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yamayuandadu · 5 months

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Tamamizu Monogatari, a unique love story

This article, unlike most of my recent longer pieces, was not planned in advance. I learned about the subject very recently, and instantly realized I absolutely have to introduce it to more people, the previously posted schedule be damned. The Tale of Tamamizu (玉水物語, Tamamizu Monogatari) is a story about a fox turning into a human, but a rather unconventional one, filled with an unusual degree of sympathy for the eponymous protagonist and focused on a rather unique relationship. In addition to summarizing it in detail and explaining the possible inspirations behind it, I will also try to explain why the tale found a new life on social media as a, broadly speaking, lgbt narrative, and why I think there is a compelling case to be made for such an interpretation. Unless stated otherwise, all images used through the article are taken from the Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive, on whose website you can view scans of the original Tamamizu Monogatari.

The Tale of Tamamizu, also known as The Contest of Autumn Leaves (Momiji Awase) is an example of otogi-zōshi, illustrated prose narrative. The story was presumably originally composed in the Muromachi period (1335-1573), and it survives in multiple copies dated either to the early Edo period or to the end of the Japanese “middle ages” directly preceding it. The identity of the author (or authors) is unknown. Despite its apparent popularity in the past, it seems no major studies of the tale of Tamamizu have ever been conducted. A streamlined translation (or rather an extensive summary) was published online by Kyoto University Library in 2001 and can be accessed here. In 2018, a full translation, as well as a brief introduction, were prepared for the anthology Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds. A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales. Still, it doesn't seem either sparked all that much interest in Tamamizu, despite the story’s obvious modern appeal. Since the tale of Tamamizu is not well known, I will start with a detailed summary. I am consistently using female pronouns for Tamamizu after she transforms, as does the older translation. The other English translation switches between female and male pronouns. I will explain in the final paragraph of the article why I made the decision to follow the former. The Tale of Tamamizu The story of Tamamizu does not start with the eponymous character, but rather with a certain mr. Takayanagi from Toba. He is troubled, as while he is already 30, he has no children. He decides the only choice is to pray to gods and buddhas. This actually does work, and his wife becomes pregnant, and after the expected period gives birth to a daughter. She doesn’t get a name at any point in the story. The girl’s birth is followed by a timeskip. As we learn, she was distinguished by twenty five features associated with beauty. This is apparently a reference to the belief that a buddha possessed thirty two specific physical traits; the number might have been altered to twenty five because of a popular group of twenty five bodhisattvas associated with Amida. By the time she reached the age of fifteen or so, she also developed great skill in composing poetry in both Japanese and Chinese. Her parents at some point decided that it would be ideal to send her to serve in the emperor’s court in the future. The girl spends most of the time in awe of the blooming of flowers, the wind and other similar phenomena, as one would expect from a literary character of similar status. She maintains her own flower garden, and spends much of her time there.

On one of the days when she visited it alongside her friend Tsukisae, the daughter of her nurse, she caught the attention of a fox. The fox is, at this point in time, not yet Tamamizu. He wishes he could introduce himself to the girl. He considers the standard method - transforming into a nobleman - but he realizes this would likely sadden the girl’s parents, and would tarnish her reputation. He falls into despair. It does not exactly help that his attempts at visiting the garden again end up poorly - on the way there, he gets pelted with stones and then, after trying again, shot with an arrow. Still, he continued to hope to meet with the girl. An opportunity finally arose through a lucky coincidence. Another family living in the same area had multiple sons, but no daughters, much to the parents chagrin. They loudly lamented that they wished they had at least one girl among the children. The fox overheard that and realized it might be an opportunity. He transformed himself into a teenage girl (curiously, the story specifically puts her at the exact same age as the unnamed second protagonist), and enters their house. She explains that she is an orphan, and while passing by she overheard the family’s woes. She offers to become their daughter. The couple instantly agrees.

The fox spends some time living with her adoptive family, though she gets sad easily and keeps bursting into tears. After some time, they offer that they will find her a husband in due time, but she reacts to that poorly, and eventually suggests she would prefer to become the servant of a noble lady. Her adoptive mother agrees this isn’t a bad idea, and reveals that her younger sister is a lady-in-waiting of the daughter of a local noble, mr. Takayanagi. She suggests the fox could become her attendant too. She is overjoyed at this prospect, and is soon sent to Takayanagi’s mansion to meet with his daughter. The girl receives her new attendant warmly, and gives her a nickname, Tamamizu-no-mae (Tamamizu for short). They get along really well, and Tamamizu gets to partake in her various activities, serves her food and drinks, and even sleeps in the same bed (Tsukisae does too, though). While Tamamizu does remarkably well as a human, some of her fox habits remain. Most notably, she is really afraid of dogs. Her lady sympathizes with her plight, and actually bans dogs from her household. This is a much welcome change from Tamamizu’s point of view, though apparently some other members of the staff start to view her as a coward because of this, and simultaneously resent her closeness with the girl. The bond between Tamamizu and the girl reaches a new level when on a moonlight night they spontaneously compose a poem together. It deals with longing. We are told it was followed up by multiple other poems, which are not quoted in the story. Eventually the girl gets tired and heads to her room. However, Tamamizu remains outside gazing at the moon and eventually starts crying, unsure what fate awaits her. Tsukisae, who was inside all along, actually becomes concerned about Tamamizu, and says she feels sorry for her, correctly identifying the cause of her sorrow as love for an unidentified party. She shares her thoughts with their lady (in the form of a poem, of course). The latter summons Tamamizu inside, and soon all three go to bed together. Tamamizu is still overwhelmed by her feelings and can’t fall asleep, though. Tamamizu continues to serve the girl for the next three years. She also remains in touch with her adoptive mother, who sends her letters and new clothes every now and then. One day, many visitors arrived in the house for a friendly competition. The winner will be the person with the most beautiful collection of autumn leaves. Tamamizu decides she must find some for her mistress to give her an advantage. To accomplish that, at night for the first time in years she turns back into a fox, and leaves to visit her siblings. Not the adoptive ones, though. As it turns out, she has two fox brothers, one younger and one older. She actually hasn’t visited them in so long they assumed she died and held funerary services for her in the meanwhile. They are overjoyed to learn that is not the case, and after learning about her current life agree to help her with finding unique leaves. She tells them to leave them on the veranda of her mistress’ mansion, and reassures them it’s safe for foxes to be there thanks to the earlier decision to not allow dogs on the premises. After the visit Tamamizu returns home in her human form. Tsukisae and her mistress ask her where she has been, and she jokes about meeting with a “dubious fellow” (which, to be fair, is not even a lie, given the typical folkloric portrayal of foxes). This in turn leads to more jokes, revolving around Tamamizu no longer thinking about her mistress. She feels distressed by this suggestion.

Tamamizu’s brothers in the meanwhile succeed in their search for thrilling leaves. One of them found a branch with five-colored leaves decorated with the Lotus Sutra (as you probably know, one of the main religious texts in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition). Tamamizu is overjoyed, and instantly brings them to her mistress. The girl received plenty of leaves from other people in the meanwhile, but all of them pale in comparison. She is so happy about the gift that she requests Tamamizu to also write poems meant to accompany the presentation of the collection. She protests that she is unsuitable, but eventually accepts this honor and gets down to work. The parents of the girl came along to watch her write, and both of them concluded she is exceptionally skilled. She ends up providing five poems, one for each color of leaves gathered. They are subsequently combined by these the girl wrote herself.

Obviously, the main characters’ joint entry wins the competition. This grants the girl such fame that the emperor declares she should come to his court. Since her father is not affluent enough to pay for traveling there, he bestows additional estates upon him to make that possible. Even Tamamizu gets her own estate, Kakuta in Settsu Province. However, she decides it will be for the best to give it to her adoptive parents. Shortly after that, Tamamizu’s adoptive mother falls sick. She leaves her mistress to attend to her, but it did not help much and her condition kept worsening. Therefore, her stay had to be extended over and over again. This predicament worries her mistress, who sends her a letter to let her know that it is boring and gloomy without her around, and implores her to return as soon as her mother’s condition improves. Tsukisae is similarly concerned. Both of them voice their concerns through poems, which at this point should not be surprising for the reader.

Tamamizu of course appreciates these displays of sympathy, but she cannot return, so in response she only reassures both of them that she will meet with them again as soon as possible. Shortly after that, the mother’s condition worsened yet again. The entire family laments through the entire day, but eventually everyone manages to fall asleep - save for Tamamizu. In the middle of the night Tamamizu notices that an old, hairless fox entered the house. She quickly realizes that he was her paternal uncle (a fox uncle, that is. Not a relative of her adoptive parents). The illness was his doing, as she quickly realizes. Tamamizu requests him to leave her adoptive mother alone. However, the old fox says he cannot do that, as the illness is his act of revenge against her family, since her father killed his child. He concluded it is only right to make his daughter sick so that she dies too.

Tamamizu admits that this makes sense in theory, but she points out that acting upon desire for revenge will only bring bad karma, and bad karma from previous lives is why both of them were born as foxes in the first place. She offers the old fox a crash course in Buddhist ethics, and warns him that accumulating even more bad karma might lead to someone eventually killing him too, and to yet more rebirths in one of the three realms which are best to avoid (animals, hungry spirits, hell).

The old fox notes following buddhas is for humans, not for those born in other realms of rebirth (he’s not entirely wrong, humans are generally held to be in the optimal condition to seek enlightenment; animals must follow instinct and thus end up accumulating bad karma, devas are to preoccupied with celestial bliss), but eventually he relents and agrees that it would be wrong to kill the woman because of the actions of her father. He concludes that it would not even make him feel better, since his child would remain dead. He tells Tamamizu that evidently he was able to meet her because of good karma acquired in a past life, asks her to pray for his deceased child, and leaves, announcing he shall become a monk reciting nenbutsu from now on. Tamamizu did what he asked for, and even performed a funerary service for her late cousin. With the problem solved, her adoptive mother returned to good health. She was therefore free to meet with her mistress again. She was elevated to the rank of chujo no kimi, the foremost among servants. However, despite her mistress’ best efforts to make her feel appreciated, she was suffering from persistent bouts of melancholy. She wished she could confess her love and consummate the relationship, but she concluded that since she kept her identity secret for so long, it would be no longer possible to reveal it without losing the acceptance of the girl. She decides she must disappear. However, before that she prepares a long poem explaining her predicament.

She placed it in a box, and gave it to her mistress, explaining that it should only be opened if something happens to her. She then broke down in tears.

Tamamizu’s mistress does not fully understand what is happening, and asks if she perhaps is worried about their planned relocation to the imperial court. However, Tamamizu denies that and guarantees she will accompany her on the journey there. Her mistress starts crying too, and says she has hoped they will always be together. Shortly after, the day of the journey came. Tamamizu’s mistress and mr. Takayanagi, now recognized as a lord, were certain that she went with them, but as soon as they reached their destination it turned out she was nowhere to be found. Days upon days of grieving followed. Eventually, the girl realized that she had no choice but to open the box. From the poem contained within, she learned everything about Tamamizu, from the day they first met all the way up to the disappearance. It explained how she hoped to protect her mistress through her current life and beyond, but had to give up after realizing it was all in vain. In the final words of the poem, she firmly refers to her with the name she was given by the girl - Tamamizu.

The poem moves her deeply, but the story does not have a happy ending - we never learn what happened to Tamamizu afterwards.

Tamamizu’s forerunners

It is agreed that much like the considerably more famous Tamamo no Mae, Tamamizu in part depends on earlier Chinese literature about foxes. Not exactly on the same sort of stories, though - she is not exactly a malevolent seductress, to put it lightly. The key to finding her forerunners is the scene in the beginning when the still nameless fox considers transforming into a male suitor at first, before settling on the form of a female attendant, and the erudition she displays through the story. An argument can be made that this is conscious engagement with a very specific type of older fox story, largely forgotten today. In Tang China, fox stories enjoyed considerable popularity. You may remember that I mentioned this in passing a few months ago in another fox-themed article. One of the genres popular at the time was focused on fox suitors. There are many stories like that, but they largely follow a similar plot: a male fox falls in love with a human girl, takes the form of a dashing literatus and requests marriage. The girl’s family rejects the proposal, as despite charm and erudition the fox is ultimately an outsider with no family, and doesn’t depend on the well established institution of matchmaking. Afterwards, he typically tries to win the girl over with some sort of trick, and fails in the process, thus meeting his demise when his real identity is inevitably exposed.

In some cases, twists are introduced and the fox is effectively exploited by the family: for example, in the story about a certain mr. Hu (a common surname which is a homonym for the word for fox) and the granddaughter of the official Li Yuangong, the Li family agrees for the girl to be taught by the fox, and even asks him for advice on various matters, just to kill him once he outlived his usefulness.

Zhou Wenju's painting A Literary Garden (文苑图, Wenyuantu), showing a group of discouring Tang literati (wikimedia commons)

Many literati came from humble backgrounds, and only attained high positions thanks to success in the imperial examinations. However, their advances were often frowned upon by nobles, who saw them as upstarts. Therefore, faking a more notable origin was widespread to secure a better position in the high strata of society. All of this is reflected in the stories of the fox suitors. Xiaofei Kang, who wrote my favorite monograph about Chinese fox beliefs, notes that the stories might have effectively been a way to cope with everyday anxieties. In other words, perhaps the fox self insert fails so that the real person sharing his precarious status can succeed.

Another aspect of the Tale of Tamamizu which offers a clue about its origins is the focus on Buddhism, and its role in the lives of non-humans in particular. Tamamizu evidently attains a considerable familiarity with Buddhist doctrine, to the point the old fox basically seems to perceive her as thinking more like a human than a fox. Evidently, she doesn’t think being an animal should prevent one from seeking good karma. This seems to reflect a medieval Buddhist phenomenon. Roughly from the Insei period (1086-1185) up to the eighteenth century, and especially between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, the dominant esoteric schools of Buddhism propagated the doctrine of hongaku (本覺), “original enlightenment”. This idea originates in an earlier Buddhis text, Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna. According to proponents of this idea all living beings, even plants, possessed an innate “Buddha nature”, as did natural features like mountains. They were innately capable of attaining enlightenment, or innately enlightened outright. Religion influences art, so it has been argued that the spread of new stories about animals behaving like people in the Muromachi period had a distinctly Buddhist dimension.

The modern reception of Tamamizu

Despite the fascinating themes of the story of Tamamizu, it only found a greater degree of modern recognition in 2019, outside of academic circles at that. I'm surprised it took so long, since when you think about it, the sensibilities of the author indeed seem surprisingly modern. The narrator even reassures us Tamamizu’s human form is the same age as the object of her affection, anticipating what sorts of shipping discourse could arise 700 years later. Anyway, in 2019 a fragment of the story was the subject of one of the classical Japanese literature questions from the National Center Test for University Admissions, a standardized university entrance exam held across Japan each January from 1990 to 2020. This obviously exposed an enormous number of people to it, not just exam-takers. Following this event, a Tamamizu fad seemingly swept social media and pixiv (curiously, there’s a single piece of art there which predates the phenomenon by six years; op actually updated the description in 2019 to say they are happy more people learned about the story). There’s even a Tamamizu Monogatari tag on Dynasty Scans as a result. It’s worth pointing out the wikipedia entry of the story was written in 2019 as well. Most curiously apparently a research project focused on Tamamizu, Kahoko Iguru’s Border transgression between species and gender as observed in “Tamamizu Monogatari”, received a grant in the same year too (source; more info here). It doesn’t seem the results have been published yet. I will keep you updated if that changes, obviously. I am actually surprised I didn’t notice the Tamamizu phenomenon back then, even though 2019 Antonia was distinctly more terminally online than 2023 Antonia is. It’s worth noting that Tamamizu’s fame didn’t fade away. The online following the story gained was referenced in an Asahi Shimbun article a year later. A quick survey of social media will show you there are people still talking about Tamamizu today. People who aren’t me, that is. What made Tamamizu so unexpectedly popular - arguably more than the story has been in the past few centuries - in recent years? Most of the linked sources relatively neutrally state that people perceive it as a “unique love story”. Social media posts are often considerably more direct: for many people, the appeal lies in the realization the Tale of Tamamizu is probably the closest to a lesbian love story in the entire corpus of medieval Japanese literature. I won’t deny this is in no small part its appeal for me too. Note this is not an universal sentiment by any means, though. It is difficult to tell if this was the intent of the medieval author(s), of course. It is obviously impossible to deny that women attracted to women existed in medieval Japan, as is the case in every society since the dawn of history. However, they left little, if any, trace in textual sources. As pointed out by Bernard Faure, in Japan in the past as in many other historical societies “sexuality without men is properly unthinkable” and therefore received no coverage. While there is plenty of Japanese Buddhist literature dealing with male homosexuality (trust me though, you do not want to read it; I’ve included a brief explanation why in the bibliography), there is basically nothing when it comes to women. The only possible exception is what some authors argue might be a medieval depiction of a lesbian couple in Tengu Zōshi, a work I plan to discuss in more detail next month, but note that this would be only an example of condemnation, since this work is a religious polemic dealing with vices of the clergy.

The supposed lesbian couple from Tengu Zōshi; image from Haruko Wakayabashi's The Seven Tengu Scrolls: Evil and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy in Medieval Japanese Buddhism; reproduced here for educational purposes only.

This sort of absence of evidence is a recurring pattern through history - you might recall my own attempts to find out what Bronze Age Mesopotamian sources have to say on this matter. Before the Meiji period, when the term dōseiai (同性愛) was coined as a calque of Charles Gilbert Chaddok’s freshly invented label “homosexual”, there wasn’t even a distinct Japanese term which could be applied to lesbian relationships. Once again, this does not indicate this phenomenon did not exist - but it does indicate that due to extreme levels of sexism in the perception of both sexuality and relationships it was difficult to even imagine for the average author. Faure suggests the prevailing attitude was presumably similar as in continental Buddhism, in which lesbian love “was at best perceived as a poor imitation of heterosexual relations—or a preparation for them—and as such condemned” at least in monastic rules. To put it bluntly, only penetrative sex was regarded as real.

And yet, in spite of this, I do not think it is wrong to wonder if perhaps what seems like subtext to a modern reader is actually intentional. This is obviously a reach, but given that relationships between women - not even romantic ones - were historically not a major concern of most authors, I would argue it is not impossible that a work which revolves virtually entirely around the relationships between female characters was written by a woman. Perhaps a woman romantically interested in other women, even. Even more boldly, I’d ponder if perhaps the ambiguous gender of the fox before transformation was meant to make the romance palatable to general audiences. Note that while foxes transforming is a mainstay of both Japanese and Chinese literature, the change of gender is actually quite uncommon in such stories, making this single reference all the more unusual. Granted, gender change is hardly a major focus in the story of Tamamizu. The only real indication the fox is male is the decision to take a male human form at first, but beyond that, things get muddy to the point the matter of gender in the story evidently warranted an actual study, as I pointed out earlier. As you’ve noticed, this matter was approached in different ways by translators too. I personally think the most important factor is the fact Tamamizu refers to herself with this name in the final poem. This name is intimately tied to the distinctly female identity she took. Whoever she was in the beginning, by the end of the story she is clearly Tamamizu. If one felt particularly bold a case perhaps even be made that Tamamizu can be read as a trans woman based on this, perhaps. I think simply disregarding the brief reference to a male form is valid too, though. Even if these arguments were to be refuted fully, I would argue that there is a further reason why at the very least reinterpreting the story as dealing with a gay relationship is not against the spirit of the original work. As I outlined, the tale of Tamamizu seems to draw inspiration from a very specific genre of fox stories, in which foxes are essentially a metaphor for people seeking relationships which were frowned upon. Obviously, the fact that Tamamizu is not a human by default makes any relationship she would be involved in somewhat unusual and frowned upon, but that does not assign a different metaphorical meaning to her struggle. Is Tamamizu even really fully a fox and not a human at all by the time she writes the confession of her love, though? The old fox seems to basically dispute if she still thinks like an animal. We also know that she maintained her human form for so long her biological relatives assumed she had passed away. She also found acceptance of virtually every single human character in the story - save for herself, that is. It’s also not like it’s hard to reinterpret her struggle specifically with the inability to consummate the relationship through the lens of the medieval Buddhist views of female sexuality, rather than through the lens of the general view that relationships between human and transformed foxes were doomed to failure. To paraphrase Cynthia Eller’s evergreen quote about futile search for nonexistent matriarchal prehistory in ancient texts, I do not think an invented wlw past can give anyone a future, but at the same time I do not think it means we should conclude that nobody ever had similar experiences in the past, or that we can relate with works even in ways their authors did not intend. For this reason, I would ultimately argue in favor of embracing the Tale of Tamamizu as a narrative which can be read as a lesbian love story.

Bibliography

Bernard Faure, The Red Thread. Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality (please note: read this book very cautiously since multiple content warnings apply. Faure is a remarkably progressive author, so it’s not about his personal attitude or anything. The problem is that it is not possible to deny much of the Japanese Buddhist discourse about homosexuality had little to do with modern notion of gay relationships, and essentially amounts to explaining when exploitation of children is a pious act)

Rania Huntington, Alien Kind. Foxes and Late Imperial Chinese Narrative (some sort of explicit content warning applies here too, though mostly because some of the discussed works are trashy Qing period erotica. More funny than anything.)

Xiaofei Kang, The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China

Keller Kimbrough and Haruo Shirane (eds.), Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds. A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales

Jacqueline Stone, Medieval Tendai hongaku thought and the new Kamakura Buddhism: A reconsideration

#japanese literature #tamamizu monogatari #lgbt history

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heartbreakprincewille · 1 year

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One of the things I personally really adore about Wilmon's chemistry is that they have this innocent, child-like wonder in the way they explore each other(and I mean it in the most non-puritan way possible). That incessant curiosity about each other's bodies, that constant shared looks of "I want to know what these feelings are when I look at you because it's so new and earth-shattering to me", their almost sort of daring approach to the blooming desire in their hearts- it just makes so much sense because they ARE kids. Yes, a 16-year old themselves may not feel like they are a kid anymore but when you grow up and see things in retrospect, a 16-year old IS a kid.

And it's just so interesting to me because many teen media creators forget that a teen is closer to have a child-like approach to their lives rather than an adult's, and instead they end up envisioning teens and their lives with this "adult" lens. Which is not essentially a wrong approach, but it's not just very relatable to many teens? Like being young and exploring intimacy in a safe and consenting manner is not mutually exclusive like many people think it to be.

And the most devastating part about all this is that tragically this innocence was completely ruptured by revenge porn of all things. A tender moment reduced to just pixels of hedonistic mockery, and that too in a digital age where public humiliations are immortalised forever. And how all of this tinged the moments Wilmon share after the video leak with this feeling of them just trying to stay afloat in a ruthless world with each other's comfort.

And I just can't wait for S3 because I really want to see them reclaim that wonder once again. Yes, it won't be easy, but atleast they have all the time in the world to do so, now that they are together.

#i don't even know what is this i just had thoughts and spent a good portion of time to articulate them😭#just....interpret as you please ajfjfjjf #this post started with a thought of wilmon going to an amusement park date and ended up on a commentary on teen dramas💀#young royals #wilmon #simon eriksson #prince wilhelm #wilhelm x simon

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yurimother · 1 year

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Comedy Yuri Manga 'Cheerful Amnesia' Licensed in English

On Friday, at a panel at Sakura-Con, Yen Press announced that it has licensed Oku Tamamushi's Yuri romcom manga Cheerful Amnesia (Akarui Kioku Soushitsu) for English release. The first English volume will be published in the Fall of 2023.

The publisher describes the series:

Arisa has lost her memories of the past three years, and her girlfriend, Mari, worries that means their love has vanished as well. But when Arisa lays eyes on her, it’s love at first sight all over again! Hoping to rekindle what they had, Mari decides to help Arisa experience things with her once more, from dates to kissing and beyond…?!

Cheerful Amnseia was serialized in Comic Cune from June 2016 until its conclusion in December 2020. Media Factory publishes six volumes of the manga in Japanese. The manga is translated into English by Jenny McKeon (Bloom Into You, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon).

Oku Tamamushi is a Japanese Yuri mangaka known for her series Cheerful Amnesia and I Don't Know Which Is Love, the first volume of which Yen Press will release in English on August 22. She has also contributed to the Éclair, Whenever Our Eyes Meet, and Yuri Drill anthologies, the first two of which are licensed in English by Yen Press. Lilyka Manga publishes two of her doujinshi works, Embrace Me More, Kiss Me More and Irresistible Person, in English digitally.

The first English volume of Cheerful Amnesia releases in English this Fall.

Source: Press Releases

#Yuri #manga #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq+#queer #news #anime #girls love #gl #gl manga #yuri manga #lesbian #wlw

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hpdrizzle · 6 months

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🌈 HP Drizzle 2023 Reveals🌧️

✨ The day has finally come! Reveals are happening right now! Hold onto your umbrellas and don't let the storm of applause for our talented creators blow you away! ☂️

HP Drizzle 2023 has some lovely numbers for you. We had:

⚡ 26 Fics ⚡ 6 Arts and Crafts ⚡ 1 Collab ⚡ And 1 Podfic

🌈 Which adds up to 34 lovely and mind blowing works!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated this year, and everyone who read, commented and sent kudos. A fest doesn't work without every single one of you.

Please enjoy the works below, and make them timeless classics as many Drizzle works before 💜

The mods of 2023 say thank you and good bye @crazybutgood @curlyy-hair-dont-care @ladderofyears @candybarrnerd @gnarf

🌈 HP Drizzle Art 🌧️

☔ Right Path In The Rain [T, Digital Art ] @burnedwithpointlesspurpose

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Draco's been working hard on keeping things on the right path. It's been years since the war and he's fought to find himself through it. Part of the disovery being he has absolutely no problem sharing his umbrella with one Ginevra Weasley, and everything that comes with it.

☔ What to do When it's Sunny Outside [G, Digital Art] @shiaya21

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Theodore Nott 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Theo and Draco has a very different idea on what to do when it's sunny outside. Digital Comic.

☔ [ART] summer slipped us underneath her tongue [T, Digital Art] @getawayfox

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: It’s a tropical paradise until Harry forgets the sun cream. Draco is not impressed.

☔ Forgotten @acydpop

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 General Audience, Traditional Art: watercolors, inks, acrylic, and colored pencils on 7.75" x 9.95" mixed media paper. 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Before, I used to be your whole world, now, I’m nothing more than a stranger in your eyes. Why have you forgotten me and not anybody else?

☔ Dark [G, Digital art] @smr7k4

💧 Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy 💧 Weather: Cloudy ☔ Summary: They've always been able to look up and see the constellations that bore their family's names moving in constant patterns across the sky, but tonight, there are clouds. That's definitely a metaphor for something.

☔ Things we don’t mean (we say it outright) [Not Rated, Digital Art] @legendrarry

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny, Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: While on a stakeout, an accident causes Draco's mood to connect with the weather, which then leads to mild panic infused rain, anger fueled thunderstorms, white lies and blooming flowers, and heated words clashing against rainbows that gives fourth to all that Draco Malfoy is, and all that he hides behind his facades. Harry's a whole lot endeared by it, and just a little bit in love as well.

🌈 HP Drizzle Fic and Art🌧️

☔ Thunderstruck [E, 8653, Digital ] @andithiel @fictional

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy 💧 Weather: Stormy ☔ Summary: Professional Quidditch players Malfoy and Potter have been at each other’s throats since they became teammates. When things get ugly during a thunderstorm, their captain is so fed up she’s ready to kick them off the team if they don’t solve their differences, by any means possible. There’s really only one way this can end, right?

🌈 HP Drizzle Fic 🌧️

☔ You are here [G, 1092] @evadne01

💧 Pairing: Ginny Weasley & Percy Weasley 💧 Weather: Stormy ☔ Summary: Percy was on his evening patrol when he heard someone crying.

☔ Rainfall Reverie, or Toad, the Wet, and a Locket [T, 5379] @astridastrolabe

💧 Pairing: Oliver Wood/Ron Weasley 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: When a rain inconsistently causing amnesia settles over Aberdeen, Oliver Wood finds his cozy life with his partner, Ron Weasley, turned inside-out. A story of trust, of discovery, and being loved for who you are.

☔ Here Comes The Sun [G, 1905] @miss-grimwood

💧 Pairing: Narcissa Black Malfoy/Lucius Malfoy 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Narcissa Black was a ray of sunshine. Then she grew up, and became cold and withdrawn. She never expected Lucius Malfoy to melt the ice.

☔ A Summer's Day [T, 1,817] @midnightstargazer

💧 Pairing: Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: A love story that begins on an artificial summer's day in January and ends with a tearful farewell beneath the unforgiving August sun.

☔ In Their Winter Den [T, 2,899] @sandervansunshine

💧 Pairing: Theodore Nott/Blaise Zabini 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: Theo aimed his wand at the wall and gathered more lights around the twinkling little bear. “Do you want a story or a song?” “Surprise me.”

☔ Snowflakes [E, 21,097] @orange-peony

💧 Pairing: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Regulus Black/James Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: The first time Sirius meets Remus, it’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. The second time they meet, it’s two weeks later. Two weeks that Sirius has spent thinking about green eyes and elbow patches and that charming smile that he wishes he had captured on camera, because he’s starting to forget it and it’s killing him.

☔ Hooligans [T, 3082] @patriceavril

💧 Pairing: Molly Weasley & Gideon Prewett & Fabian Prewett, Molly Weasley & Weasley family 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: Molly plays in the snow with her children and remembers her brothers.

☔ Letters In the Rain [G, 3274] @theblinddreamer215

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Harry Potter’s always hated the rain, though perhaps certain events make him change his mind.

☔ Unbuttoned [E, 2402] @ashiiblack

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Due to the change in weather, Snape starts leaving a few top buttons on his robe undone. It drives Harry crazy.

☔ Weathering Malfoy [T, 6,806] @drarrymyheart

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: The war is over and all Harry wants is a normal year at Hogwarts. But he hadn’t counted on hanging out with Draco Malfoy and liking it. Not to mention Malfoy’s bizarre obsession with the weather. Or is there something else behind Malfoy’s odd behaviour?

☔ Scream If You Wanna Go Faster [E, 21,458] @lagerloutfic

💧 Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy/James Sirius Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny, Stormy ☔ Summary: James leaned forward to blow out the candles and for a brief moment their eyes met. Scorpius felt it like an arrow to his chest. His breath hitched as people cheered and the smoke from the candles climbed to the ceiling. “You’re going to ruin him.” Albus said, nipping at Scorpius’s shoulder. Scorpius sighed, “It would be fun to try.” Scorpius and Albus are determined to have one last hurrah before their summer ends. Featuring, ratbag twinks, progressive parenting with Harry Potter, the homoeroticism of sportwear, the dance floor as a love language and birds.

☔ A Work Trip to Spain [E, 1443] vitruvian8008

💧 Pairing: Victoire Weasley/Blaise Zabini 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: Victoire Weasley had been looking forward to lounging on the beach during her work trip to Spain. When a thunderstorm strikes, she ends up at the bar spending the evening with Blaise Zabini. Little did she know how it would progress.

☔ Worth It [M, 1392] @goddess47

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: Winter was hard. Harder than he ever expected. He was used to being alone. He never expected to be lonely.

☔ Weak In The Eyes [E, 7724] @burdenedwithpointlesspurpose

💧 Pairing: Ron Weasley/Harry potter 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: Setting out for a night on the town, Harry was happy regardless of the possible hang ups which included torture and weather. He wanted to spend some time with his boyfriend that wasn’t just hanging out at home like the mates at heart they are. It’d been a while since they’d done something special, work dragging Ron down into a low state of mind. Thankfully, it does turn out special. Whether that’s in a good or bad way, he supposes is left up to interpretation and mood.

☔ Blame It on the Heat [E, 1500] @maraudersaffair

💧 Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Scorpius can't handle the heat. He also can't handle seeing Harry Potter parading about without a shirt.

☔ Try, Try Again [E, 5353] @hey-flynn

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Hugo Weasley 💧 Weather: Stormy ☔ Summary: Hugo confesses his love to Harry twice, on very similar nights. The results, however, were incredibly different.

☔ With This Ring [E, 13370] @nightfalltwen

💧 Pairing: Sirius Black/Nymphadora Tonks 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: A lineage spell on 12 Grimmauld requires one thing. To continue the line of the house of Black. That needs to start with a marriage to make the line legitimate.

☔ Post-war roses [T, 3.500] fast_brother

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/ Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Stormy, Rainy ☔ Summary: Draco is going to Azkaban tomorrow.

☔ Fall on the Earth [Explicit, 13,622 ] @dodgerkedavra

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Stormy ☔ Summary: Harry Potter hates being separated from Draco Malfoy. Not because he's in love with him, for Merlin's sake! Because they're Auror Partners. One time is all it takes for Draco to be attacked with an illicit potion. Until it wears off, Harry's job is taking care of his partner. Harry thinks the effects of the potion can't possibly be as serious as Robards says. He thinks wrong.

☔ The Doe Between Us [G, 11468] @shewhomustnotbenamed

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy, Snowy ☔ Summary: Draco's teaching career is taking off alongside his friendship with Harry Potter. The rain that had endured all of summer time turns to snow as the winter solstice comes nearer, and the two of them spend a few chilly nights in the Forbidden Forest.

☔ Right as Rain [E, 12674] @maybebabyplease

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: For Harry Potter, post-war life is boring, lonely, and insomnia-inducing. When Professor Trelawney makes another prophecy, this time about his love life, Harry dreads going out in the rain for fear of running into his soulmate. He'll weather the storm, though, every time he can find a good reason to visit Draco Malfoy at the potions shop where he works. Malfoy's practically always in that potions shop, safe from the rainy English weather. Will they ever run into each other outside, exposed to the elements? Maybe even...in a rainstorm?

☔ Down to the Wood [G, 3079] @nanneramma

💧 Pairing: Severus Snape & Luna Lovegood 💧 Weather: Foggy ☔ Summary: There is something about the early morning light that is good for revelations: Severus and Luna might have more in common than he'd thought.

☔ Hermione Granger and the Year of Events [T, 2268] @caiti-creative-corner

💧 Pairing: Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott 💧 Weather: Sunny, Rainy, Windy, Snowy ☔ Summary: Hermione is getting ready for her wedding and she's having it at Hogwarts after watching her friends deal with the unpredictable weather.

☔ Take This Heart (And Make It Whole Again) [T, 12,974] @mugsdontlie

💧 Pairing: Dudley Dursley/Gregory Goyle 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: A few years have passed since the Battle of Hogwarts, and Gregory Goyle has been trying to be a better person every single day ever since. When he’s forced to take a holiday trip north to prevent burnout, he meets a mysterious stranger who helps him open up and let some happiness into his heart again. Or: two former bullies being snowed in together

☔ Who we are when no one is watching [T, 15216] @uncannycerulean

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Draco Malfoy has a good Ministry job, a bad reputation, and an even worse office. The latter is much improved when he stumbles upon a magical window. But much more than just giving him an office with a view, the window forces Draco to confront his own life choices and step out of his comfort zone.

☔ May All Your Christmases Be White [T, 16725] @slyth-princess

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: It is impossible for Draco to deny the inherent festivity that Christmas brings. From Yuletide carols to fairylights, evergreens festooned with baubles in a rainbow of colors to pub nights with friends wrapped in their warmest coats. There is a level of hope that the season always seems to bring, even when life is at it's darkest. All around him are the things making the spirit of the season. People are happy. At least, that's what he assumes. At this point, he doesn't know. For him, the holidays have not always proved to be a merry season. What Draco does know, without any doubt, is there is one thing Christmas always needs to feel like the holiday has truly arrived. And that one thing is snow. Although, over time, he realises there is one other thing that he has begun to associate with Christmas, something he needs for the holiday to feel real. Harry Potter.

🌈 HP Drizzle Podfic 🌧️

☔ Only Happy When It Rains by Pineau_noir - a Podfic [T, 1:29:25] @cailynwrites

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Weather-Be's, the up-and coming business of Draco Malfoy, guarantees* perfect weather for your event! If you need warm sunshine, Weather-Be's will provide it. If you want atmospheric fog, we can make that happen. We have a 100%** success rate at giving you the weather you want. *guarantee invalid if Harry Potter is in attendance **success rate drops to 97% when Harry Potter's attendance at events is counted

#hp drizzle 2023 #hp drizzle fest #hp drizzle #hp fic #hp art #hp podfic #drizzle reveals

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goldtheostrich · 4 months

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Current Fandoms and Stuff I like! (will update often)

(Most favorite ones are Sailor Moon and Ojamajo Doremi, but the rest are a fight for second place! >:3)

Ed Edd N Eddy

South Park

Leo (2023) most recent fandom go watch it pls

Regular show

Catscratch

Sailor Moon

Ojamajo Doremi

Precure

The Amazing World of Gumball

MHA

Cute High Earth Defense Club

Bluey

Marvel stuff (hehe)

Dragon Ball

Demon Slayer

Spooky Month

One Piece

Naruto

PPGZ and PPG

Canimals

Jewelpet

Pripara

Cardcaptor Sakura

Tokyo Mew Mew

Housebroken

Princess Tutu

All of Aphmau’s series! :>

Percy Jackson

Warrior Cats

Aristocats

Oliver and Company

Proud Family

Peanuts

Adventure Time

Lucky Star

Talking Tom and Friends

FHFIF

The Owl House

Gravity Falls

Whatever Happened to Robot Jones

Steven Universe

101 Dalmatians the Series

1O1 Dalmatian Street

Animal Jam (Play Wild and OG)

Roblox

Genshin Impact

Canimals

The Amazing Digital Circus

Bitlife

Sims 4

Dungeons & Dragons

The Simpsons

12. oz Mouse

(still fairly new to some of these, so yeahhhh)

Now time to explain the rules in this blog and some stuff about me!

-fav animal is seals bc they so silly, also one my most fav youtubers, leamon puppy has her main as a seal, think that’s where I first started loving seals so much but idk XDDD

-I absolutely love vintage vids, just something so interesting about them to me! I love animes from the 90s-2010s most, but my most FAVORITE anime genre is magical girls!

-My first magical series was probably Glitter Force (SMILE PRECURE DUB YALL), but then Sailor Moon caught my eye and it is one mmy favs to this day! I finished Tokyo Mew Mew first though!

-Fav character is Pop Harukaze! She doesn’t get much of a role in Ojamajo Doremi as a Ojamajo, but something about her personality or something.. I am just living for it!

-Some other favs.. and yes I have a long list bc my autistic brain can’t choose favorites when they are so unique.. are Tsubomi/Cure Blossom, Aoi/Cure Gelato, Aiko (Ojamajo Doremi), Onpu (Ojamajo Doremi), Chibi Chibi/Sailor Chibi Chibi, Saki/Cure Bloom, Minako/Sailor Venus, Erika/Cure Marine, Nagisa/Cure Black, Bu-Ling/Mew Pudding, Yayoi/Cure Peace, Love/Cure Peach, Hana-chan (Ojamajo Doremi), Pollun/Porun (Precure), Jewlulu (Pripara), Tweek (you know what), Oz (Canimals), Muffin (Bluey), Zane (Mystreet/Aphmau), Garroth (Mystreet/Aphmau), Kim (Mystreet/Aphmau), Ian (Mystreet/Aphmau) and Noi (MID/Aphmau)!

-Fav color is lavender and pastel yellow

-Im scatterbrained at times, but can try remembering anything you say! Im clumsy and shy! <3

-“Do you have games on your phone” YES BUT LEAVE THEM IF ITS MY PHONE OR IPAD XDDD, especially my dear Animal Jam >:3

-I don’t really prefer to talk on email or text.. just tell me something on here or a social media platform like Youtube or Deviantart! I still use Gold the Ostrich as the user!

-Fav thing to say is “HOR HOR HOR HOR HOR” all i freaking know about fnaf is the movie with unnecessary add on lore 💀

-I don’t mind cussing, it’s just not a full on “lifestyle” for me

Now some rules! <3

-Everyone is allowed on my blog, it is mostly a tickle/random blog, but it’s quite decent so far!

-If you dislike this blog, please don’t say unnecessary stuff in your blogs, posts in any other media, etc if so. Just try ignoring this blog if possible.

-I can do commissions, especially of the following fandoms, but pls don’t get too upset if I don’t know a certain fandom, sometimes I forget to add a fandom to here.

-Might update this later, but this is good for now! Also this might stay as my only blog due to having no other ideas for blogs at the moment

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oddman-the-oldman · 6 months

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SR-20 North Cascades Hwy.

Meet & Greet Pinguicula macroceras these native carnivorous plants live in the North Cascades National Recreation Area above Gorge Lake at both entrances to the tunnel near milepost 124. The plants bloom in late April / early May. It is a living flypaper type trap, similar to the sundews but they aren't related.

These pictures were taken on an early Sony Mavica digital camera that used a 3.5 inch floppy disk as storage media the resolution is 640 X 480p so they won't blow up much if at all.

#oddman-the-oldman #photographers on tumblr #bug scouts #carnivorous plants #Pinguicula macroceras #North Cascadeas National Recreation Area

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cypriathus · 9 months

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For those who stumble upon my account... Hello and how are ya? This is my very first time using Tumblr! You can refer to me as Banana Cat, Yume, Dreamy, Floof or JJ. I'm a genuinely curious individual who sometimes gets obsessed with stuff that I eventually want to get engaged with or stuff that I have no intention of trying out, but I'm very fascinated by it. I'm also just a silly, creative Canadian who's trying to get the most out of life.

My general pronouns are she/her, but I genuinely don't mind you referring to me as they/them and he/him. I will not specify my age publicly due to privacy reasons. If you want to know, just shoot me a DM/message.

Some of my hobbies include writing, drawing, listening to music, reading novels and manga, watching YouTube, occasionally watching movies, TV shows or anime, and baking once in a blue moon. For those wondering what kind of art I do, I've primarily been doing a lot of digital artwork as of now. However, I have been using traditional mediums (acrylic paint, markers, coloured pencils, and regular ol' pencils) for many years now. You can find most of my current artworks that I have shared on my Instagram account (@cypriathus). Before we move on with other stuff about me, some of my interests include psychology, sociology, criminology, law, biology, outer space, mythology, folklore, legends, religion, history, internet mysteries, and lost media.

I listen to a myriad of music artists including:

Muse

Evanescence

Set It Off

The Raven Age

My Chemical Romance

Citizen Soldier

Clarence Clarity

Fall Out Boy

Finger Eleven

Get Scared

Avenged Sevenfold

Infected Musroom and so much more

I have watched a lot of anime and there are still some I need to get around to watching eventually. Some of these anime include:

Cat Soup

Ergo Proxy

FLCL

Perfect Blue

Tokyo Godfathers

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Kaiba

Haibane Renmei

Outlaw Star

Now and Then, Here and There

Serial Experiments Lain

Summer Wars

Belle

Angel's Egg

Most Studio Ghibli movies

Cowboy Bebop

Metropolis

Steamboy

The Tatami Galaxy

Mind Game

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

Devilman Crybaby

Mononoke and so much more

Non-anine movies and TV shows that I remember watching:

Breaking Bad franchise

Seven

American History X

Coraline

ParaNorman

Mad God

Schindler's List

Final Space

Cliffhanger

Del Toro's Pinocchio

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Possum

The Mask

The Wedding Singer

Labyrinth

The Dark Crystal

Midsommar

Hereditary

Scarface

Monty Python and the Holy Grail & Monty Python's Life of Brian

Silence of the Lambs

Popee the Performer

Mr. Stain on Junk Alley

And many more

Some manga and books that I have currently read are:

Homunculus

Chainsaw Man

AKIRA

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún

The Ancient Magus' Bride

Dandadan

Trigun and Trigun Maximum

Bibliomania

Heads

Goodbye, Eri

Look Back

Yogen no Nayuta

Eden: It’s An Endless World

Keyman: The Hand of Judgement

Shigahime

Rojica to Rakkasei

BLAME!

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Animal Farm

The Green Mile

Salem's Lot

Lord of the Flies

The Catcher in the Rye

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Complete Tales of H. P. Lovecraft and more

Do not interact with me if you're one of the following:

Pedophile

Anti-LGBTQ+

Racist

Sexist/misogynistic

Ageist

Ableist

Someone who invalidates a person's pronouns, gender, and/or identity

Someone who supports, participates, tolerates, and/or justifies any of the above.

That's most of the stuff you need to know about me as of now. Anyways, as I mentioned in the description, I plan on using this blog as a way to share various ideas in regards to my own little multiverse. I'm open to listening to your ideas, sharing new ideas, and even constructive criticism! I hope you enjoy your stay here and I can't wait to share my ideas with y'all!

I have a side blog where I roleplay, make moodboards, and post stuff that ain't related to my work: @floofgryph

Links:

Writing request rules

Story plots and major worldbuilding

Main protagonists

Deities

Infernal beings (TBA)

Angels (TBA)

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betaorionis-fr · 3 months

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old art, technically mixed media - traditional pencil and fineliner, coloured digitally June 2022. my current profile avatar on site: Mignonette #63864085, named after the Reseda genus of plants.

[image 1: a headshot bust of a wildclaw dragon (flight rising), with wind-green eyes, a wasp-like patterned blue body and a yellow-orange crest of feathers, as well as a pale yellow ringlets pattern on his cheek/lower jaw. He is wearing a crown of bright orange flowers with pale green leaves, and a spike of bright green flowers in his mouth. at the bottom right is text reading: Mignonette (dyer's weld). /end id]

[image 2: Mignonette, a male pose wildclaw with Wind eyes, Turquoise Wasp, Saffron Shimmer, and Banana Ringlets, wearing Tigerlily Flower Crown and Wing Garland, Tutor Overcoat and Waist Wrap, Blooming Woodtreads, Jolly Jester's Gloves, Maroon Leg Wraps, Brilliant Healer's Mantle, and Fathomsearch Halo. Also wearing Accent: Flowers of fire. The background is Scene: Summer. /end id]

#flight rising #fr wildclaw #my art #traditional art #digital art #my dragons #group/garden

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fallenasleepyetagain · 4 months

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Tattoo - Ink/Blue Fic

Prompt: Tattoo Parlor/Flower Shop AU

Prompt from @yearoftheotpevent

Media: Undertale AUs/UTMV

Genres: Human AU, Tattoo Parlor/Flower Shop (duh), Established Relationship, Flower Language, Fluff (?)

Characters: Ink, Blue, Killer, Gin (mentioned), Dream (mentioned)

Pairing: Ink/Blue

CW/TW - Brief talks of death

Word Count: 3390

If there was one thing Ink hated most in life, it would be waiting. Waiting for the train, waiting for a cab, waiting for his laptop to open up, waiting for his video games to download, waiting for paint to dry, and waiting for work to be over all drove him crazy. Patience was a virtue he had not been bestowed with, and he took everyone down with him. He didn’t hate work (he adored his job, actually) but when business was slow, as it sometimes was, he found himself slowly losing his mind. His boss, a wonderful guy by the name of Gin, was pretty lenient with phones and other devices. As long as a worker was engaged when helping a customer, he really didn’t care. Ink, however, had his own, personal policy that was imposed by no one but himself. When at work, his phone stays in his bag. Not a bad rule, just one that ended up with him trying to balance pencils on his nose when there were no customers.

It was one of the rare times that Ink was by himself in the shop. Gin always tried to have at least two people in the store at any given time, just in case things got a little chaotic. The coworker who was supposed to be with him right now was currently at the hospital with his sister who just gave birth. Ink had gotten the text message during his train ride to the city, the poor guy was frantic and, frankly, a mess. Ink responded with a single thumbs up emoji (because, truly, he was the master of making conversation).

Working alone wasn’t bad, Ink didn’t give a shit either way, just boring. There was no one to talk to, the only sounds that were present was some quiet, smooth jazz coming from the store speakers and the sound of cars driving past on the street. He had already gone around and did everything he was supposed to. He checked the bouquets for early signs of decay, checked on all of the potted plants and made sure they were all watered to the correct level, he made sure the succulents were alive and well, and did the midday sweeping. It was routine at that point; in the two years he had been working there, he had never forgotten to do anything. Which was astounding, considering his track record. It kept his mind busy and got his hands dirty. The sensory stimulus from watering plants, touching leaves and petals and thorns, and coming into the smell of blooming flowers was incredible.

Ink nearly fell off the stool he was spinning around on, dropping his pencil to the floor. There was something he forgot to do today! It wasn’t part of the job, just something he did. Ink never played favorites with things. He loved all styles of clothes, loved all artistic mediums, he could never pick a favorite form. He had his preferences, sure. He was a painter at heart, but he wouldn’t say that it was his favorite. Not when digital art, charcoal, and sculpting were all just as exquisite. However, when it came to flowers, he would choose one specific type every time.

In the back of the shop was a small greenhouse that was employees only. It stored plants and flowers that weren’t ready to be put into the shop, or any plants that the workers wanted for themselves. Ink had only one plant in his section, a medium sized pot with a single flower growing out of it.

“Hello you!” Ink cooed, raising his pitch, as if he was talking to a child, or a dog. He scooped up the pot, and spun around with it in his arms before plopping himself down onto the counter where it just was. “You look beautiful today.”

The flower in the pot was known as the “monkey orchid”, a beautiful flower that looked like a monkey. It was rather small, the entire thing fitting in the palm of his hand. Most commonly, it had a light coloring, being a light off-white and light red (or brown. Ink thought it changed from flower to flower, petal to petal). It freaked the majority of people out, and he loved it.

If he had to go with a different flower, the ‘naked man orchid’ was a close second.

“I’m going to get a new tattoo today,” He told the flower, caressing its petals. “I’m not getting you tattooed on me yet. Sorry. Don’t feel too jealous. I plan on designing one for you soon.

“It’s gonna gooo…” Ink hummed, hopping off of the counter and setting the pot back down in its proper spot. He twisted around, pointing at his right shoulder blade, showing it to the flower. “Right there! Perfect place, eh?”

Ink grinned as he faced the flower again, “I’ll show it to you once it’s finished.”

“Hello?”

Before he could fully understand what was happening, Ink’s body had lurched to his left, sending him outside the greenhouse and into the main area of the store. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed as he made eye-contact with a petite, middle-aged woman, who seemed more than surprised to see him.

“Hey! How can I help you today, miss?”

“Were you…talking to someone?” Her voice was soft and airy.

“Nope!” Ink chirped, grinning. “I was talking to a plant. Helps ‘em grow. Not sure if there’s actual science behind it or not, but I feel like it works.”

“Ah, I see.” She fidgeted nervously with the small purse in her hands. Ink approached her, leaning against the front counter as he waited. “I…need a bouquet.”

People were often nervous when talking to him. Ink couldn’t say why. If he had to guess, he would say that it was probably due to tattoos and-or his height, or even that he was a little, visibly, strange. He tried to avoid towering over the small woman, although it wasn’t easy.

“I can do that for you easy!” Ink smiled, trying to come off as friendly. He couldn’t tell if it was working. “What exactly are you looking for? A gift, something to warm up the house, orrrr…?” “I have a colleague who is sick. I thought that a gift of flowers would be, ahem, nice.”

Ink wasn’t sure if he was reading this stranger incorrectly, but he swore he heard some venom in her words.

“Well that’s an easy find! Everyone likes flowers.” He hummed, waving and bobbing through the store like a snake, not bumping into anything as he scanned the ceiling of bouquets. “We’ve got some small ones, if that’s what you’re looking for, pink’s always a nice color, as well as red and yellow. We could do a custom one if you want something special, but any of these pre-made ones would look just as- huh?”

The woman had followed him, and had put her hand up to stop him from talking. “You misunderstand. My colleague is…well, pardon my language, he is a cunt, and I don’t particularly care for him.”

“Oh?” Ink struggled to control himself. “What’re you…?”

“This might sound a bit asinine, but I was wondering if you knew anything about flowers that would represent my distaste for him without being too obvious?”

“You came at the perfect time!” He said, immediately beginning to go over to a bouquet in particular. “I think I know exactly what you’re looking for.”

With careful precision, Ink stood on his toes to reach the ceiling and grabbed a bouquet. He handed it off to the women, putting his hands on his hips. “Those right there are yellow carnations. Carnations in general aren’t the happiest of flowers, but they are pretty. The yellow ones in particular represent disappointment, rejection, and just general distaste for a person. Plus, it’s yellow, and people usually think that yellow is a happy color, so it’ll also liven up the room.”

“Thank you, young man. “ She spoke as she took the flowers, following Ink to the counter. She held them close to her chest, as if she was carrying with her an infant child. As Ink was warming up the register (the damn thing had to have been older than he was), he could feel the woman’s gaze on his arms. “...Do you go to the tattoo parlor across the street?”

“Oh, ah, yeah.” Ink chuckled, glancing down at his arms before taking the card from her. “I’ve got a guy there who does my ink. He’s a real sweetheart, and a great artist too.”

Ink ran a finger along his right arm, pushing and pulling on the skin, “I’ve experimented with many artists, not all tattoos are the same, y’know? But this entire sleeve was done by him.”

“It’s gorgeous.” She said, handing him her credit card. His entire right arm was, nearly, covered with flowers. They were all black and white, of course, all of his tattoos were (he wasn’t one for color), but he intended to change that today. There was a spot on his forearm where his newest tattoo was going to go, and he was over the moon to finally have it done. “Do they all mean something?”

“Yup. They all represent people in my life.” He twisted around, pulling his sleeve up to his shoulder. He pointed at a large sunflower located on the back of his upper arm. “This one represents a good friend of mine. Much like sunflowers, he’s one resilient motherfucker! And he’s, y’know, the light of my life.” Ink laughed as he finished, pulling his sleeve back down to his elbow. He was kidding, slightly. He appreciated Dream’s company and charming personality more than he did with other people, but, if he had to choose an actual light of his life, unfortunately, that title didn’t belong to Dream. No matter how much he embodied the sun.

“That’s so sweet.” The lady said, slipping her credit card back into her small purse. “Well, I hope you have a good day, young man.”

“You too!” Ink chirped as he waved goodbye to the woman, who left not a few minutes before his coworker came in to change shifts. Before even a word was spoken, Ink had tossed his company-issued apron onto the head of his coworker and threw his bag over his shoulder, leaving without a moment's notice.

“Ah- H-Hey! Ink! Your shift isn’t…bastard.”

Ink had been called worse things, and he only laughed as his coworker cursed him out. There wasn’t a crosswalk anywhere near either the flower shop or the tattoo parlor, and he didn’t feel like walking down the block to get to the proper crosswalk. If he got hit by a car jaywalking, then so be it. Someone would have to be purposefully going for his ass though, since the two stores were in a relatively low-traffic area, and the speed limit wasn’t even above thirty.

Unlike the flower shop, the tattoo parlor had a few bells that jingled whenever the door was opened or shut. He’d have to consider bringing it up in the next job social that was hosted. Much like his own store, it wasn’t busy. He leaned against the front counter, his fingers drumming on it as he waited, rather impatiently, for someone to come. He glanced around the store, taking in the interior of it. There was always something new to look at. From floor to ceiling, there were posters, art pieces, and other decorations. The front desk was covered in years of different stickers, all created by the employees. The place was spotless though, as it had to be. Framed by the front door were the certificates given to the parlor, signifying that it was up to code or something. Ink wasn’t sure on the specifics and he didn’t care enough to know either.

The sheer amount of stuff covering every surface was overwhelming. The different patterns, art styles, and colors made the space seem smaller than it was, even borderline claustrophobic. Ink adored it though. He stepped away from the counter and wandered into the small lobby area, his eyes drawn to one piece in particular. He hummed, his fingers tracing the bottom of the frame.

“It’s one of his.” A voice spoke from behind him. Ink didn’t turn around. He didn’t have to, he knew who it was just by the voice alone.

“It’s gorgeous.”

Killer came up beside him, hands shoved in his jeans pockets. “This is the first piece of his that I’ve seen up on the wall. He’s got a real pretty style, not sure why he doesn’t show it off more.”

The piece was made with watercolor, the movement and color of the light paint made the wispy pencil marks jump off of the page. There were barely any fine details, just shapes moving and colors twisting that created the shape of a person. Their hair was long and curled around themself, and their skin had black swirls and spirals dotted across it, like tattoos. Ink touched the glass. It was beautiful.

“I take it you didn’t pick up on what he was putting down.”

“Heh?”

Ink got an elbow to his ribs. “It’s you, asshole. Now c’mon, he’s ready for you.”

Without saying another word, absolutely speechless, Ink followed Killer deeper into the parlor. Some of the artists preferred to work in an open space, with music and people to talk with, but there were smaller, secluded rooms for those who preferred to work in a more private space. He didn’t need Killer to take him to the room, as there was only one that the artist he was going to actively used as his space. It was the furthest on the hall, and it was the only room that had multiple windows. The guy liked to work with natural light and Ink couldn’t blame him.

“Hellooooo?” Ink said as he knocked on the door with his knuckles, twisting open the knob and walking in. The room was bright and airy, the open windows letting in a cool breeze. On the other side of the room, sat the artist in question. He was hunched over a desk, meticulously cleaning off his equipment.

When Ink finished speaking, the man turned around in his chair, his deep blue eyes locking onto Ink’s. His face lit up as a smile grew on his face. Normally when people saw Ink, they often had the opposite reaction. His grin was welcome though.

“Ink! There you are, come on in.”

“How’ve you been, Blue?”

Blue stayed on his rolling-spinny chair as Ink sat himself down onto the plush chair in the middle of the room, folding his hands over his chest as he relaxed into it. Blue scooted over, pulling some black, latex gloves, making a point to not let them snap. He shrugged, drumming his fingers on his thighs. “Eh, más o menos. You know how it is.” Blue spoke, his spaniard accent slipping into his words. Ink loved it, if he had to be honest. There were a few times that his own French accent appeared, especially when he was talking fast, but he did miss it, sometimes. He hoped Blue would never try to gain one more American. He was perfect the way he was.

“You’re here right on time,” Blue raised an eyebrow, “That’s a surprise. Did you get out of work early or something?”

“Ahaha, nah. My shift was over anyway.” A lie, but Blue didn’t need to know that. “Did you get the stencil I sent you?”

“Mhm!” Blue chirped, pushing himself away from Ink and back over to his desk. He set down the stencil on a smaller table (which was, also, on wheels) and rolled both himself and it over to him. The table had freshly cleaned needles and a few sets of ink on it. “It’s really pretty. I’m assuming this one will finish up your sleeve?”

“You mean your sleeve, but yeah, it will.” He placed his arm on the armrest, palm facing upward. He gestured to the empty space that curved around his forearm, “It’ll wrap around there.”

“My sleeve?”

“Yeah,” Ink grabbed Blue’s hand, gently pushing his fingers against the tattoos running up and down his arm. “All of this was you.”

With a shake of his head, Blue pulled his hand away, gripping onto the edge of his seat. “I mean, maybe. But all of the stencils were made from your art. All I did was…ink it? I suppose?” He chuckled as he finished speaking, and began to set Ink’s skin for the stencil. He cleaned off the section of skin, tenderly holding Ink’s forearm as he did so. Once the skin was prepped, he wet it with water before pressing down the stencil. He was meticulous, wanting to make sure the placement was perfect.

“So,” Blue hummed, “What flower is this?”

“This is a forget-me-not. They have a variety of meanings, some more macabre than others. Forget-me-nots are often associated with death, and the remembrance of those who are dead. Hence the name: forget me not.” Ink rambled off, goosebumps appearing along his skin as Blue pressed down on the stencil. “However, it’s not all death and gloom. Forget-me-nots also represent love, devotion, faithfulness, et cetera. They’re absolutely gorgeous too.”

Blue nodded, listening intently. He gently peeled back the stencil, leaving light, gray lines along Ink’s skin for him to trace over. “Ah, sorry, one moment, we’re just doing an outline today, right?”

“Uhh.” Ink paused, his train of thought getting completely derailed. “Yyyyyes? Yes. Probably.”

“Okay! I can do that.”

Once more, Blue did a quick do-over on the inking needle with an antiseptic wipe, making sure it was clean before beginning.

“Can I continue talking?”

“Go ahead.”

The buzzing of the machine didn’t bother him, acting as background noise as he spoke. The pain didn’t bother him, it was more adjacent to a light poking, if anything. He had gotten so many tattoos, it barely phased him anymore. Besides, when it came to pain, it was anything on his back that killed him the most. The front of his arm was nothing.

“I’ve actually been saving this specific part of my sleeve for a forget-me-not piece for a while. You can do a whole bunch of different designs with them because they’re so tiny and grow in groups! I actually tried out a few designs before landing on this one, but I like this one the best. I think it fits in the space without being completely overwhelmed by everything else. And, y’know, I’ve been wanting to have a piece that represents you, so, it was perfect. Like destiny, even.”

With a swift flick of his fingers, Blue turned off the pen (machine? Needle? Ink wasn’t exactly sure on the terminology, maybe he should ask). He set it down, letting it rest on the metal cart’s top. His cheeks were slightly warmer as he looked at Ink with some mixture of flattery and surprise.

“Represents me?”

“Yup. Most of these are based on people or places that are special to me. Like, you remember the sunflower piece we did a while back, right? That represents my buddy Dream, have you met him yet? Aah, I’ll have to introduce you to him, he’s great. Fuckin’ hilarious. Anyways, I’ve always kinda associated you with forget-me-nots? At first it was because its blue color reminded me of your eyes and scarf, but now it’s more or less because of the meaning of the flower.”

“Really…?”

“Yessir. You’re loyal, faithful, and you’re the love of my life.” Ink said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Plus, you always remember birthdays, and, eh, death dates. It’s impressive. Which is why the forget-me-not is perfect for you. I’ve been saving this spot in particular so I can see it whenever I look at my arm.

“...Blue?”

“I think…” Blue spoke softly, his eyes wide and his brown cheeks flushed. “I think that’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Ink snorted, “That’s really sad, Blue.” With that, Ink gently connected their lips.

It didn’t last long, as Blue pulled away, shoving the bottom of his face into his scarf, “I should continue your tattoo.”

“Yes please.”

#fallen’s writing #ink/blue #ink (utmv)#blue (utmv)#utmv #ink sans #swap sans #blueberry sans #inkberry #blink #ink x blue #blue x ink #undertale au #utau #utmv fanfic

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harringrovesummerbingo · 2 months

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Harringrove Summer Bingo?

Harringrove Summer Bingo is a low-pressure, fun fandom challenge with the goal of creating summer themed fanworks for Harringrove ship.

You can fill just one prompt from your card or all of them - it's up to you! As long as your fanwork meets the minimum requirements, you're good!

So how does this bingo thing work exactly?

Sign-up by 19 May, 2024 (sign up here)

Get a bingo card with 8+1 prompt squares (sent between 20-29 May to all who signed up by 19 May)

Create a fanwork that fills a prompt in the card and post it between 1 June - 31 August (must be new!!!)

Each time you post a prompt fill, submit it to the organiser as instructed and get your bingo card stamped

When bingo is closed on 31 Aug 2024 create a masterpost of all your bingo fills

Everyone who filled at least one prompt by 31 Aug 2024 will get a virtual badge to brag with about participating /pf (note: our badges have nothing to do with tumblr badge system)

Can I join if I'm not on tumblr?

Yes you can!

However, since we need to collect the fan works somewhere and you're not on tumblr, you must have and AO3 account and an email address to sign up with.

We have a collection for the event on AO3 where you can then post your fan work.

If your fan work is something else than a written fic, it still can be added to AO3! We're happy to help with setting that up.

Also, if you don't have an AO3 account, we can send you an invitation for one.

Ummm, so what is a Bingo event specifically?

Bingo is a type of fandom challenge in which participants are given 3x3 bingo card with 8+1 prompts (one is always a free space that can be filled with anything).

The participants then create fanworks based on the prompts and post them during the bingo event is running - thus creating more awesome fanworks for the theme and ship!

Once the bingo is over, all participants who filled at least one prompt square will receive a bing badge they can use on social media to brag about participating! /pf

How close to the prompt does each fill have to be?

As close or as far as you want! All the fill has to do is to include the prompt somehow.

As long as the fanwork prominently features Harringrove, has summer included somehow, and it fits a prompt in your card, it works!

What are the type of fan works you allow?

We allow all types of creative fan works:

Fan fiction

Fan art

Fan videos

Podfics

Moodboards

Playlists

Rec lists

The rating, genre, and type of fanwork you produce are decided by you as long as the work is tagged accordingly.

Can I use a WIP for the bingo?

If you have a WIP that fits a prompt and is collecting dust in your drafts, feel free to use it.

If it's already published or parts of it are, then no.

This bingo's goal is to create new content for the fandom, so all works must to be new and unpublished.

What are the minimum requirements for fan works?

This is a low-pressure event where we hope everyone will have fun and let their creativity bloom. You can fill just one prompt from your card or all of them - it's up to you!

As long as your fanwork meets the following minimum requirements, you're all good!

Fan fic - Minimum of 500 words

Art - Minimum 300 x 300 pixels in digital form (no matter if the original is digital or traditional art)

Fan videos - 30 seconds

Pod fic - Minimum listening time 7 minutes

Moodboards: minimum 4 images

Playlist - Minimum 10 songs + cover art

Rec lists - 3 completed fan works + explanation why you're recommending these works specifically. Free free to gush your heart out!

How do I submit a fill?

You'll find guidelines for fill (=prompt) submission here >>

What is a masterpost?

You should make a masterpost with links to all of the fanworks you created for this bingo. It works as an easy link list to all of your fills.

You'll find guidelines for creating a masterpost here >>

What size will the bingo cards be?

Bingo cards are 3x3 squares with 8 prompts and 1 free space you can fill with your own prompt.

I finished my card and want a new one! How?

Fill out the New Card Form and request a new card.

You can request as many new cards as you want as long as your previous card is already fully filled and stamped!

What badges can I get?

Depending on how many squares you fill you get different kinds of badges. Everyone who filled at least 1 prompt will receive a badge!

Bingo: Fill a row or column

Blackout: Fill all squares

One Square: Complete one square

Four Corners: Complete a square in each corner

Diagonal: Fill three squares diagonally through the center

Well done: You filled at least six prompts from your card by the end of the bingo round

Our badges are images you can post on your social media. They have nothing to do with tumblr badge system.

What if I want to go for all the badges?

Just go ahead!

Do you allow Cross-Posting between events?

Cross-posting is allowed as long as

The fill is still formatted as outlined in the Posting Guidelines (coming soon) and

You have gotten the explicit permission of the other event mods to use it for both events.

Do you have a Discord server?

There's a mutual discord server with our siblings events @metalsandwichbingo @harringrovewinterbingo! The server is open to those who sign-up for the bingos.

Invitation to the server is sent with the sign-up confirmation email.

Do you allow third-party sharing of information (incl. AI model training) in your blogs?

No, we don't allow it in any of our blogs.

Who organizes this bingo event?

Harringrove Summer Bingo, Metalsandwich Bingo and Harringrove Winter bingo are all organized by @harringrovebingos.

Head mod is Suo @suometar who's fandom old, has been participating on all kinds of bingos and bigbangs for a few years now, and irl has extensive experience on organising events.

#FAQ #faq post #harringrovesummerbingo #harringrove summer bingo #HSB2024 #harringrovesummerbingo2024 #harringrove summer bingo 2024 #guidelines

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