#I draw Kazuma way to much…

[biscuit-sheep]

I don’t know why but recently I have been infatuated with the idea of Sholmes in a Christmas themed dress and I must expand upon this idea in the coming days

[princema-k]

so draw your blade, you wretched fiend and let's you and i fight like the dishonourable dogs we are savage, violent, yet free and when the curtain calls, let me put you out of my misery

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Hajime "Heart Guy" "Incredible Violence" Aikawa

[sarayashikidays]

so many folks were tagging my Kurama and Kuwabara art as shipping, I decided to actually draw Kurama doing moon-eyes at Kuwabara... After being forced along to a Megallica concert because nobody else was free-!!

[twifairy]

Brainrotting over my Sumire Asogi hcs

[transchrisredfield]

I had to do this meme redraw with them.

[genericpuff]

I'm honestly amazed by how well you can imitate the LO S3 art style! Have you always been good at this sort of thing or is it a skill you developed due to your work as a tattoo artist?

ahhh thank you, but ima let you in on a little trade secret -

it's literally just referencing LMAO which is a valuable skillset to have! but one that I think a lot of folks tend to overlook because they think "learning to draw" means "I need to be able to draw everything perfectly from imagination!" Which sure, learning how to draw things without needing references might be cool, but it's ultimately not the sole defining feature of a "good artist" and I think there's frankly way too much emphasis put on "drawing without references" these days because it creates this unrealistic expectation of what an artist is. Referencing is part of the process! It's important! And it's a valuable skill to have so that you can actually grow your skills beyond your own limits! Referencing is as important to the process of creating art as research is to the process of writing, you can only produce so much new stuff if you're not taking in new stuff alongside it.

Though I use this skill a lot in tattooing as well, it's mostly rooted in my animation schooling which broke me out of the habit of drawing purely from imagination and taught me how to properly reference other material for educational purposes.

And I'm sure there are people in audience right now gasping at the fact that I simply cropped a bunch of different shots of Minthe from S3 and rearranged them like some surgical madman playing with body parts-

-but this is like, the actual majority of the process when it comes to learning other art styles and this process is taught as a skill in a lot of art schools because it forces you to draw what's there rather than what you think is there. This is the basis of master studies, to learn the techniques of other artists by trying to mimic them as closely as possible. Don't know what tools that artist used specifically? Try to recreate the work anyways with your best guess. Even if you only get close but not perfect, you'll still likely learn a lot along the way and may even develop some brand NEW techniques that weren't present in the original work you're studying from.

Imagination is necessary to the creative process, but it's only part of that process, you can't suddenly learn how to draw the way other artists draw through imagination alone because your imagination is limited purely by your own lived experiences. Our brains don't come pre-installed with these skills, they can't just magically unlock the capability to "do the thing". Just like how we have to learn to follow recipes as a means to becoming a baker or learn to read the alphabet to learn how to read and write, we have to learn how to draw what we see and reference the material around us if we truly want to expand our own innermost knowledge which will allow us to draw from imagination.

Here are some other examples of studies I've done, such as my attempts to learn the art style of The Doctor Foxglove Show:

As well as a background study from S1 of LO:

And of course here are a handful of the shitloads of studies I've done to try and "figure out" how to draw Hades and Persephone from S1 of LO:

Aaaand just for the fun of it, here are some completely non-LO studies, like the ones I did of Kazuma Koda's background work and Akihiko Yoshida's character designs for Nier: Automata:

And this sorta rotoscoped ??? animatic of Mitsuhiro doing the opening jig for Still Feel by Half Alive which is 100% not done and probably never will be LOL

I'm always progressively doing studies of both LO and other media in this way so that I can update my knowledge and continue to improve my skillset.

Though, despite my best efforts to mimic the original creator's style, works like Rekindled will always have my own stylizations present, as that's just an inevitable consequence of it being made by myself and Banshriek (and the fact that we just refuse to draw worse to look more like LO because jfc so much of LO's original art, even the stuff we love, is rooted in Rachel's trial and errors lmao), but that's a feature, not a bug :') <3

So the answer is yes, the Minthe S3 redraw was done through skills I developed over time, though not necessarily through tattooing, simply through learning how to actually practice properly beyond "drawing a lot". And you can too! Draw lots, but also remember that your brain isn't naturally just going to "get better" at whatever you're trying to achieve just because you really want to achieve it. I try to avoid the mantra of "just practice" because it oversimplifies what's truly necessary to learning - having something to learn from outside of your own imagination. If you don't learn how to practice properly, then you'll just wind up repeating the same mistakes and reinforcing the same bad habits over and over again.

All that's to say, if you want to learn how to draw like a certain artist, try and recreate their art for yourself ;0 (but like also please for the love of god remember that it's for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, I shouldn't have to tell y'all not to copy directly off other artists' work for your own because that's just deadass stealing lmao) I know this enters the ethical dilemma of tracing, and whether or not it's a "valid" way to learn, but there's a lot of virtue in learning through referencing other artists and building new skills through them. I'm sure folks will argue that it's a 'crutch' or 'training wheels', but that's all often being touted from the perspective that crutches and training wheels... are automatically bad things and aren't meant to help people ?

Like obviously if you want to create your own thing that isn't purely "living in the shadow" of the works that inspired you, you WILL have to make that leap into the unknown. But that leap's a lot less scary to make when you have a parachute.

[asterlae]

Hey i finally finished Apollo Justice :D and with it i have finally played by myself all the ace attorney games i had watched a gameplay of

Fun fact i actually came in contact with ace attorney first throught apollo justice, it was the firs AA game i watched a gameplay of

So here are my thoughts after experiencing it by myself

I liked it if im being honest, like a lot , i missed the feature of being able to present profiles to people, and also wanted more characters to reacto to me presenting the attorney's badge, also would have loved to mantain the prints dust, luminol testing for all the cases, instead of like, trying out a different tool to investigate every case, but I still enjoyed it

Im still mad about the logic of turnabout serenade and turnabout corner, wtf is that, the cases were fun but i mostly tried to ignore their logic for acussing the defendant, specially with machi tobaye

I love trucy a lot, as a character, like, she acts so childish and yet you can see that she understands almost everything happening around her far better than the majority of people around her. One of my favorite examples of this (i consider this as an example taking in consideration what we learn about her trhought the game) is on scene at the beggining of turnabout corner, when phoenix its trying to get apollo to work for him and he goes like "oh well, if you dont help, trucy wil have to change of school, again" and then trucy its like "oh no, i just had started making new friends...", like, i have a feeling trucy understood very well what phoenix was trying to achieve there and decided to act her part bc she is a performer, and I actually think that bc of that she and klavier understand each other quite well

Like he was the one acknowledged trucy the most during the trials whenever she demostrared to have a deep observation of the case, not only that but we have the fact that we know Klavier also acts as a performer, showing a smile, acting all relaxed, but then being really perfectionist.

Anyways i could go all day talking about klavier and trucy but, the post its not about them and it would have to be in spanish bc I dont think i can express everything i think about them

Then we have apollo as a new lawyer. I like him, i like his chords of steel, i like that his color is red, i like his design, i love the bond he crestes with trucy, i really want to see him develope in the same way we saw phoenix grow as a lawyer

As i said in other post a love this phoenix, he has this so morally dobious and depressed energy around him that i like so much, and his tension with kristoph its just great

I will maybe draw krisnix in the future but i cant assure anything bc it kind of feel like phoenix being a cheater

Now i finally will continue with the great ace attorney!!!

I stopped mid game bc im the kind of person who likes to leave the tasty thing to the end, and although i love apollo justice my obssesion with tgaa its bigger, and also, it has misteries i dont know anything about (mostly), and my new wife, kazuma

About spirit of justice and dual destinies... I dont think i will be plsying them in the near future, for various reasons, jut the main three are:

1. I dont have the money for that, like i was able to afford tgaa bc it was the cheapest of all the collections, and it was on discount, like yeah, no, i cant afford that, and even if i could i think that investigations would be my priority

2. Its bc im not very convinced by what i saw when i watched a gameplay of DD, mostly bc I wasnt expecting phoenix to go back so quickly to baing an attorney, like, I was watching the first case, and was like "ooh cool, we have a new lawyer along side apollo", and when athena had that kind of panic attack and phoenix appeared i was like "cool, we will have him as a co-counsel, helping athena ground herself and giving her some asistance throughout the case", but then i saw him take the lead as the defense, and have athena as co-counsel and I was left so disapointed, like this is a tutorial case, why arent we continuing it the rookie new lawyer?, so yeah, i will probably watch a gameplay of it, but Im not sure i will try to play it

3. Is that im way to used to seeing these characters of the main games in pixel art style, im fine with tgaa bc they arent characters I have met before, with them its still hard, but its easier to get used to see them in 3D, but im not ready to do that transition with, phoenix, trucy or apollo

Anyways this is my comentary of apollo justice, we will soon continue with me getting all excited over a dance of deduction

[cinderella-ish]

Fruits Basket Queer Headcanons

The more I watch and read Fruits Basket, the more I get the sense that no one is straight here. Well... almost no one. So, in honor of pride month, here are my queer headcanons for the cast of Fruits Basket!

(Disclaimer that these are my own personal headcanons, obviously nothing official, etc... I try to draw on evidence from the text, but I'll admit I'm occasionally going purely off vibe. Also, I'm bi and genderfluid, so that's the lens I'm bringing to this. I'd love to hear your headcanons, especially if they differ from mine! Enjoy!)

Genderfluid and/or genderqueer: Ayame and Ritsu

I (probably somewhat controversially) think a lot of the gender non-conformity among Fruits Basket characters is just that: gender non-conformity. Momiji is one example; he dresses in girls' clothing (though not "like a girl") until his growth spurt, but it seems important to him to be seen as a man from at least that point forward.

Ritsu is someone whose gender identity and/or nonconformity really should've been explored more in the manga - as written, it feels like Ritsu's exploration of gender was viewed as something he'd grow out of, rather than a search for understanding himself. He doesn't really seem to mind being identified as either male or female, though he obviously feels a lot of shame about his comfort with wearing women's clothes (though no one around him when we meet him really seems to mind, which is nice-- I also appreciate that Ritsu was shown to have friends who adore him outside of the Sohmas). Anyway, the fact that he seems okay with being referred to as both a man and a woman is the entire basis for this headcanon.

Ritsu also idolizes Ayame, and I think part of this stems from Ayame's own security in his non-traditional gender presentation. We don't really get a lot of Ayame's thoughts on gender, despite his line of work, but he strikes me as the sort of person who would enjoy playing with his own gender presentation and would be more than open to exploring his gender identity (and probably has!). I think Ayame would lean more toward having an expansive view of masculinity rather than dressing more feminine when he feels more feminine, but I also think he would embrace the different ways people might perceive his gender.

Transgender Woman: Akito Sohma

This I think is quite clear in canon. Akito was assigned male at birth, then transitioned to female.

What makes it hard for some people to see Akito as trans is that the reason she was assigned male at birth was not the typical reason people are assigned male at birth in our world (it was her mother's demand, rather than a guess based on the shape of her genitals), but I don't think that makes her any less trans.

Under the Ace and/or Aro Umbrellas

This umbrella is a little tricky for several of these characters, because they've been forbidden from dating, or had very controlling parents, or thought they'd only hurt anyone they loved, so they haven't necessarily had time to figure out whether they've just repressed that part of themselves or they just don't experience attraction at all/without a strong emotional connection first. (Not everyone needs time to figure that out, though!) But anyway, here's who I think would eventually find themselves under at least one of these umbrellas!

Asexual/Aromantic: Kazuma

I love the tidbit that Kazuma tried dating women, but talked so much about Kyo that he never got a second date. I like the interpretation of him as a gay man, but to me, he reads as asexual/aromantic. Dating just doesn't even seem to be on his radar!

Demisexual/Demiromantic: Kyo, Shigure, Machi

A lot of the fandom sees Kyo as demi, and I'm totally here for that interpretation of him. He generally seems annoyed by or frightened of girls who aren't Tohru (frightened either when there's a risk of transforming, or when Kagura is involved). Also, it's CUTE that Kyo takes after his dad (Kazuma) in this way.

At first blush, it seems very unlikely Shigure is under the ace umbrella, but I couldn't stop thinking about his brief relationship with Mayu. He's the one who suggested they date, yet he seemed completely disinterested in her. He did sleep with Ren, but that was only for revenge and because he imagined Akito would look like her if she'd been allowed to grow up as a woman. I genuinely believe all his "high school girls" ickiness was an act, much like most of his personality.

It doesn't seem like Machi can totally tell if/when she likes something (or someone!). This makes me wonder if she's just never had feelings for anyone before Yuki.

Demiromantic: Rin, Hiro

Rin seems open to sexual relations with people other than Haru, but I genuinely can't see her having romantic feelings for anyone other than him. I see Hiro similarly with respect to Kisa. I think, if they ever split, it would take an extremely long time for him to even be open to falling for someone else.

Under the Bi/Pan+ Umbrella

So, I'm not making a distinction between these two (and other orientations that fall under the same umbrella, like poly- or omnisexual) because that seems like a very personal, internal conversation. I know some people make a distinction between the way bi and pan people experience attraction, but some don't, and that feels too prescriptivist for my purposes here. So, these are characters who I think experience attraction to multiple genders!

Tohru obviously falls for Kyo, but she also thinks Akito is cute, she thinks Rin is "shapely" and "beautiful" (her words!), and she goes along with it when Saki talks about them getting married.

Yuki ends up with Machi (and I love them together!) but I think Kyo was his first crush. His arc is also very relatable for a lot of queer folks (myself included!). And he's a disaster. Long live bisexual disaster Yuki Sohma!

Shigure is tricky, because the flirtation between him and Ayame could just be a joke, but I personally think it's a joke that arose out of some fun nights spent together...

Akito obviously likes men, but she also flirts with Tohru when they first meet.

Saki talks about marrying both Tohru and Kazuma. She's probably joking about Kazuma, but she's generally a very literal person, so I don't think she's joking about Tohru. She also marries a foreigner canonically, and that foreigner is probably a man.

Momiji talks about finding an amazing sweetheart-- not an amazing wife or girlfriend!!-- one day. I think he was being very intentional in not specifying his future partner's gender.

Hatori is the one I feel least sure of, but my headcanon is that he gets so annoyed and embarrassed by Shigure and Ayame because he doesn't want anyone to know he was totally part of at least a few of those trysts...

Mutsuki and Hajime are definitely together, right? And it seems like the fandom mostly sees Mutsuki as bi, which... yeah, that tracks.

Hatsuharu's first love was Yuki, and his last love was Rin.

Kakeru has a girlfriend, but for some reason, I have it in my head that he always refers to Kyo as Yuki's "hot cousin"? Did I just imagine that? Anyway... even if I did make that up, I think his backstory is a great analogy for the experience of coming out. He was trying to fit in a box and decided he was done with it. Pure chaotic bi energy.

For Ayame, see Shigure and Hatori above. (Also, “I am a bottom ALL THE WAY!!!”)

Mine is admittedly here just based on vibes.

Mitsuru likes Ritsu even though she's not entirely sure of Ritsu's gender!

Kimi is also here purely based on vibes.

Gay and Lesbian

Hiroshi has always struck me as gay. I can't really explain it. I usually have absolutely awful gaydar, so it's odd that he gives me such clear gay vibes. I wrote him as gay in my longfic, Bloom Within Us, and I'll probably always write him as gay.

President Takei obviously has a crush on Yuki. We don't really see him show interest in anyone else (partially because he's such a minor character). He also seems to still be a bachelor in Another, which could be because he can't legally marry yet...

My headcanon that Kunimitsu is gay kind of popped up as I was writing Bloom Within Us. There's no particular reason, and he doesn't give me strong gay vibes or anything.

Hajime and Mutsuki are definitely a couple! (Right?!) And it seems like most of the fandom sees Hajime as gay which... yeah, I can get behind that.

Akimoto (Arisa's senpai from her gang) is another character who gives me such strong vibes that I thought it was canon that she was a lesbian. Whoops. Anyway, I headcanon that Akimoto is gay, and referenced that in one of my oneshots.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Controversial omission: Arisa Uotani. She says she likes Kureno because he reminds her of Tohru, but she doesn't like Tohru? Yes, she gives me major queer vibes but this to me points to her being straight. Also, based on the way she reacts to her friends developing crushes or falling in love (and the way they react to her falling in love), I don't think there's anything between her and Saki or her and Tohru (as much as I love fics that pair her with Saki!). I also think not every relationship with lots of physical affection and strong feelings of love has to be romantic.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading my queer headcanons! This has been in my drafts for months, so I'm really glad Pride Month gave me a reason to finish this post!

Happy Pride!

[prasidice]

i’m replaying tgaa so, so slowly and it’s because every fucking time kazuma speaks i feel the need to write an essay on it. so here’s essay #1 of many — today focusing on the ending of 1-1!! the interplay of faith/hope and cynicism in 1-1 is SO compelling and it’s so easy to miss on your first playthrough. major major tgaa1+2 spoilers ahoy!

i’m gonna start with the assassin exchange. i’ve always been really curious about if kazuma had any idea if jezaille was his assassin counterpart, and now that i’ve replayed 1-1, i’m soooo certain he knew or at least heavily suspected:

kazuma is the one who brings up jezaille’s fate even though he really should be the one most knowledgable on what happens next here. curious in and of itself. and then his silence—as opposed to any sort of outrage, dismay, or disbelief—when the consular court is brought up is SO telling, especially considering how kazuma often shuts down a bit when the assassin exchang is brought up (e.g., turning “grave” when jigoku reminds him of his mission as he pronounces his verdict on ryuu). 

so then i think this next exchange is really curious:

it’s egregiously on the nose, especially the “serious incident of a highly political nature” and “secret agreements” comments. i think this is the most compelling evidence we have that kazuma heavily suspects or is outright certain that jezaille is his assassin counterpart—and it makes sense, especially given that he was just reminded of the assassin exchange and would have it at the forefront of his mind. 

but besides that, i think these comments are interesting in multiple ways—in how kazuma seems to almost be wheedling mikotoba and hosonga for information, but more importantly, in their cynicism. 

i think so much about how kazuma had to agree to be an assassin to get to england at all—to say nothing of the confirmation bias of it (in that genshin is seen as a murderer and now kazuma is seemingly following in his footsteps), just… the moral weight of it, the feeling of being a pawn, and how it ruins the idea of justice/morality existing in england or japan. to see that this is how the exchange plays out—that it could’ve effectively ruined not just an innocent person’s life, but ryunosuke’s life, can only intensify his moral injury. and, what, when the truth is found out, it’s not even used properly?

so then let me take you to the heart of this essay:

it makes sense, with all this going through kazuma’s head, that he doesn’t think he has the makings of a lawyer anymore. or that he should be one to begin with! because with all that he’s been through wrt genshin’s death and the letter and then the assassin exchange and now this, kazuma’s been conditioned to see the ugly side of things, always. to never give the benefit of the doubt. he’s only able to believe in ryunosuke because ryunosuke is his best friend, not because he has any actual ability to believe in or trust others. 

and even then, his demonstration of trust isn’t that wholehearted, at least to others—as can be seen with the whole affair of smuggling ryunosuke onto the burya without telling susato and how he is completely unable to tell ryunosuke or susato about the assassin exchange. and i think he desperately wants to, but completely lacks the ability to—like a muscle that’s atrophied away. he’s never been able to trust anyone, so he can’t now. which is why i think he gets so stuck on ryunosuke believing in him despite everything—it’s utterly foreign to him, and still ryunosuke does it, like it’s Just That Easy. 

i especially want to draw attention to “like you believed in me when you said i didn’t do it” / “i’m human, just like you.” “being able to remain faithful… that’s not something everyone can do.” i don’t think kazuma ever thought that ryunosuke Did It, but this exchange is so raw to me in that i think kazuma has such an innate suspicion of everyone around him that he probably was constantly on the lookout for something to sneak up on him—for something to prove that, no, ryunosuke is just like everyone else. and then—look—ryunosuke isn’t like everyone else. and imagine how that must feel for kazuma, to have that suspicion turned right back around and thrown in his face—yet another layer of shame for him. 

i’m really rambling at this point but i also think these passages are so poignant:

i know. i know. it’s a true level of insanity when you’re analyzing the “get you off” quote. but i do think it’s really interesting how every time ryunosuke’s faith in kazuma is brought up, it’s first and foremost about ryunosuke’s faith in kazuma’s ability as a lawyer, not anything about their relationship. “as a lawyer,” first, then “as a friend,” and “faith” that kazuma can “get him off.” the distance put between them here by kazuma, intentionally or unintentionally, again points to how kazuma just can’t trust others—can’t even trust in that others believe in him or hold him in any regard. like he’s internalized all the shame and ick of the law/politics that he’s been steeped in for so long. like he thinks of himself as nothing more than a product of it—a tool of it.

this is all to say that i think 1-1 frames faith/cynicism so beautifully and it is such an artful depiction of kazuma’s mental state at the time as well as how he and ryunosuke are foils to one another.  kazuma’s inability to believe in himself or others comes across so well and it illustrates how/why his relationship with ryunosuke really is that important. i think also it speaks to the degree to which kazuma has fashioned himself into a tool to avenge his father and nothing more—to the point that he can’t see himself as anything beyond it, and once the integrity of it is called into question, well, then what? 

i hope you enjoyed this silly little brainrot… i had so much fun typing it up :’) 

[okartichoke]

hi artichoke i hope you’re having a fun holiday season! I kinda want to hear more about ace avian but don’t want to make you grind so you are free to infodump or sketchdump whatever you want here that wouldn’t really fit in other posts just for fun.

um getting self conscious right now but I know pretty much everyone likes asks so gonna send this right now :D happy holidays!

hi rosie !! my holidays are so chill i am having a blast <33 hope you're having a good month too ! i am glad you asked! i am going to use this opportunity to share all the bird choices that were requested that i never ended up drawing!:

Athena Cykes: Golden Masked Owl - @/modpoppy helped with his one. Owl is so perfect to me because Athena (goddess of wisdom who has an association with owls) (also just wisdom being associated with owls). Owls have exceptional hearing! They also have ears that are non symmetrical, allowing them to pinpoint where sounds are coming from more accurately, which to me matches Athena's ability to read the emotion of a voice.

Gumshoe: Rock Dove (Pigeon) - these birds are historically trained, good sense of direction, and ones that live in cities are constantly eating crumbs (skull emoji x3)

Redd White: Peacock - I got a few recommendations for a bald eagle, which I totally see the vision for ! But to me, he is a peacock for sure. Pompous as all get out, flashy, show off.

Juniper Woods: Warbling White Eye - pretty green bird, often carries connotations of spring. another idea for her wasa mourning dove. this one is kinda just vibes

Robin Newman: I'm not super decided but maybe a type of kingfisher?

Hugh O'Conner: He gives me such raven vibes but, spoiler alert, Kay is 100000% a raven. If I'm trying not to have duplicates, i'm less sure. A crane hawk, maybe?

Kay Faraday: Raven - In Shinto mythology, I think that Yatagarasu is depicted as a three-legged crow? However, I'm pretty sure in the aa games Kay calls it a 3-legged raven. But if I'm wrong about this please feel free to correct me! Either way it is her x3

Spark Brushel: I never decided for Spark. I was thinking maybe a swallow or a seagull? Swallow because fast, energetic, fits the reporter who always is first to a story vibe. Seagull fits that latter idea, but also has seagull charm x333

Vera Misham: I am not sure of this one either. I know I want a small bird, and one where the males are brighter than the females, like how her dad was the face of their operation, like a songbird, maybe a finch or a bunting. Not sure of specifics.

Okay and then TGAA characters !! I ended up not yet finishing the second game :pensive: so some are missing

Ryuunosuke: Black-Billed Magpie - I also want to switch Phoenix to this one for consistency's sake. This is a lot of the same reasoning as Phoenix being a blue jay originally, so check back to that post if you want more reasoning. (jays and magpies are closely related). Coloration was a big factor in this decision, but also i like the myth that a lone magpie will bring badluck and how that works with the naruhodo family.

Sholmes: a fewwww ideas... though admittedly all vibes. I've racked my brain for him. A pheasant is one way to go. I think my favorite idea is a chicken (golden comet chicken). This is for similar reasons as @\modpoppy gave for buff orpington chicken Bobby Fulbright (that being friendly; golden retriever of birds). If not chicken.. sholmes still feels like a game bird to me..... solely vibes....

Stongheart: golden pheasant LMAOO i don't know why this guy got a bird in my mind before kazuma or susato or iris or etc,,, but he did. good for him. I just think its fits.

That is all i have! once again sorry from myself 2 months ago for not finishing these requests x33 i hope everyone who sent something in sees this text post lol

[skyedancer-rae]

Mind sharing some of your TGAA headcanons?

I've had this sitting in my inbox for a bit because when I first saw it, my mind went blank and I couldn't think of anything lol. Full disclosure: I feel like I don't have very many concrete headcanons. A lot of the time, if there isn't much canon evidence to support a headcanon, I tend to be more flexible and may change how I depict things depending on what suits my drawing/comic/story.

But I did think of a few to share, so here we go!

While Mrs. Hudson probably provided a lot of the meals for Sholmes & Iris before Iris got older and discovered a love for cooking, I believe that Sholmes CAN cook. He just has to make sure that he sets timers and follows the recipe to the letter. Because as soon as he gets distracted or turns the recipe into an experiment, it becomes inedible.

Because he did help uncover the truth about all of Stronghart's conspiracies and he ultimately did not kill anyone nor intend to go through with the assassination exchange, Kazuma is given a royal pardon after the game, allowing him to continue his study tour in Britain. However, that pardon also comes with a strict warning of "We'll be watching you and if you do something like this again, there will be consequences." I also believe there would still be a long probationary period where he can only help with Barok's cases at first. Then he can only lead the prosecution with Barok supervising his work before he finally earns the right to lead a case by himself.

Oddly enough, I have very strong headcanons for Rei's parents. I feel like they're both pretty chill and liberal. When their daughter came home one day like "I want to study dead bodies like Susato's dad," they were just like "Unconventional career choice, but we'll figure out a way to make it happen."

I guess I also tend to headcanon that Rei and Susato are childhood friends and that Rei fell in love with medicine/forensic science from listening to Mikotoba's stories.

Genshin does not particularly like Sholmes. He is grateful that Sholmes has been such a good friend to Mikotoba and helped to pull him out of his spiral of grief, and he appreciates Sholmes' commitment to the truth and justice. But every time they interact, he is constantly fighting the urge to throw Sholmes out the nearest window and/or into the Thames.

Since it is my understanding that traditional Japanese cuisine does not use a lot of (if any) dairy, I wonder how many of the Japanese cast would be lactose intolerant. I headcanon that Ryunosuke, at least, can eat dairy with no issues. Because he apparently has an iron gut.

Regarding Susato's all-knowing British encyclopedia she carries around, my thoughts are that either (1) she made that book herself, carefully copying down any piece of information she thought might be relevant, (2) her kimonos sleeves are the gateway to a pocket dimension where she can access her entire library, or (3) she has photographic memory and just has all these facts memorizes. But because of her super-humility (which she needs to work on because she's awesome and she should own her talents and abilities), she pretends that she's just looking it up in her book.

Susato and Kazuma lost a fight to a frog when they were younger, and they are both still mortified by that memory to this day.

On Gina and Kazuma's first case together post-game, Sholmes showed up to offer his assistance. They allowed him to stay because it annoyed Barok.

They have kicked Sholmes out of every single crime scene since then.

[peemanne]

INFINITE WEALTH SPOILERS IN MINI RAMBLE AHEAD!!!!!!! YEAH!!!! LIKE FINAL CHAPTER SHENANIGANS!!!!! REALLY BAD!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!! (and also touching on y2 and y6 and gaiden i guess but come on)

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!! IF YOU ARE NOW ON YOUR WAY OUT, SEE YOU LATER AND ALSO CHECK OUT THIS COOL PHOTO OF ZHAO I TOOK

Been mulling over IW's story since I beat it, and while there are still aspects I'm very much still mixed on, one thing I've surprisingly found to actually only be better after thinking about it even more was the final boss in Ebina. And yeah yeah he could have used a tad bit more screentime, but I think the stuff he does have and all the stuff he symbolizes are really well written. In Gaiden, we dealt with the manifestation of the yakuza itself, and now we face off against the manifestation of all the wrong the yakuza's done. Despite Kiryu's best efforts, there's so many lives he's endangered. So much death that follows him and those around him, and he's completely aware of this. Kiryu shows a lot of self-destructiveness throughout the series, like in Y2 where he gives himself up in a practically suicidal draw with Ryuji, or in Y6 where he so readily throws himself away at the first chance he gets. I still remember Haruka's line in that game: "Don't look so satisfied about this!". And especially in IW, knowing that cancer's got him that much closer to death's door, he's still so ready to throw himself away. But now that's he's forced to rely on his allies, now that he gets to really reflect on all the friends that he's made throughout the years, now that he has Ichiban telling him to really LIVE, he's done running. Kiryu sees a lot of himself in Ebina, because he knows the look of a man who's hellbent on throwing himself away.

Ebina knows he's fighting a losing battle. He leaves Sawashiro alive and he repeatedly begs for Kiryu to kill him at the end of the fight. Look at the demon on his back: he knows he's falling into hell, and he's intent on dragging the reason why he's falling down with him. And that's why it's so cathartic seeing Kiryu beg to him at the end. He's breaks down, seeing the personification of all of the sins the yakuza, and he cries out apologies. Because that's what this fight is about. Atonement, against a vengeful spirit. A breaking of the cycle, further hammered in by the choice to name Ebina's moves after chakra points ("Pierce the Muladhara, Cripple the Manipura, Wheel of Samsara"). The theme The End of Denial is such an amazing choice for this too, a much more sorrowful, reflective track than most of the other final boss themes. It's not just a cheeky bit of "look how far we've come" that they've included the original Yakuza's intro guitar in here, it's Kiryu directly reflecting on running away. Running away from the Fourth Chairman spot. Running away from Daigo and the clan. Running away from his family. Running away from all the wrongs he's done throughout the years. And now that Kiryu finally finds himself ready to confront it all, even if it's in his twilight years, there's not a chance in hell he's gonna let it slip past him, as he takes Ebina head-on. I couldn't disagree more with the notion that Ichiban should have been the one to fight him. Despite it being his half-brother, this just isn't his fight to take.

It's why this line means so much. Teary-eyed, he begs the man he just punched down for forgiveness for everything the yakuza has done, and he begs for him to LIVE, to not throw himself away the very same way Kiryu has. And this is how he breaks the cycle.

This is how Kazuma Kiryu finally gets to live again.

~ ~ ~

ok thing over! i've been thinking about a write-up on this game's finale ever since i beat it last march 30th and ebina's an aspect i really had to stew over, and i finally got to it in the same way i did with my gaiden mini ramble. by making a long text wall in a discord server and figuring that it'd fit well enough to be put here

i'd really like to shoutout @.FormerSoulKing on twitter and their post on IW's religious symbolism for inspiring this post. it's also just like, a really cool read.

additionally i'd also ramble about the ending scene with ichi carrying eiji out at the end and how it's like him "setting things right" and not letting what he watched happen to masato happen to another friend of his but honestly i just love that scene so much i don't think i could ever properly put it into words

[yuyuconfessions]

"I've noticed that younger fans seem to have trouble connecting the dots that a lot of adults on this website were kids younger or close to the age of Yusuke when this series was originally airing back in the 90s in Japan and the 2000s in the west.

Although these fictional characters' stories ended for them at 18 it doesn't mean that Yusuke and the gang stop being important, interesting, or compelling to us. It also doesn't mean that we have to stop loving these fictional characters and their stories after we turn 19.

If you as a minor 14-17 or someone aged 18 - 25 thay feels comfortable shipping these characters, viewing art of them, and reading fic about them ESPECIALLY NSFW art/fic; but your skin crawls that people older than you are creating that content, then you need to sit down with yourself and ask yourself if fandoms that are literally older than your existence are places that you are ready to be socializing in.

Fandoms that are older than your existence will have fans that are MUCH older than you and they are making content and having interactive conversations.

Yu Yu Hakusho is not an Adult Only fandom but it is a fandom that is Mostly Adults.

I fell in love with this show when I was a pre teen. I'm in my mid 30s. The show's target audience is teenagers. But here is the thing: it's target audience was teenagers back in the 90s and 2000s and that's still most of its audience today because Togashi told a fun and resonant story that tends to stick with its audience.

If you can't handle shipping content or adult conversations (conversations about mature topics and themes not necessarily 18+/NSFW but these are definitely present also) about Yu Yu Hakusho then you should try to avoid adult spaces when searching for discussion or content and stick to spaces specifically for minors.

A space specifically for minors would have a ban against all 18+/NSFW content that is strictly enforced. It would not have an 18+/NSFW section at all.

Tumblr and most of the discord servers for YYH that I've seen are adult spaces. Because there is an expectation that while minors are allowed on the websites they must be over a certain age with parental permission because adult conversations happen here where minors could see them.

All of this to say: Unplug from the adult spaces if you feel uncomfortable with adult themes and content or 18+/NSFW content.

Talk to friends irl about Yu Yu Hakusho or find a minor focused space online to talk about it. Come back to the adult spaces in a few years.

This applies to the 18 - 25 crowd also. If you can't handle seeing someone ship these characters or if someone ships them in a way that you don't agree with and it's so upsetting to you that it's causing you a great deal of anger or distress then you need to consider if you really want to be in the Greater Online Yu Yu Hakusho Fandom at this particular point in your life. Or if maybe you want to filter tags on tumblr and drop sites that you can't filter to make your fandom experience more smooth.

If Yu Yu Hakusho has lasted 30 years then it'll last another 3 or 5 years while you get adjusted and engage with Yu Yu Hakusho in minor focused or safely filtered fandom spaces. Trust me. Yu Yu Hakusho will be somewhere on the greater internet when you're older and you've gotten better at self regulating your intake of content online and your response to seeing content online that you don't like.

Yusuke, Kazuma, Kurama, Hiei, Keiko, Botan, Shizuru, Yukina, Genkai and the rest will be here when you get back. That's the great thing about resonant media. It sticks around because people connect to it.

You can love them as long as you want to. They'll always be there. They're not going anywhere."

This mod would just like to add

No one shipping Yusuke x Keiko is sexualizing or exploiting minors; yes, even if the person shipping is 35 years old. These are cartoons, fictional, 2d drawings. If you want to play cute with "but they're 14!" No. Yusuke was created in 1992. He is 31.

If any of the above makes you, a minor, uncomfortable, then get out of adult spaces. Back in myyy day (que groans), any show I liked and looked at online had adult content, like Inuyasha or Naruto, even Teen Titans. I'd be 12 and see suddenly complete porn of Raven, and as a teen, I'd just exit out of it. Now, kids see things online, things they shouldn't see because the internet is NOT safe for kids without parental oversight, and their response is to... yell at the people making the content... for other adults.

If you wouldn't walk into Spencers and yell at the employees there for the vibrators, don't yell at adults drawing porn of Yukina and Hiei fucking. Exit out, or ask your mommy and daddy to put restrictions on what sites you can access. The internet is NOT your babysitter.

[glowingbadger]

Carpe Diem more like Carpe Petat amirite

Does this mean we get Team Urameshi reacting to sexy outfit?? :3c

As a matter of fact it DOES

(note that for YYH I write the immediately post-canon stage that the end of the manga describes, so everyone is of age)

Wearing something sexy for them - Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama x GN/AFAB Reader

NSFW 18+

Yusuke: For him, it's more about how hot it is that you want to dress up just to turn him on. He's got extremely broad tastes, but his favorites are kinky, costume-style outfits- a school uniform or maid outfit, something that really emphasizes how naughty you want to be just for him. Depending on his mood, he'll either rip the clothes off of you like tissue paper, wearing the cocky smirk even if you pout about how now you'll have to buy a new outfit, or he'll just revel in the way the tight, skimpy clothes emphasize your curves while he fucks you breathless in his bed.

"Damn, babe, you went and got this sexy little number just for me? Y'know... it kinda makes me wanna call your bluff. If you're gonna get me all riled up wearin' something like that, I hope you're ready to take my cock til I'm worn out- and we both know that could take a while."

Kuwabara: he's an absolute sucker for those classically feminine, frilly style lingerie sets- a babydoll with cups that just barely cover your breasts and a frilled hem teasing around your hips, that sort of thing. He'd never even realized it would be such a turn on until he comes home to you waiting on his bed all dressed up, with a cute little, "welcome home, Kazuma~~" and he just blanks for a minute. Once he's got his bearings though, he's just desperate to spoil you in return, and you can immediately tell that your little outfit has got him even bigger and harder than usual.

"Oh- wow, uh, I mean- woah, you... You look. Good. Like, uh, really, really good. Stop laughing! C'mon, I can't think straight with you lookin' all cute an' sexy like that, okay?! Well, fine- if you're gonna do all this for me, then I'll just show you how much I like it!"

Hiei: there's a lot about human sexual culture that he doesn't quite "get," so a lot of costumes and lingerie would be more confusing and frustrating for him than anything- he's most likely to just tear the outfit off of you, wasting no time. That said, a simple collar that he can tug on while he's deep inside of you can get him especially riled up- or even a tiny thong that he can just tug aside to thrust into you roughly from behind. Something minimal that accents your state of undress and draws his eye, but won't keep him from having you.

"Trying to tempt me? Tch. Don't waste your time. You know that if I want you, I'll have you- these little scraps of fabric are just a distraction."

Kurama: oooohhh, Kurama. Always a man of subtle, refined and surprisingly kinky tastes, for him it's more about his desire to choose what you wear. He relishes his control over you, and that you give him that control freely and willingly. He loves to pick out a just-too-short or just-too-tight outfit for you to wear out for a date (and his tastes are, of course, exquisite), then silently smirk each time he notices someone else eyeing you. It all just heightens his anticipation for that night, when he'll carefully and slowly undress you while telling you in great detail how he admired your body all day. Oh also Kurama loves when you wear something of his and he can enjoy your scent on it later maybe while jerking off

"You noticed, didn't you? The way they stared at you today? I can hardly blame them when you look so tempting... Though of course, if any even thought for a moment of approaching you, I'm afraid I would have to intervene. You're mine, after all. Perhaps it's a bit self-indulgent of me, but I do so enjoy dressing you up as I like."

[marciaillust]

so ive been playing through tgaa with my best friend and she got me ecdysis + event horizon as a christmas gift but i didnt read them until we finished resolve yesterday and i have now read them both twice. probably gonna reread them again later today or tomorrow. i cannot describe how emotionally devastated you have made me. your art is gorgeous and your explorations of kazuma and ryuunosuke are so thoughtful and made me appreciate both of them even more than i already did. the symbolism in ecdysis is so fucking good and i really feel yanked into kazuma's headspace. you have ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it but in a good way. this is the most coherent i can be about how much i love event horizon and ecdysis bc the rest of my thoughts are various incoherent screaming. anyways thank you and i love your drawings and incredible composition and i will be thinking about ecdysis for the rest of time probably.

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You made me so so so happy!! Thank you for this message!!!!!