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luckyyyduckyyy · 10 months ago

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Oooh! A BATIM AU sounds like it could be a fun time!

I haven't been keeping up with ask blogs for a longgg time, (Undertale had me in a chokehold in middle school - I'm in college now lmao) so I can't be much help with that aspect, butttt what I'll put here will be from what I've personally observed from the DCA fandom itself, and from a writer and artist perspective. :)

Hope this will be some help! It's alright if ya don't take all that I suggest, they're all just my opinions in the end - Your AU can be made and handled however you'd like!

Memorable/unique design:

I know not all ask blogs use visuals to answer asks, but having at least a character reference sheet Pinned or easily accessible will get people more interested in the characters they're interacting with.

Especially since this is an AU, something that'll make Sun and Moon stand out from cannon and look separate from each other will get people interested! Looking at characters from BATIM they're usually dressed pretty simply, with their shape language doing most of the talking while the clothes/accessories imply their role.

So, if you want to do a simple design, you have a lottt of free wiggle room! A lot of people do tend to enjoy complicated designs too, and if you want to do one you totally have room to as well - just remember to have a focal point in mind! (Usually it's the face, but it can be an important element of the outfit too.)

Here's some AUs that I think have successful designs if you want some inspiration (Mix of simple and complicated!): GITM/Ghost In The Machine, Pluck Your Heartstrings, Harpy AU, Candy AU, Sleuth Jesters, LDR/Love Death Rollerskates, and any Mer/Mermay design honestly lol

(There are definitely many many mannnny more great designs out there, these are just off the top of my head!)

Specialized Stylization: (completely art based advice - you can skip if not relevant :) )

If you DO plan on answering asks with art/visuals, sometimes half of the appeal is just an artist's style! Don't be afraid to add your own flavor of shape language or color into it. Not only to make it your own, but to convey what kind of personalities/characters the audience is interacting with.

If you were to draw Bendy for example, maybe his small form would look round and cartoony, clean, have highlights, maybe even hints of blue in the ink black of his body. Then if you were to draw his brute/demon form, maybe the overall shape is more jagged and made of straight/scratchy lines that come to a point. The color could be pure black and dull or have hints of a red undertones. Even doing a slight background change (color, shading type, overall scene) between the two forms gives off different tones - I imagine even doing these slight differences can indirectly direct asks to point in ways you'd want them to go!

(I think it would be especially effective if you're planning on going into the horror aspect of both BATIM and FNAF. CREEPY BOIS!)

Mixed Plot Relevance:

This is more my personal tastes on crossover AUs and writing, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt!

In things like Crossovers, a reason as to why the characters are in this world and how their story has changed is a big deal. Wether it be that Sun and Moon got taken over by the ink as animatronics or that they were born from the ink can change the story and it's relevance to each other's worlds significantly. The best part about crossover AUs, in my opinion, is finding out how much of the story leans into the included franchises!

You could completely make it a BATIM world and just include the FNAF characters who would have an alternative background that spawn them from the ink machine or replace characters from BATIM. You could make it a FNAF based world and have the BATIM world bleed into it, almost like some sort of corruption. Any which way, it's a fascinating time to figure out how they'd all blend together and is certainly a good mystery for the audience. People love seeing iconic characters come up unexpectedly, or expectedly but having a postponed reveal - finding out everyone's roles in a new universe can really flesh out the world your characters live in!

You don't need a ton of characters though, even just mentioning their existence and relationships from time to time can be enough!

(Bonus points if you have special designs for them too, since more characters mean more for people to latch onto. I interact mostly with the art side of DCA Tumblr, so from that perspective, having characters for people to draw will give more chances of artists interacting :) )

Thats all I got! Hopefully you can take something away from this, and good luck with the ask blog!!! ^^

HELLO! I'm a sorta newer creator here and id like to know if anyone could give me some pointers on a AU I'm working on where Sundrop and Moondrop are in the Bendy And The Ink Machine universe! I would like to kno what could make this au more appealing and it will be a Ask blog so please if you want wanna see more of this give me a follow! Anyways thank you for your time!

#Very fun AU idea!#A great start with that already!#Hopefully the advice helps #But what's most important is you have fun and make the world how you want to make it!#Good luck out there tiger #bendy and the ink machine #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf au #fnaf security breach #fnaf #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fnaf daycare au #daycare attendant #Ask blog #Helping out #yapping #professional yapper #my advice

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powdermelonkeg · 4 years ago

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So, BO2W Breakdown

Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.

Here we’ve got Ganon’s...energy taking over Link’s arm. Ordinarily, I’d call it Malice, but based on what it turns into, I’m just going to be calling it corruption. We don’t get much information from this scene besides this expression:

Link’s grabbing the corruption with his other hand, and wincing. It looks painful. I personally think it’s for cinematic effect that it was included, but it COULD be a gateway into a Phantom Hourglass sort of mechanic--Link has to function on a time limit, or using the corruption’s power could drain his life.

Next we’ve got a closeup of Ganondorf. F in chat to the rehydration theorists.

And the closeups of his jewelry. The only significant thing I can see is his necklace, which looks like a cross between the Gerudo symbol and a Fleur de Lis:

But what I’M most interested in is this tie on his belt:

For one, it’s WAY bigger than it needs to be, and that’s deliberate. Ganondorf’s got a jewelry aesthetic he’s already hit above; everything else is gold, why not this bit?

Most importantly, you can barely make it out, but the designs either look Sheikah or Zonai--they’ve got that same kind of swirly busy pattern to them. The red tint and tan-ish lines in it makes me think it’s possessed Sheikah tech.

Next, we’re shown Zelda falling. This looks like it happens right after these two caps from the first trailer:

So we reach for her as the ground collapses, and evidently, we fail to pull her back up. So my next question for that scene is going to be what the in-game reason is for us not diving in right after her. Maybe we won’t get one, since the appeal of the original BOTW was that you could fight Ganon whenever you wanted.

Up next, we’ve got a skydiving shot:

The first thing to notice is that Link’s pose while skydiving is just about identical to his pose in Skyward Sword:

Second is that, yes, he’s falling towards a floating island, and that in itself is noteworthy, but he’s FALLING. There’s something either above him that he jumped off of, or a force that carried him high enough TO fall, and I doubt Nintendo’s encouraging magnesis flying.

So, there’s a few options: Loftwings making a return (which is unlikely, but a hope I have), something like Revali’s Gale boosting Link up for a cinematic shot, indicating that the corruption arm has that kind of power, or islands higher than the one shown here.

Now the island itself:

In Skyward Sword, Skyloft looks like this:

And (spoiler alert) we loose this island here over the course of the game:

Now, it’s not a PERFECT 1:1 match, as most things between games aren’t, but a quick rotate and overlay shows it’s got the same kinds of shapes between the two. The same “W” shape along the eastern side, the same tiny island off the northeast point, the same relative edges.

Now, I don’t know what happened to the plaza at South Skyloft, or the Knight’s Academy isle, but it could very easily be drift away from the central island.

The presence of other islands through the clouds seems to support that theory. Now let’s look at Link here:

The outfit is new. We haven’t, to my knowledge, seen one of this design in other games. My gut reaction to this image was “oh, we go back in time and we’re the first hero now!” because it’s vaguely reminiscent of Tapestry Hero.

But upon closer inspection, that theory’s null and void. Under Link’s tunic in the image above, you can see that he’s still wearing the shorts he woke up in in the first game. So either Sheikah boxers haven’t changed in 10,000 years, or it’s taking place in present day. Jokes aside, I’m curious to know if the outfit he’s wearing is modeled after Tapestry Hero.

Next thing to point out is the obvious:

Link’s arm here looks less prosthetic and more...withered, I almost want to say. The corruption here’s made his hand look frailer, and armored them up with Zonai patterns before it fades out at his shoulder. Based on how the tattoos look, I think they’re an artifact of the corruption taking hold.

Also, the belt here:

Aesthetic purposes, or specific function? The presence of the second, smaller one on the side reminds me of Skyward Sword’s adventure pouch, which could be how the new game handles inventory size:

Next we’ve got another flying shot:

It seems like he’s flying towards Ruined Skyloft, and you can see the bottoms of islands above it, possibly meaning that the sky serves as more than just a hub world like it did in Skyward.

Now let’s look at the paraglider he’s using. It’s new.

This is how the paraglider looks in the original BOTW. It looks like we still have the Rito symbol in the center, but other than that, there’s a LOT of changes here.

First off is the color. We’re now blue and gold. The shade of blue makes me think of the Kochi Dye Shop’s navy blue:

So, possibly a dyeable paraglider?

The new pattern surrounding the Rito symbol makes me think that it’s combining the paraglider with Skyward Sword’s sailcloth:

Other than that, there isn’t much else to say about the paraglider besides the handles looking like they’re made of bone. Craftable paragliders? God, I hope not.

Back to Link:

Here we have him in different gear than the last shot. He’s wearing the snow boots, he has a shield with a stylized Eye of Truth looking upwards, and he looks like he’s carrying a traveler’s sword and an unknown bow. The presence of the bow makes me think that the shield here is a lower tier item, rather than this game’s Hylian Shield equivalent.

Now, let’s get a better look at the horizon:

The trees here look a lot like the smaller trees you can find in Akkala, but there’s a distinct lack of red among them.

Then it looks like we’ve got some ruins at the furthest isle.

Whatever the rock formations are over there, they don’t LOOK natural.

Another thing I noticed is the bottoms of the islands.

These look a little too geometric to be natural, too. Now, this one, I’m a little muddy on, because it COULD be a stylistic choice. But it also reminds me of the Shrines if you clip out of bounds:

And a little bit of the dormant Gate of Time from Skyward:

My money’s on the cube-like nature of the islands’ undersides being deliberate, rather than just a far-off render.

And then there’s this thing!

What is it? It doesn’t look broken at all; look how nicely the roof(?) is kept. The ribbing on the sides makes me think it might be a Zonai thing, but the shape makes it difficult to figure out. A giant temple? An airship? A sloped coliseum? This thing haunts and vexes me.

Our next shot is presumably from one of the islands, based on the color. Here we can see that there are definitely ruins all over the place. Link is in the same gear as before, so I won’t touch on him.

This, however, has my interest. The design here has more geometric patterns--Zonai ruins?

We’ve got another one off in the distance here. Sky checkpoints, like Sheikah towers?

Now this guy here. There’s a LOT to look at. First off is the eye design, it’s the same sort of upward looking one that Link has on his shield in the previous shots.

The energy that’s pulling this thing towards its base looks like the same green energy that surrounds the arm holding Gan in place in Trailer One:

This stuff. That, plus the fact that the robot has to be pulled into its base rather than just existing, implies that either A: Link activates it himself, like a trial thing, or B: that the green energy here functions in the same way Malice does in the original BOTW.

This pattern at its base is intriguing, too. I don’t recognize the gold symbol in the center, but the green around it reminds me of the portals from Twilight Princess.

Which, yes, everyone’s already said that the Twilight Princess patterns look like Zonai things. But another thing this weird dial thing reminds me of is from Lanayru Desert:

On top of that, the color palette of this guy looks like that of the Lanayru Robots from Skyward:

BO2W robot on the left, Lanayru robot on the right. Given that Skyward is a lot more vibrant than other non-Toon Zelda games, I think this is a fair enough comparison to draw similarities from.

And then we get a closer view of the sky ruins from the last shot. I don’t know if the geometric pattern in the corner is a deliberate carving, or wear from time, but since the pattern looks ALMOST mirrored around the corner, I’m going to go with the former.

A better shot a few frames later. The robot has HANDS, which I do not like in any way shape or form. However, we get a better look at the sky ruins.

We haven’t seen this style of stairs before, to my knowledge. The pedestal out front looks like a light source, and it has the same floral egg thing the robot above has on each shoulder; the eggs could easily be a power source for Zonai tech. And at the top of the stairs, we see a pedestal, backing up the theory that these ruins function as our new Sheikah towers.

This is our next shot. Which...

Unikoblins. Can we talk about that? UNIKOBLINS.

Anyways, Link is here again in his old clothes. This is a very early game shot, because his right arm isn’t corrupted yet; this means we get to explore Hyrule before we embark on the main quest. Which gives rise to a question: Where’s Zelda?

The hopeful side of me wants to say that she’s a tutorial companion, like Navi or Tatl, at least for the beginning here. The pessimistic side of me thinks that she’s waiting for us at a predetermined location, and this is just part of getting to her.

Now the unikoblin structure itself is built on a Talus, meaning that the dev team at least intends to have more inter-monster interactions. But if you kill the Talus, does that mean that the base falls apart, or does it just drop down as a separate entity?

Also, what are these background ruins? The one on the left looks like it’s a distinctly different style than the one on the right. It looks almost like a giant guardian arm.

Our next shot is Link’s arm getting corrupted. Which, first of all, the effects look beautiful.

Now, we can see a corner of Link’s hip here, and we know that this is his right arm. So Link’s lying down here. Unconscious? Knowing how Zelda games like to start with Link waking up, probably. Although it looks like at least part of his shorts got an update.

We can see what looks like circuits here. It looks a bit like the electricity puzzles you can find in the Divine Beasts and Shrines in the original.

Then we’ve got these strange symbols.

Whatever this circular stone he’s lying on is, it looks a lot like the Zonai puzzle from the “A Fragmented Monument” sidequest.

This one that everyone thought was the Mirror of Twilight for years.

Our next shot is Link using the corruption powers against enemies:

The spike ball itself looks solid; the question is, is this a duplication power, or a visualization of how the spike ball is set into motion?

We see it barreling over a poor Unikoblin or two, but I’d like to turn your attention to the Moblin and the background.

The moblins here have helmets, and the bases, while they carry the same design, look like they have more cause and effect in mind. The left base’s rock, for instance; that’s a lot bigger than the rocks we got to play with in the last game, and it looks like we can barrel anything in the screen over with it.

The helmet, though, concerns me a little bit. It looks natural rather than forged; like it’s the moblin’s horn, just very much deformed. Does it mean a harder enemy, or is it just for flavor?

Our next shot is this strange flower thing. Note that Link’s right arm is perfectly fine in this shot, meaning that it’s still early game.

This is what Link’s flamethrower looks like. And this:

Is Zonai art.

So the question is, what IS the flamethrower? My first thought was that it’s either a new item in its own, or it’s a Sheikah Slate upgrade. The latter might sound a little far fetched, but Link in this game is right-handed, and in BOTW, he always held the slate in his LEFT hand when using it.

We have more of the weird faded designs that we saw on the Sky ruins:

And we’ve got some kind of pedestal or stage behind the ground flower thing:

It looks like it’s either an altar or a grave, from what I can tell. The stairs aren’t the same design as the ones in the sky, and there aren’t any patterns on it.

More importantly, though, is that this place is underground. This could be a part of the game you’re required to go through, in order to get to Raisin Gan.

A few seconds later, though, we get our answer to what the flamethrower is!

It’s a shield!

Off to the left side, we can see pillars with more weird scribblings towards the top. These match the Sky ruins’ pillar shape, with a narrow base and a wider top.

Our next scene is...weird.

We see a puddle splash in reverse. It’s hard to tell if it’s actually water or not, but the design on the ground implies that it’s either been there for a long time, or that that’s a dedicated splash spot. And the quality and zoom makes me think that this is part of a cutscene. Return of the timeshift stones?

We then see Link...surfacing out of the island? I don’t know how else to describe it. However, his arm is changed again, and glowing, meaning that this is a corruption power. And the “water” he rises out of here looks a lot like the puddle in the last clip.

We get a good look at the Zonai Lights:

A Sky ruin that looks like it contains a room:

And a glimpse of other isles’ ruins in the far distance.

And then as the camera zooms out...

We can place a location!

We’re right over Thundra Plateau!

We also get a mildly better look at the back wall of the sky ruin, which looks to be some kind of table:

The next scene is Hyrule Castle:

The ground shakes and it starts to rise up. However, notice that the columns surrounding the castle are now missing.

We’ve also got red sparks in the air, like we would have in a blood moon. However, due to the sky color, we can assume that this is a conscious decision by Gan himself, and that he isn’t drawing power from his surroundings.

We then see that power bleeding out of the ground. It’s MUCH more red than Malice is, which has always been a kind of burnt pink-ish color.

However, even though Ganon lifts the castle up, he doesn’t lift it very high.

The castle’s about triple the height it was. But since we’re talking Skyloft levels of floating islands, this is still pretty ground-level. What’s interesting to me, though, is that in this shot, despite the game now being about sky islands that we should be able to see from ground level...there aren’t any here. This, to me, means that there’s going to be a sudden appearance of the isles in the sky, rather than them simply being accessible now.

And that’s the whole trailer! I have many questions.

My blog! If you have any opnions/questions/theories, feel free to drop an ask!

Part 2 is up! We missed a lot!

#botw #botw2 #bo2w #the breath just got wilder #breakdown #analysis #e3 #trailer #theory #zelda #loz #nintendo

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ckjbun · 4 years ago

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What kind of ability would Higuchi have and its potential name?

Hi to whoever is reading this! This is my first self-written post so I’m still figuring out how all this works and I’m sorry, if it gets a bit chaotic. Anyways, recently, I came across a question regarding Higuchi from Bungou Stray Dogs. It was about what Higuchi’s ability would be called and what type it would be. So I won’t go into details whether she has an ability or not. I believe she has since she is named after an author (and Asagiri himself kinda confirmed it via Twitter). Thus, I just want to write my thoughts on the potential names and kind of ability.

Since abilities in the BSD world are always named after rather well-known works of the authors, I compared some of the famous works of Higuchi Ichiyo. Now mind you, I haven’t read her works myself. I mostly relied on comparing summaries and analyses of them. Since there are not a lot of summaries, I read two lesser-known stories myself. I will add the links of the summaries/analyses of the works down below. However, while comparing I found two works that would fit Higuchi. Now, first what do I mean by “fit”? Well, it might be best to start explaining what I think about the type of Higuchi’s ability.

I believe Higuchi has not an offensive type of ability. Nothing like Atsushi’s, Akutagawa’s, Kyouka’s etc. If she had, I’m sure she would have used it already, since she’s fighting a lot with her guns, why wouldn’t she use her ability as an addition, why would she hide it? There are two possibilities why we haven’t seen her ability yet. First possibility would be that her ability is not visible like Odasaku’s or Ango’s, maybe it’s even an ability that she hasn’t even discovered, just like Fukuzawa hasn’t realized he has one before the ADA. Second would be that she can use her ability only under stringent conditions. And I believe it’s the latter, hear me out.

Remember this scene from Chapter 14? Higuchi reaches out to hold Akutagawa’s hand but then pulls back because she remembered him saying that he doesn’t need her help. Now, you could argue that holding the hands of injured loved ones is a gesture of closeness, a way to show them your support, a way to tell them that you’re staying by their side. And Aku doesn’t want this support, so that’s why she retracted her hand. But something bothers me here. In this scene it looks like Aku slapped Higuchi’s hand away, doesn’t it? And then he says, he doesn’t need her help, instead of support. I know, you could say support and help are almost the same. But to me, help is something that you do more “actively”, while support can be something passive. What if Higuchi’s hand represents this “active” help? And what would actively help Akutagawa in this very moment? A healing ability for example. Coincidentally, in the panel before, Hirotsu asks Higuchi what power she posses to make them [the black lizard] obey. Is this a hint that there is a hint about Higuchi’s ability in the next panel? Maybe. But let’s look at the next panel. It’s the title page of this chapter.

As you can see, Higuchi has a bandage wrapped around her leg and they seem connected to Akutagawa. In this chapter, it is revealed that Higuchi contemplated about leaving the Port Mafia but her reason for staying is implied to be Akutagawa. This is perfectly symbolized by the bandages in this title page. The bandages coming from Akutagawa are holding her leg back, stopping her from walking away from the PM. But maybe there is a second interpretation? If you’re looking at Akutagawa’s left hand, the bandages are starting to come off. What if this means Akutagawa is healing and doesn’t need the bandages anymore? Instead it wraps around Higuchi’s leg, restricting her movement. What if Higuchi’s ability allows her to help someone else (doesn’t have to be necessarily a healing ability) but in exchange she needs to sacrifice something? Anyways, I think she has an ability which allows her to help other people in a non-combat way. With this in mind, I was looking through several works of Higuchi Ichiyo, searching for something that “fits”. Meaning that I was looking for parallels and themes in irl Higuchi’s stories that could be “converted” into an ability. Just like the coat that the protagonist of Rashomon stole in order to now die of hunger was used as Akutagawa’s ability which seems to be able to eat everything, or like the wish that one’s brother does not die in war in Thou Shalt Not Die became Yosano’s ability and serving as a basis of her background story. Anyways, I’d like to present the works that could be used for Higuchi’s ability and draw some parallels.

1. The Thirteen’s Night

The story revolves around a poor woman, called Oseki. Thanks to her marriage to a rich man, her family was able to live a better life and her brother found a job. But on the thirteenth night of the ninth month of the lunar calendar (one of two special nights for moon viewing), Oseki visited her parents with the intention on asking her parents for approval for divorcing her husband. Before entering, she overhears her parents talking about how lucky they are that they have such good children who don’t cause trouble and that they are very thankful for this marriage. Hesitating at first, she finally goes in and admits that she wants to divorce her husband because he abuses her mentally. He insults her constantly and tells her that she's worthless, stupid, and uneducated. Her mother is outraged. But her father, even though he acknowledges her suffering, reminds her what her husband has done for this family and that she would lose her son since women couldn’t get custody of their children after a divorce at that time. Agreeing with her father, Oseki decides to go back to her husband:

“It was selfish of me to think of a divorce. You're right. If I couldn't see Tarō, there'd be no point in living. I might flee my present sorrows, but what kind of future would I have? If I could think of myself as already dead, that would solve everything… Then Tarō would have both his parents with him. It was a foolish idea I had, and I've troubled you with the whole unpleasant business. From tonight I will consider myself dead — a spirit who watches over Tarō. That way I can bear Isamu's cruelty for a hundred years to come.”

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

Just like BSD Higuchi contemplates leaving the PM, the protagonist here wants to leave her husband. The PM is like the husband. It allows her to support herself and probably her family (at least we saw that she has a sister). But there is constant abuse. Akutagawa is clearly the biggest source of abuse that we can see. But it’s not only him. In Chapter 14, Mori asks her if she is really suited for this job. Telling her indirectly that she is useless or that she is too weak for the PM. Later, you can see the Black Lizard doubting her capabilities, even threatening her. But just like Oseki she stays because of a loved one. What really concerns me is Oseki saying that she will consider herself as a dead spirit watching over Tarō. What if Higuchi, in order to use her ability, has to sacrifice part of her lifespan? Or maybe she loses a feeling? Like e.g. she loses the ability to feel happiness, making her a bit more dead inside? If you draw this parallel, you could also say that when ‘consider myself dead’ is the condition of the ability, then ‘watching over Tarō’ is a hint to Higuchi’s ability. An ability that allows her to watch over and protect her loved ones? This theme fits Higuchi perfectly, since a big topic in Higuchi’s story line is how she wants to help and protect Akutagawa. So it makes sense that her ability might be something that would help him (**intensely squinting at the recent events in the manga, especially chapter 88**). Moving on to the second possibility before the pain starts to set in.

2. Takekurabe (literally: "Comparing heights", "Child's Play" in the Robert Lyons Danly translation, "Growing Up" in the Edward Seidensticker translation)

Now this is considered as Higuchi Ichiyo’s masterpiece. So the chances are high that the ability is based on this story. The story accompanies a group of children who live next to the Yoshiwara quarter. There are two rival gangs: the main street gang (’omote-machi’), lead by Shōtarō, a cultivated young boy who is the grandson of the owner of a pawnshop, and the back street gang (’yoko-chō’), lead by Chōkichi, the impulsive firefighter’s son. (Maybe a parallel to the ADA with (cultivated) Fukuzawa and the PM with Mori who’s a doctor which belongs into the same category of occupation as firefighters?). Among the main street gang, there was Midori, popular and pretty, who lives in the brothel where her sister works. Shōtarō probably has a crush on her. But Midori probably has feelings for the other main character, Nobu, the son of a Buddhist priest. Even though he returns her feelings, he distances himself from her out of his self-consciousness. Later he joins the rival gang after repeated request by Chōkichi. Anyways, they spend their days very care-free, attending school, playing with each other after school. One day, some conflict arises between the gangs and Midori, while protecting someone else, gets slapped by Chōkichi with a sandal. He then proceeds to tell her that their gang is backed by no other than Nobu. Midori feels humiliated and stops going to school. Soon she also stops playing with the other children. After some time passed, Midori is seen with her hair all done up. She has become a distant, lady-like young woman. This probably means that she got her first period and is old enough to become a prostitute or that she just had her first client as a courtesan. Little by little, the children grow up. Nobu is sent off to be trained as a priest and Shōtarō has come to accept the responsibilities of his family’s shop.

There are several themes in this story that I’d like to point out, namely unrequited love, Midori’s transformation and underlying unchangeable fates. The first one is obviously a big theme in Higuchi’s story. Midori and Nobu are unable to express their love for each other because of their positions in life. Just like Higuchi is unable to express her feelings for Akutagawa. If you want some hope, AkuHigu shippers, maybe Aku has also feelings for Higuchi but is still very confused and self-conscious about it just like Nobu. Anyways, because of their positions in the PM, it would make everything very complicated if Higuchi confessed. Additionally, Midori feels like she was humiliated by her love when she got slapped by that sandal. I’m sure that Higuchi gets humiliated by Akutagawa a lot. The next theme is Midori’s transformation from a tomboyish to a lady-like, distant woman. We all know Higuchi looks really badass in her suits. But again, look at the title page of chapter 14. Higuchi is dressed up all prettily and lady-like in a dress, and her hair is done all up. Just like Midori after her transformation. Midori’s transformation stands for Midori accepting her occupation as a prostitute even though she doesn’t want to. In this chapter, we see that Higuchi has accepted her job in the PM, even though she doesn’t want to do this job. At the end Shōtarō sings the following:

"Growing up,

she plays among the butterflies

and flowers.

But she turns sixteen,

and all she knows

is work and sorrow."

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

I don’t know about you guys, but to me that necklace that Higuchi is wearing in that title page looks like a butterfly to me. This is really farfetched but maybe this could be a hint about when Higuchi joined the Port Mafia? However, the biggest theme in Takekurabe is the underlying unchangeable fate of the children. Shōtarō was destined to become the next owner of the pawnshop, Nabu was destined to become a Buddhist monk and Midori would become a prostitute. Maybe this gives us some insight into why Higuchi joined the PM? Maybe one of her parents was a PM member? I also like to think that since Aku is in the PM, since she wants to be with him, she can’t but stay in the PM, and this is her fate. Nevertheless, fate is a central theme in Takekurabe. This is the reason why I think, if the ability is based on this story, Higuchi’s ability would be something like changing fates. Changing fate of someone else but in return she must sacrifice something.

Okay, so this post has become quite long. But I still wanted to mention two other stories Yamizakura (Flowers at Dusk) and The Sound of the Koto where I saw a lot of parallels. I just want to briefly tell you the story of The Sound of the Koto. In this story a woman abandons her son in order to leave her husband who has a bad reputation. The husband then turns into an alcoholic and dies later at a party because of alcohol intoxication. The boy becomes hardened to the world, despises his mother for leaving them, and even contemplates suicide. The story shifts then to a woman playing the koto. I want to give you an excerpt for the end of this story:

“On this night the sound of the woman’s playing helped another to be reborn. Through fourteen springs and fourteen autumns, the boy had been buffeted by the rains. His heart had gradually toughened until it had become as hard as stone. No arrow could penetrate it. He seemed destined to follow the example of his father, to die among the fields or in the mountains, where his remains would be bleached by the elements. Some were convinced the boy’s life would end in prison chains, while his bad name spread to every roadside.

But now, at once, the tenderness buried in his heart was freed by the midnight strains of the koto. For the first time in many years, he felt tears come to his eyes. Or were they jewelled drops of dew? He would not exchange them for anything.

He, who had known neither love nor compassion, and who had no idea what the player of these refrains could even look like, felt a moment of happiness as the music drifted over the garden wall. […]

[…] How could a stormy wind blow now? The clouds in his heart had disappeared. Once more the woman began to play. The sound of the koto would be his friend for a hundred years, the seed for a hundred years of yearning. He had entered a world where a hundred different flowers wer in bloom.

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

This boy somehow just reminds me so much of Akutagawa. Just like this boy, without any parents and home, wandering around in this world, Akutagawa has become hardened to the world. I’d like to think that Higuchi’s ability could free Akutagawa from his pain, just like the sound of koto does for this boy.

So, now I said everything I wanted to say, I guess. If there is really anyone reading this and reading this until here, thank you so much! I appreciate it very much that you kept reading even though my thoughts are probably quite chaotic. I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or weird sentence structures or anything like this. English is not my first language. I’m very happy, if you could point out any mistakes or have any suggestion for improvement. Lastly, I just want to remind you that these are my thoughts, I love discussing so feel free to comment your thoughts but I’d like you to keep in mind that there is not necessarily a wrong or right, theories are theories, interpretations are interpretations. Everyone has another interpretation. They can only be proven wrong by Asagiri sensei himself. Until then just keep the discussions friendly and tolerant towards other people’s thoughts and opinions.

Sources:

All manga panels used in this post are from easygoingscans

Higuchi Ichiyo (樋口一葉)

Higuchi Ichiyo: "In the Shade of Spring Leaves"

In The Shade Of Spring Leaves: The Life Of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine Of Her Best Stories, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

In the Shade of Spring Leaves �� Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 1

“Flowers at Dusk” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 2

“Encounters on a Dark Night” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 3

“Child’s Play” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 4

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: BADASS WOMEN IN JAPANESE HISTORY

The Thirteenth Night (Wikipedia)

Female Subject, Interrupted in Higuchi Ichiyō's "The Thirteenth Night"

GAME OF TRADITIONS: TRADITION IN THE THIRTEENTH NIGHT AND DIARY OF A MAD MAN

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ IN MODERN JAPANESE AND EUROPEAN DRESS: Modern Japanese versions (gendaigoyaku) of Higuchi Ichiyō’s Takekurabe and their Relationship with English, Castilian Spanish and Catalan Translations

Separate Ways Summary

Literary Analysis of “Separate Ways”

Flowers at Dusk

Nigorie (Wikipedia)

From the Margins of Meiji Society: Space and Gender in Higuchi Ichiyō's "Troubled Waters"

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aro-comics · 4 years ago

Text

Jealousy (Part 4)

NOTE: This comic will contain depictions of arophobia, specifically from a parent. Full comic under the cut.

Part 4/4 - this part was ... painful. Painful to write, painful to draw, painful to put together and post. I’m sorry that all of you have to see it like this though 😞 Being aro isn’t just the grief of realizing that you will never have the life amatonormativity promised, but it is a part of it 😅 To address slide 4. I was going to draw it in more detail, in the style of the rest of this comic, but my childhood is mainly something I don’t want to remember and this memory is no exception. I was debating putting in this slide in the first place, but I think it’s important alloromantic people to know that arophobia is unfortunately not just implied but very aggressively enforced sometimes, and that it’s something some of us have to really struggle with unlearning. I wish there was a good conclusion, a solution or way to resolve these feelings. But ... there isn’t. The only thing I’ve learned over the past few months is that it’s okay to walk away. And that, thankfully, the feeling does go away. Also, if you’re somehow still reading - I am officially going on a one month hiatus. I will not be making any new posts, but I will keep an eye on the account 💚 My new job is busy and I have some admin stuff in my life I need to take care of, so I want to take the time I need to get settled in! But rest assured, this account will remain going in the long run 🐸✨😁 y’all mean a LOT to me and there’s still so much to talk about 💚💚

[Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia is talking to the viewer, again in the current day. “Or maybe its how the rest of the world can celebrate* them for their love.”

Slide 2: “It’s seen as an achievement.”

Below are a few people drawn. They say things like “I love them together! They’re a sweet couple and I wish them the best.”, “That’s cute.”, and “I can’t wait to see the wedding!”

Slide 3: Warning: The following slide contains arophobia. Please skip it if this will upset you.

Slide 4: “My mother used to warn me to be careful of older adults who were “still single”.

A sketch of Celia from her childhood. It’s drawn in a drastically different style, black and white and extremely sketchy. Her mother tells her “every. Single. One. of them. Every older adult with no partner is a twisted person. THey push everyone away.” Celia seems to want to protest.

Slide 5: “After all, if they were alone - it was because nobody was willing to stay with them, right?”

A drawing of a girl with pink hair and a yellow top and bottom set stands next to the blank outline of another figure, a question mark drawn in the center.

Slide 6: Celia is drawn staring down at her hands as she stands on a green, swirling planet. In the background are stars and nebula also drawn in a darker shade of green.

“I worry what other people will think of me when I’m older”

Slide 7: Will they ever see me as trustworthy? Acceptable? Or even …”

The slide has a more zoomed in view of Celia, who is now cryling.

Slide 8: “... human?”

A shot from Celia’s perspective of her hands wet with tears.

Slide 9: Blank.

Slide 10: The scene switches back to her at her desk. Tears stream down her face.

“At least now, I know when to stop fixating on it.”

Slide 11: Celia has put her phone down, and is now standing off close to the window in her room under the sunbeam. The dust in the sunlight sparkles, and she seems to be at peace.

“And after a moment, the feeling passes.”]

#RegularComic #JealousyComic

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pixeljade · 1 year ago

Text

Like to put this in perspective for non-cartoonists. Making comics is a lot of work! Say your average comic page has four panels on it. And each panel, on average, has two or three figures in it. Also most of those have backgrounds, and you also have to draw the bubbles and take care of lettering too (an immensely underappreciated part of comics actually--It takes a lot of careful skill to letter properly!) And if you're serialized, as most printed comics and manga are, you have a deadline to deal with. The magazine Witch Hat Atelier is serialized in, Morning Two, is a weekly one--meaning even if the comic isnt weekly, its at least once every two weeks, and Witch Hat Atelier is usually around the range of 30 pages per chapter, which is longer than, say, American Comics which are 22 pages standard. I wont do the full math for you on that but even if we're generous and say that its once every other week, that means the mangaka is creating 60 panels--that is, 60 individual little drawing which tell this great story--WEEKLY. In Japan, mangakas usually have assistants to help, and I have no doubt Shirahama-sensei does too, but even then the bulk of the work is on the mangaka's back. They come up with the designs of EVERYTHING, and the art style is theirs to cohere into one, its a huge job! Theres a reason why so many mangaka die so young, and overwork is the main factor there.

So most cartoonists, they develop little tricks to make the job a little bit easier! Tite Kubo famously loved to avoid backgrounds in Bleach, drawing instead zoom lines or implied backgrounds. Other artists take photos and run them through filters for backgrounds. A lot of people simply like to draw simplified versions of their figures constantly, or use halftone patterns to handle shading instead of individual cross-hatching. Even the best cartoonists do these little tricks which make their stuff look polished while skipping over certain parts of the work. If you know the tricks you can spot them EVERYWHERE! Me? My go-to is to simplify the figures and backgrounds, and let dynamic camera angles and spotblack shadows do the work for me.

Except. I dont really see them in Witch Hat Atelier! I can see a little bit, Coco and the other girls are sometimes simplified *a bit* but even the simplified models show attention to detail. The backgrounds are constant and intricate, none of them are real locations, and rarely are they simple. Most insane to me is the shading--which Shirahama-sensei does in a way which mimics woodblock prints of western storybook illustration! They not only present the details of the shadows, but they even imply the flows of fabric! Instead of avoiding the heavy lifting, Shirahama-sensei puts in EXTRA work in almost every regard!!! Its boggling.

It does kinda make one wonder HOW, but there MUST be something to it, otherwise it wouldnt be sustainable as a practice! It makes me want to study Shirahama-sensei's work for days on end, even though i have nowhere near that kind of time.

Finally started reading Witch Hat Atelier. I love the art but also its SO overwhelmingly good it also makes me feel like I have so much to learn myself 😫 Not a bad thing, mind you, but its a challenge to meet, if that makes sense!

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porchtart · 3 years ago

Note

Do you have any tips on how to pose characters?

Sure! I’m by no means an expert and I’ve had very little formal art training, but I’ll go over what I’m thinking about when I’m working on a piece that I intend on rendering.

When I'm drawing I tend to think from the perspective of "scenes," and choose my posing from there, based on what emotions or dynamics I want to highlight in the piece. My composition and sense of 3d space leaves a lot to be desired and I have been pushing myself to work on both of these areas, so I would recommend at least thinking about this kind of stuff when you’re planning out your pieces beyond just The Poses.

Baroque painting is my favorite era of art, and it’s tremendously influential on my work. I love the chiaroscuro, the drama and the moodiness of the light and the posing. I recommend looking at your favorite art and thinking about what you like about it. Is it naturalistic, does it look like a snapshot from the subject’s daily life? Is there high drama? Is there heavy use of symbolism? Is it highly posed? What kind of mood does the piece invoke? How much of the frame does the subject take up? Is the figure contorted? Is the perspective extreme? How stylized is the figure? Does the piece use mixed media techniques or have a mixed media look?

I'll go over some of my pieces from this year and what I was thinking about while drawing them to hopefully (?) illustrate what I'm trying to say a little bit better lol.

For this one, I wanted Marcy to be the focal point of the piece with Andrias almost serving as a background prop at first glance. The s2 finale revealed a really interesting dynamic between the two of them, and I wanted to capture that vulnerability that Marcy has that Andrias took advantage of. Marcy is focused elsewhere and is distraught, but she is comfortable with him and doesn’t hold a lot of tension in her body as he holds her. Andrias fills almost the entire image behind her, his presence in her life overwhelming and isolating, even if it’s comforting. She’s stuck on her pain, her face in full light, but his attention is on her, his face mostly shaded with a strange expression. He holds her gently, but there’s something ominous about his attention.

Nadir is a troubled person with a troubled home life, and I wanted to do a piece that reflects how jaded she is. In the left panel she is sitting in a dim room in her family home, nearly nude and feigning relaxation. This is in direct contrast to how she is posed in the portrait of herself and Urale, where she is fully under his control and almost completely covered physically. This panel is about her resistance against her uncle and his abuse, her rejection of him.

In the right panel, she is floating as if in water. Physically the purpose is to show off her prosthetics and the changes she has made to become free of her abuser, but she is floating adrift and alone. Her emotions are not able to be assessed from this angle as her face is hidden, showing how she refuses to be vulnerable - but the angle looking up from below and the strange quality of the light imply that something is amiss.

Nikolae and Katya have a very intense and tumultuous relationship that defies simple definition, and for this I wanted to capture the deep intimacy as much as the deep resentment. They are dancing, dressed in traditional folk clothing which fits them both so well while also seeming terribly Off - costumes worn for the benefit of someone else. They are physically intertwined, and perhaps they will fight, or maybe they’ll kiss. Neither would be a surprise, but some kind of blood will doubtlessly be spilled.

Katya holds a knife, but it is away from both of them, her grip loose. It takes up a large part of the image, and the viewer is unable to ignore it. It is a threat, but it’s a routine one to the point of it almost being meaningless. The mirrored figures engraved on the knife are turning into beasts, as both she and Nikolae are. They cannot take their eyes off the other, both confident in their feelings - hers unbridled hatred, his a deep love that he cannot acknowledge. She despises him, and that’s almost a funny joke.

This is Bunny’s first kill from back before she was Bunny. This was a crime of passion, the murder of a girl that did not reciprocate her feelings. This is the first time Bunny realizes just how dark she is on the inside, and she is not afraid of it. She’s in highly contrasted shadow, her true nature being revealed. Her stance is strong but almost casual, as if she’s unbothered by what she’s done. Her victim’s beautiful hair that she had so treasured in life is almost an afterthought in her hand, the meaning of it lost when Bunny’s love died. Bunny does not stare directly at the camera, but rather the body that we cannot see, her expression blank and terrifying. There is a sense that this will not be her last kill, and that this is the birth of a new Bunny.

I don’t know if that’s super helpful, but that’s my thought process when I’m working on pieces like these! I also want to incorporate more symbolism into my art so that’s something that I’m working on, but I definitely recommend thinking about your art and what you want to get out of a certain piece. It’s totally legit to just draw what you think is cool or looks interesting to you, full stop, but I like to think about my art more along these lines.

On the technical side of things, I occasionally do thumbnailing but I usually have a strong idea of what I want to draw before I start a piece that I want to render. I definitely want to do more thumbnailing because I think I produce better work when I do, but that’s my personal struggle. ^^;

If I'm just doodling I'll kind of draw just whatever comes to mind, if I like a sketch I will often take it and either polish it directly from there and fix any anatomy wonkiness by looking at just references, or I'll whip out the 3d models in CSP to help with posing and likely adjust the camera angle to make the pose look more dynamic (but again, I try to also look at photographs for reference, especially for humanshaped characters, because just tracing straight over 3d models can make your art look super stiff. I have learned this the hard way lol.) You can just work directly from references and I will sometimes do that if I’m having a hard time feeling inspired, but I personally like to doodle up a scene first and then correct the sketch with refs.

I have lots of stock images and stills from movies etc saved to my files, and I will use those for inspiration a lot of the time. Definitely look at any movies or shows that you like to get ideas for posing and scene setting as well! There’s some really beautiful films out there.

ANYWAY.

No idea if that was helpful, but that’s what I’ve got as far as posing tips. ^^ Thanks for asking, I actually put a lot of thought into my art but I don’t talk about it much because I don’t necessarily think that’s interesting for my audience. 😅

TL;DR:

Think about what you want to convey with a piece and pick poses that help you get there

Look at art you like and think about what you like about it, including how figures are posed

Have lots of refs! Save cool images to use as inspiration and references later!

Look for cool scenes and imagery in (visual) media that you like

#asks #anonymous #art chat #babbles #hope this helps lol

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4aloysius-porteu · 4 years ago

Text

i really wish i hated you || tsukishima kei

masterlist | 1 | 2 | chapter 3

pairing: tsukishima kei x f! reader

sypnosis: It was an accident that (Y/N) met a certain tall, blonde male; a memory she isn't fond of remembering, but it is where it all started. And ever since, she magically makes her to his path. The image of the bespectacled man dwelled in her mind more than she thought. Tsukishima pushed away his softer emotions and denied their existence, or at least that's what he told himself. But then, he couldn't believe that this girl he labeled as a clumsy, unlucky creature who smashed his glasses is slowly bringing these strange emotions back to him. She might be irritating and dumb sometimes, but he couldn't get himself to completely hate her. Either that destiny was stupid, or he was blessed or cursed.

genre: fanfiction, fluff

wc: 2.6k

She has met the tall, blonde, and bespectacled male yet again.

"Oh, the midget stalker is here."

"You again?! Seriously, I think it's you who's following me!"

"Hah, what do I get from following an extremely short person like you?" He said, borrowing her words from yesterday.

(Y/N)'s eyebrows creased further in irritation. "Why do you keep mentioning my height?!"

"It was you who started it. Anyways, can you shut up? Do you know that you're in a library?"

She didn't retort back and simply sat on the chair with her arms crossed. It was a fine day then —BOOM— this giant decided to appear out of nowhere. She was trying to forget this person who's associated with some of her embarrassing moments but those just got smashed back to her mind. (Y/N) sighed and pulled a book at the bottom of the stack to start reading, but noticed that the blondie is still standing near the edge of the table, hesitating to sit down while glancing somewhere and back to her.

"What?" (Y/N) frowned.

"Why am I unnecessarily stuck with you on this table?" He sighed, pulling out the chair.

"Because all of the tables here are taken? If you're worried about your glasses being knocked off, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless anymore."

"That's a nice reassurance," He settled down and brought out his studying materials.

Both of them shared the table in the crowded library. Ignoring the people, between them was a silent atmosphere. No one was talking as they both minded their own studies; he was reading quietly and turning pages of a huge book while (Y/N) wrote key points from the printed work and highlighting her notes. Sometimes, the other would leave to return books to their shelves and came back with new stacks. This went on for a few hours until her pen ran out of ink. She scribbled at the back of her notebook in hopes that the ink just got stuck, to no avail. She sighed, resting her head on the notebook. But she really needed to take down notes for her upcoming entrance exam.

"Hey." (Y/N) reluctantly said.

The blonde male looked at her, confirming if he's being called, "What?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your business but... do you have a spare pen?"

He stared at her with a straight face and placed his chin on the top of his knuckles, implying his refusal to lend one.

(Y/N)'s mentally gritted her teeth. I'm just going to borrow a pen and he's making it hard for me?!

Swallowing her pride, she said, "Look, I need to finish my notes. I'll return it to you right away when I'm done. I promise. Please?"

He scoffed as brought out a pen, "An inkless pen is all it takes for you to become a less lively puppy? You better keep your promise."

A puppy?! "You didn't need to compare me to a puppy but, thanks."

She continued her work but her focus was a bit shaken. This happens whenever she's interrupted or took a break away from writing. Soon, her focus vanished and boredom took over. She tried to read a book to review ideas but her brain won't cooperate. She groaned, her head and arms fell to the table again. The blonde saw but chose to ignore her.

She closed her eyes for a second, however, her gaze fell to the blank paper in front of her face. Her hands are itching to do something other than reviewing and writing, so she put down the pen she borrowed and took a pencil out of her pocket. She placed a pile of books near her notebook so that the male won't notice what she's doing. There, she started to sketch the base of the figure.

She would observe the four-eyed guy who's busy reading some sort of article while taking notes. He has a calm expression on his face rather than an irritated scowl or a mocking grin he usually has. He wears a long blazer and probably a long-sleeved shirt inside. His blonde hair is short yet the edges are a bit curly and his upper eyelashes are prominently long. This was the first time she stared at the jerk's face who she kept bumping into random places that irked the hell out of her, but for some reason, she felt that she had seen this person before the accident in the park, albeit she doesn't know where. (Y/N) came to a conclusion; he was a little good-looking.

The girl looked back to her drawing and shook her head at her own ideas. I can't believe I actually thought that this guy is handsome. How can such a mean creature be blessed with such looks?! Ugh, don't mind, (Y/N). I'm only drawing him because he seems like a great canvas subject, it's not like I haven't done this to other people before...

She went on drawing and drew details to the sketch similar to the boy in front of her. To make the drawing more accurate, she stole small glances at him. She kept things low key because it'll be another embarrassing event if he found out what she's doing. She made the lines smoother in one swift move. The hair and clothes' folds are already well-drawn while she focuses on the detail of his eyes and glasses. She was about to shade when the male finally caught her.

"What is it?" He questioned, closing his book with a low voice and creased eyebrows.

(Y/N) froze on the spot. As much as she doesn't like it, she maintained eye contact with him, thinking of the best alibi that he couldn't argue with. Then, she remembered that she doesn't know his name.

"Uhm... nothing. I was just wondering if you have a name." While talking, her finger subtly moved to grab the nearest object it could get to cover her drawing.

"I have, but why would I mention it to you?" He cooly replied.

"It's alright. I'm not asking you to. Unless you want to be referred to as he/him or the tall, blonde glasses guy all the time?" (Y/N) countered.

He silently turned a page before answering, "Well, it's not like we'll meet every day."

"Oh," was her only reply. Looks like he will stay a nameless guy in her head for a long time. She was about to get back to her business when he spoke.

"Tsukishima Kei."

(Y/N) looked at him in surprise. "I'm not going to repeat it." He added.

She smiled, having clearly heard it right away. "Can you tell me how it is written?"

He looked at her to check for ill intentions but found nothing in her eyes. He hesitantly wrote the characters of his name on a piece of paper.

"I'm (L/N) (Y/N), nice to meet you again, Tsukishima-san." She'd like to initiate a handshake for peacemaking, but she knows how he'd only decline it. She wrote her name for him to see as well.

Tsukishima Kei. She repeated in her mind. What a nice name.

With a notebook covering the upper portion of the paper where she had drawn his portrait, she wrote his name at the bottom. She proceeded to the shading and background features. Backgrounds are one of the things she hates in art because it takes too long to draw one compared to the subject itself. Luckily it's only a sketch so she won't have to suffer. Although she doesn't know if Tsukishima had seen whatever she's doing so she's still cautious. She peered at him for the nth time so she could distract his peripheral vision. Maybe to test the social initiative skills she hasn't used for a long time too.

"Uhh, can I ask something?" She started.

"Hm?" He responded without taking his eyes off the page.

"What school are you from?"

"Amemaru Middle School."

(Y/N) hummed, thinking of another question, "Then, what school are you enrolling to? It must be an upper class one since you had to read those large books and all."

"Not really," Tsukishima closed the book, "I plan to go to Karasuno High School. They may not have a difficult entrance exam, but these readings are for decent grades and some stock knowledge."

"Decent grades, huh... you look like you could achieve more though. I'm pretty sure you'll ace it." She answered, "I was from Kitagawa Dai Ichi. I'm taking an exam in Shiratorizawa soon."

"You're going to that high-class academy? I see, I failed to notice that because you don't look like one. Have fun clashing with other elites there."

"Elites? What are you talking about, you still believe there's such a hierarchy?" (Y/N) chuckled.

"There is though. A gap between them and mere humans in terms of skills and power."

"In the end, they're still humans though. Be it numbers, hard work, or some unique strategy, those 'mere humans' you say will always struggle to step on equal levels with those on the highest rank."

Tsukishima only hummed and stared down at her, "Perhaps I was wrong on assuming you're an elite. You're clearly not."

"Are you underestimating me?" She challenged.

"No, I was just saying. Can I ask something though?"

"What?"

"Why are you suddenly talkative?"

She was caught off guard but tried not to stutter, "Me? Talkative? I'm always like this."

"Really?" He raised his brows, totally not buying it.

"Ugh, fine! I'm tired of studying!" She sighed, "I was scribbling some doodles on my notebook because I'm bored so I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Mr. Beanpole in front of me. Forgive me and my awkward social skills."

"Your social skills are not bad. I'm just thankful you aren't using the precious ink of my pen for drawing." He said, stacking the books he used.

She gasped, panicked inside, "You aren't looking at my drawing, are you?"

He got up to return the books,"Don't worry, it's none of my business."

She exhaled in relief, spared from another memory of embarrassment. Her eyes followed his walking figure and watched his movements. She looked at her drawing to compare and used her fingers to define lighting. When Tsukishima got back and placed new reviewers on the table, (Y/N) asked him once more.

"Do you ever get tired of studying?"

"Sometimes I take a break, but I can only do that if I have finished everything."

"What a diligent student you are."

"I hardly see any benefit in being dumb and slacking off all the time."

"Eh, I hardly see any benefit in studying Algebra and Calculus. I have a lot of questions. Do you use derivatives in counting money or salary? Do you use trigonometry in dividing pizzas or corn chips? Why do I need to find the limit of a function if numbers are infinite? Why do I need to get the formula of a certain point in each line or curve I draw on the graphing paper? What is the correct answer for?" (Y/N) complained.

Tsukishima looked at her blankly, doubting her chances of passing the Shiratorizawa's board exam. "I couldn't argue with that, I'd rather read a book composed of words than formulas, but you don't have a choice. Although, if you plan to be an engineer or something, that'll be a different perspective."

"No, thanks, I won't eat math books for breakfast. Other subjects are interesting enough to keep me awake in class, but numbers don't really entertain me."

"Then, what do you do?" He asked, writing on his notes.

"Not much. I just draw, paint, listen to music, and watch anime."

He let out an amused hum, "How about you? What do you do other than to study?" (Y/N) asked.

"I play volleyball, listen to music, and read narrative books."

"Volleyball? So that's what your height is for! I thought it's just for cleaning and reaching high places."

"That's rude."

"If I am, what do you call yourself? Besides, I don't want to make wrong assumptions."

"You just did."

"...right. I'm sorry."

The sense of familiarity took over (Y/N)'s brain, telling her that she definitely had met this Tsukishima guy before. Her face scrunched a little, trying to search her memories and connect the dots. Her eyes found his face again.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" His eyes narrowed, his annoyance towards the girl slowly rising.

"I HAD met you somewhere... before that accident, where did I see you?"

He was about to say something when (Y/N) stopped him, "Shh, I'm thinking."

He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Volleyball, Amemaru MS... She was about to say it but Tsukishima spoke first.

"Were you one of the audience who watched the middle school volleyball inter-high a year ago?"

"I was! Wait, you remember?"

"That was the only place where I could find someone from Kitagawa Dai Ichi." He confirmed.

"Correct. I was a part of the school paper where I was assigned in the sports category. I took a picture of you when my senior was interviewing you! You were the tallest middle blocker in the games! How could I forget that! So that's why whenever you irk me, it was familiar!"

"How am I annoying you? Aren't you the one who kept on talking right now?"

"I've figured out that there's no kind bone in you. And the way you keep on stuffing the spikes from the opposite team. It was never-ending that they didn't have a chance to score properly." She pouted.

"What do you expect from a middle blocker? It was my job to block spikes."

"You could've gone easy on them."

"The game would lose it's sense if that's the case."

"Fine. You're not wrong." Their conversation was cut short after she ceased talking. At least she found out where she first met Tsukishima. She finished the portrait sketch. Grinning, she believed that she captured his features accurately in her drawing. She'd like to hold it near him and compare to make sure though. Satisfied with her work, she went back on turning pages.

"So, you've finally decided to continue to study?" Tsukishima prodded.

She smiled, "I guess. Thank you for talking to me. That was a great stop."

Both of them worked quietly, but now, the irritation they felt towards each other lessened. After some time, a person in the speaker announced that the library will be closing before 6 pm. Tsukishima returned all the books he borrowed and packed his things.

"You're going home?"

"I don't want to come home late. You aren't finished with your notes yet?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll leave five minutes before six."

"Alright. I'll get going now." He swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, wait! Your pen!" (Y/N) abruptly remembered seconds after.

"I don't need it anymore. It was useful, apart from its close on running out of ink."

"But it's yours and you told me to keep my promise!"

"Whatever. Keep it or throw it." He walked out and wore his headphones, having no intention to listen to anyone.

She sighed and checked the ink. More than half of it is gone, but she can use it again if she wishes. (Y/N) placed her fist to her cheek while writing.

Random Tsukishima Kei facts:

In the second prototype chapter (unserialized, one shot, the first idea of the author on how haikyuu will go) Tsukishima was a second-year, which was changed in the serialized version where he's a first-year. His initial height in the prototype chapter is 184cm, a little shorter than his official height (190.1cm). In an extra sketch, Furudate commented, "Tsukki and Tanaka being in the same year would spell chaos!

#haikyuu!!#tsukishima kei #haikyuu tsukishima #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu angst #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu fluff #kei tsukishima #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei x reader #haikyuu headcannons #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu headcanons #tsukishima imagine #tsukishima scenarios #tsukki

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soyouareandrewdobson · 4 years ago

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The good, the bad and... SYAC: The Master Review 3

Not gonna lie, writing out this and the next part of my Master Review was more of a chore than the one before or even after (yes, certain later parts are almost wrapped up)

The reason is, that as of now the only thing I can really talk about is the quality of the average SYAC strip pre-Dobbear and quite frankly, most of them are just rather dull in one way or another.

See, here is the thing with Andrew Dobson in general: When you ignore his opinions outside of comics and assume that his works are not meant to be on a level equal to certain professional work, his stuff is rather harmless and to a certain extend enjoyable.

For example, I think Formera is in terms of pacing all over the place and Alex is “at best” on the same level as Garfield in terms of depth. Which would be okay if you look for something shallow to just distract yourself from boredom.

In fact, I find Formera, despite its flaws and blatant rip off of “wacky” anime aesthetics, rather admirable in a way.

But then you remember, that Dobson is a professionally trained comic artist and animator who aspired to be published at least in the same way as “Cleopatra in Space” or “Hilda”, while also throwing shade at many professionally released works and those behind it, as if to imply he is better than them.

So with that in mind and his art at display, his work gets obviously judged on another level than certain other stuff online would likely be judged.

For example, as far as things go, this strip would be “passable” as a stupid joke that references Inspector Gadget, if just drawn by some hobby artist.

But as something from a “professional”? It’s rather underwhelming, even in something that is not meant to be the biggest selling point of him at the time it came out (serious sidenote: SYAC was essentially just a side project next to Alex ze Pirate and Dobson doing comics in collaboration with Brentalfloss. It was only after the collaboration ended and Dobson essentially put Formera and Alex into indefinite hiatus, that SYAC became his main comic)

It also doesn’t help (and sorry for repeating myself) that as far as his intentions go to make a comic about “silly problems” cartoonists face in creating their work, it still is filled with strips like these

Like, what is the point of a comic showing you as a kid getting scared by the intro tune to the Ghostbusters theme on a shitty computer game? The only thing I can think of when it comes to the “magical changing tv” is that your lol face looks stupid and slightly punchable (like your cheeks are falling in) and what the joke about the Minecraft comic is supposed to be I have no freaking idea. I know that those green penises tend to explode, but what does that have to do with making a comic?

Now to be fair, there are some comics about the subject of creating comics…

And Dobson even has done some “tutorials” and q&a to teach people about his comic creating process.

Tutorials whose advice I myself can not really judge, because frankly I am not an artist myself. I judge Dobson’s strips/comics primarily on execution of jokes, writing and intend. And frankly, as long as the final result looks good, I myself do not really care how it is achieved. The problem is, that the final results just tends to look kinda like this on average, so…

Yeah. And don’t get me even started on his “advice” to writing

As such, I would take ANY art advice by Dobson with a huge grain of salt

That said, I will give Dobson the following: This q&a strip here e.g. where he more or less talks about the nature of backgrounds in what seems to be a way more sincere tone than I see in his stuff on average?

I think it is kinda adorable and shows that he actually can draw more than just a self insert in front of a green void, if he just wants to.

Plus, I think there are actually some solid strips in SYAC. Not artistically, but I will admit that strips like this

This…

And these…

182, 118 and 119, 120

And these...

Are actually kinda fitting and situations I can imagine people to deal with when creating a comic. To me they are relatable, and the later got a chuckle out of me.

Even some strips of Dobson’s persona just at his booth or having his own “hilarious” moments in life are at least passable to some degree.

So shock of all shocks, not everything about SYAC, even at that time in Dobson’s life, was that bad. Like I give him credit, at least once upon a time he was able to make fun of himself…

Heck, I give that copy pasta comic at least that as obvious as the joke is, it is a bit clever. Not the smartest joke, but it could be worse. At least here Dobson kinda admits he will do copy paste. Unlike when he whines about “sexist crap”

But then there are certain strips that at least are worth to raise an eyebrow. Like the anime related strips in the previous post or this bizarre confession in relation to one of his q&As.

Okay, I was thankfully saved from ever watching the atrocity known as Barney, so just let me check on google who the heck Baby Bop is to understand what… oh. And he drew artwork of Barney killing her. … that sounds kinda worrysome.

Then there is how Dobson e.g. decided to “address” his infamy regarding his opinion on Zelda-Ocarina of Time…

“hich involves a critic of his being portrayed as an ugly basement dweller. Or this comic, which got rather infamous once it got linked to Brianna Wu and Dobson would most likely want to forget nowadays, as it portrays him, the ally of the LGBT community as someone who actually is rather freaked out at men comfortable with a more feminine side/attire.

So now we have more or less covered some good and some bad ones. But what about the “ugly” ones? Yeah, that is going to be a quick skim through the archives with showing some strips that are going to stand out, because they give a first insight in how Dobson deals with criticism, perceives people (or rather stand ins for them) and their opinions, as well as how he tries and fails to catch up on certain trends.

#adobsonartworks #Andrew Dobson #syac #so you are a cartoonist #review #comic #webcomics #Tom Preston #adobsoncomic #adobsonartwork

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citrineghost · 4 years ago

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Commission Update

(This is all directly from my commission page. Go look there if you want it to look prettier)

Hello, everyone!

I’m in kind of a tight spot for money right now (I usually am) and I’m really in need of some work. If you’d like some art done or would like to donate and get some art in return, here’s how to do so!

Here is a list of components you need to consider before sending a request. Once you’ve sent me your detailed request, I’ll get back to you with the price. There are some samples at the bottom of the post with prices on them that reflect what something of similar quality would cost.

Style - Doodle/Regular, with or without noise added

Content - Shoulders-up/Full-body, Number of people, Background

Position - Standing/Sitting

Actions - Any interactions between people and other people or objects

Background - None/Simple/Nature/Furniture/Objects

Line Style - Messy/Clean sketch, Bold lines

Colors - None/Marker/Solid

Shade - None/Solid/Natural

Highlight - None/Solid/Natural

Things I will not/am not likely to draw (ask if you want, I guess)

Anime

Kink art

Animals

NSFW

Furries/anthros

Things you should include in your commission request

Contact info if you’re not on Tumblr 24/7 (Email, Discord, whatever it is that you check regularly)

A description of the piece you want

What each character included in the piece looks like (Detailed descriptions are fine if references aren’t available, but don’t blame me if they don’t look right)

Original character personality descriptions are very helpful, if you’d like to share. That way I can get a feel for who I’m drawing

Things you should keep in mind when commissioning me

I’m a spoonie so sometimes I don’t have much energy. Don’t expect your commission to be done in less than a week. I’ll tell you when you commission me if it will be longer than two for any reason.

The more familiar I am with the commissioned character(s), the faster I’m likely to get it done.

My drawings are my interpretations of characters. I’ll work with people to an extent if the characters are original, but I’m not going to tweak the same drawing a hundred times.

No, I will not do free drawings*. If I feel like doing something for free, I’ll announce it. I can’t afford that right now. If you want a really lame doodle, donate at least 50 cents and I might do it.

And most of all, I love every one of you! Thank you for looking into my commission prices. It means a lot. If you know anyone who likes to buy art, let them know I’m selling!

*Unless you want a frog drawn in mspaint. In that case, go request one at paintfroge

I take payment through PayPal and Ko-fi. Payment is due up front.

Please don’t send payment until I’ve accepted your commission. Payment sent for a commission I plan to decline will not be refunded, but you are free to choose something else for me to draw.

If you have any questions prior to your commission request, please let me know. I can provide more samples if you’d like to see more work like what you’re looking to order.

Samples

All rights to the commissioned drawing and the ability to post it online regardless of its contents remain mine. Any unoriginal characters or objects in the commissioned drawing will be credited to the original owner if posted online. The commissioner automatically has permission to post the commissioned drawing on any social media site they wish so long as they credit me and provide a link to one of my profiles online. This does not include sites like deviantART, Tumblr, Wysp, or any other creative platform where ownership is implied to the poster or where my art is already posted and readily shareable.

#ghostpost #commissions #commission sheet #art #artwork #drawing #drawings #fantasy #dragon age #dragon age origins #dragon age oc #dao #original character #original characters

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kiranatrix · 5 years ago

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Hi! Do you have a clue how much of the manga is handrawn and how much is "computer made" instead? Because I used to think that at least the characters were all personally handrawn in each panel by the author, but some evident mistakes made me rethink it... Like Ryuk's hand in a panel in chapter 14, and Ryuk flying in chapter 74. I mean, anyone can happen to draw something a bit ankward sometimes, but I seriously doubt someone handrawing could have drawn that... Thank you very much for your time

Hi again blue-night-shades, thanks for your question and for following up with the specific manga panels you thought seemed off (Chapter 14 on the left and Chapter 74 on the right).

So first off, essentially all of the manga is hand drawn, although not ALL of it was drawn by Obata. Most of the important stuff was done by him, like the main characters, the general layout/setup, and the pivotal scenes. He left it to his assistants to draw in the backgrounds and some of the more mundane details. But it’s rare that we get factual confirmation of which specific pages/panels assistants contributed less or more to. For example, here’s an interview where he states that he was requested to personally draw a car crash scene by his editors, after it had been drawn by his assistants and they didn’t like it. It’s flawless and highly detailed, as we’d expect from him (he said it took him a day). He also stated in that linked interview that he personally drew any scenes and backgrounds in the Shinigami Realm because he really wanted to do that.

For the goofy-looking hand from Chapter 14, I waffle on this but I think (1) Obata might have been in a rush since he has mentioned tight deadlines, (2) Obata just did a wacky job and figured it wasn’t a big deal, or (3) the hand was added in by assistants later to make Ryuk look more giggly/conspiratorial. The rest of Ryuk and Light’s face in that scene looks on-point and in Obata’s style, and if you took the hand out of the panel it would still make sense, but some ‘flavor’ is lost. It may have been an editorial decision or something added at the last minute, similar to how his editors revised the car crash scene.

That said, Obata has implied that he doesn’t like how he draws hands and this panel was early in the manga (so less practice drawing Ryuk’s hand from new angles maybe). Even in the most recent live-draw of the 2019 one-shot, I personally saw him erase and redraw Near’s hand over and over, finally using his own hand as a reference. So, Obata’s got a thing about drawing hands, and we do occasionally see him make perspective or anatomical size mistakes like below:

As for the scene in Chapter 74, I would guess that an assistant drew that, but it’s also an awkward perspective. The Shinigami are small in that panel so Ryuk might have been drawn bulkier and without much detailed definition just to make it pop out more on the page. It’s also a panel where nothing super important is happening action-wise, they are just zoomin’. Maybe a little hit to the quality was tolerable, given its Shonen Jump-- a manga with a very rapid publication schedule.

Finally, the reason I say that ESSENTIALLY all the manga was hand drawn is that I have seen at least one panel where it’s clear there’s a stock picture edited in. For the life of me I can’t find it now, but there’s a scene with Matsuda’s computer background which is an obviously pasted-in picture. This panel with Light and Takada in the hotel room probably has a stock picture of the Tokyo Tower in the background too.

Anyway, Obata is an artistic genius but he’s still human and has weaknesses and makes mistakes, especially so when he’s under tight timelines like for Shonen Jump. Add in the work of assistants and last-minute changes by the editors and it naturally leads to some mistakes in artistic continuity.

#death note #blue-night-shades #asks #takeshi obata #manga #you can also search the tag--#obata interviews #for more of his interviews about DN and drawing

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mooooooosicals · 5 years ago

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Some fun little facts about some of my artwork

(Basically I like adding small details and whenever someone points them out I become extremely happy because someone actually bothered to look)

"Do you believe in ghosts?" You'll notice that in the center of Paul's eye is a music note. That has remained consistent for all of my tgwdlm artwork whenever a character is infected

In the back of this you can see glowing eyes peering out.

The set for this is in fact the tgwdlm set, however this is the lighting for the opening number, simply because I wanted it to be creepier.

"Am I crazy? I don't think so." Infected Paul's colors are blue, regular Paul's are yellow-orange

Something that bothers me about this picture is the anatomy, Paul's chin looks like it's going on for an eternity

Both Pauls have the exact same injuries, however they're different colors for what I think are obvious reasons

For both of my let it out pieces, Paul has the Exact Same Injuries because Consistency ™

"Should I Never Have Wanted?" The characters' fingertips, knees, elbows, noses, etc. are blue. This is consistent with every infected character, it's just sometimes hard to notice

I never actually use white for Paul and Emma's clothing, nor black. However, Paul and Emma's colors are exactly the same every time I draw them. I literally use the Exact Same colors. The only time I didn't do this is in "Do You Believe In Ghosts?"

Paul and Emma's eyes are completely blue, with the music notes being larger. There is no shine in their eyes

"Paul! You Made It!" There's a lot of things to notice in this one

First, Infected Paul has his fingers crossed behind his back

Emma is hunched over because of her leg

Shading and lighting has no effect on Ghost!Paul

Emma is wearing a "Welcome to Clivesdale" shirt simply because it bothered me that she was wearing the Exact Same Clothes as 2 weeks prior

Ghost!Paul is in a light blue hue.

The squares in the back are similar to "Am I crazy? I don't think so?" They're more rainbow because that's how the beginning of Inevitable is lit.

"Now you're Califor M.I.A." the shine in Lex's eyes are broken hearts

Ghost!Ethan is in a light green hue

"At least they're happy now" both Paul and Emma have hearts in their eyes

The background is the bisexual colors. That was intentional ;)

"Am I dead? I'm comin' apart at the seams" (this one is my favorite) you'll notice blue veins creeping up Paul's arms and neck

If you zoom into Paul's right eye (our left), you'll notice it's actually cracking, with blue peering through

His left eye is infected but there's also blue rings in it. Interpret this how you want ;)

A detail I've started to add in is that there's a lot of purple and blue under Paul's eyes, because he's basically dead y'know?

He's also crying. He's in a LOT of pain

Would this also be a good time to point out that yes the infected do have sharp teeth?

"Scream all you want, she can't hear you, no one can" Ghost!Paul has actually managed to make a crack in the mirror

"You will NEVER win." Infected Paul's eyes are even bluer in this one

The blue veins have even reached his face

The bruises on his neck are from McNamara choking him.

Infected!Paul is in a blue hue

Regular Paul has some internal bleeding going on

You cannot see his nose or his eyes

He is in a red hue

You'll also notice an injury on his chest

If you look at Wiggly!Paul, you'll notice he's holding a box cutter, implying he made that injury

Wiggly!Paul has several green patches, on his fingertips, in his hair, on his neck

There's also tentacles that have sprouted out of his stomach

Ouch

His eyes are green as hell with red in the center. This is actually different from being under the influence of Wiggly. Refer to my eye chart if you're confused (possessed by wiggly eyes are not on there but influenced by wiggly are)

There's blood coming out of his eyes

Yet his blood is also green

Confusing I know

Wiggly!Paul is in a green hue

There is a difference in expression between the two corrupted Pauls. Wiggly's is more evil and Infected's more manic

#tgwdlm #black friday #art #starkid #jocelyn saying random things

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mediocrity-at-best · 6 years ago

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Masquerade

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Prompt: costume party

Warnings: Deceit, Remus, some Remus-regular dialogue

Pairing: Romantic Anxceitmus, background romantic Moralogince

Words: 3,417

@sanderssidescelebrations I had to interpret this pretty liberally to get an idea for the prompt. So instead of a costume party, we have a masquerade! I hope this is still enough in the guidelines to fit! Here ya go!

Dee pulls the shining gold half-face mask on and grins at himself in the mirror. His sleek black suit, shining yellow cape, and slicked back black hair cut a sharp figure. It isn’t an ornate outfit, but it does imply a certain modicum of respect and prestige. It will certainly catch his beau’s eye, which is Dee’s main goal tonight. That, and beating Remus.

Remus stands across the room, making faces at himself in the mirror. He had designed the ugliest outfit Dee had ever seen for this event - all green, with a green paisley print on the green jacket and green polka dots on his green skirt and green stripes on his tie and even green shoes. The whole thing is only something Remus could have come up with, and there will be no doubt at the masquerade ball that he is Prince Remus.

“Darling,” Dee says, “have you considered something a bit less, I don’t know, obvious?”

“No,” Remus responds. “Why would I? I want Virgil to know exactly who it is that’s after his attentions.”

“And there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind of that,” Dee says dryly. Remus grins wildly and slid on his (you guessed it) green mask. That, at least, is not such an awful shade, though it doesn’t mean much when paired with rest of the monstrosity Remus claims is an outfit.

“So, how are you planning to attract our lovely little mate?” Remus asks, running lipstick (green) over his mouth.

“Trying to cheat already, are we?” Dee asks, and he smiles slightly at the pout that contorts Remus’s face behind the mask. “That’s quite alright; you do need the pointers.”

“Well, then why don’t you come over here and teach me?” Remus quips. Dee is tempted to stalk across the room, pin Remus’s hips to the counter behind him and wipe that smirk right off his face, but he knows that it would both ruin his presentability and make them both late to the ball. So instead, Dee winks.

“I certainly will teach you. Tonight, when you’re begging to know how I got our little Stormcloud and you didn’t.”

“You talk big game for such a short person,” Remus says. Dee bares his teeth while Remus laughs.

“I’m going to make you pay for that one,” he says. Remus just keeps laughing, so Dee spins on a heel and strides out. He’ll rub it in his boyfriend’s face when he is the one who wins their little tailor’s heart. (It had started as simple infatuation, a desire to be with the pretty man who always so readily fixed up Prince Remus’s torn clothing. But then it grew, and they realized he was actually smart and sarcastic enough to combat Dee and easily able to handle all of Remus, and...now it was something much greater than mere infatuation. That is why they’ve been courting him for one year, in secret at his own request. But this ball? This would be their official announcement. Not that anyone except the three of them knew that yet.)

Dee lets the petty look on his face melt away, and then he smirks as suavely as he can. He’s walking down the hallway alone and has nothing to be smirking about, yes, but it pays to be prepared and Dee will not let this opportunity to woo such an amazing man get away from him. He will get his first official kiss from Virgil Tailor before Remus.

Which is not to say it will be their first kiss. They’ve done plenty of things aside from kiss.

“Prince Consort,” says one guard standing in front of the ballroom doors. “Good evening. Are you looking for Prince Remus?”

“Good evening,” Dee sighs, “and no. I just left him in his rooms. We are attending the ball separately.” Dee watches the guards’ faces carefully. His wording will make it seem like he and Remus are having problems. It will give Remus’s brother, reigning monarch King Roman Arvanitis, an absolute heart attack, which is something that both Dee and Remus can find delight in. (And after tonight, if all goes well, maybe Virgil too.)

“Right, of course,” says the guard, bowing his head. “My apologies for any troubles you may be having. Do you wish to go into the ball now, uh?”

Dee forces himself to hold back a laugh. They never have known how to address him. “Indeed. If you would.” He gestures at the doors, and the guards scramble to open them for him. He smirks as he passes.

“Enjoy your evening, Prince Consort,” fumbles another guard.

“And you yours,” Dee says. He walks through the doors and is standing atop the platform reserved for only the most distinguished members of the kingdom. There is a sprawling staircase that leads down to the floor, and everyone watches as Dee descends them smoothly. They clap politely once his feet are on the floor, and seconds later they are all back to their conversations and sipping from their flutes.

Dee finds the striking purple outfit just from a few seconds of looking. He stands out so stunningly from the boorish crowd. Most guests went for bright and glittering and colors, sending sparks of light dancing as they move. But not the tailor who wears a deep purple vest and lilac shirt underneath. His pants are either black or midnight blue, but at this distance with the chandeliers so high above them, Dee can’t tell which. His jacket is midnight blue, but it has red stitching and the kingdom’s sigil done in red in honor of the king.

But the most impressive thing about the outfit is mask he is sporting. It is a dragon mask done in shades of green and yellow. A dragon mask alone would have been bold, would have garnered looks (if you wore dragons, it was for strength and courage and because you believed you could be equal to those legendary beasts, gone for a century). And to do it in green and yellow, the colors of the Prince and Prince Consort, well...it was bold, certainly. Some might call it arrogant. Remus would call it attractive.

Dee considers it an invitation.

Dee watches Virgil Tailor for a moment longer and then heads for a drink. He sips it slowly, politely ignoring anyone who tries to talk to him, and lets his eyes bounce from the gorgeous man making small talk with someone he has likely never met and then to the platform that Remus will enter from. Remus will accuse him of cheating if he approaches Virgil before he has even entered the room. So Dee will wait, and then Dee will make his move.

Dee has about as much enthusiasm for waiting games as Remus. Meaning, he’ll give him thirty more seconds to show his face.

When Remus does appear on the dais, the room goes appropriately silent. Dee thinks it’s likely from the cresting horror as his outfits registers with them. The applause starts slowly as Remus walks down the staircase, and Dee is once again forced to smother his laughter at the looks on the audience’s faces. Across the room, Dee can see Virgil doing the same.

Dee beelines for Virgil the second Remus is on the floor. He can feel the curious gazes following him, undoubtedly wondering why he’s heading away from his husband and the Prince instead of toward him for their first dance of the night. The polite thing to do, and the correct procedure for an event, is to dance first with your known romantic entanglements and then with other high ranking nobles who might borrow you for a dance.

Luckily, Dee, Remus, and Virgil can all agree on at least one thing: procedure? Boring.

Dee bows in front of Virgil and offers him a hand. “May I have this dance?”

Virgil takes his hand. “Of course, Prince Consort” he murmurs, every bit the shy, demure person other believed him to be. “I would be delighted.”

Dee swings them into the dancing in a waltz, and they blend seamlessly into the crowd of other spinning couples. Well, perhaps not seamlessly. They are two of the three people who are not wearing some sort of brightly colored, reflecting materials, and Dee is as close to royalty as one can be. There is a certain space made around them that draws attention from everyone.

“You look ravishing, as always,” Dee says. Virgil is taller than him by three inches, taller than Remus by one. He has to look up to speak to him so closely, but he doesn’t mind one bit.

Virgil blushes slightly, something that Dee still delights in even after so much time together. He has never met another person who can be embarrassed into blushing with just a nice word so regularly. “I would say the same to you, but that would feel like giving myself a compliment,” Virgil mutters in his ear. The laugh that escapes Dee is entirely unexpected and genuine and just loud enough that the couples dancing near them look harder.

Everyone is wondering who Dee Salvi, Prince Consort, could have abandoned the Prince of the kingdom to dance with. No one at the ball would likely recognize him, even if Virgil forewent a disguise entirely. Most nobles don’t pay much attention to the people who are below them. Dee basks in their ignorance in a snake sunbathing.

“A compliment well earned,” Dee says. “Though I suppose you probably made half the costumes in this room.”

“Something like that,” Virgil says, and his accent slips into those words just enough to make them lilt. This language is not the common tongue, and it’s not his native language. It’s what the nobles and royals speak. Virgil had admitted that he had only learned it to get better jobs from people that would pay more. Sometimes, in some phrases or when he gets excited, the accent from the commoner language buoys his words. Dee always thought the commoner language was much more musical than the other, always found it soothing even before he started learning it.

The music begins to slow, and Dee gives Virgil a hopeful look. Virgil laughs and shakes his head. “You have to at least give Remus a chance,” he chides quietly. “Now either go dance with your husband or find somewhere else to be. It would be improper of you to stay with me for a second dance.”

“Fuck proper,” Dee mutters, but he obligingly releases Virgil’s hands - after kissing the back of one and smiling at the disapproving clucks coming from all the nearby couples. He is the Prince Consort, and he is bold enough to openly flirt with a man who is not his Prince. How strange. How rude. How arrogant. How...fitting.

Most people don’t really like the Prince Consort because he looks like he’d be an ass. Dee knows. Dee doesn’t care. He’s a pain in Remus’s ass and Virgil’s ass (not that anyone knows that yet), and that’s what’s important.

Dee picks up a glass of water and takes a sip. He tries not to smirk at those openly staring at him like a runaway circus animal. He won’t do tricks for their amusement, only his own.

It definitely does tickle him when Remus sweeps up to his side and guests either ogle them, look hastily away, or both one after the other. Remus leans in close to him and whispers, “The guards gave me their condolences on losing such a nice man. And then my brother berated me for doing something to scare you off. Dee, you should have told me you were leaving me!” Dee snorted.

“I thought you might enjoy that,” he says. Remus smiles.

“You do know me so well,” Remus sighs. “It is a true shame, then, that I must be off. I hear a tailor calling my name, desiring to dance.” Remus whisks himself away in a flurry of greens, and Dee smiles fondly after him.

Then, Dee makes his way to the wall of the ballroom and and finds an empty standing table. He leans against it to watch his beloveds be so cavalier in their dancing. Remus could dance far better than he is, but instead he leads them around the floor in a senseless, rhythmless pattern that only serves to frustrate other couples and attract the attention of anyone who wants to gossip. Meaning, everyone.

Dee lets his eyes flit to the gracious King Roman, who threw this ball at his brother’s request and even allowed Remus and Dee to handle most of the guest list (it is the only way they could get Virgil an invitation without letting Roman know directly). He had even been so kind as to not ask what the ball was for, only make Remus promise not to do anything that would get them in trouble. They had both sworn it. And they hadn’t been lying. They weren’t doing it for trouble, they were doing for love (and spectacle, but that was a given.)

Roman was watching his brother, looking very obviously concerned. Beside him was Prince Consort Patton Hart, cooing something to him. His eyes were also locked on Remus and the nonsense dance he was performing. On the king’s other side and slightly back stood the royal advisor, Logan Cato. Unknown to everyone but the guards and royal family, Logan was actually the other Prince Consort. He, too, was watching Remus though his was more a look of alarm than anything else. He leaned forward to say something to Roman. Dee goes back to watching Remus swing Virgil around the floor like an over-excited puppy.

As the song ends, Remus also kisses the back of Virgil’s hand and takes his leave. Dee watches Virgil float through the crowd, not staying put long enough to get pulled into another conversation. Remus stops at the table Dee has claimed.

“I suppose the next dance is ours,” Dee says.

“No,” Remus says. “You should go dance with Virgil. We had this whole ball for him, it wouldn’t do to leave him out there alone when he so obviously doesn’t know how to make the kind of small talk this rank of person prefers.” The look on Remus’s face is sympathetic. He doesn’t really understand this brand of small talk either.

“As you wish, my Prince,” Dee purrs. He kisses the back of Remus’s hand. “Before I go, Roman was watching you dance. They’re worried.”

“They’re paying attention,” Remus corrects with a smirk. “And attention is exactly what we want.” Dee smiles too and turns around to scan the room for Virgil. He’s closer than expected, only a half dozen tables away, chatting with a server. He probably knows every person working this event. Dee wonders if the people employed for these things always know what’s going on before anyone else. It’s easy to forget just how much they bare witness to.

“Hello, dear,” Dee says. He doesn’t bow this time. He just extends his hand. “Would you like to dance with me?” From the sly smirk on the server’s face, Dee guesses he was already well aware of their standing. Virgil still blushes.

“I would love to,” he says. Dee leads them to the dance floor. This song is quicker than the ones they’ve already been dancing too. Dee and Virgil are forced to improvise twirls and dips and everything else to keep up with the crowd. When Virgil starts laughing, Dee can’t keep the smile off his face either. They are both near to collapsing when the song begins to end.

“Dee,” Virgil says, “would you like to make a scene with me?”

“Dear, I would love nothing more,” Dee says and as the final note rises into the air Dee and Virgil lean into each other for the kiss everyone’s been unknowingly waiting for all evening.

Scandalized gasps rip through the air. Dee pulls back and Remus is standing by his side. The stares turn expectant. They think that Remus will dispense some punishment for his unfaithful consort, likely.

“Is it my turn now?” Remus whines. His eyes are shining brightly as Virgil leans down to kiss him next. The round of gasps that echoes around the room this time is even louder. When they pull apart, Remus pulls Dee into a kiss just to seal the deal. There is a third round of gasps, going rather overboard if you ask Dee, and then Remus smiles, waves at the audience and pulls them both out of the ballroom.

They all three are laughing as they stumble out and collapse a few hallways over. Dee is snorting in the most inelegant way he ever has, and it’s spurring both his partners on. Virgil’s face is bright red and he’s trying to hide it in Remus’s shoulder, but Remus keeps pulling away to pepper little kisses all over Virgil’s face. All three of their masks are discarded on the floor.

When Dee sees King Roman walking down the hall toward them, flanked by his two consorts (and his personal guard, though they are far enough away that they won’t hear anything said) he smacks at Remus and Virgil and they scramble up to face him.

“Hey, Roman!” cries Remus, wrapping one arm around Virgil’s waist. “What brings you here?”

“What brings me-? Really, Remus? You know damn well why I’m here,” snaps their king. Despite being his brother, Roman is still king. What he says, goes.

“Oh! Should I guess? Is it because you still have butt worms? Or-”

“Remus!” Roman shouts, cutting him off. “That’s disgusting! Shut up!” He waves his hand, and Patton takes his other hand. Roman sighs. “You could have warned me if you were planning on doing something like that.”

“You would have told me not to!” Remus protests.

“Yes, because-”

“Excuse me?” Virgil says, cutting off Roman. Dee resists the urge to whistle. It’s a ballsy move, but everything about tonight was so it makes sense to keep the ball rolling. “Your Majesty, Prince Consorts.” Virgil bows his head. “It is, uh, nice to meet you. Uhm, formally.” He smiles nervously. It is the least accented Dee has ever heard him talk. He wants nothing more than to reach out and take Virgil’s hand. He’s too far, though, so Dee leans as close as he can to Remus instead.

“What’s your name?” Roman asks. Remus bristles at the tone, but Virgil clears his throat, takes a step forward to stand on his own, and meets the King’s eyes.

“I am Virgil Tailor,” he says. Patton’s eyes widen, but Dee shakes his head slightly. Princes aren’t meant to dally with commoners, but this isn’t a dalliance and if Patton says anything that makes Virgil question his place, there will be a problem.

“Well, Virgil Tailor, it is a true pleasure to make the acquaintance of someone who can keep Remus in check. Is this something you can do?” Virgil nods hesitantly. Roman smiles. “Then your company will be a balm to my brother’s brash instincts. It is my pleasure to greet you, formally, and I hope to get to know you more in the future.” Virgil bows his head again, smile realer.

“You also,” he says.

“For now, though, I must be off.” Roman sends Remus the stink eye. “I am going to have to go deal with the legal ramifications of what just went on. For once in your life, Remus, could you please think ahead?”

“I did! And I thought you’d stop me! So I didn’t say anything.” Roman groans. Remus cackles and pulls Virgil and Dee both back into his embrace.

“Lay low for a couple days while we see what the backlash is,” Roman sighs. He eyes Dee. “I expected more from you.”

“You shouldn’t have,” Dee says. Roman sticks his tongue out and then walks away with his two consorts in tow. Remus giggles delightedly and they head off for his and Dee’s rooms. Tonight, they will all sleep in the same bed and Virgil won’t have to disappear himself before the cleaner comes in. In the morning, they will be able to sleep as late as they want. And maybe after that they meet with Remus’s brother to see how their stunt was received. Until then, though, Dee is going to take it easy and relax with his partners. A ball really does take it out of you.

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tsarisfanfiction · 5 years ago

Text

Heated (Tales From The Heart)

Fandom: One Piece Rating: Gen Warnings: None Characters: Law, Shachi, Heart Pirates

Law's breath was heavy in his chest. His lungs laboured to draw in the oxygen and exhale the deoxygenised air his body no longer needed. Something cool rested on his forehead, and he mentally catalogued it as some sort of damp cloth. A fever, then, most likely the trail end of one, considering his return to consciousness.

Opening his eyes, his vision was assaulted by several faces looming over him wearing similar expressions of concern that morphed into relieved smiles as they registered his awakening.

"Captain!" his newest find exclaimed. Law noticed that he looked uneasy – that all the crewmembers crowding his personal space looked a little wary despite their smiles – and gave him a grin that he hoped was reassuring. As his senses fully returned to him, it wasn't difficult to pick up on the source of their nervous disposition; although out of his immediate line of sight, his haki picked up a dark aura in the room. Moving his head to the side, seeking the source, his eyes landed on Shachi, who stood a little way back, arms crossed.

The shades always made him harder to read than anyone else in the crew, hiding his eyes and whatever emotions they held. Part of Law wondered if he did it on purpose, refusing to let his eyes be healed so he had the convenient excuse of hiding what he felt when he wanted to. On this occasion, with the brim of his hat pulled low to throw extra shadows over the top of his face, his lips set into a thin line and his clothes, hair and cheek stained with blood, Law didn't need his haki to tell him Shachi was in a bad mood. The black aura only served to sow unease amongst the crew; even those without observation haki could tell that something wasn't right.

The normally cheerful, almost always smiling Shachi rarely fell into such a black mood, so it was unsurprising that even the older members weren't sure how to handle it. Law spared a moment to wonder where Penguin was, and if he would share in Shachi's mood or lighten it. On the rare occasions that the ginger's temper flared up significantly, his best friend was usually there to calm him. His absence was concerning.

"How are you feeling?" His eyes sought out the crewmember that had spoken, landing on the shorter man, and he offered another hopefully-reassuring grin.

"Fine," he told him, trying and failing to ignore the way the haki in the air soured further. "Weaker than usual, but it'll pass." The heavy air intensified again, and Shachi finally joined the circle surrounding his bed – or rather, the infirmary bed he was occupying, he noticed. Their nakama shuffled away slightly, giving Shachi plenty of space to thrust medicine into Law's mouth with little ceremony.

Law swallowed, making a face at the taste, but didn't complain. Whatever fever he'd had may have broken, but he was far from healthy.

"In that case," Shachi said, sounding as if he'd been the one forced to swallow the bitter medicine, "I'll go clean up." The blood must be from their battle – Law vaguely recalled the remains of a marine crashing into him – and he wondered how long his fever had raged for that Shachi had still not cleaned up.

A clink caught his attention in time for him to see one of those damned kairoseki cuffs snap shut around his wrist, and Law glared at him, only to receive an equal glower in return.

"Overusing your abilities landed you in here," Shachi told him bluntly, turning away and walking towards the door. "You don't get to use them again until you're back on your feet." Law watched the older man stalk out of the room, feeling the atmosphere lighten as soon as the door shut behind him, before turning to the members of his crew still present.

"Well?" he asked, managing to shift his wrist enough to lightly jangle the chain attached. Most of the crew were used to the occasional display of mutiny – he would be having words with Shachi when he got the chance – but the newer members had never seen anything of the sort before, so Law levelled them with an expectant look, hoping to coerce them into removing the insufferable restraint.

"Sorry, Captain," the newest whimpered, looking around at his nakama for support. "But… I think Shachi-san would gut me if I touched them." Law frowned. The refusal was hardly new, but he couldn't have Shachi establishing such terror amongst the newer recruits. Nakama should not have to fear each other. Unwilling to unnerve the new pirate further, Law changed the subject.

"Why are the engines running?" he asked, having registered the background rumble.

"We've set sail for the next island," Ikkaku told him, perching on the side of his bed and adjusting the cool cloth on his forehead. Law assumed his temperature was still higher than it should be, even if the main fever had broken.

"How long was I unconscious?" he asked, quickly doing the maths in his head and finding that it didn't work out, unless Shachi had been in the same bloodied clothes for almost a week.

"Approximately six hours," Clione told him, and Law frowned.

"The log pose wasn't due to set for another five days," he pointed out, watching them fidget. "Don't tell me you didn't wait."

"Shachi-san gave the order to set sail," the new recruit volunteered, and Law wished he had the energy to pinch the brow of his nose, because he felt a headache coming.

"And no-one reminded him about log poses?" he asked, wondering where Penguin and Bepo had been throughout all the madness. They looked at each other before shrugging.

"Penguin and Bepo were the ones that took control of the ship," Ikkaku told him and Law sighed. Well that answered that question, if rather unsatisfactorily. Penguin was supposed to be keeping Shachi in check when he came up with stupid ideas, not enabling him, and Bepo never stood a chance against the pair of them in a battle of wills.

"We wouldn't have had to set sail if someone hadn't been an idiot." Ah, the black cloud had returned to the room, still firmly accompanying Shachi, although the ginger was now free of bloodstains. His hair was still wet, dripping slowly onto the floor and Law wanted to forcibly dry it because Shachi knew better than that. More pressing was the issue of Shachi's attitude, though. He had long since crossed the line most captains would consider mutiny, and with that last comment was dancing dangerously close to Law's own definition.

"Sorry, but I want to speak to Shachi alone," he told his crewmates, who took one look at the ginger and all but scarpered from the room.

"What?" Shachi demanded the moment the door shut behind the last one. "You-"

"Do not speak to me like that," Law interrupted in a low growl. "I do not care how angry you are, there is only so much insubordination I can take and you are testing my patience."

If Shachi had been anyone else, anyone he hadn't known for the past eleven years, the resulting glower Law received would have seen him off the ship for good. As it was, Law chalked it up as one more strike in the tally he would be paying for later and took the sullen silence to mean Shachi was done antagonising him for the moment.

"Explain to me exactly why you decided we should set sail without setting the log pose," Law demanded, wishing he had the strength to sit up. He watched Shachi take a deep breath, and then another, clearly calming himself down before he said something they'd both regret. The fact that Penguin had apparently not argued implied that the reason had been genuine, but Law required details.

"It was too dangerous to remain on that island that long," Shachi eventually ground out, having the grace to at least look Law in the eyes – or as best he could tell, with the shades in the way. "If it were only hours, I might have risked it, but five days was too long."

"Why?" There was little that would scare Shachi enough to make a call like that at the crew's current strength. The Marines on the island had been difficult to handle only due to the numerical advantage they'd held, not because they were particularly strong. What else had revealed itself after Law had collapsed?

"One survivor," Shachi told him. "One witness. That's all it would have taken to bring more Marines to us, or even a rival pirate group." Law frowned, but Shachi cut him off before he could express his annoyance that they'd fled for such a cowardly reason. "Our captain just outright fainted in full view of anyone that might have been watching!" Shachi was getting heated again, but as long as he stayed on topic Law would allow it for the moment. "What sort of message does that send out, huh? That we're weakened, easy prey! Every single Marine unit, rival pirate crew and bounty hunter in the area would have been nuts not to jump on that opportunity! We can handle one or two enemies at once, but not everyone in this area of the Grand Line. This isn't North Blue anymore, Captain! They call this the Pirates' Graveyard for a reason!"

Law begrudgingly admitted that Shachi was right, but the ginger wasn't done with his rant.

"What happened to the subterfuge we used to be so good at?" he demanded. "What happened to not drawing attention to ourselves? Making a name for yourself is all well and good-" Law knew Shachi was actually proud of the fact his captain had a decent bounty, when he wasn't wound up and ranting "-but not when you push it too far! You put us all in danger with that stupid stunt of yours!"

Law winced at Shachi's final sentence. He had no doubt it was specifically crafted to hit him where it hurt – Law's crew were everything to him and Shachi knew that – but that didn't mean it was any less effective.

"Don't you dare do that again," Shachi growled, his voice fading back to its normal volume, before turning half away from Law, nudging his shades up with his arm as he swiped at his eyes. The fabric came away damp and Law froze, the missing piece to the puzzle finally sliding into place.

"Shachi…" he murmured.

"My shades slipped," the ginger mumbled, fussing with them. Law didn't buy it, but chose not to call him out on the lie, too stunned at the revelation that should have been obvious.

Shachi had been worried about him. The whole crew had been. They'd set sail, deliberately not following a log pose path, to protect him while he recovered. They'd encounter less ships on this route, and anyone that might have thought to pursue them if word did get out that he'd fainted wouldn't be able to follow them easily.

"Come here," he ordered, gesturing for Shachi to move closer to him, within arm reach. He was instantly obeyed, and Law forced one hand up, resting the fingertips lightly on his cheek. "Close your eyes and take off the shades." Again he was obeyed, and Law was struck by just how much Shachi trusted him as he carefully swiped away the beads of tears that had been forming in a rare show of affection. "You should be more careful," he scolded lightly, letting Shachi hold up the pretence that the tears were from light exposure and not overflowing emotions.

"I'll try," Shachi replied, a weak grin gracing his face as Law let his arm fall back to his side, permitting the ginger to replace his shades.

"Good," Law said. "And Shachi?"

"Hmm?" the older man hummed, looking at him questioningly. The dark aura had lessened significantly during their talk, to Law's relief.

"I'm sorry."

Shachi grinned properly, leaning down and wrapping his arms around Law tightly.

"Don't do it again," he scolded lightly. Law didn't bother replying to that, smiling into damp ginger hair.

"One last thing," he said after several minutes, as Shachi finally began to pull back. "I want you to apologise to the crew. You were angry at me, don't take it out on them." Shachi bit his lip and tugged the peak of his cap down, casting his face firmly in shadow again.

"I wasn't angry at you," he mumbled. "Not really." Law lifted an eyebrow, clearly recalling the way the ginger had ranted at him. "I was angry at myself. I didn't notice at all! I was just blindly sorting out the loot on the boat while you were getting weaker and weaker. The new guy had to point it out to me. We've been nakama for so long… but I couldn't even see that."

There were tears rolling down Shachi's cheeks again, but this time he made no move to wipe them away as he reached out and undid the cuffs with a quiet clink, startling Law. He'd expected them to stay on until he was fit enough to get out of bed at the very least.

"Don't use your fruit for a while, yeah?" Shachi said, heading for the door. "I'll be back soon. Got some nakama to apologise to."

Law watched him leave, for once the idea of using his abilities to end his misery faster unappealing to him. He'd used them too much already, and Shachi would blame himself for leaving him unsupervised without the cuffs if he exhausted himself again.

Law had had quite enough of Shachi blaming himself for one day.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #heart pirates #tales from the heart #tsari writes fanfiction #trafalgar law #shachi

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