#but i had fun making a summary

[calmlb]

It’s been clear that the Tanizakis aren’t siblings from the very beginning

here’s some evidence now that it’s been confirmed canon…

everyone who’s read irl Tanizaki’s book knew that Junichiro & Naomi weren’t siblings as soon as they introduced themselves

BUT just because the Tanizakis aren’t siblings doesn’t mean you can’t feel uncomfortable about them. if you feel uncomfortable, GOOD. that’s exactly what they want

the Tanizakis, Mori— they all use these disturbing ruses to disarm or distract people in order to protect themselves, or to accomplish their goals. this is a writing device that asagiri commonly employs as a way to parallel the irl literature (it’s actually ingenious)

there are 4 main indicators that have always made it clear to me that Junichiro & Naomi are not siblings:

1. most obviously— their character designs. Harukawa is extremely intentional with character designs, & she very intentionally made Naomi & Junichiro look nothing alike

their eye shapes are purposely different

their color palettes are contrasting

even their differing styles of clothing have meaning

this was all done so that the audience could PLAINLY see that they’re not related— so that WE know that they’re lying when they say they ARE related

2. how the people around them respond to their act.

the general reaction is “don’t question it”— which is exactly what they want. “be distracted by how uncomfortable you feel so that you look away from what we’re hiding” (this is likely a protective measure)

3. most importantly, this is meant to parallel irl Tanizaki’s book “Naomi,” where the main character Joji picks up Naomi to raise her into his ideal woman, but since she's so young (& a minor) they call each other cousins (Joji makes no sexual advances on young Naomi btw)

however, his plan backfires because when Naomi gets older & they get married, she flips the script on him & manipulates HIM so that he's under her thumb (which is why bsd Tanizaki is at a domineering Naomi's mercy). Joji let her have her way because of his masochistic tendencies

4. lastly is the emphasis that Asagiri and the Tanizakis themselves put on calling each other siblings.

over & over, it’s “my brother this” & “my sister that”

like they’re desperately trying to convince us that it’s true (“don’t let your lying eyes deceive you”)

here are just a few of many examples from the light novels…

again, if you’ve read “Naomi” you knew that Junichiro & Naomi weren’t siblings as soon as they introduced themselves

just like if you’ve read irl Mori’s works, it’s clear that bsd Mori isn’t a pedophile

just like if you’ve read No Longer Human you know that Dazai’s an unreliable narrator. he makes you think he’s a bad person bc he believes he’s a bad person, but those around him see him differently (btw this doesn’t mean he’s never done anything “bad,” though bsd isn’t about morality— but that’s another discussion)

anyway, i’m so excited for the Tanizakis backstory to be revealed so that we can better understand why they use this defense!!

also let this be a reminder to READ THE LITERATURE if you’re able to!! even reading synopses & analyses of the coordinating books makes bsd make much more sense 🥹

reminder that this how you’re supposed to react while reading bsd:

also, if you’re interested in a post explaining how Mori isn’t a pedo, i wrote this analysis on twt. OR you can read this document that one of my moots sent me (remember: analyzing a character does NOT mean you condone any actions they may or may not commit!)

[raviollies]

DMed a oneshot for the friendos and got a new achievement : making a player cry!

The premise was that a Hag pulled them into her domain which was shaped by their dreams and desires, particularly Blythes! So it was a big fancy Villa with a ballroom, opera haus, fancy dinner, everything - and immediately somethings were different.

Arameia woke up NOT a werewolf and Lorelai woke up a HUMAN and not undead. Rosy cheeks, freckles and all (she was very weirded out over not being able to hear or smell as good).

For Arameia - the dream manifested her parents, alive and well, and her pet dog Lancelot, no longer geriatric. The horror of becoming an orphan never occurring. For Lorelai, it took away her vampirism, and the root cause...her father alive and well - though distant. It wasn't that she wanted to see him...but rather proof of wiping her sin away. For Eirwen, it wiped away her Sharrian past, and the tattoo that came with it, and gave her more friends, so she'd never be lonely. And for Raha.... Well let's just say he folded like a lawn chair in a hurricane.

Upon meeting her the gang had a lot of discussion as to how & why, though the concept of a motherly Blythe left everyone...concerned.

Since the party was a bit of a pickle not sure where to find Raha or Blythe since they're the only party members they haven't met up with, a certain special someone made an appereance...in the form of a kitty cat!

Theta explained that the dream is made up of Blythes wishes and desires : to have her friends with her and never die, her favourite food, a library full of artifacts, an extravagant villa with ballrooms - and the little changes to them was the Witch tapping into their own desires to keep them placated and comfortable...so they may just decide to forego reality and dream...like Blythe and Raha have. She does not want her precious petal just slowly withering away, being a meal, in another Witch's domain, that's her job, so she gives the party hints on how to break out before the Witch zaps her the hell out (she couldn't just enter as Witch's power is absolute within her domain, so it would take a lot longer for her to wiggle in strong enough to do anything substantial)

She introduces herself as Wunsch...the party can deduce she is a Night Hag (this is where I say I just made her Fae and idgaf) (as per my fae characters, she has freaky eyes...in this case it's a starry sky instead of pupil!) . She asks the party if there is "anything else she can do"...the party notices little things change around the dream, like suddenly even more food, some of their favourites, or new faces.

In order to find Blythe they needed to restore stopped time, and find the three clockhands for a magical clock...1 of them was behind some riddles, the other one, behind a test of friendship where they had to answer 3 things correct about the person in front of them. The last key, most horrifyingly...was inside Arameias parents.

THIS IS WHERE I MADE THE PLAYER CRY HEHE....Arameia decided she will do it herself, as she already buried them once...she does eventually manage to kill them (it was very sad because they did not Want to Die), and get the key...but not without a lot of heart ache and tears....Thankfully Lorelai was there for plenty of hugs...

Then they finally meet Raha! Who has fully drank the kool-aid and started dreaming, and he stands before them...he doesn't want them to break the spell. He fights for Blythe's dream...and his own...unwilling to let them take way her or his daughter....and that he and Blythr have nothing in the real world, no family, no home. Just hardship...and eventually he'll just die, and leave Blythe all alone.

After defeating him, the Witch takes matter into her own hands, as the party falls into the "bedroom" where Blythe is sleeping & have to fight the actual Hag herself in her true form...or rather wake up Blythe until the clock strikes 12 and the dream is fully manifested and unable to be stopped.

Wunsch's true form is a giant marble like lion with white feathers and a 4 armed upper body reminiscent of a sphinx. In the cracks of the marble a night sky can be seen, she doesn't particularly have many offensive spells, mostly relying on her enemies being slowed/confused/held/dominated until the timer runs out. (All the reflective shards were of Blythes &co's dreams and nightmares...the party gone, Raha withering and dying in bed, Theta, herself becoming a true hag ... or happy family for Arameia as an example...Eirwen surrounded by friends and Lorelai laughing with the party)

But the party manages to wake Blythe up using all that they've learned!! That yeah she wants these magical tomes and artifacts...but everything in here would have been things she's already found...she can never 'discover' anything new in a dream she's created, so let's go adventuring!

How she's always wanted to try Tarrasque steak but without trying she could never imagine the taste...so why not come with them and kill one?

That she's not safe from Theta in here, and if she was able to get in once, she can get it in again...so lets get out of here and break your curse!

That yeah they'll live eternally, but they won't be 'them' anymore...over time they'll have their edges smoothed over and it won't be the same people because we don't get to grow and experience new things...That Raha loves her the way she is...and that she's not a hideous monster...

When the party awakens, completely normal with..all the curses and stuff, they find out that time hasn't moved since they've fallen asleep, and immediately run to find Blythe and Raha...who don't remember anything that happened, and assume that maybe some ghost got them into a nightmare but they broke out of it. Arameia/Eirwen/Lorelai decided to keep some facts to themselves, like the presence of the child or fighting Raha.

Hilariously, they assume they had too much 'willpower' to be got by such a spell, despite in actuality being the only ones to fold. The gang did have a newfound appreciation for them realizing that yes...Blythe does love them a lot and that they don't know much about Raha and haven't been very good friends.

BUT IT ALL ENDED BITTERSWEET.,....with the gang now being sure all of them love each other and they can move from confronting their trauma and go forward...with fwiends :)

[sassycordy]

they (somehow) survived the great war but couldn’t escape the homophobic 2000s :/

audio credits: remyhvdley (yt)

[vaugarde]

"ugh quinton reviews just wants easy money from long video essays" cool good for him i hope he's having a good time

[xieliancore]

2023 art summary!! thank you so much for the love and support this year too <3

[xxhatchetxx]

Are you making a fanfic of Space Husbands Au?

I am not ! But I've said previously that if anyone likes the idea, they are more than welcome to write their own based off of what I've already put out! With credit of course :>

[svtskneecaps]

friends and fiends if this truly spells the Over for the qsmp i may let the brainworms that have been festering in me for MONTHS--A YEAR, EVEN--win.

i may summarize the goddamn fucking lore.

[mortellanarts]

2023 go bye bye

[duckduckngoose]

Session 0 of new DND group complete,,,, taking 10 hour nap now goodnight

[lizardthelizard]

ouattober2023 Day 9 - OC: Lampwick

"I think sometimes, for people like you and me, the deck is always gonna be stacked against us."

fake/real (aka, Chaos in the Season 6 Wish Realm)

Back when Pinocchio was still a puppet, he befriended a boy called Lampwick. One night, the two of them ran away from home, joining a handful of other restless children in their village, and sailing to the shores of Pleasure Island. The island, however, was not what it appeared to be. Pinocchio narrowly missed the fate of being transformed into a donkey. Lampwick and the others were not so lucky.

Lampwick didn't stay a donkey, though. Rescued from the island by Pan, he eventually found his way back to the Enchanted Forest again, and re-met with an older -more human- Pinocchio, instantly rekindling an old friendship.

Years later the two drifted apart again. Pinocchio did his best to rid himself of the bad habits he'd fallen into over the years and Lampwick refused to follow the same path. However, the pair crossed paths once more after Pinocchio helped Princess Emma to leave the realm, and he and finds himself turning to Lampwick for help when there are resulting consequences stemming from this action.

Name: Romeo Lampwick

Nicknames: Wick, Lamp

Height: 6'2

Age: 40 (+ unspecified years in Neverland)

Home: (Wish Realm equivalents of): The Enchanted Forest, Neverland, Pleasure Island

Gets on well with: Eugene, Ned Land, Tinker Bell

Doesn't get on with: The Blue Fairy, Robin Hood, Felix, Jiminy

'It's complicated': Pinocchio, Baelfire, Bart, Peter Pan

Face claim: Beppe Fiorello

anyway:

[fragmentedblade]

I've actually found a coherent (negative) criticism on Jingli.u's quest!! Wow!! It's in Chinese on weibo

This user said her behaviour is very double standard. That she criticises and condemns both Dan Fen.g and Yingx.ing severely for trying to bring back Bai.heng in any way, but then she goes to visit Bail.u and tells her that seeing her is better than any medicine. And the user is right! That's exactly why they did what they did (well, I've always been of the opinion that Dan Fen.g had more reasons going on based on the in game information), so why the insistent asking to Blade?

The user also says that Jingliu doesn't really behave at all like a friend, that while very believable that she loved and was close to Bai.heng, it's hard to believe the same thing when it comes to Yingxi.ng and Dan Fen.g. They said that nowadays we still see instances through the Xianzhou in which they are both spoken about in positive terms, that Yingxi.ng is talked about as a legendary furnace master, and we can even stumble upon good opinions on Dan Fen.g, but that Jingli.u never shows that kind of understanding for people in theory she loved, knew personally and was close to.

I don't agree entirely with this, I do think there was a lot of fondness from Jingliu shining through despite everything (especially towards Yin.gxing, in my opinion), but I do think it's a somewhat fair criticism. I loved how they mention that despite everything the Xianzhou's view on Yingxin.g and Dan Fen.g isn't just negative. They're right, and it's a detail I love.

[nnnneeev]

The valentines?

OHMYGOD sorry im a dumbass the whole time i thought solomon's card was an SSR (since asmo's and luci's card has majolish outfits hhgnhngn) so i kinda got lost there 😭😭

anyways, here are some of my favorite moments!

(When we took photos of him cooking)

(adding the ‘secret ingredient’ to the chocolate)

(after accidentally casting a spell onto the chocolate)

(when you chose to eat his chocolate with relish)

(after choosing the option “I’d prefer a kiss over chocolate.” when asked about our preferences

(kiss 1)

(kiss 2)

[rickety-goose]

2022 art summary!

i slowed down a lot after moving in july and i haven't really managed to pick up the pace again since. yet i'm happy i found the energy to keep drawing through it all, huge thanks to frens' kind words of encouragement :')

here's to finding a sustainable rhythm and making more art in 2023 <3

[you-are-my-neverland]

*disclaimer: will this actually decide my fate? who knows, but it's fun to do it anyways.

option one: eight years ago, helena yang died, taking cian byrne with her and ending the horror. the red revolution won, and the doomsday prophecy was fulfilled. in the new commonwealth, all magic users are created equal, and people no longer have to suffer under the previous reign of terror.

but everything is not what it seems. there is a coffin in the woods that should never be opened. the white wraiths, a terrorist organization, haunt the streets, and a mysterious assassin called the magician eludes capture. and in the corners of the city, the rot slowly creeps back in...

in which helena yang was the chosen one, cian byrne was the antichrist, and when they died, they left legacies behind that have yet to be filled. alice yang, helena's younger sister, has made it her mission to hunt down the elusive magician, while kellan st. trinita grapples with being handed a legacy he doesn't know what to do with. and in the woods, someone wakes up...

my baby for the past couple of months. i'm 16k into a draft (and 26k into the planning doc lol), but i ran out of ordered plot so it's at a bit of a standstill despite the numerous ideas bouncing around in my head. definitely want to work on it, but it has a ton going on with character threads and plots, etc etc.

option two: in a world where the earth, sky, and sea were created from the bodies of gods in a sort of sacrifice-creation-by-dismemberment cosmogony, the 'hearts,' the power sources of the gods, are lost. whoever finds them will possess unimaginable power. the search for the sea goddess', nisa's, heart has led to a surge of piracy in the past decades - in a world where you become a pirate or live under them, many turn to the sea for better options and opportunities.

for arete, the quest for nisa's heart is not what she wants, but rather her destiny. daughter of a famous pirate captain, arete's skin bears a map that will lead her to the heart - if she can make it out to sea first. saved as a child by akane and her mother, then separated from akane later when pirates attack their village, the two promise to find one another. they travel different but parallel paths as akane struggles to survive and become the strongest warrior, and arete strives to find the pefect crew to become the strongest on the seas and free herself from her cursed destiny.

currently worldbuilding on this one, and there's sooo many interesting elements that i really like (and that are too hard to explain in a little summary so sorry if it reads confusing). the first little bit would be sort of a precursor to the actual story, taking place in the five-six years akane and arete are living together up until their violent separation. the present timeline would begin six years later, when arete starts to actually build her crew.

option three: set in a futuristic world where sensors - those born with certain enhanced senses - exist. saing knows who killed her brother, but with no body ever found, there is nothing she can do about it. her search for justice brings her to the seedy underground, where a vigilante assassin who goes by the name of foxglove is said to exact revenge for those who can convince them.

however, when one of the suspected culprits behind her brother's death - noe, the head of sca (sensor control agency) - falls into a coma before she or foxglove can get to him, the situation becomes more complicated. pilar, the successor to noe's position and his protegee, becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding the man she considers her savior, and in the hunt for foxglove.

still very much planning this one, but it's been an idea in my head for a while, i just haven't had time to dedicate to it. there's so much i like about it, and a lot of scenes jumbled together, plus the basis for the plot is pretty much there. again, there's a lot more going on than i can succinctly explain in two paragraphs (this was my first time trying to summarize it), but basically there's human experimentation (always a hallmark of my wips i know), children who never escape the cycle of abuse, class differences, characters making bad decisions, and some really complicated relationships (hurt people hurt people and then help them hurt other people or something like that...)

option four: i work on all four at once and the only thing i draft completely are my history papers (the most unproductive option, because if i don't focus on one i won't really make serious headway into any of them. but in all honesty i'll be thinking about all of them during the month anyways so?)

[beatriceportinari]

Art Summary 2022

(2020, 2021)

Here we go again! Many fun things this year.

I started with my lovely tessellation labyrinth!

For mixed media stuff I was first entranced with Alcina's costumes when I went to the opera after such a long time

And then of course made another big Naruto piece, probably my favorite mixed media piece, the textures really work together with this one

I also did a lot of small origami stuff as usual, and figured out crease patterns while I was at it :)

Got really into curved origami too

Did some blender stuff as well, including my biggest piece yet!

And finally for the third year in a row we're finishing it and beginning the next with a labyrinth! Here's some paper testing, see you in a couple month for my ryûjin hedge maze :)

If you want to see the original posts check out my art tag #mine or my work in progress tag #wip !

[beastking-golion]

I’ve got poll ideas rolling around in my head so