arcs, but it's also possible that all but the latter would have been background events. Regardless, Nisio is telegraphing that there was more story to tell, and that we'll need to fill in the blanks on our own at this point

In a certain sense, I appreciate that Nisio is showing me what could have been. Being given breadcrumbs even after the story's conclusion allows me to continue creating the story in my heart, even if the canon is beyond my reach now. To borrow Nisio's wording, it feels less like the story has ended and more like it's stopped

Endings usually come in one of two flavors - wrap-ups or "our journey continues," but this one kind of feels like both in a way. It's demonstrating how the previous storylines wrapped up, but while also showing what new journeys started since then and which were never completed. It's a bit more realistic in that way, as people's lives aren't stories that can be bound neatly in the narrative of a book

That said, this is still a story, and some elements do need to be presented neatly. With the story concluding with every class working as a unit, I think it's fair to say that my take that this was, at its core, a Friendship story was correct. I wonder if perhaps every first-year class was made to treat the other classes as enemies or rivals specifically to build up to the point where they would be allies later? It would make sense for a military academy to lean into basic team-building structure like that, as the stages go as follows: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Every class is built from strangers, they're put at odds with each other to become acquainted, their dynamics normalize, and then they can operate efficiently with that familiarity. It makes sense for this to be repeated at every level, from intra- to inter-class relationships, and possibly even inter-school relations. In the end, I do wish that we could have spent more time exploring those relationships, as they were easily the most engaging part of this narrative

Oddly, the most reassuring thing about this ending was that it kind of gave me closure to a question I've had for over a decade now: was Medaka Box canceled? Based on this ending, I'm inclined to say no. There are so many parallels between these two endings - the timeskip, the where-are-they-now, the final shot of a group photo, the literal credits sequence. It was all so familiar that I recognized it pretty much immediately, but there was one key difference: while Medaka Box took us through the goings-on of the entire casts' lives, very little of it felt like story that could have drawn out the series' lifespan. I mean, sure, it could have, but none of it felt like it was meant to be story that we would have seen directly. It was everyone catching up and talking about what they've heard their friends have been up to, but with the exception of Munakata becoming an exorcist when ghosts or demons haven't been an established concept up to this point, all of it was just "oh, she's a baker now, he's a cop now, he's a politician now, she's a calligrapher now," etc. None of it was of any real consequence to the lives of the cast, it was just flavor text to reminisce on the events of the story and how far everyone has come

Here, I feel like we could have seen all of it and it would have been engaging. We're not just touching base with old friends here, we're waking up from a coma and learning that we missed all of the fun. It's such a vastly different feeling that I can't help but feel like this is how it would have felt if Medaka Box were canceled, therefore it most likely wasn't

I'm sure I could come up with more to wax poetic on with this series, but to be honest, I'm getting exhausted here. It's heartbreaking seeing one of my favorites get cut down like this, and as some of you may have heard, Martial Master Asumi has been canceled as well. I don't want to harp on this for much longer and make myself sadder, so I'll conclude on as positive a note as I can

I had a great time writing about this series. Being able to explore shonen tropes through Nisio's lens is always a delight and a bit of a trip, and getting the chance to share that experience with others was great fun. Iwasaki's art was fantastic, as evidenced by how many of these girls I absolutely fell in love with, and I'm glad I got to see so many parallels to Akira Akatsuki's style. I actually have to wonder if the styles of both series were directed by Nisio's vision or if perhaps Iwasaki is a fan of Akatsuki. Either way, this last year has given me the opportunity to relive my time with Medaka Box while also giving me something completely new at the same time. I'm so grateful that Nisio and Iwasaki at least got to make it this far, and I hope that we'll get to see both of them again in the near future

To everyone who read all 58 of my reviews for this series, thank you so much. To everyone who only read a few here and there, or even only read this one, thank you as well. I'm glad I got to spend time with you and I hope my little essays enriched your experience, even a little

Until next time

[saltymongoose]

Hi Salty~ Hope you're doing great in college! Here's the next set of gifts! You were correct in guessing Hoffnar!

With how I saw tricky was drawn before by Krinkles, I decided to not make him chubby, Instead, I gave him less definition in the musculature.

Speaking of Tricky, I needed to make him gross. Hank shot this guy a lot.

And finally, Sheriff. He was rather fun to do, I only noticed when I colored him that he looks like my dad a bit. oops.

Krystal, these are fantastic. Just straight up, I almost don't have words for how good these are haha. :D 💕

To actually give feedback though, starting with Hofnarr, I really like how friendly you made him seem, it's almost like he's ":-)" incarnate. Given his job, it also makes a lot of sense that he'd be devoid of any of the scars other grunts would have, and it's the same with his softer pads. Also, I find it really funny that he's technically taller than Sheriff, but it makes complete sense given how Tricky is. I guess I never considered how tall Hof actually would be, so this is cool. I also don't believe I've mentioned it before, but I think you do the profile view of grunts really well; you show just enough features to make it realistic and allow them to wear glasses and such, but don't abandon the fact that grunts don't have human features like us. It's just perfect.

And the doodles for Hof too, omg, he's so sweet in them. 100/10, would absolutely watch T.V. and be friends with him and Jeb as Phobos and Crackpot fume in the background.

With Tricky, I really like how you drew him in general, I think the shades/colors you went with fit together nicely. To get more into it though, I love how you detailed each of his injuries (including those on his hands, which are a very nice touch), and I can actually recognize some as being from the animations. It's just amazing attention to detail and continuity, as always haha, and that's not to mention the little doodles on the side again too! I always feel like you capture the characters so well with them, and here it's especially obvious with his facial expressions (and his ongoing feud with Hank lol). Honestly, I feel like this made me love Tricky even more, which is an achievement haha.

Finally, with Sheriff (who apparently looks a bit like your Dad lol), I absolutely love the fact that he's unharmed except for the shot to his head, and that he has soft pads. Given his [cowardly] disposition, it makes sense that he wouldn't have too much damage or signs of serious work. Yet he has his claws sharpened for supposed combat, which could play into the whole thing he has of acting more intimidating than he actually is. With the doodles, I also like the clothing you went with for him (especially the bolo tie, it's the perfect touch!) and again, I really like the varied emotions you give him here.

Really, I'm just blown away yet again, thank you for these! They're going in the ref pile with the rest of them. :) ❤❤❤❤

[windvexer]

hey not sure if this is okay to ask but i was wondering who i could even ask about something like this and you were the first person i thought of! i been using some oracle cards for years now and they are pretty intuitive and over the years we got to understand eachother pretty well to the point i understand what they mean with no problem. i decided to get a tarot deck is a very nice one (star spinner tarot) and it comes with a booklet with some information of each card but i feel like is not enough for me to grasp what they are trying to say? (also i never used reversed meanings with my other cards so thats a bit confusing) i was wondering if you have any advice for someone getting into tarot? i do have experience with like other cards, pendulums, even runes, etc. but i feel like the information that came with this one is very short and i cant understand them as well as my regular cards sorry if this is not an okay thing to ask!!

Hi, Anon.

Star Spinner tarot looks lovely!

You don't have to use reversals. I don't use them sometimes. It depends on my mood and how much I want to deal with.

For anyone getting into tarot, I would recommend starting your own notes and adding information from many different resources.

For most decks, lots online information is available for each card. BiddyTarot.com is a popular resource for more general card meanings. If you'd really like to study tarot, I highly recommend The Mystical Origins of the Tarot by Paul Huson.

As you study extended resources, contemplate meanings for a certain card as you look at the card. Consider not only popular contemporary meanings (BiddyTarot) and what your deck creator has to say (booklet with the cards), but also historical resources (Huson).

As you find meanings that resonate with you and stick out to you, add them to your notes.

Don't worry about trying to paint a complete picture of every card. Focus on the meanings that make sense to you. Most readers seem to find that their understandings of the cards are in flux and will always grow and evolve. So you're creating a starting point for where you're at right now, not the all-time ultimate meaning reference book.

Don't worry at all about trying to memorize the cards. Even professional readers you pay will still use their guidebooks and notes if they want to.

Common advice given to beginners is to start with only one-card draws and maybe do a 3-card spread if you're feeling bold, but this advice didn't work for me, and may not work for you either.

When I began reading I got so little information from each card that I had to do relatively large spreads just to get any information out of them.

It might help you to experiment with the number of cards drawn, and in what spreads you place them.

There are many exercises a person can do to try and connect with their cards more. Try forgetting the book meanings altogether and trying to craft story narratives based on what's happening in the pictures.

Another exercise that can be fun and helpful is to play with your deck while you watch a show. During the show, pull random cards and ask yourself how that card relates to what you're seeing on screen. You might want to pause and look at the book, but also look for other ways to connect:

The mood or atmosphere of the picture

The different characters on the card, what they're doing, and how they're acting

The location or setting of the card

The objects that can be found in the card

The goal of this TV show exercise is not to perform accurate readings on a TV show, but to stretch your mind and become comfortable relating the card to real world situations. As long as you can say, "this card matches because [...]," you have won the game.

Lastly, tarot is a relatively complex divinatory system with lots of moving parts and layers of meaning. It's normal for it to take a while to sink in - it's definitely not the easiest system to get into.

[owlyflufff]

Hay~

I was wondering what drew you to this ship specifically? Like it's an amazing ship and my personal favorite, but I wanted to know if you had a special reason for loving it so much! :)

Anyway be sure to have an AMAZING day! You 100% deserve it!!!

Hallo anon <33!

Oh! Interesting question and to be honest I'd have to pull up a 99+ slide because I love them so much- but to sorta squeeze in all my thoughts ><!

Interestingly enough, I didn't exactly ship anyone nor was I drawn to any of the pairs in Haikyu after watching Season 1 up to Season 4 Part 1 (second half with the Inarizaki match was not airing/ hadn't been announced yet even during this time). I acknowledged a lot that the ships existed like kagehina, iwaoi, etc but it was more of "yep I see them as a duo both romantically or platonically, and I'm okie with both or either" + liked fanart and bokuaka was given that same perspective from me before. They had a cute and funny dynamic but granted, I didn't perceive them to be a ship that I would make as my favorite and just casually acknowledge the ship's existence + appreciate the fanart.

However, that changed when I read the manga.

A good number of people loved and shipped bokuaka wholeheartedly from the start while some after reading the manga and I was one of the those people because WOW DID THE FUKURODANI VS. MUJINAZAKA CHANGE THE TRAJECTORY OF MY LIFE-

Much like some bokuaka shippers, this segment of the Nationals arc definitely either fueled their love for this dynamic or help them appreciate and be endeared even by this ship, most especially me.

On a more personal note, the one that really started it all, gave me a little push into loving them dearly when I was already at the tipping point was a certain piece of fanart.

Out of all the wholesome, genuinely lovely art I've seen, this has always been my favorite bokuaka art and the one that help started it all, made by the amazing @/pistachiolan <33.

Neither of them are speaking nor can you see the expression on their faces, but it's a beautiful summary of Bokuaka's dynamic.

And that's the thing, the reason why I was drawn so much to Bokuaka is because:

They're not childhood friends like Iwaizumi and Oikawa or Kenma and Kuroo.

They're not even in the same year level like Hinata and Kageyama or Ushiwaka and Tendou.

Yet, they have a bond that is built on so much trust, support and care for each other in such a short span of time. Almost like they've been there for each other for a lifetime.

It's not a one sided dynamic where one constantly gives and the other gets and doesn't return becase Akaashi gave Bokuto everything he needed so that his star could shine for the world to see (him and Fukurodani gave him the company Bokuto never particularly had) in the same sense that Bokuto didn't want to shine alone or be left in an empty galaxy, he wanted Akaashi to shine just as much whether they were or weren't teammates anymore and gave him words such as "giving 120%" and a generally more positive mindset that outbests any logic Akaashi could have put down ("It's not impossible, just very hard!"), that became something Akaashi carried with him and even became a driving force for his profession as Udai's manga editor.

And seeing them in the timeskip, those happy smiles Akaashi gives to Bokuto when he sees how brightly Bokuto shines on the court, the excitement Bokuto has when he sees Akaashi shining just as much in his own profession when he gets to talk to them after the Jackals Adlers match and how immediately he asks to spend time with him, their same silly odd language that no one can understand but them and how they've seemingly never changed.

To see that bond full of trust, support and care never once waver throughout the years, you can't help but ask: what isn't there to love about Bokuaka?

[dykelawlight]

5 mikami and 14 mikalight !

HEHEHE love these. Thanks!!

5. Fear headcanon (Mikami)

One thing I SINCERELY HATE about a lot of Mikami characterization is that it depicts him as this very sort of fearful, cowering person because of his deference to Light in the anime (particularly, I think, the bit of the warehouse scene where he's working from behind the door). Mikami does not scare easily! Mikami canonically had the shit beaten out of him over and over as a child by groups of boys significantly stronger than him (in manga canon it is explicitly stated that on one occasion he was stripped naked, beaten, and subjected to an attempted hanging from a tree) for doing what he believed was the right thing, and he just kept fucking doing it, as a skinny nerdy kid with few friends and what he perceived as no support from his mom. Mikami killed a guy on a bus in broad daylight. He is not a timid dude, except MAYBE where Kira is involved, and even then, he's prone to moving independently and acting on his own intuition. That said, I think when he DOES feel fear he becomes very existential and sort of bleak about it very quickly, almost disturbingly so. He is not a super mentally well person and can be prone to paranoia, particularly given that throughout his life it's seemed that an unknown force can read his thoughts and kill people he thinks badly of. I also think he's big into the idea of exposure therapy and is the kind of person who thinks that if you're scared of bugs you should let one crawl across your face so you can overcome your fear or whatever. Let me know how that works out for you bro!

14. Romance headcanon (Mikalight)

DREAMY SIGH!!!!!!! I love them. Honestly a huge chunk of what I like about them is how blatantly canonically attracted to Mikami Light is. Like he picks the dude off a TV screen after being ~mysteriously drawn~ to him out of a slew of Kira supporters. He spends a HUGE part of the time immediately after Mikami is introduced musing on how he picked the perfect surrogate actor. There's also whole bit of the phone call between them in e32:

which is like. You cannot tell me this man is not ROCK FUCKING HARD rn. Also I think this is very much Mikami's first time experiencing this kind of thing! Not because he's not hot or thinks of himself as unattractive (he is, and he doesn't) and not even because other people don't know he's hot (they do) but because he socially positions himself in such a way that nobody has ever approached him to tell him they're attracted to him before and he's never approached anyone else for the same purpose. So I think when Light is very blatantly like "I think you're attractive and I'm interested in engaging with you in a romantic sense" (or whatever geek ass shit he would say because he knows the lines he pulls on girls aren't going to work) he's like ⁉️, but not in the sense of like, nerd guy getting hit on by hot homecoming king, rather just like...oh I didn't know this was going to happen to me and honestly haven't given it a ton of thought. I don't think he's a guy with a whole lot of secret romantic longing and fantasy going on (unlike Light who VERY MUCH IS) because, with the exception of his streak of religious fanaticism, he's pretty pragmatically-minded and likes to focus on things he perceives as actually relevant to his life, so when he first starts kind of crushing on Light he's like Oh so I just think stupid shit now? What the fuck? and attempts to get over it (thereby only making it worse). ANDDDD he thinks Light is divine and beautiful instantly but doesn't have a lot of context for what that means or feels like. And they kiss each other a lot and stuff. Okay. That's enough for this post

[azrielgreen]

Hellooo I have a writing question if that’s okay. 💜

Basically, whenever I write anything I always project onto the characters, and this makes them all seem kind of the same. All anxious, worried, insecure, etc. I know some of that is okay and what makes a work unique, but I feel a lack of control over my stories because of this. Like the characters run away from me and the narrative gets weighed down by my own thoughts and feelings instead of the characters’.

I’ve read all your stories and see that you have a strong idea of who characters are and how far you can take them. Like, you even know the varying degrees a story can fuck a reader up, and how fucked up a certain character is. Steve’s variances from YD to BOD and now Rooms most notably.

I know your main thing is to make sure you have a sun and moon fic so you can channel out dark emotions and not muddle up your happier stories/scenes with this “negativity”.

But I was wondering if you’d be able to give any other advice on maintaining a stronger grip on both the narrative and the characters, and adding your own unique perspective/personality to the story without overdoing it. Even the way you’re able to control your chapter word count so they’re all around the same length. I find my stories start off with lower word counts and as I get into it, my word count explodes. Is there any way to avoid this? You’ve said before to work in batches of 20-30k. But I find when I start a story I don’t have that in me yet. Like I’m kind of directionless.

Ahhh this is a lot of fucking questions lmao. I’m sorry!! I’d really appreciate if you could even answer one of them. 💜💜 Thank you!!

Hello lovely, I'm sorry this took forever to answer, I've had so many of these and wanted to give yours a really full answer💜💕✨️

These are such valid questions!

So, to begin with, looking at characters and how we express ourselves through them. What i do is usually to choose one character I mainly identify with (Steve, usually) and allow myself to express my needs through this character. Through the other, I express my giving side. What I would loved to have given myself when I was younger etc... Through the villain, i write my fears and my experiences.

So essentially you're splitting pieces of yourself into the characters like light through a prism. It helps to write backstory for each one sometimes too. I tend to go in blind but there's always a unique sense of how they're formed from past experiences.

Self expression through characters can be difficult but it does help to compartmentalise and let certain pieces of yourself only go to one character. If you're drawn to writing anxious characters who struggle with insecurity (a theme I'm consistently drawn to) then remember to have the other characters respond how you would WANT people to respond to you. Two sides of the coin. The problem and the solution. The seed and the earth.

I do also recommend writing a moon and sun fic alongside one another, because the overspill of intensity and darkness I tend to generate once I'm into a story can creep into places where it doesn't belong so the divide is important for me.

As for unique experiences/personality coming through the characters, I do limit myself here with a degree of filtering. So I would never directly put my own experience from life into the story without some degree of narrative parsing, I.e metaphors, imagery, symbolism etc... and mostly it comes through in tiny elements and themes so it's not glaring to me when i read it back. Where i let myself flow unrestrained is the intensity, that's all me, I'm a very intense person and I don't ever hold back. I also find that reading scenes aloud helps to crystallise dialogue and i also run scenes in my head a lot before writing them.

As per word count, this can be tricky and i really do recommend not posting anything until you've written 25k of it BECAUSE:

▫️in my experience it takes 25k to get the feel of what you actually HAVE here

▫️it gives you space to go back and make small plot changes as you need

▫️it'll train you into writing that length right from the start and massively reward your effort from the get go once you've hit that mark.

▫️it'll show you where a story might lose steam along the way (some stories aren't meant to be more than a pretty idea in your head and that's completely fine)

▫️25k-30k will let you spend enough time with the characters to develop traits, language patterns, symmetry of symbolism, and it gives you time to get to know them.

Many times around the 18-20k mark I'll realise something like "actually no, go back and change that so he's always been very jokey in the face of insecurity" little things about the characters that often evolve deeper into the story than 5-10k and by waiting until you've written 30k, you're giving yourself time to explore and make those changes before it's posted.

This is of course only my opinion and everyone's methods are varied, beautiful and valid.

If you're struggling with direction at the start, which is common, remember that your creative instincts are sharp and getting sharper every day. Lean where you're passionate, try to make it as fun as you can. You have so many stories inside you.

Other things that help:

▫️Dialogue heavy scenes

▫️Time skips/vignette style

▫️Line breaks

▫️Switching POV

I hope any of this is helpful💜💜💜

[limerancy-fics]

what makes xiaoven possible from ventis pov in canonverse? what are some reasons why he would get along w xiao, esp to the point of love?

i see this a lot, actually. a lot of people who aren't xv shippers don't see how they would like each other, and i especially saw for a while at the start people saying venti would never love xiao for "freedom" reasons or whatever. but if someone really thinks venti wouldn't get along with xiao or vice versa, i know they don't actually look at the characters beyond surface interpretation and fanon characterization.

because xiao is exactly the type of person venti is drawn to. before or beyond romance. i mean, look at vennessa--she is, in my mind, very similar to xiao: someone who is trapped and wishes for freedom, someone who is forced to fight when that's not who they want to be, someone who becomes one of the only things between their nation and those who want to destroy it. they're both kind-hearted, deep down, gentle souls who have been given a role in life that pains them (and even after life, in regards to vennessa and celestia). they both fight for the freedom of their people, because they know it's the only thing they can do. and, though we don't know much about the nameless bard, we can assume he was similar to them as well. out of everyone in mond, the nameless bard and vennessa were the ones venti was drawn to. out of everyone in liyue, xiao is the only one we know of who has the power of anemo and has been saved/freed by venti in the same way vennessa was: given just enough to fight for themselves. if venti had not played for xiao that night, he would have been lost to the karma and as far as we're aware, he hasn't been that close to losing it ever since.

venti is very intelligent. he's very compassionate. he's very supportive and understanding. and he's very much drawn to people like xiao. xiao is different from vennessa in that he's had a lot longer to build his walls and be stuck in his rut. so the way venti approaches him is likely a much more delicate dance than what he did with vennessa or the nameless bard. it would take a lot more time. and, despite what most people think, venti doesn't actually bail out when the going gets tough. we see that 100% in how he was with us to face dvalin and how he took down durin with dvalin during the cataclysm--leading durin away from the city and to the mountain, both to protect his people from the dragon itself and the dragon's corrupted corpse.

i think he'd 100% be persistent in wiggling through xiao's walls to at least become his friend, even if just because he thinks xiao needs one. most people seem to think he'd get bored with xiao and how difficult he can be and just move on, but i think he's not so easily fooled. he knows there's more underneath who xiao seems to be on the surface. and he would, of course, slowly reveal the traits xiao has that make him so loveable: his gentleness, his kindness, his loyalty and devotion, his sense of responsibility, his care for liyue and its people, his selflessness, his strength (physically and emotionally), and, most importantly, his deep, deep, deep desire for freedom and peace. i think venti, of all people, would be the one who could see all of this despite the front xiao puts up.

and...how could he not fall in love?

because beyond who xiao is individually, he might also be one of the only people who could understand venti and his very specific grief. there are very few people still alive who went through the archon war, very few people who have lost in the way they have, who have had to live on in the way they have¹. that kind of shared past and pain can create a very strong bond and may be the catalyst for venti feeling like he doesn't have to put on an act around xiao--in fact, xiao is so blunt that it may draw venti away from that mask without him meaning to. and, especially after the Situation with signora, xiao might be one of the only people he can feel safe with.

he doesn't have to put on an act around xiao, he doesn't have to pretend he's not in pain, he doesn't have to worry about being hurt by someone else. he can literally just sit there and play and not say a single word but still be in the company of someone who understands him and i think that's something he very much needs sometimes.

yes, there would definitely be a period of time in which xiao sees him as Lord Barbatos but with a few pranks, antics, and general mischief, that image would be shattered and he would just be venti, which would make being around xiao much more comfortable for him

and i think all of this combined makes the perfect recipe for centuries of extremely intense longing, yearning, pining, etc.

you might ask: "okay, sure, but why xiao? i mean zhongli is right there and he fits a bunch of that criteria!" and i would say: "well, hypothetical anon, as it is, venti and zhongli just can't fucking stand being in each other's presence for more than an hour at most. they are both too much like their elements: free and reckless and flighty as the wind and rigid and stubborn and grand as stone. there's a reason anemo and geo don't react with each other: they just butt up against each other because one is an unstoppable force and the other is an immovable object and they don't get anywhere with each other. i doubt any form of valuable communication can happen between the two of them, and i doubt they could actually like being around each other and genuinely enjoy the other's company beyond just generally annoying each other."

and after all this, i just have to say: i actually wrote a fic all about it, believe it or not. i have an almost 200k word fic about how i think they feel about each other in canonverse, which includes venti's pov and goes over literally everything i said, just much more poetic and filled with a lot more yearning. idk if u've read it yet anon but highly recommend 👍

[jazzforthecaptain]

I was around while Free! was super popular on tumblr, but couldn't join in at the time. I found it after subscribing to Crunchyroll and have been watching it over break. Omg, I get it.

I mean I'm a Haikyuu!! girlie, and I got into Prince of Tennis back in college - always love me a good team sport anime. I was already going to like Free! but the quality of the storytelling and the animation surprised me. I love how while it leans into some tropes of the subgenre, it bucks others. Most of the time I find myself drawn to a couple characters. The rest are typically comfortable tropes, there to fill space and provide a familiar arc of relationships. Free! may be the first of its subgenre that invested me in the entire ensemble cast. The interpersonal dynamics are fascinating, and over time it seems like everyone's developing their own relationships with each other. Plus, I mean, Rei. Rei. I expected a certain cerebral statistician trope from him when he came in with his glasses and his precision head math. What I've got instead is this deeply enthusiastic soul who waxes poetic about the beauty of the sport and is still bad at swimming because he's so new to it - but getting better! He's a good teammate and is attentive and supportive to everyone. Rei's earnest enthusiasm is why I'm here typing this right now. He's infectious. He's me. But Haru's struggle to find his reason for swimming competitively is relatable, as well as his struggle to articulate what he wants and needs and be understood. Makoto's the calm, devoted friend I'd like to be, giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and loving and supporting people where they're at. And Nagisa is the facilitator friend with the Force of Nature personality that can get anyone on board to do anything. The fascinating thing is, they all have gotten moments to better explain why they function like this in their friend group, as well as moments when they fail and moments when we see what they're hiding, and I believe we'll get more. It elevates basic roles in a sports anime into something richer and compelling.

If that were all, it would be enough. But this series has gorgeous, gorgeous animation. The swimming sequences are detailed and stylized. They're beautiful, clearly meant to be part of the feeling behind the story, and it shows. The facial animation is incredible. I really love how Free! does silent exchanges between characters, particularly Makoto and Haru. Their expressions are alive. And the show has a stronger sense of place than much of the sports anime I've watched. I feel like I could map some of this out if I went back and looked through it.

This isn't to say Free! is some peak tier anime. One of the main cast inexplicably has shark teeth. We got a shopping episode with a swim gear montage for no reason other than to show how much Rei really likes rainbows and butterflies. We spend a lot of time looking at very elaborately detailed back muscles, lol. I'm sure the swimming factoids aren't 100% accurate and there's plenty of Swimming Is SRS BSNS moments. But that's the silly stuff that makes me love team sports anime.

The longer I watch this, the more I enjoy it. If you like Haikyuu!! but haven't given Free! a watch yet, you might want to.

[sapphire-weapon]

I used to draw for other small/rare ships (apparently I'm drawn to those kind of ships lol), only one of them got huge enough after they were given some time alone in the manga which got the ship more talented and known creators and amazing fan art.

Unfortunately it also got more hate on since it was a ship that "got in the way" of other huge popular ships and going through the tag got annoying bc the haters tagged every post shitting on the previously rare pairing, plus if you reblogged or made content for it they would harass you. I just blocked everyone sending me hate lmao.

Lots of people now hate Leon/Ashley but I think this increased hatred also shows how the haters can see that it is a thing now unlike before. They see it as a real threat. You can see the insecurity in some of those antis, it's too obvious and also just sad imo. I don't get why antis take shipping too seriously like they're not even having fun anymore and that's supposed to be the point, no?

Truth is I've seen so many Leon/Ashley fans online and even irl, Reddit for example loves it and Remake Ashley is a fan favorite now. A lot of them are more casual fans that maybe don't engage that deeply with fanon (which tbh is the smart thing to do).

Finally I have to say your blog and the amazing fic writers have inspired me to go back to drawing fan art and just creating content for Ashley/Leon or EagleOne. :)

Since this is my new otp and the only thing I love shipping rn I'm also just creating a new blog for that purpose. I'm not an amazing artist I'm just an amateur but I'll try to do something soon when I'm less busy. I'll absolutely tag it as EagleOne. Hopefully I can motivate others to do the same.

anon what the fuCK i got all emotional reading this wyd 😭

i know that the antis are coming from a place of insecurity, which is why their arguments are so disingenuous (i finally found the "the devs went out of their way to make sure that leon and ashley weren't seen as romantic" tweet and hoo boy the desperation is stinky) -- and that's also why i don't engage with them. as easy and perhaps fun as it would be to just QRT it and be like "oh it makes sense now, you're all using text to speech because you don't actually know how to read" there's no point in doing that.

i said it a while ago, but i want to say it again for good measure -- i don't want us to become them. my humble goal for eagleone fandom is to be a haven for ppl. we've been the black sheep of this fandom for so long, and aeons are still accusing us of being predators or someshit (idk i'm only semi-fluent in delusional) that i feel like we all have an obligation to stay humble now that capcom's given us a fairy tale version of RE4 where our ship is the front-and-center romance and people are finally actually being drawn to the ship. no one knows how bad this fandom can get better than eagleone folk, so it's on us to not do unto others what has been done unto us.

idk maybe that's just my whole jewish "because you were slaves in egypt..." mindset coming out but

i want us to be a place where people can just come and hang out and make friends over our shared love for resident evil. i know that i have serennedy and cleon and chreon and metaltango people all following me, and i love all of them dearly and i'm happy that we've all found each other. i feel like that's what fandom should be.

that's why i don't fight with aeons out in the open. i don't want to become them. i'll swing back if they ever come here (though i hope valuable lessons were learned the last time someone tried to come in here swinging and i took them out in exactly two responses LMAO), but i don't want to go out picking fights and i don't want any of y'all to do it either.

so it makes me feel really warm and fuzzy and happy to hear that i've inspired you in some way. i know that our little corner of the fandom over here on tumblr is small, and i know that i don't exactly have the kind of welcoming personality that will give me any sort of real platform in this fandom (at least, not like the one i had back in the day when i was a fake ass bitch LMAO), but to know that i've made at least a little difference is everything for me.

[theamityelf]

Understandable. Though I still think it can be very fun to explore romantic relationships between them and Ultimates. Especially in Nagito's case.

Like I have this one alternate idea for how Nagito could have figured out who Imposter really is. Where he starts to notice that there's a quality gap in the sketches Ryota does in class and the ones he brings from his dorm. They're good, but look like ones drawn by a relative newcomer to animation. And moreover he's shocked when he does a background check and finds that Ryota Mitarai has been chronically underweight his whole life. With the last photo of him taken months before Hope's Peak reflecting that. Which leads to Nagito confronting Imposter to ask who they are and where the real Ryota Mitarai is.

Imposter is actually somewhat relieved when they realize the confrontation comes out of concern for Ryota, and quickly calms Nagito by showing that he's perfectly safe. And then Nagito gets very excited upon realizing he's stumbled upon the class' secret Ultimate with a talent that fooled everyone. And it lead to some weirdly heartwarming bonding where they slowly work on building up a sense of self-worth in each other.

With Nagito volunteering to help Imposter perfect their Nagito Komaeda impersonation. Helping them to appreciate just how incredible it really is that they can so flawlessly mimic the mannerisms and even skills of himself and their classmates. And with Imposter in turn taking the time to observe that there's one thing about Nagito that they just can't nail. The crazy luck. They've become a decent animator, they've learned some first aid, and they even feel confident enough that they could pass themselves off as a mechanic or team manager. But all of their test runs at replicating Nagito's luck through stuff like coin flips all turn out to be busts. And despite how frustrating that luck can be to Nagito, he does still have something quite special that can't be imitated. Even by someone that Nagito now considers one of the most talented Ultimates at Hope's Peak.

Also I think there's some fun to be had with Nagito and Mahiru's talent. Like what makes hers interesting is that her particular subject of focus in photography is actually right up Nagito's alley taste-wise. Mahiru and others might think that her work doesn't quite stack up to the famous war photography of her mother. But the idea of focusing on people at their brightest and happiest is like peak art for Nagito. And I think he's one of the few people in the class who could give her the detailed critique that she craves in her FTEs.

The fact that she herself is a relatively normal person compared to most at Hope's Peak adds to that. Like it makes her one of the people that would make it easiest for Nagito to come to terms with not putting Ultimates on a pedestal. She'd probably be one who would actually be fully onboard with renouncing the title she was given. Which I think could lead to its own heartwarming interaction.

Nagito: "Is it okay if I keep thinking of you as the Ultimate Photographer? Not as like a position or anything. But...just for me? Because even if there are a hundred more skilled photographers out there, none of their photos would make me feel as warm as yours do."

Mahiru: "...Okay. Just for you and me. As long as I get to think of you as my Ultimate Luckster. Because I feel very lucky to have known you."

I definitely agree that all of those scenarios are a lot of fun, and I do love Nagito having deep and meaningful relationships with Imposter and Mahiru. Like I kind of mentioned briefly in that one post, I think the issue is mainly that I also kind of have some hangups around the need to be empirically, competitively good at things, and I find it more comforting if the characters I like aren't focused on that.

So while, on a sheer character basis, I love a lot of the potential in those ships and can enjoy content about them, the ships I draw the most comfort from are the ones that are saying, "Don't worry, you don't have to be the best at anything; just try your best."

[thefanficmonster]

I wouldn’t be mad if you went down the Hannix fic route! Maybe some headcanons please?? 🥺

THE WAY YOU MADE MY DAY OMG! Hannix headcanons headed your way, enjoy 💕

Hannix's first date

Pairing: Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace x Jake 'Hangman' Seresin [Top Gun: Maverick]

Warnings: None :)

Genre: Fluff, Romance

Several pilots lift a curious eyebrow or give a concerned frown as they scope the interior of The Hard Deck and fail to pinpoint the presence of two particular pilots

Phoenix and Hangman

The two rarely skip out on a night of letting loose and throwing back a beer but not much further thought is given to their absence

After all, it's been a day of brutal training with an even more brutal weather that's certain to kick anyone in the teeth and send them to bed early no matter how much of a party animal they are

Logical explanation, is it not?

No one can blame the aviators for resorting to that conclusion because it does in fact make a lot more sense than the actuality would

And what that is, you might be wondering?

Well, let me tell you:

The outlandish reality of the situation no pilot present could've guessed is that Hangman and Phoenix, two individuals who appear to be massive thorns in each other's sides, are out having dinner together

Not a casual dinner, no, no, no.

If you don't believe me, then you better believe their outfit choices

More specifically Jake's perfectly ironed white button-up shirt and Nat's sundress

Yeah, not Hangman and Phoenix, but Jake and Natasha

No callsigns on this table tonight

Need I give any more hints as to what kind of dinner it is?

On second though, I won't

I'll let events tell themselves:

During the dinner, Natasha could barely recognize the person sitting opposite her

Hell, she even found herself put-off by the lack of Jake's trademark douchiness and condescending remarks

It was a nice change of pace and a solid glimpse into his true self when he wasn't hauling ass to keep up appearances at base

He could say the same thing though

He was surprised by the warmth Nat radiated and how honestly she smiled at him, her eyes glinting with the reflected glow of the above-head fairy lights

They're 100% themselves tonight and it just goes to show that some aspects of their personalities come in conjunction with the title 'Lieutenant' and their callsigns

When at base, they're Navy-coded, halfway playing a part

And even if their roles contradict to the point of crossing into enemy territory, they still ended up drawn to one another

Luckily so, otherwise neither of them would've had the chance to discover the other's extended spectrum of colors and personality

"Gotta say, you really know how to surprise a lady, Bagman."

Looks like that false callsign stuck though

His lips widen into a grin every time he hears it - a grand improvement from when it felt like a fly buzzing by his ear

"I'm not an empty promises kind of guy. Thought you'd know that by now."

There's that cockiness she could feel herself starting to miss

Which is surprising because that very aspect of his character is what had her promising herself she'd give Hangman and whatever it is they could be only one chance

Only one

One date and if it were to fall through, she wouldn't waste her time any further

But looking down at their intertwined fingers as they walk down the beach, barefoot in the sand after leaving the restaurant, she feels like she could've made the biggest mistake had she not given him this one chance

"And yet you still leave a lot to the imagination."

"Huh-?"

Hangman barely has time to even be confused properly when Phoenix frees her hand from his while the other drops her heels in the sand so she can bring him down by the collar of his shirt and kiss him

Something he most definitely wouldn't have initiated himself, not on the first date anyhow

He wants to take things slow with her because unlike many of his previous relationships, he's actually willing to give his all to make this work

And that's exactly what he's going to do

However, just because he didn't want to rush things does not mean he didn't want to kiss her

He was dying to, had been the entire night

Which is why he kissed her back without a second to spare

A moment under the moonlight straight out of a romance movie