#i initially wanted to draw them in their going out outfits but there would jus be so much black to shade and i want color

[69demonicfarmers]

he's everything

he's just sebastian

[p0rk-guts]

"Pork you literally posted Charlie a few days ago why are you so Hazbin obsessed rn-" ssshhhhshhsshhs.h........ anyway

VAGGIE REDESIGN! And I changed her name also bc I'm jus like everyone else fr. Meet Verbena :)

BREAKDOWN BELOW!👇🏾+ Exorcist uniform redesign :3

Starting with her name this time. Back when she was still a sinner apparently she was Salvadorian and since she's (apparently?) not a former human at all I decided to take a small creative liberty with her decent and made her Venezualan instead. SOUTH AMERICUH❗❗✊🏾 I'm pretty sure Verbena flowers are native to South America so that's where the name comes from.

Onto the design! I don't have much to say abt her design honestly. It's not egregious, but it doesn't really speak to me either. It looks like simple formal wear or uniform with some strange meaningless accessories attached. And those weird itty bitty shoes that look like they're part of her thigh highs... I'm starting to think all the characters's shoes were a last minute afterthought. All and all it tells us nothing about her character. The hair wings are cool tho so I did steal those

Also the whole deal with her eye is strange to me. Why Is the floating X there??? It's a real physical part of the world, other people can see it. Do pink X's always float over angel wounds? If her arm got chopped off would an X float over it? Was it like. A fucking curse visual placed by Lute as a constant reminder of her disloyalty? Why did Carmilla point out it was an obvious marker for her being an angel???? My brain can't fathom why it's canonically attached to her wound. If she was a sinner I'd kinda understand but. Yeah idk. Weird

Also her missing eye does not look like an empty socket it looks like a purple circle was sticker pasted on to her face. It's very flat. How did we go from this

to this

(IT'S EVEN OVERLAPPING ONTO HER NOSE IN THIS SCREENSHOT WHAT IS THAT THING.)

Anyway. I made her hair resemble Polyphemus moth wings because 1. They have eye looking spots and angels are all eyes and 2. Well. Polyphemus has 1 eye. So . 💀

Her overall coloring however is inspired by a Promethea moth. I could say it's because Prometheus defied the gods and Verbena did a similar thing but the real reason is I made a spelling error while initially looking for a Polyphemus moth reference 💀 but hey they both have eye spots! And Iike their coloring for her way better

I also redesigned the exorcist uniform for her redesign bc I wanted her outfit to have reminiscent elements from it.

I gave way less time to the uniform designs, but I still had some main details I wanted to adress. I don't like how they have no armor save for their helmets. Their arm and leg pieces are made of some flexible material that tears easily. It's not giving soldier it's giving soldier costume from party city. The devil like horns are also confusing to see on an angel and the paradoxical design is never addressed. They can be evil and look imposing, but the horns just seem kinda nonsensically on the nose to show how evil they are. At least to me.

In my designs I gave them actual metal armor on their bodies so you can easily tell they're soldiers and it makes sense for them to battle in armor anyway. I also gave them more light "angelic" colors with gold details bc I wanna use gold as a symbol of angelic nature in my rewrite. I wanted their masks to show completely static expressions with wide grins to show how unnerving they are and to allude to the idea that everyone is happy in heaven, and they're all happy to do what they do.

Verbena's belt and shoulder pads draw visual similarities to the pauldrons and mid section pieces in my new exorcist uniforms to draw a connection between her and her past. The Blazer draping behind her back is also supposed to mimic the visual of folded wings. I also tried to do this with all the gold details in her design. The big hoops and belt we're 80's inspired because I decided to follow how in one of her old designs she died in the 60's (even had the big hoops and everything). In my rewrite exorcists are all former humans but I'll get into that later. Also she's got an eye patch now! Just. A normal one.

Charlie is still taller than Verbena just like in the original and idk how tall Vaggie Is exactly but Verbena is like 5'5 while Charlie is 5'11. Verbena's also got more muscle on her bc unless their muscle mass is hidden magically or they don't gain muscle for stupid dumb idiot lore reasons all the exorcists look way too slim to be military grade soldiers but what do I know

I combined a lot of pointy shapes with boxy shapes bc— more similarly to her pilot self— she can be volatile and fierce but also grounded and impassive. I added the slits to her skirt so she can be a sexy formal lady who can still comfortably throw a few kicks, and the heels— well. Idk I feel like she could slay in heels! She definitely doesn't wear em all the time but yeah. Chunky heels. I like them they're cute. Also she's got her little name tag on bc she takes Charlie's job for her SERIOUSLY! she's uh. Idk what is she. A bellhop? General security/protection? Either way she's locked in.

I imagine she had white irises like Adam and Lute along with brighter more saturated and heavenly colors in her hair (color picked from the Polyphemus moth) that turned darker and more harsh after the fall (color picked from the Promethea moth). Really visualizing her emo phase /j

Also I think the little eyes in her hair can emote with her. In the final design the line kinda makes an eyelid and it'd match her eyelid's movements. Sillay

Alright that's a wrap on my Vaggie redesign! No bonus sketches this time bc they're within the texts! Who knows what I'll do next. Who I will deface. I sure don't. I think I might rename Charlie so there's that. Anywhozies hope you like her <3

[illuminatedquill]

Extracurricular, An Analysis

Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri

“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as it’s accomplice.”  - Tom Robbins 

You know the story. You’ve heard it before, right? 

Boy meets girl. 

Girl finds out that boy is running a side protection business for prostitutes. 

Girl decides to blackmail boy into letting her join his business. 

Classic high school criminal shenanigans ensue leading them into more dangerous situations where they are forced to make desperate decisions to stay alive. 

Oh, and they fall in love along the way. 

Oh? You haven’t heard this one before? Then let me introduce you to this delightful kdrama called Extracurricular. 

I watched this one while waiting for the newest Hometown Cha Cha Cha episodes to drop and ended up binging the whole series in two days. There are many remarkable parts of this series: it’s a crime drama, first and foremost, that showcases high school teenagers caught in a cycle of violence and crime, abandoned by the society and adults that are supposed to be protecting them. There are no clear good guys and bad guys in this drama; everyone is cast in shades of grey. Our main leads, Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri, run the prostitution business, and are both from broken family backgrounds. Their actions are morally questionable at best, but the top tier performances from Kim Dong Hee (you might remember him from Itaewon Class) and Park Ju Hyun make you cheer for them anyway. You want them to have a happy ending, despite the horrible things they do. The audience is always reminded that despite how clever they are in staying ahead, their actions have consequences, and they’re just high school kids. The drama never pulls it punches. 

But, weirdly enough, it’s also a love story. And that’s the part the really sticks with me until now. (The chemistry between the main leads is absolute dynamite and I could watch ten episodes of them just verbally sparring with each other. They don’t even kiss. They’re that fantastic when together on screen.)

I’m writing this because this is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite kdramas and I have a lot of feelings about our main pairing, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri. I can’t call them a couple (wait, didn’t I just say they fall in love) because their relationship can’t be labelled simply as that. Think of it as something similar to the main leads in My Ahjussi. Two people who should have become soulmates, yet met at the wrong time. 

This kdrama is not particularly happy, and while I do encourage people to watch this, I am warning that the subject matter is extremely dark. If you’re sensitive to scenes depicting sexual assault, graphic violence, or anything in that zip code you’ll want to steer clear. 

Also, I’ll be diving into spoiler territory in this analysis. So if you want to go in clean, then stop reading here. 

Still here? Awesome. Let’s dive deep into the messy, amazing pairing that is Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri. First, let’s do a brief character background on our two main leads, starting with Ji-soo. 

Oh Ji-soo is one half of our main pairing and this story starts with him. He lives by himself and has been essentially abandoned by his only parents; his father is a failed businessman who gambles whatever money he acquires on scams and his mother ran away. His apartment is small, sparse, but functional. He owns only a few outfits aside from his school uniform. The only unique item he owns is a pet hermit crab that he takes care of. His life outside of school is non-existent; he has no friends, no one to hang out with and do typical high school teenager activities with. He takes care of himself and lives only for himself and his “dream”: to graduate, attend college, get married, and have kids like a normal person. 

But to do that, he needs a large amount of money. He has no other financial means to do so (his father is largely absent, as is his mother), so he decides, at some point, to start up this protection business for prostitutes. The drama doesn’t go into detail about the how and why he came to this conclusion that this was the best way to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, so you’ll have to suspend your disbelief from the get go. Considering the themes of the story (how youths abandoned by society tend to act out in extreme ways to make it in this world), it’s not hard to believe his desperation would drive him to make such a decision. 

Ji-soo, despite his shady business, is actually a decent person. There’s a streak of humanity that exists inside him that refuses to go out, despite the increasingly dark and bleak events that start to overtake his life. He’s attached to his hermit crab, cares for his “employees” outside of them being tools to make him money, and doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. He goes above and beyond what’s required to help out people at the risk of his own life (in particular, Gyu-ri, and we’ll get into that shortly). 

What we learn from the first few episodes is that Oh Ji-soo is extremely smart and methodical in how he approaches his life. At school, he is known as a model student - quiet, top of the class in terms of grades, doesn’t draw any attention to himself, always follows along with what the teachers ask of him. Only his homeroom teacher, Mr. Cho, seems to consider his quiet style of existence to be concerning and tries to make him less socially awkward by pairing him up with another student in a new extracurricular club. This leads to the introduction of Bae Gyu-ri, Ji-soo’s longtime crush and future partner-in-crime. 

Meet Bae Gyu-ri, the other half of our dynamic duo. Her introduction into the story kickstarts the entire plot, as one of her earliest actions leads to a domino effect that spells increasing doom and tragedy for our main leads. She messes with Ji-soo’s operation at a critical moment and she spends the rest of the drama doing her best to make up for the consequences that follow. 

In my personal opinion, she is probably the best main female lead I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. Hands down, no other character exists (currently) that rivals her sheer cunning, wit, and badassery. Gyu-ri is Crazy, capital C, and is the chaos to Ji-soo’s control; the fire to his ice. Despite being the direct cause of half the events that happen to Ji-soo in the drama, he can’t help but need her because of what she offers. They make an incredible team. Her competitiveness, her need to win no matter the odds, helps them survive time and time again. 

Gyu-ri is from the opposite end of the spectrum of Ji-soo; he’s dirt poor and she’s insanely rich (always nice to see a reversal of typical kdrama tropes). Her mother and father run a successful entertainment company. Gyu-ri is popular at school, friends with seemingly everybody, pretty, cheerful and gets along well with her teachers. Ji-soo, and the audience, believe from the beginning that she has the perfect life. It’s not hard to believe that she’s just involving herself in Ji-soo’s business because she’s bored and needs an outlet, at first. 

We soon learn otherwise. Gyu-ri has more in common with Ji-soo than he initially realizes, in that they’re both trapped in circumstances beyond their control - it’s just that Gyu-ri’s cage is gilded, whereas his is not. Her parents are strict and have her life planned out for her, all without her consent or input, leaving her feeling frustrated and powerless despite her rich lifestyle. A suicide attempt hasn’t done much to change her parents attitude towards her, only serving to further their control over her life. 

So, when she learns of Ji-soo’s operation she immediately seeks to angle her way into it. First, she tries to rip him off, believing that he’s an evil “pimp” and thus deserves it. But after spending some time with him, she changes her mind last second and decides to help him out instead. 

And, now, let’s get into their relationship, which is one of the best (if not the best) aspect in the entire series. 

I need to be upfront about something: the relationship between Ji-soo and Gyu-ri is not exactly healthy. I wouldn’t describe it as toxic - the circumstances surrounding them aren’t exactly the best environment to encourage open and honest communication - but it’s definitely not what should be considered ideal, especially for young adults, and especially for young adults who are dabbling in crime instead of studying. 

So, why do I love them so much? If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I loathe toxic relationships in kdramas, so I understand if you think I’m coming off as hypocritical here. Why do I like Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri when I didn’t like, for example from recent history, (oh boy, here I go again on my Nevertheless BS) Park Jae-eon and Yu Na-bi?

First, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are way cooler than Jae-eon and Na-bi ever could be. They run a criminal enterprise that involves having a high amount of intelligence, cunning, and daring to do so. Do Jae-eon and Na-bi run a criminal enterprise as a side business? No, they don’t, because they’re boring art students. 

Secondly, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri actually progress in their relationship and change their views as they learn from each other. Now, granted, that progress isn’t towards becoming better versions of each other - quite the opposite. But at least they have progress. Jae-eon and Na-bi stayed in the same stupid cycle for the whole series and then decided that it was better staying that way as opposed to trying for something else. 

Last, but certainly not least, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are actually interesting to watch for me. The chemistry between Park Ju Hyun and Kim Dong Hee is explosive and they way they spar, exchange looks, and just generally exist around each other on screen is something I can watch forever. I’ve said this before but Han So Hee and Song Kang’s on screen chemistry, outside of their intimate scenes, really didn’t impress me. 

Okay, back to Extracurricular. This relationship, man. It’s all I can think about (other than HomeCha’s Du-sik and Hye-jin, but that’s another post). Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are so good together. 

I’ve noted before that Ji-soo is methodical in how he approaches his life; he plans out everything ahead, and rigs any situation as much as he can in his favor. It’s brilliant, but when a crisis happens, he doesn’t know how to deal with it effectively. He panics and flounders; becomes indecisive at a time when clear, decisive action is required. 

Enter Gyu-ri. She quickly becomes the partner he never knew he needed. When there’s a situation, she becomes invaluable in her quick thinking and wit, coming up with solutions on the fly. It’s not perfect, but it keeps them just one small step ahead of whatever is coming their way. 

The only thing preventing them from becoming unstoppable is the lack of communication and trust they have with each other. A lot of that has to do with how Gyu-ri entered Ji-soo’s business - she blackmailed him first, and, when that failed, she strong armed her way into getting him to accept her help. It’s implied in the drama that Ji-soo has had a crush on Gyu-ri for a while (since ninth grade, I believe) and in the first episode he actually gets the chance to spend time with her outside of school on a sort of quasi-date. 

It goes sideways pretty quickly because of some shenanigans from his business, but not before she gets to know him and says some pretty touching words regarding his situation. Poor guy is head over heels - even after finding out that she’s the one blackmailing him, his feelings are only dampened, not extinguished. When he catches a glimpse of her family’s situation, he gains a deeper understanding of her and why she acts the way she does. Even more importantly, Ji-soo treats her the same after finding out this information which, to someone like Gyu-ri, means more than if he comforted her about it. 

If you want to see a physical representation of how he feels, other than paying attention to his actions, you can see it in him keeping mementos from Gyu-ri. She has an interesting habit of folding bags into origami shapes and giving it to him. Even after the blackmail reveal, you can see that he continues to keep these in a container on his desk. It’s really cute that he keeps these, when it probably doesn’t even matter that much to Gyu-ri. 

Towards the end of the drama, Ji-soo prepares to turn himself in to prevent Gyu-ri from being implicated in the crimes they committed. And it costs him almost everything to protect her. Ji-soo, the quiet, nerdy kid, puts himself on the line time and time again to protect Gyu-ri, knowing that it puts his life and his dream at risk to do so. And all for what? For some girl that he thinks doesn’t even like him in return? 

Well, let’s talk about that. Because I’ve seen some comments that Gyu-ri was only using Ji-soo for her own selfish gain. And I can agree that was how it was at the beginning for her; she definitely was only interested in acquiring money, like Ji-soo was, in order to achieve her own goal of being free from her parents. 

But, oh man, that is not what is motivating her at the end. 

It’s actually pointed out relatively early by some of her friends that it’s obvious that she likes Ji-soo more than he likes her. Understandably Ji-soo is keeping her at arms length from him given the whole recent blackmailing, so it would make sense that it looks that way. 

Further questioning reveals what she likes the most about him: 

“It’s not like I’m crazy about him. He’s fun. And amusing. He’s smart. And there’s a certain charm he has. He also has a wolfish side to him. But he thinks he’s a puppy.” 

- Bae Gyu-ri

But, as she gets to know Ji-soo better, you can certainly see that she starts to fall hard for him. As a cover story for why they hang out so much together during and after school, Gyu-ri states to everyone that they’re dating. The reactions across the school definitely imply that this is a shocking development, which means that Gyu-ri hasn’t dated anyone before. So why Ji-soo other than the reasons she herself states? 

He challenges her, just as she challenges him. Gyu-ri may be the more dynamic, quick thinking of the pair but Ji-soo is every inch her intellectual equal - just in different ways. She doesn’t seem to be the type to be easily impressed, but you can tell that she’s definitely impressed by Ji-soo’s operation and how thoroughly set up it is. When Ji-soo is frustrated at the beginning by his setbacks, he blows up at another student (knocks him out in a crazy punch) and immediately walks over to Gyu-ri afterwards (who saw the whole thing) to inform her that she is now his partner in crime. 

The look in her eyes, and the small smirk she has speaks volumes about her attraction to him in that scene. Smoldering. 

And, oh yes, she’s prone to jealousy. Another classmate, Min-hee, gives Ji-soo a present out of the blue (it was supposed to be for her boyfriend, Ki-tae, but that’s another sub-plot) - all within view of Gyu-ri. It’s hilarious how she tries to brush it off. Later, for plot reasons, Ji-soo has to spend more time with Min-hee which only furthers Gyu-ri’s annoyance. 

And her motivations stop being entirely about the money and more towards helping preserve the dream that she and Ji-soo share about being free. There’s a scene in episode 8 where it’s revealed that, due to a business partnership with a local gang (set up by none other than Gyu-ri herself in a desperate move), Ji-soo would have to drop out of school permanently to work on their behalf. Gyu-ri overhears this and, despite badly needing the gang’s help in sustaining their own business, immediately terminates the partnership. 

All because it would interfere with Ji-soo’s dream. 

Man, if that isn’t love. 

In the following episode, Gyu-ri, and later on Ji-soo, is kidnapped by the same gang in retaliation for terminating their partnership. Ji-soo comes to her rescue but Gyu-ri is already almost free (again, she’s really, really badass) and is demanding that they bring Ji-soo to her instead of running for her life. 

Surviving this latest attempt puts the two in a reflective, vulnerable mood and Gyu-ri asks Ji-soo why he keeps saving her. Ji-soo asks later on why she keeps risking her life to be with him. They don’t say the answer in words but in an almost kiss (yeah, you read that right - almost). 

And then, if you aren’t already convinced, Ji-soo crosses his one last remaining line in an effort to keep Gyu-ri safe; he accidentally pushes a fellow classmate down some steps and, instead of helping her, leaves her to die after grabbing the evidence she has on him and Gyu-ri. 

Extracurricular pulls off quite the magic trick here, hiding this well done love story in the middle of a serious crime drama. 

The real tragedy is that Ji-soo thinks that Gyu-ri views this whole business, and by extension his life, as one big game. It’s something that she takes offense at, visibly becoming upset when he says that. 

But even if that were true, he should be assured since Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. 

As they hurtle towards the end and face up to the consequences of their actions, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri undoubtedly lose sight of their original goals and dreams. They do some fairly horrible things to stay alive and ahead of the police who are close on their trail. You can’t really blame them for doing what they did; in the face of a society that has abandoned them, what they’re doing is a logical outcome to gain what they want so desperately and deserve so much: the chance to be free to live like normal, care-free people. 

I can’t say for certain that they achieve that. The drama is serious in consequences and, at the end, the net around them is drawing tighter and tighter. I won’t spoil the ending scene for you, because I highly encourage you watch this drama yourself but I will say this: Ji-soo and Gyu-ri seem stuck in an impossible situation with nowhere to go, and no one to help them, with a clock ticking down towards either death or discovery by the police. 

But, all the same, I’m always the optimist. They’ve gotten through situations like this before and they can certainly do so again. Maybe not as bad as this one, but not too far out of their league. And, like I mentioned before, Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. Especially when it comes to Ji-soo. 

Their relationship is truly dangerous, as Ji-soo himself notes. Them being together is the source of their problems; they’re too much alike now, as opposed to the beginning of the drama where he stated that they’re too different. Their love is the kind of love where both of them are willing to burn the whole world down if it means keeping each other safe. 

I’m a real sucker for those kind of love stories. No one’s a hero here. They’re just kids in high school, doing the best with what they know. 

Who are we to judge what is right and wrong? Especially when the one committing the acts are high school kids who don’t know any better and just want to save each other? 

Do we have that right? 

Do they really deserve that punishment? Shouldn’t we be pointing fingers at the society that forced them to act this way? 

Extracurricular really makes you think about that. Is it really so outlandish and terrible what Ji-soo and Gyu-ri do to survive when the adults who are supposed to be protecting them, teaching them better, have failed in their duty? 

Maybe they really did win at the end. Not so much in succeeding in their goals but in gaining something that not even regular people are likely to find - a partner, a soulmate, someone who will stand by you no matter what. 

If you do watch the ending, and are not an optimist like I am, then all I can say is this: whatever happened, they were together at the end. 

They were together. 

[ask-the-chaos-creation-crew]

Just to any mods in general: When designing a character do you go through many design changes before settling on a final design?

I'll put it under a cut since it's kinda long.

Ellis:

not rlly tbh , tha only one's who'v rlly gone thru any sort of design changes was alien , tyrant , teen , an horror (an even then most were 4 sake of convenience/amplifying their characteristics y'kno ?)

4 example:

- while alien may hav gotten a new Frill around his neck now , he also used 2 b able 2 split his mouth all tha way down 2 his abdomen . not sure y i had that but i don't now

- horror's monster form design was a Lot different from how it was back then (never posted it publicly tho) . biggest difference was that he had eyes and a nose !!! an also chains on his wrists an ankles

- tyrant had a Lot mor scars , altho they were simplified 4 convenience sake . him being blind in one eye was ALSO not a thing originally ! ended up adding it bc ,,,, idk lol thought it looked neat

- i jus made teen look mor liek a ,,,, well a Teenager . fuckers sixteen now he can b a little edgy as a treat <3 also unrelated but fun fact he has three parents ! i forgot 2 include one of them when teen reveals who stars parents r whoops

Pearl:

Q:

For me I just kinda .. make the character design and then … keep it like that until I look at it again and go “ew”

Spinmp:

usually when i have an idea for character design i make a few sketches on paper to see what i like. ive usually talked about personality, characteristics, backstory etc beforehand so i have a vague idea of what i want it to look like!

-OWA's design changed a lot, more specifically his outfit and its colors. He used to wear a jacket until I decided that he probably wouldn't enjoy the restrictive movement that comes w it, and also drawing his scars seems cooler to me than just a normal jacket.

-Burnt Toast was going to originally be humanoid before the final design! He was going to have only one eye and a lower jaw, and he would wear a mask around people he didn't trust. After changing his story slightly, he ended up being the giant time noodle seen today :]

-Lizard RHM was actually very tricky at first. I knew I wanted him to be a lizard, but it was very difficult to decide how humanoid he would be, what his color scheme would be, what kind of lizard he would resemble, etc. Orange and spikey stuck out to me the most! im a sucker for orange. i love orangh

Sam:

i kind of just accidentally make design changes over time and go "oh i guess this is how i draw them now lol!!"

the most common thing for me to do is to make hair fluffier over time or make the character shorter by accident

Bliss:

I tend to stick fairly closely to the original design (in Alex's case, I have not changed anything about them, but that's just because I got attached to the silly), but more often change the character's personality over time (Alex went from someone barely making ends meet and working paycheck to paycheck to a popular YouTuber because of a joke AU I made).

There's an example and exception contained in one OC of mine, who went over a huge personality overhaul (went from sad to thembo) and also had a lot of his features changed as a result of him actually being given an ethnicity (he didn't have one before), after which I changed his features accordingly.

I'll also change a physical design if the old design has bad memories attached to it (I recently redesigned a character because his outfit was created by my abuser).

Milkyway:

Personally, I haven't really changed anything much design wise for my aus (except for my modsona she got a redesign recently). Triple Treat really only had this one rather dark joke I have since tossed aside I guess. However, how an au of mine did go through a bit of a change... Kid!

Initially, Kid was meant to be a rather shy and quiet child. He didn't really talk with people or other kids at his daycare, his only friends being his toys. Mama V also wasn't part of the initial concept, coming from a suggestion that one of the other mods had

As you can tell, Kid has perked up quite a bit. He's a LOT more friendly and cheerful, and a lot more... Peculiar to say the least, with some of the things he's able to so ;)

Well, I guess there's also a lot of the ideas I had for Reaper! I just, haven't really been able to implement them.

If you want an example... Well, let's just say...

Reapers... Aren't always Reapers :>

[cosmosrival]

Rico besides Kama what do you think about the other indian servants?????

AHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS GOING TO GET SOOOO LONG!!!! i have a different view of the indo fam as a whole. i call them the indo fam but i mean the found family trope!!!! theyre like a group of college students sharing a dorm if that makes sense, since their servant selves are obviously different from their initial myths/human vessels!!!

OK SO. RECENTLY, i have an oomf that found books about arjuna that summarize his exploits in the mahabharata(I DONT HAVE THE STRENGTH TO READ IT ALL IM SO SORRY) and also talk about him in a more philosphical manner such as his states of mind during each event etc and i’ve been meaning to read said book because im genuinely interested in arjuna now!!! and i’d like to know more about this indo prince because from what i’ve seen, he is portrayed in a rather bad light(?) in FGO which i find extremely !!!!!!!!!!! and incrdibley !!!!!!! strange !!!!!!! the mahabharata’s conflicts can be put in a mostly grey area where there’s no good nor bad, its not black and white. so seeing arjuna get bashed because of the way his conflict with karna was written is... hm. let’s say that im REALLY starting to understand arjuna fans that dislike seeing him get mischaracterized so much. OTHER THAN THAT, his design is adorable, his travel outfit is my favourite because he deserves to relax and have some fun!!! fgo making him a chuuni is cute and his VAs little moans are cute cute cute!!!!!!!!!!! (mash grabs my shoulder and forces me to sit down) i think that arjuna deserves better and im really happy to see him have fun in his travel costume voicelines. i think we should take arjun on a date!!! he’s a great lover, we’d have the best time!! OH ALSO, kama seeing him as the student council president in their interlude makes me SOOOOOOO HAPPY its unreal, i think it fits him very very well, the seitokaichou who was elected because of everyone’s hopes and recommended by teachers because he’s suuuch a good student but because of that, the pressure to be good is constantly towering over his head and everytime he looks out the window he wishes he could ditch class and skip a day just because he felt like going to the arcade and be a bad student.......just this once........i think hes very very cute...... i want him to cook for me. HAVE YO U READ HIS BOND 4 VOICELINE ?mmmmmggg i want him to get embarrassed everytime i praise him for having such a muscular waistline. AUG

ANEWAYS i also have quite the thoughts about karna, his characterization in the game is linked to arjuna’s and thats fine but i think that forgetting how much of a little sassy bastard he can get was a mistake! did you know that in apocrypha’s german dub on netflix, when jeanne calls his name like “You’re Karna, aren’t you ? The son of the Indian Sun God !” HES LIKE “So ?” AND THAT WAS SOOOO BITCHY OF HIM, i think that karna is a good boy in fgo but the fact that he was such a fighty old man in the mahabharata shouldnt be forgotten and is a charm trait. I MEAN ???? HE THREW HANDS WITH AN 18 YEAR OLD(ARJUN) WHILE BEIN LIKE... THIRTY TWO. WHATS WITH THIS ANNOYING OLD MAN !!!!! knowing these little facts about him made me like him so much more actually !! i think karna being so nice is adorable!! but the little bitchy energy u can find in his voicelines is also very charming!! i think karna looking at me emotionless as i ask him to lend me his notes for the nth time that week and then saying “...Mn.” when i thank him is cute!!! his voiceline towards things he dislikes is interesting to me. karna seeming aloof and mean bc he doesnt know how to communicate but is actually nice underneath...... hey... thats a little delinquentcore........ i wouldnt say yankii but hes like... hes like... u know hes the handsome quiet one of the group of yankiis... u know the one...? hey where are you going

ganesha is also a character im deeply interested in but i havent played CCC so i dont know that many details about jinako herself !! my brain goes HMMMMMM it seems lord ganesha is trans in fgo ! (since kama used to be a male god originally as well!!) ganesha uses all pronouns!!! and ganesha is also special to me because they share similar traits with kama when it comes to their characterization AND mischaracterizations. ganesha isnt JUST jinako. theres a part of a god in the servant mix!!! and jinako HERSELF is actually a pretty sad character imo. the whole otaku/neet thing is obviously a facade and her true wish being that she wants to redo her whole life is also proof of how much she hates what shes become, yet at the same time, she doesnt know what else she could do. but anyways, i prefer looking at servants from a lore POV so i think that ganesha should still be considered a god and be adressed as such!! i like seeing people portray ganesha as jinako but i prefer it when a certain lavish more godly side of them is put forward. a side of jinako that managed to move on a little bit if that makes sense ? that got more serious. and became someone else entierly despite sharing similarities. needless to say their bond with karna makes me happy since he shows them respect as you should towards a god!! its a bit different from their bond in CCC... like they matured somewhat!! anyway ganesha is the one who taught everyone else in the indo fam about video games and technology and i will NEVER shut up.

ashwatthama..... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM %_’(’ç_”’è_ç(è_’”545656455456545453£¨¨µ¨µMµ¨++°=)=)°+ goodness. jesus christ on earth. my love story with him makes me so embarrassed. when he got revealed i instantly fell in love with him despite knowing JACK SHIT ABOUT HIM but since i was the only one in my friend group who was hardcore into fgo at the time, i kept my love for him to myself and just... (looks away)(i drop my wallet full of picturses of him) quietly adored his everything in silence. WELL, ree having an intense crush on yankii type characters isnt new, its been my favourite trope for ages (gyarus go in hand with them!!) and im still very attached to it so thats what made me love him in the first place!!!! BUT THEN. I GOT INTO HIS MAHABHARATAN LORE. And OHHHHHHHHH BABY.......... (im twirling my hair) so theres this 7ft tall war criminal..........<3<33<3(mash leans in and informs me that the convention of geneva didnt exist at the time) SO THERES THIS 7 FTTALL IMMORTALMAN.......<233 gOD he makes me absolutely CRAZY9909840385%£%%£%%µ%µ%µ the love i have for this character is immense and whenever im sad i remember that pako exists and has a tablet and can draw and i suddenly feel so much better. ok im gonna stop horny posting a little bit. but hes my wife. AND WHAT I LOVE ABOUT HIS PORTRAYAL IN FGO IS THAT, they actually made him a good boy despite his initial roughness and misdeeds ???!!! HELLO?? ashwatthama wishing for a redemption ark is my favourite thing and his righteousness that was born because of his regrets is a very interesting drivepoint to me !!! hes a gorgeous character and im buying a ticket plane as we speak right now so i can go find him in northern india. i’ll find him. GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME !!!!!GET OFF ME !!!

miss lakshimi makes me very sad! because every female servant in the indo fam is an already known face. (... would sita count.) and lakshi being a jeanneface is a waste. well, she’s still very pretty and her lore is also quite interesting!! i havent looked into it fully yet but i think she should be kissed on the mouth. her bad luck makes me slip on a banana peel whenevr i get close to her to kiss her and i hit my head on the pavement and pass away- 

parvati is on a tough spot for me atm. i genuinely love thinking of her as the way the indian goddess herself is portrayed because thats where the fun lies for me in her character. especially when shes involved with other indian servants, thats a given!! i would like to see parvati grow, suffer and heal. because branding her as an “all-knowing mom” is easy, but every single parent makes mistakes if you follow that logic. also, since shes the sakura servant “thats closest to her initial personality”, she’s got some of the most Repulsive fans ive Ever witnessed in fandom spaces and lets say that im trying to work my way out of this hellhole and find things to like about parvati without the fandom’s influence. needless to say, im going to keep looking into her mythos and her lore by myself at my own pace and keep doing my own thing in my little corner. 

rama shouldve been a jock. THE RAMAYANA IS OLDER THAN THE MAHABHARATA, WHY IS.....Hrm well him being summoned as his baby version gives me hope for a future rama alt perhaps??? but i think that he shouldve been a total jock and he shouldve been huge with a huge red lion-like mane for his hair and a teethy grin and big biceps and intense love for his wife. SPEAKING OF SITA, her charm point is her purity but i wish.... that their artist still hadnt drawn them like That, im not a fan of lily servants and i think purity = being young is a bit of an annoying excuse!!! rama and sita looking similar is because of their shared history which is fine but... rolls my eyes............. rama shouldve been 6ft tall and sita shouldve been a milf to match...... anyways i doubt ravana would be added as a servant but i’d love to have a ramayana centric event!! where all indo servants have their own lore centric role to play!!! oh thatd be a dream.... but i have learned to not expect much from a fanservice game so im jus gonna draw my own stuff! (strikes a pose!) (mashu claps!)

[kirishwima]

Hi! How about Juminv for 🍯🍋🍌⚡🌙🌝🌔☀🍍🌻🌽✨🍻💫🔆💛⛅🌟 I sorry if this is too much :'(

not at all! 

🍯 do they give each other nicknames ? have them list a few of their favourites !

* Jumin’s not really the type-but if V gives him a nickname he’ll love it and chuckle to himself anytime V uses it!

* He’ll simply call V ‘Jihyun’, unless V specifically asks him to call him something else-he just...doesn’t understand the appeal of nicknames lmao

* V too isn’t all that fond of them-he loves Jumin’s name, why should he change it? Though sometimes he’ll call him ‘Ju’, like he used to sometimes when they were kids :’)

🍋 do they like cuddling ? what’s their favourite or the comfiest cuddling position for them ?

* They both love cuddling! Especially Jumin, though he won’t admit it out loud-but the moment V’s near him he’ll just hold him close, big spoon, small spoon, laying on top of him, no matter, he loves it all!

* V loves classic spooning-he doesn’t mind what spoon he is lol, be it holding Jumin close or feeling Jumin’s chest on his back, he loves it all, it really comforts him to feel his beloved so close to him <3

🍌 which one is usually the one to initiate any kissing or just any plain touching ?

* V! He’s a very touchy-feely guy, he needs to have his hands on Jumin at all times-even while simply talking he’ll lean his shoulder onto Jumin, or he’ll hold his hand e.t.c

* Jumin will often be the one to initiate kissing though, mainly because V’s a little apprehensive about it at first-it’ll take him a while before he’s fully confident to initiate it himself!

⚡️ how do they prefer to show affection ? are they more touchy or do they show it in ways other than contact ?

* For Jumin, affection comes in actions-how he’ll always make sure V’s favorite wine can always be found in their home, or how he’ll book them tickets to V’s favorite theatre show, things that show he cares, because he’s not used to showing affection, but caring-that he knows and he’ll show how much he cares constantly

* V is more fond of physical affection, but it’s not his main form of showing his love either-his love is seen through his art, how all his photographs have Jumin as their model, how he paints in Jumin’s favorite colours, how he’ll draw the most gorgeous painting of Elizabeth the 3d because he knows it’ll make Jumin smile-that’s his love language :)

🌙 be honest , who’s the little spoon and who’s the big spoon ?

* They switch it up! They really don’t mind who’s what lol

🌝 what’s YOUR favourite moment of them together ?

* it’s not something in canon, but it’s implied that they hang out and drink wine every so often and i can imagine that SO it’s my favorite semi-canon scene lmao

* Otherwise I love their first meet-up it’s so cute, little horrible driver JuJu and ConfusedYetCaring V :’)

🌔 do they like wearing each other’s clothes ? who’s usually the one wearing the other’s clothes ?

* nah, neither of them sees the appeal for it-or rather....

* V would love to see Jumin in his clothes, but the idea of bringing it up to him is so embarassing he can’t bring himself to do so lmao

* They’re rich kids who have suits tailored to their exact measurements-unless it’s casual clothes they wouldn’t really wear one another’s outfits lmao

🔆 do they see themselves together for the long run ? like , getting married , starting a family , and all that jazz ?

* YES. Neither of them talks about it, worried of how to bring it up but...absoloutely. V wants the whole packet, whilst Jumin...well, he wants love, and a family of his own, and V is so so down for that (plus they’d be such good dads???)

💛 what’s your favourite aspects of their relationship dynamics ?

* I LOVE how much they care about one another, and how they  know one another so well-plus I’m SUCH a sucker for the friends-to-lovers dynamic just. Fluff fluff and more fluff. I love it!!!

 🌦 i know this one sucks to answer , but least favourite thing about each other?

* Lmao for Jumin it’s absoloutely how secretive V gets to ‘protect him’-he HATES it, for him trust is everything, and hiding things=mistrust, and that’s that.

* For V, it’s how absoloute Jumin can be on certain topics, how he leaves little room for arguement-for Jumin, many topics are only black&white, no gray zone, whilst Jihyun can find the gray zone in most things, so that really furstrates him.

🍍 which one surprises the other with more gifts ? what kind of gifts are most common ?

* They’re both RICH AF, they’d one up one another with gifts all the time, like birds trying to impress a ladybird with fancy nests djdjdjdj

* Not really, but they love giving gifts to one another-V buys a lot of things for Elly since he knows Jumin adores her, and he makes a lot of paintings for Jumin <3 

*Jumin loves buying art supplies for V, and accessories, since he likes wearing necklaces and bracelets! He wants the best for his boo <3 

🌻 what does each of their families think about their partner ?

* Mmm...tricky topic. V’s dad...well he has no opinion since he has such little interaction with V. He’s shocked at first, but he has no say in their relationship, so his opinion is nonexistent lmao

* As for Jumin’s dad, he was shocked at first-he might’ve even tried to deterr them over their relationship, but eventually he gave in, realized his son is happy, and approves of them! He’s a little confused but he got the spirit pretty much lmao

✨ have each partner describe their favourite thing about the other ! is it a physical feature or a mannerism , or something else ?

Oo let’s do that as them talking about each other hahah~

Jumin: “What I like the most about Jihyun? Is this something one should answer when dating? I see...well...I suppose my favorite thing about him would be his stubborness. Yes, of course I understand how contradicting that may be-but his headstrong attitude, how he does his best at anything he does-I greatly appreciate and adore that. *cue small smile here*”

V: “What’s my favorite thing about Jumin? Hmmm...how can I choose? His small smile, reserved just for me, or his dark piercing eyes, how he calculates each situation, but hides more emotion than any one person could ever see...no, I don’t think I can choose *laughs* I’m sorry”

🍻 what would be a typical date night for them ?

* They’re both suckers for a classic dinner-wine-then back home thing ;) Only for them it’s like, one step above us foolish mortals, we’re talking the fancy resturaunts and hecking expensive wine

* Every so often though they go on roadtrips, per Jihyun’s request, and they kinda are their favorite kinds of dates, away from everyone and anything else hehe <3

💫 which one secretly looks at the other like they put the stars in the sky when the other isn’t looking ?

* JUMIN!!! 

* He doesn’t know V catches him staring way more often than he thinks but, it gets V so flustered he doesn’t ever bring it up hehe~

🌟 what’s their favourite moment together ?

* The moment they confessed to one another-it was so natural, they both loved it. They’d been sitting at the balcony at Jihyun’s apartment, the sun slowly falling, they’d been standing shoulder-to-shoudler, Jihyun putting out a cigarette when he turned and saw Jumin staring. 

* He simply smiled, leaned closer, and let Jumin kiss him-and that was that. Nothing fancy, nothing extra-just them, together, like they should be-how they’ve always been <3

******

-OTP ask meme-

[veryfantasticstudent]

Mothers in Her Private Life (2019)

or Motherhood Pvt Ltd. A Publicly Traded Corporation

Spoilers!

Her Private Life is a 2019 Korean drama based on Kim Sung-yeon’s novel Noona Fan Dot Com, starring Kim Jae-wook and Park Min-Young in the lead roles. The show follows Sung Duk-mi (Park Min-young), the talented and dedicated Curator at Cheum Museum of Art, who has a secret that no-one at her work place must know about—she is a k-pop fangirl and fansite master The Road to Si-an. Trouble starts to brew when Duk-mi’s paths cross with Cheum Museum’s new Director, Ryan Gold (Kim Jae-wook), both as The Road to Si-an as well as in her role as the headstrong curator of the Museum. A rumour that Duk-mi is dating idol Cha Si-an (ONE) further threatens to dissolve the boundaries between Duk-mi’s work and private life.  

Image from The Asian Wiki           

Her Private Life was my first k-drama, and it took me a while to get to this even though a friend has been asking me to watch them for at least a year now. I decided to watch this show because the premise seemed familiar enough from anime and manga like Ore no Imouto Ga Konnani Kawaii Wake Ga Nai and Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows). The show’s initial episodes follow the typical pattern of shows on fan culture: the censure and ridicule fan communities face, the struggle as well as joy of keeping up with one’s favourite music, games, TV shows, what-you-have-it alongside one’s daily life. Her Private Life is an easy-going romantic-comedy with bright production pallets, stunning outfits and make-up for its entire cast, and a wonderful OST list; it reeled in (G)I-DLE for the title track “Help Me” and also features songs by Ha Sung-woon, IN2IT, and Davichi. I did not think the show would go beyond the cute-sy and slightly contrived incidents that bring Duk-mi and Ryan’s together. I am happy to say I was wrong.

           While the first half of the show focuses on the will-they-won’t-they angle, the second half picks on a very interesting strand: motherhood. There are a lot of mothers, biological and adopted, in Her Private Life. We see some of them while others are only present in the background, but this fabric of various mothers ties together the different characters in this show. We have Go Young-sook (Duk-mi’s mother), Lee Seon-ju, Editor Nam Se-yeon, Director Eom So-hye, Artist Lee Sol, and Ryan’s adopted mother—who never makes an appearance on the show but is an important part of it nonetheless. All these women have a different relationship with motherhood; they struggle through it in different ways as their male counterparts do not actively participate in child-rearing[1] or the domestic sphere--what is “private” must be managed by the woman. Inept men fail women and also trample the future of children in the process. In Her Private Life, the so-called domestic sphere mixes up with business when women rear children as a community and also become breadwinners.  They are left alone to balance responsibilities both the domestic and public spheres, and can only rely on each other to look after their children. By exploring motherhood through the different mothers peppering its story, the show quietly states the feminist maxim “the private is the public” to throw out gendered division of labour. 

Young-sook and Seon-ju are “traditional” mothers, and it may seem that there is nothing new about them. While the two women never meet on screen and discuss their lives, they have much in common; they spend much of their time with their children and derive pleasure from motherhood. Despite being married to men who are at least physically present, Young-sook and Seon-ju have to take much of the burden of parenting on their shoulders. 

Image from Manga and Anime Maniac

Young-sook is an efficient and loving mother of two, Duk-mi and Duk-su. She also takes Nam Eun-gi and Heo Yun-jae/Ryan Gold, a supposedly abandoned child, under her wing. In the course of the show, she acts as a mother to Kim Hyo-jin, the Museum intern struggling with an insensitive with her own mother, Director Eom So-Hye. Young-sook receives little support from her husband except finances. Being a mother to five children at different points in time, Young-sook is a super-parent. Young-sook’s role as a nourishing caregiver to all these children ensures that they becomes well-adjusted individuals in the course of the show. Her affectionate rearing in the domestic sphere becomes the backbone on which single mothers like Nam Se-yeon can earn their livelihood in the public sphere. She is the glue who binds families together.

Image from Go K-Pop

Seon-ju, like Young-sook, shares a thorny marriage with her husband and practically raises Geon-u on her own. A “modern” mother, insofar she owns and manages a café, Seon-ju is self-sufficient when it comes to money. Her husband, Kim Seung-min is rarely available for the emotional support that Seon-ju wants in her marriage, and he remains busy with his work life. In the beginning of the series, it is only for the sake of her child that she stays in her marriage. Seung-min further alienates Seon-ju when he helps produce a documentary film called “Obsessive Fangirl of the 21st Century”, hurting Seon-ju who is a fangirl herself. Seung-min insists that his work is separate from his family life and thus Seon-ju should not be disheartened by the documentary; work life is separate from private life, a distinction that we can only draw in the case of gendered division of labour. Seung-min even tries to justify his contribution to the documentary by saying that he did it so that he could transfer to a variety show and be able to spend more time with his family. Seon-ju refuses Seung-min’s excuses, Seung-min apologises to Seon-ju for thinking that he could work on a documentary that portrayed fangirls in a negative light while also respecting Seon-ju’s life as a fangirl; their reconciliation only happens when Seung-min lets go of the constructed binary between a public sphere where one works and the private sphere of domestic life.

Editor Nam Se-yeon and Lee Sol are the two career-driven women in the show who raise their children, manage their domestic sphere by “giving them up”. Se-yeon is still single during the events of Her Private Life because few men her age seem to be compatible with “ambitious” women—a gaslight-y way of saying they are intimidated by her success. When Eun-gi was born, Se-yeon was desperate enough to consider leaving him since she could not rely on Eun-gi’s father to support her. Only a woman, Young-sook, steps forward to help Se-yeon in her time of need and allows her to move forward in her career. Women must hold the fort in both the public and the private sphere.

Image from MayRealm

Meanwhile, Lee Sol raises Yun-jae/Ryan on her own even as she toils to make it debut as an artist. Lee Sol loses her son when she is knocked into a coma after a car accident. Although Lee Sol is not able to find her son until she meets him as Director Ryan Gold of Cheum Museum of Art, Lee Sol’s lost son finds love and warmth first in the family of Young-sook and then in the Gold family. The accident damages Lee Sol’s hand enough that she can no longer be an artist and pursue her career. Again, it is Young-sook who initially takes care of Yun-jae. Even though she must later give him up for adoption, Young-sook steps in as a mother to prevent Yun-jae from being traumatically orphaned on the day Lee Sol met with her accident. Young-sook is a kind of a “middle mother” who willingly nurtures Eun-gi and Yun-jae in a way that they can cultivate strong and healthy bonds with their parents and themselves.

Motherhood, however, is not the sole test of these women’s characters or moral sense. In portraying the efforts these women put into all aspects of their life, Her Private Life does not offer any judgement on who is the better mother “and, thus the better woman”. Even though Young-sook is the super-mom, she is also the only mother in the show who loses a child. Her youngest, Duk-su, passes away in a car accident. There was nothing Young-sook did to “deserve” it and nothing she could have done to prevent it. She is not rewarded for being a super-mom, and the other mothers on the show are not censured for choosing to run businesses or pursue a career. 

Perhaps the only mother Her Private Life condemns is Eom So-hye, who is not a bad mother but an insensitive person in general. So-hye cares little for her employees at Cheum and often makes life difficult for her daughter, Hyo-jin, even if it comes from a place of trying to prevent Hyo-jin from engaging in sasaeng-like (stalker) obsessive behaviour. Young-sook’s advice to So-Hye is not just advice for becoming a better parent but becoming a better person by listening to the needs of other people. Though So-Hye remains the drama queen character of Her Private Life, by the end of the show she is no longer the obnoxious person who wishes to boss everyone around.

Without introducing an element of “karma” or what-comes-around-goes-around for the different motherhoods—traditional or modern, involved or a little aloof—Her Private Life gives breathing room to motherhood. Since men cannot support them emotional or financially or both, women step outside their houses to take on the roles of breadwinners while balancing the role of caregivers. Women divide roles according to their strength and not their genders, and advance in their careers and raise well-adjusted children without the need for a patriarch to guide them.

[1] We do not know what relationship the Golds share.