#also genuinely i painted a whole background for this painting and all but i'm not comfortable sharing it so you just get a glimpse of that

[alongtidesoflight]

The Watcher Of Caed Nua

bonus full version under the cut:

[blushblushbear]

hihi!! can you write poe, cashew, and Cole general relationship hcs? ty!!!

*scurries away*

Poe:

he's very chill but committed

he's not the type to have your pic as his phone background

but he IS the type to have it be an artisty black and white photo of a handwritten poem that he wrote about you and also maybe there's a rose

his energy is very lax but don't let that fool you

he's INSANELY committed

will probably try and talk you into a cemetery date (it's just so Mary Shelley losing her virginity on her mother's grave ya know??)

will try and work some element that reminds him of you into his jewelry

would never ask this but he thinks it would be wicked romantic if you painted his nails for him

very interested in going new places and seeing new things with you

he wants to experience interesting places in this world but mostly he wants to see said places with you

the amount of poems he shows you are only the tip of the ice berg as far as what he actually writes

though he still is the most open about his writing with you

low key thinks about you a lot and regularly checks his phone for you texts and is constantly wondering if he should text first or if that would be too clingy...

Cashew:

IS the type to have you as his phone background lol

Poe is very smitten but subtle about it (until you get him talking which is it's own challenge sometimes cause he likes to keep to himself)

Cash is the exact opposite

the whole world will know seconds of him walking into a room that he's dating someone

has tons of pictures of you around everywhere

uses one as a bookmark

thinks of you all the time when reading romantic subplots

or plots

actually thinks about you a lot when reading

and all the time

loves to have a nightly call with you and talk about your days and what's going down in his most recent read (YOU WILL NEVER /GUESS/ WHO TURNED OUT TO BE EVIL)

tries really hard to do all the boyfriend cliches and does them all in earnest

sends you flowers quite a bit actually

he is just a little nerd who wants to be your Casanova so bad

also wants to see places and experience the world with you but unlike Poe it's like.... normal things (like Cash wants to go to the Eiffel Tower, Poe wants to go solo exploring through the catacombs of Paris/the court of miracles {ya know-- the place with all the dead people lining the walls! romantic! :D})

is always looking for anything fun or cute to do on a date with you

tries to write you poetry

it's--- sweet! :)

bless him

would never larp on his own but if invited to larp he would

also wants to go to a rein faire so bad

Cole:

oh boy this guy lol XD

seems like a very nice normal extremely devoted boyfriend

and he is

but he's also watching you sleep at night from your bedroom window and stole some of the hair out of your brush

"for personal use"

also tracks everything about you to the best of his abilities

keeps a list of everyone you regularly interact with 'just in case'

but also likes to randomly show up and do something sweet

he's the king of OH I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd say hi, I brought doughnuts!

everything he does is very sweet and attentive and thoughtful

well.... maybe not THOUGHTFUL

more like thought out

meticulously

also likes to hog your time as best he can but he tries to be subtle about it

will claim you loudly whenever being introduced to someone knew

'oh, yes hello, I'm Cole, their BOYFRIEND. It's nice to meet you."

is the listener in the conversations

he just loves taking you in

watching you constantly, hanging off your every word, keeping notes about the things that make you happy

I think you also take him aback every so often in ways he wasn't expecting

anytime you get very genuine with him or very loving or affectionate

he has this like--- it's like a weird sensation

like a weird euphoric rush

is it cause he likes seeing you at your most sincere and vulnerable??

or is this what being loved feels like????

is this what BEING in love feels like??????

it's pretty great! very addicting...

in his darkest moments he tries to think of you

you bring him a comfort he can't explain but has never really felt before

every now and then he just comes to you in a daze and clings to you

In one way or another, Cole's had a bad day

He gets a little scared how much he finds himself absorbed by you

and that fear hits him at the weirdest times sometimes

like you too were just having breakfast and this sudden feeling of inescapable dread came crashing in

but then you asked him what's up with that sweet little smile of yours and he's feeling okay again

lots of gifts that are little too personal

[peachi-blossom]

My thoughts on Hazbin Hotel as a non HH fan

Originally, I was just here to watch people criticizing Hazbin Hotel. But when the recent controversies came in, I feel like I have to step into the fandom rabbit hole.

As a non Hazbin Hotel fan, I've watched the pilot, read the prequel comics, watched the ADDICT music video, and finally the show itself. (I've watched the show on March 15th.)

NOTE: I didn't watch the show on TV so I watched it on a pirated website instead and read the transcript because no way am I watching this in front of my parents, my siblings, or Grandma. This is my personal opinion on the show.

Pilot: So Hell is basically Earth except it's painted red and inhabited by demons. The background has too much red, but not as bad that it makes my eyes bleed. I don't like how the female characters have the same color scheme except Vaggie and Niffty (pilot only). For example, Charlie, Katie Killjoy, and Cherri Bomb. The only two funny parts of the pilot is when the top hat demon says "Wow! That was s***!" after Charlie sings Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow and when Angel pokes his head in as Vaggie is giving Alastor a warning. I didn't like the daddy joke. It just sounded bad. Also, why is there a joke about harlequin babies?

Prequel comics that are no longer canon: Basically the prequel comics focuses on Angel Dust and Alastor.

For Dirty Healings, it shows how Angel Dust first met Charlie and Vaggie. I knew that Vaggie's name was named after a uh, you know. Ugh… Why did Vivienne Medrano had to name her that? Also I hate Valentino.

As for A Day In The After Life, it just shows why Alastor is the most feared demon in Hell. Also he swears after seeing Vox.

ADDICT music video: I genuinely have no thoughts on this music video. I think this was just bait for the SA and CSA victims. Sorry for those who like the MV.

Episode 1: This is worse than the pilot. I did NOT like the beginning part. It's biblically inaccurate for multiple reasons, but I feel like a few people only talk about this one thing. Sin didn't exist until Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Not only that, but it's also misogynistic too because it was just Eve who ate it. What makes it misogynistic is that it implies that all women would have to bear the sins of Eve ALONE. There's rampant swearing and sex jokes. Also, isn't Archangel Michael supposed to be the leader of the Army of God? Anyways I'm siding with the angels.

Episode 2: The red is so bright that it hurts my eyes. It doesn't help the fact that Alastor blends in the background. Oh yeah, when Vox tells Sir Pentious to kill himself, it made me feel sad because it reminded me of the Shay incident. The time when the stans drove Shay to kill themself because they were uncomfortable with the large age gap of HuskerDust.

Episode 3: Why? Why is there a BDSM sex dungeon?! I know that was Angel's idea, but still. Why?! I seriously have no words. When Zestial says "What troubles thou?" I was like "Huh?". It should be "What troubles thee?". I think his Old English has grammatical errors. The Egg Boiz, Carmilla, and Zestial are bearable because they never said a swear word. Off topic, but Velvette's swirl streaks on her hair makes me think of a swirl ice cream.

Episode 4: Before the show came out, I saw SlayQueenArt's post on Twitter (X) that says Vivienne Medrano hired Raphielle II, aka R2ninjaturtle, who has a rape fetish and isn't a SA victim. As someone who is formerly addicted to porn, this episode is insulting on so many levels. I didn't watch the whole Poison sequence because of that. And don't get me started on Loser Baby. I hate this song so much. It felt like it is blaming on SA and CSA victims for being SA'd. Like it is blaming me for being addicted to porn on and off when I was EIGHT. I know there are some victims who like episode 4 so I will leave them alone. I seriously hate how Charlie behaves like a toddler at the end. No grown adult should behave like a toddler like she did because being raped isn't a silly thing to cry over. Like, hello? She is the supposed to be the main character. Oh yeah, there was NO warning for the episode when the show premiered and it triggered the victims who watched it. SA and CSA victims are not losers. Former porn addicts are not losers. Nobody is a loser. I am NOT a loser.

Episode 5: Wow, Vivienne Medrano really turned Lucifer into King George from Veggietales. I guess this is what happens when King George gave in into his obsession with rubber ducks. I didn't like Hell's Greatest Dad because of the unnecessary rivalry between Lucifer and Alastor, but at least Mimzy ended the song. Oh boy, this is where I hate Alastor now. No really, he is Vivienne Medrano's first edgelord oc. He has gone full edgelord and is basically a Bill Cipher wannabe now. His full demon form is not even scary compared to Bill's final form. He no longer stands out from the main cast even if he rarely swears. Mimzy is basically the embodiment of the hooked nose stereotype. Wow, the embodiment of a Jew stereotype. How racist.

Episode 6: That was an absolute slap in the face at SA and CSA victims and me when Sir Pentious got SA'd! Seriously, Vivienne Medrano doesn't even care for the victims at this point! What's worse is that he is based off of her old ex-friend, DollCreep. Why did she whitewashed St. Peter?! I know there are white Jews, but he was born in ancient Israel so I wouldn't think he'll be looking like a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes. How come angels don't know how souls get to Heaven?! We got the Ten Commandments! We got Jesus Christ who took our place to die for our sins so we wouldn't have to bear these sins! Emily and Sera are bearable because you know. I hate how Niffty is being treated like a child when she's NOT. What's worse is that Niffty is supposed to be Japanese because of how people INFANTILIZED Asian people, especially women.

Episode 7: My issue with Out for Love is that when Carmilla tells Vaggie that she should fight for love and not for vengeance. Well, Vaggie always fight for love and never for vengeance. In Whatever it Takes, she literally says that she'll always protect Charlie. Where is the vengeance in that? That is poor character writing. Rosie is basically the blood libel stereotype where the Jews are cannibals. Again, that's just racist against Jews.

Episode 8: I thought the finale was pointless because there were no stakes and Sir Pentious' heroic sacrifice was comically anti-climatic. Like, why did Sir Pentious's so called friends cared about him when they didn't help him at ALL in episode 6?! I'm not a fan of the CherriSnake ship because Cherri only becomes interested in him because he has two "joysticks". Not to mention he kissed her without consent and she thinks it's hot after that. The problem with More Than Anything (Reprise) is that Vaggie reassures Charlie that she changed many lives, but she only changed one. I'm so glad Adam defeated Alastor first. There is absolutely no way Lucifer slept with Eve. Oof for Lute and Adam. You both fought well until the end.

The character designs are awful. Every male character basically looks like The Once-ler from The Lorax 2012 movie except for Adam (I know Alastor doesn't have a top hat, but still gives off the vibes. Zestial is more Burtonesque.). Not to mention they are all skinny twigs except for Adam (I think). The female characters in Hell have the same color scheme except Vaggie (again). For example, Charlie, Katie Killjoy, Mimzy (though her dress is a little darker), Cherri Bomb, and Niffty (show only). They have too much pinks, reds, yellows, whites, and blacks. I love pink, but this is too much. What's worse is that they blend in the background and again it hurts my eyes. There is NO color variety and I feel like my eyes are burning.

That's my thoughts on the show.

[somewhat-insane]

Okay, so, I know a lot of people were discouraged after the LMK S5 trailer. The art is different, yes, but remember there are still people working behind the screen; passionate about this story they're trying to tell. To rebuild faith and re-spark hope, I'm going through the trailer frame by frame and sharing anything cool I find. (There is some (what I hope is) constructive criticism in here, but I would like to reiterate something other fans have said. DO. NOT. HARRASS. ANYONE. WORKING. ON. THE. SHOW. They're doing their best with what they have available to them. We're lucky Wildbrain decided to pick the show back up because if they hadn't, we may not have gotten the rest of the story.)

They've been brought in front of the council to discuss their car's extended warranty. ALSO WHERE IS MK'S JACKET AND BANDANA? THEY WHOLE ASS PROBABLY SNATCHED THIS POOR BOY OUT OF HIS BED WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING

Don't worry, babygirl, I still think you're pretty ^3^

Okay, they gave him his clothes back, phew.

Hehe, tiny monkies.

At least our child is still adorable.

Synchronized heart attack.

He is so traumatized, lol. Someone brought up how this design for the circlet wasn't the previously established design in the show, but it COULD be based on the design used on the cover of the Journey to the West novel (as seen below)

It's not exactly the same but the shape is similar.

Anyway.

WUKONG ANGST WUKONG ANGST WUKONG ANGST

I'm realizing while doing this that Wildbrain doesn't use as many smear frames as Flying Bark did. As funny as it is to pause and see something like this in season 1-4:

It makes the animation look a LOT smoother and more energetic. Flying Bark also seems to use more frame-by-frame while Wildbrain probably uses more tweening. I suppose it makes sense though because Wildbrain is more used to 3D animation and the 2D animation they have done in the past is more paper-doll-like and doesn't need as much bounce and action.

Back to the trailer, no need to dwell.........

MO. HANG IN THERE.

MONKEY ANGST MONKEY ANGST MONKEY ANGST aposhdgpafoshdfosfapsdofpa

Oooh, wait, this frame actually kinda goes hard. I'm kinda hyped... I should draw this.

NO BRO DON'T MAKE ME CRY JUST BECAUSE OF A TRAILER

You know what this makes me think of...? Did any of you guys ever play that game called "Journey"?

It's a beautiful game with beautiful music. Y'all should play it if you haven't. Oh, and sometimes if you're playing at the same time as someone else in the world, your games will merge and you get a little play buddy :3

Genuinely love how distressed he is here.

SHADOWPEACH ANGST SHADOWPEACH ANGST

Looks like we're still gonna get cool backgrounds and background character designs!!!!

This looks like it may be some kind of storybook or memory sequence like when Chang'e was talking about how she found the ring in S3 or when LBD was talking about Macaque's death... what memory do you think we're going to be exploring this time?

This goes pretty hard. I would paint this on a wall or something.

Mk is flabbergasted.

Yay!! Mk has the support he needs. ALSO MORE SANDY

They're mortified. Probably because they just watched a giant dragon and white tiger fucking evaporate.

Hehe bord

I can't wait to see fanart of him. I'm so excited!

SHADOWPEACH SHADOWPEACH SHADOWPEACH

He's thinking about kissing him, honest.

I think he's purty

MORE PIGSY-

I've run out of room for pictures, but I hope this helped get y'all all hyped again for the new season! Have hope, stay strong!

[chaifootsteps]

honestly Striker and Blitzo have way more in common than Stol1tz

they both like horses and the western aesthetic, they're both rough and tumble settle arguments with fists types, they both hate being looked down on and are self-made and working class, they both are unafraid of calling out royals instead of bootlicking (or at least Blitzo does now, he's likely about to have a spine extraction), they both enjoy physical activities like the Pain Games over reading, they're both extroverts

why would Blitzo be anything but bored with Stolas 'reading tax returns are my idea of fun and I love to mock illiteracy' Goetia?

also I'm choosing to headcanon Stolas' petty little 'you sound just like your friend Striker who tried to kill me, remember him?' routine wasn't just him being a selfish prick, it was jealousy because Blitzo was giving Striker the bedroom eyes through the whole festival and he can't stand the idea that Blitzo totally would with someone who was hired to kill him. it's not just 'I'm going to racistly assume all imps are friends', it's 'I'm going to call him your friend because I refuse to consider more is going on there and obviously you don't really care that much about Striker, right?'

and even then Stolas has stupidly failed to realize that the more there isn't just attraction, it's Blitzo coming within an inch of taking Striker's offer to paint the walls with his blood after suffering sexual coercion and endless other slights at Stolas' hands

These are all excellent points, and I genuinely can't imagine any other logical way that that "Your friend Striker" line makes sense other than pure jealousy. Actually, if I were a hardcore Stolas fan, I'd relish that interpretation, because the alternative is that Stolas was just trying to dig the knife over nothing more substantial than the fact that Blitzo didn't abandon his daughter's life saving, can't-get-another-appointment-for-five-years vaccination for him.

In any other show, even if Blitz and Striker didn't end up together in the end, their similar backgrounds, mistreatment by the rich, and sizzling romantic tension would be played for tension and drama. But it won't, because this series has become a vessel for giving Viv's favorite character everything he wants.

[slimejugular]

SPOILERS FOR TF ONE. PLEASE DO NOT CLICK READ MORE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS. ALSO TF ONE WAS GOOD.

disclaimer: i dont have good memory and for that there is likely some inaccuracy to what i claim, wrong terms, etc. also very out of order but i enjoy rambling

somewhat intentionally vague things i liked about the movie 1. the music was swell -the score as to when the main group was on the surface was cool, when they were going between diff. environments

-the ending scene with Optimus being granted the Matrix had a very fitting background score. + also was surprising fitting with the execution of Sentinel Prime that was also occurring atm

-I am not knowledgeable about music, but I assume synths were used a lot, and they were lovely........

2. The animation for high action scenes -was soooooo amazing! in particular There was a lot of creative liberty taken with how the bots would transform parts of their body to fight. Which had shone in Elita's fighting andd i am unsure beyond that. Airachnid's fighting, using her legs to spin and shred and stab aggressively was great too

also I'm biased towards like. them ripping parts off eachother i.e. the fight between Armada Megatron and Optimus is a good exemplar of this. all the greater to see that again in the fight between TF ONE MegOp in their third forms aaaaaaaaa. Seeing Optimus rip Megatron's tank cannon off, almost oxidize his metal by burning it to shit, and so on, that is WONDERFUL. I cannot recall what Megatron did though of course it involved him trying to explode Optimus' face

-not a fight scene but actiony, the Mecha gore of taut wires just wrenched apart w/ the splitting of Sentinel Prime's torso was delectable ha-ha

3. few minor details

-seeing D-16 wipe the dust off of Orion yayy

-Orion (remember from their first meeting!!!!) knows D-16 is a huge fan of Megatronus and so for him to get that sticker, for him, was very cute and loving of him. what a friend. only made it as horrible to see that sticker used to demean and punish D-16 by Sentinel Prime

-the stylization of optics is LOVELY. their repeating shape of iris is great. the different eyes across the characters = great. the fact that they spin around during high times of emotion is sooooooo -------! great. i loved seeing this in D-16, when Sentinel Prime's treachery was revealed! his optics spun very much which i inference as emotional

the eyelid for optics is not a traditional blink, like a whole eye covering shutter. it looked very unique and complex, and you could really observe the design of it in that close up shot of Elita waking up and i found it very nice

-the way post t-cog Orion Pax leaned down to be on equal height / level / eye contact with his fellow mining buddies was a good display of character. showed his genuine heartfelt intent in connecting with them, helps to trust in the incoming truth! just because he has a t-cog now does not mean he will carry himself as if he were greater than them

4. Sentinel prime was cool

-his con-man shtick and unadulterated "I want power" was refreshing and is further bettered if you take into account his status as an Autobot and previous prime. there should be eviler Autobots in the movies

-i dont understand why he has TFP inspired characters as lackeys but fun

-nod to Bayverse Sentinel Prime with his choice of weapon is good

5. Alpha Trion

It was unexpected to see him have an alt mode that was animal-like. i loved it. he is normally a character i dont think much of in terms of any continuity, so it was nice to see him shined on in that brief time

6. models

-the models for the dilapidated figures of the 13 Primes were soooo goood i am in love with them. i am a big fan of the Transformers, as strong and terrifying as they are, painted so frail and weak when left to the sands of time. the overgrowth, the missing parts of their body. the vines. the moss. Delicious !

-i appreciate that they bothered to model t-cog transformations for background characters at the end, even if they wouldn't have been on the screen that long for TF ONE ^_^ although ofc that may be because they'll be reused in the (hopeful) later movies. im going to say that last sentence a lot. their new forms are also crumbs for fans of those characters

7. that one place the main team encountered on the surface?

-so, there is that portion of the movie where they are trying to get to the coordinates of the matrix. but a Quintesson ship appears

maybe i am being delusional but the area reminded me a bit of the Sea of Rust level in CH 4 of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron so that was pleasant

8++++++.

There are tons of other things in TF ONE that I think were great!!!!! I would go on too long to mention them all. Now here is stuff I think would be better.

stuff i think would be better

-more screentime for the Decepticons would have been nice. yet i presume in the later movies in the trilogy that this will be touched on. given that we GET a trilogy

the high command did not get to do much ( i am bitter that Starscream did pretty much nothing out of this group)

-wish there was furthered display of Cybertronian culture? Say like being taken into a scene where we get to view the exterior and interior of a flying bot's home, or any other type of home. anything. see a higher-caste bot's berth? do they all sleep upright?????! fun

as well as food :] was interesting to see Alpha Trion get fed that little cube of energon, or Orion crashing into that establishment into a pile of energon. but what about if they process energon into any other form? if they drink oil? etc? awww? if they take showers????? idk

itd be funny to see D-16/Orion go to a party lol

-more environments beyond the few on the surface and more plants, animals

-i don't prefer Steve Buscemi's voice for Starscream. i mean, in the credits they had Steve Blum? but he voiced minor characters?? ....bummed they did not ask him to voice ......oh...

-the action of the scenes i praised earlier. however thinking about it again, there is slightly too much going on, too many sparks, too much blur, maybe that is just me, it is hard to parse what is going on during fight scenes sometimes. a little more clarity would be amazing. but again i still loved it and was very excited as i was viewing and didnt care too much

--------conclusion

Overall. it is a lot to expect so i understand they couldnt touch on all of this! just a far dream of themes I'll have to collect into a ball from the other outputs of the franchise. I thought it was a pretty good movie in comparison to all preexisting Transformers movies and would pick it over those any day. sorry 1986

good time i recommend seeing it

[callmeklair]

Hey, excuse me, but did you read this? https://www.tumblr.com/yuikomorii/738629974149496832/ok-i-didnt-want-to-go-this-far-but-at-this

I genuinely want your opinion about this post, because I totally agree with your post, and thought this other one was a bit rude.

(sorry for my terrible English, I hope I'm not being rude to you)

dw, english is not my first language too so it's okay also you are not being rude. and yeah just like I said some people hate the "overhype" not Ayato hit this Ayato stans still convert it into ayato hate and start giving various reasons to prove their point. just like in this post. it's like if we go through other boys' contents more deeply like they did with Ayato, then we'll also find a lot of growth, development and plus traits in other characters. but nah they just wanna paint it on Ayato.

if we talk about Ayato forgiving Cordelia because he still hoped she got her feelings reciprocated, then Yuma forgiving Reiji is way more major and heavy, because we all know how bad Mukamis' experience was. and if Reiji wouldn't have burned down his whole village, Yuma wouldn't have ended on city streets, with memory loss and then you guys know the rest. orphanage was one of the most terrifying hell for them because of the war (and it's sad how it was so true) yet Yuma forgave Reiji and even wished for his happiness with Yui.

Reiji also had one of the biggest developments. he was someone with ambition but ignored and cast aside by never receiving his mother's acknowledgement. yet after meeting Yui he grew so much like, in Shu's LE route, he literally sacrificed himself to protect Yuma because he was guilty and even though Yuma already said he forgave him a long time ago why he did it, Reiji said no matter how many times Yuma forgave him, it wouldn't rid him off of his guilt and past actions. also he:

this is not even his own route! but Shu's DF route yet look at my boy. proof that Ayato is not the only one who is compassionate out of his route. and same goes for Mukami brothers, be it Sakamaki, their own family or even Tsukinami's route they are compassionate and that's really a big deal because after what happened to them, they laugh at things like "humanity" because nobody showed them such yet look at them in later games.

In other words, yes there are many reasons for Ayato stans to make Ayato the main hero because Rejet said it so but please stop putting other characters in the background, casting them aside like they didn't have it rough and are NOTHING compared to Ayato's sufferings and compassion. all of them had different environment. even triplets, ayato, laito and kanato were mistreated differently. and Laito only pushed away Ayato because of what Cordelia did to him, and remember, among vampires there is nothing like humanity and compassion that's why Laito never expected anything from any of his brothers and pushed Ayato away too. ALSO AYATO SAID IT HIMSELF IN LAITO'S DF THAT LAITO HAD IT WORSE FROM CORDELIA.

Yes Ayato probably killed Cordelia to protect his younger brothers + also what she did to him, and I really like that about him. but that didn't mean other characters didn't do anything. Carla sacrificed Shin's eye instead of giving up on his brother's life even if it meant Shin will hate him for his whole life but at least that'll still keep his little brother alive.

Ayato realised Karlheinz is the root of evil, so did Shu a long time ago but everyone have their OWN way with dealing things, and Shu just wanted a peaceful life with Yui that's why he never tried to ever mention his father or tried to face him head on. it was difficult for Mukamis to accept Karlheinz evil because he was their saviour yet they still took courage and betrayed him for the sake of evil. Reiji likes his father but in his CL good end, even he was speechless and finally had enough of his father's Adam and eve plan, rejecting the throne and taking Yui away.

now if I keep going, this post will become endless so I'll stop now

[yamayuandadu]

Broke: Sariel is an angel so christianity is canon in Touhou

Woke: pc-98 isn't canon, Sariel doesn't exist

Bespoke: Sariel is a tengu in makai

There’s no way to make Sariel work as a tengu without making the character seem like even more of a messy product of the occult boom - and having a character named Sariel reside in makai is already basically just mashing random “esoteric” terms together at random, with all due respect for young ZUN. However, there IS a way to make Sariel true to the actual figure without necessarily having to go through the usual arguments over implications of Christianity in Touhou. I will admit that's generally a topic I'm not a fan of; I get the impression people are more eager to discuss that than anything even vaguely Buddhism-related, which bugs me. Even the Buddhist background of multiple characters gets ignored. People do it even with Okina somehow. Anyway, Sariel’s career arguably peaked not in any Abrahamic, let alone specifically Christian, tradition, but rather in Chinese Manichaean sources. Here the standard grouping of four archangels invariably includes Sariel (娑囉逸囉, Suoluoyiluo) alongside the strictly biblical Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. However, their role is defined in terms borrowed from Buddhism - functionally they are the Four Heavenly Kings. This label is actually applied to them outright every now and then (if you’re curious, Sariel corresponds to west and thus Virūpākṣa/Kōmokuten). A good treatment of the whole phenomenon can be found in Gábor Kósa’s article Near Eastern Angels in Chinese Manichaean Texts. Manichaeans had a penchant for combining basically every source they stumbled upon - you won’t find any other pre-modern religion with a canon which includes Jesus, Buddha, Ahriman and Humbaba (a distant echo of Humbaba, at least) at once. It’s essentially extinct today, and for the most part has been for a millennium or so, but in some parts of China like Xiapu in Fujian it survived well into the fourteenth century (as a matter of fact, one of the Manichaean sources discussing Sariel is that late; see here; more broadly on its late survival see here). The closest thing to a surviving Manichaean temple, Cao’an, is Buddhist today. In at least one case a Manichaean painting found its way to Japan and for centuries was presumed to be a Buddhist icon; you can read the whole story here, it’s genuinely thrilling.

Sariel also has a fair share of interesting material elsewhere: Targum Neofiti assigns this name to the angel who wrestled Jacob, for example. However, I will admit the Manichaean take in my favorite.

[foolforharrry]

Nails And Croissants

Word Count: 2.5k words

Summary: Harry and Willow go to get their nails done

This is just a short little thing to get the feel of how I wanna write the characters in a book that I'm planning. I an really excited about this and I hope that when I get to posting the actual chapters, you guys are going to like them and love them too.

This blurb is obviously way down the line from where the story is going to start but I wanted to give you guys a small taste of them.

This is also not that carefully written and is probably messy af, but I hope you still enjoy reading it.

if you wanna read more of my work, I have it all linked on my masterlist.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and if you have any requests please feel free to give them to me and I will do my absolute best to do it.

Harry Styles Butterflies erupt in my stomach when I catch her eyes across the room.

The sunlight beaming in through the windows of the small nail salon makes the lighter strands of her brown hair look golden.

"What are you getting?", I ask her once she's sat down at the table right next to mine.

Her cheeks tint an adorable shade of pink when Willow's nail tech for today, Aspen, sets the bottles of nail polish Willow's chosen for today. "I swear it wasn't on purpose," she hurries out, her eyes flicking between the colours next to my own hands.

"Damn. And here I was getting excited thinking you wanted to match with me," I say with a playful roll of my eyes.

The laugh she lets slip is like music to my ears, and all I want to do is lay a kiss on her pretty, pink lips. But Mona coating my nails with a clear layer of base polish prevents me from doing so.

Instead, I settle on storing the image of Willow's face scrunched up with joy and laughter to memory. Her freckled, sun-kissed skin and the smile that doesn't just light up the room but my whole entire life.

"You're an idiot," Willow giggles, letting Aspen arrange her hands the way she needs them.

"I'm your idiot, though.", I remind her. To my delight, my words have another heartbreakingly beautiful break out on her face as she mouths 'I love you'.

Out of my peripheral vision, I can see Mona and Aspen exchange a look as I mouth 'I love you' back.

And God do I love her.

I never thought that I would ever be the kind of man who happily takes his girlfriend to get a manicure on my day off feeling like my heart is about to fucking burst from the love that's flooding it. The part of my heart I had tried so hard to keep under lock and key to protect it from being burnt again. But instead, Willow came along and took it in her soft hands. The calm of the sea in her eyes is all I needed to see before I let her.

"You ok, baby?" Willow asks, a crease of concern between her eyebrows.

Clearing my throat, I offer her a genuine smile, "Yeah, Blue. I'm ok." I can tell that she isn't entirely convinced, so I add; "Was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you."

The blush returns to her cheeks as Mona asks me to remove my hands from the UV-light machine. Which means that she's ready to give my nails some colour.

For the rest of the appointment, we make small talk with Aspen and Mona with the comfortable hum of the radio in the background. When a song by Taylor Swift I still haven't learnt the name of, Willow was out of her chair to turn up the volume with the permission of Aspen with a childish glee that she rarely lets show with anyone other than her closest people.

I swear I fell more in love with Willow when I watched her dance her way back to her chair.

Hand in hand, Willow and I walk out of the nail salon, freshly painted nails and bright smiles on our faces as we wave goodbye to Mona and Aspen. Our names are already on their calendar for next time.

I can't help myself from glancing down at our cojoined hands every couple of seconds, my heart fluttering at the way hers match mine.

Baby blue and pastel pink.

"H?" I don't even have to look at her face to know that Willow has her bottom lip tucked under her teeth and round eyes that'll have me giving into whatever comes out of her pouty lips.

"Blue?" I mimic her tone, tugging her closer to me so she doesn't bump into the man walking past us.

Willow lets go of my hand and before I can reach for it again, a pout on my lips, she snakes her arm around my back, my own going around her shoulders. "Are you hungry?"

I'm not. But knowing that she is and doesn't want to just ask directly, I don't say that. "What do you want, baby?"

It's like her shoulder deflates in relief the second the words leave my mouth and it has me turning my head and planting a kiss in her hair as I let her take her time settling on what she wants. Almost like she'd read my mind, she perks up, pointing across the street to what looks to be a small bakery.

"How about some croissants?", Willow suggests as I meet her eye.

"Croissants sound lovely," I agree, pouting my lips for a kiss.

Willow drops her gaze to my mouth at the action. Standing on her tiptoes, her hands gently cup my face as mine drop to her hips and peck. Her lips are soft as she presses them against mine in a way that has my heart doing somersaults in my chest. I can smell the coconut from her favourite lip gloss when she pulls away with a dopey smile, swiping away the product she left just below my bottom lip.

Blush heats my cheeks as I kiss the pad of her thumb, "Thank you, baby."

Thankfully the crosswalk is just down the street, the lights turning green for us after only a few seconds so we can make our way across the road safely and efficiently with my arm back around Willow's shoulders and her hand on my hip.

The bakery Willow picked out for us has a homey vibe to it. Flowers stationed on every single table with warm pinks and soft yellows everywhere you look. The smell of baked goods strong even from outside the shop. For a Thursday afternoon, it's rather busy.

Willow and I stood in silence as we waited for it to be our turn to order, content just watching the different people come in and out of the bakery every time the bell above the door rang.

The display of all the different options of baked goods is god damn mouth-watering and I make a mental note to bring Evelyn and Willow back sometime during the weekend. Knowing Evelyn, she would be over the moon over a cupcake that looks like a rainbow.

When it becomes our turn, I order us two croissants, thanking the lady behind the counter with a smile as she hands us the paper bag. And then we're on our way again.

"I was thinking that we should take Evie there," I speak as I take her hand in mine, resuming our walk back to the car with my eyes switching from the path in front of us to her face.

Meeting my eye, Willow nods with a hum, "When were you thinking?" "Maybe Sunday?"

Before she can ask, I add, "They're open."

"She's gonna have a hard time picking, poor thing," Willow laughs light-heartedly.

"Mhm," I hum in agreement, the smile that rarely ever seems to fade whenever I'm around her. If we're being completely honest, Willow and I both know that I would buy Evelyn every single one she wanted just to keep a smile on her face.

"I miss her," I say with a pout as we round the last building, my eyes landing on my car.

Willow rolls her bottom lip into her mouth before she opens it and says something I never in a million years thought I'd hear from her; "I don't know how you're gonna survive when she's off to college, babe."

Dropping her hand, I clutch the material of my t-shirt over my heart as if I was in pain. "Don't hurt an old man like that, Blue. I'm fragile."

"Oh shut up, H. You're not that old," Willow giggles with a hand on her stomach. Her nails match her pretty sundress and it has another swarm of butterflies flapping around in my tummy.

"It was still mean," I grumble with a pout, the thought of my little girl leaving one day isn't exactly one I enjoy.

Willow shakes her head at my attitude. "I'm sorry, love," she says with a pinch of my hip.

"You're lucky I love you," I say as I take her hand again, loving the warmth of her soft skin against mine. She grins at me, "The luckiest."

The soft curls of her hair dance in the light breeze blowing past us. Her golden skin glows so prettily in the sunshine she doesn't even look real. The light reflects in her baby blue eyes makes them twinkle as if the sun was hung in the sky at this very moment just for her.

I'm convinced that Willow is an angel sent down to this plane from the heavens above. Her calm, beauty and grace is simply too delicate to be meant for the harsh, painful world that we live in. But somehow, with all that she's been through, she still leaves a trail of light in her wake. She has lit up my life the way the sun lights up the sky after a dark night with only specks of light so far away you almost don't believe that they're real.

"No Blue. I'm the lucky one."

I'm sure she can hear the emotion that has started to clog up my throat, but she doesn't comment on it. Instead, she guides my hand to press a gentle kiss to my knuckle just as we reach the car.

I reach into my pocket for my keys, pressing the button to unlock the black range rover as I walk around to the passenger side with Willow in tow to open the door for her, quickly pecking her temple as she slips past me and gets settled in her seat with the bag of croissants in her lap.

By the time I'm sat in my own seat, she's opened the bag and is munching happily on her croissant. Eyes closed, head tilted back against the headrest and humming in the way she something is particularly delicious. She's got her hand underneath the pastry to catch any crumbs that may fall when she takes a bite out of it.

Just as I get out on the road, Willow's phone connects to the Bluetooth system in the car, the song switches to 'Right where you left me' by Taylor Swift.

It's almost comical how fast Willow's jaw drops along with her hand just as she was about to take another bite of her croissant. Her eyes go from the screen where the title is written in clear letters to my face. Accusing frown on her face as Taylor's voice and the gentle guitar fill the silence.

There isn't even a point in trying to contain my smile at the way it takes her around 5 seconds before she is turning up the volume and singing along to the song. Dramatic hand gestures and facial expressions that I catch out of my peripheral vision.

When she twists her upper body so she is fully facing me and sings; "I could feel the mascara run. You told me that you met someone," I can't help but take her hand and join her.

Who would have thought singing a heart-wrenching song about being left and unable to move on with the love of your life while driving down the streets of Los Angeles would have images of her in a white dress flash through my mind and a certainty settle in my stomach like I have only felt once before in my life?

When the song ends, Willow turns the volume back down, her face flushed from her intense performance and a shy smile curling on her lips.

If there wasn't a chance that doing so would potentially end in both of our deaths, I would've kissed her until we were both dizzy.

"You want your croissant?" Willow pulls the untouched one out of the bag, holding it out to me with her eyebrows raised in question.

Instead of saying anything, I open my mouth expectantly, waiting for her to get the hint. And when she does, she rolls her eyes playfully, still obliges and holds the pastry right in front of my face. She waits for me to take a bite out of the soft, crunchy slice of buttery heaven.

"Fuck me, that's good," I practically moan through a mouthful of croissant. This is possibly the best croissant I have ever had in my life.

Chewing it slowly, savouring the heavenly taste, I catch Willow with her phone out, pointed in my direction and a sly smile on her face. "What are doing, Blue?"

"You look really hot, is all," she shrugs, stuffing her phone underneath her thigh.

Willing the blush I feel heating up my face at the compliment go away, I point out the obvious; "That doesn't answer my question." Only Willow can have me blushing like a schoolboy and biting the inside of my cheek at a simple compliment.

"I got myself a new wallpaper for my phone," she tells me matter-of-factly as she squeezes my hand.

I rub the skin of her knuckle as the corners of my mouth tug up into a smirk, "If that's the case, then you can take as many pictures as you want."

When she stays quiet, taking bites of her croissant before letting me do the same, her left leg bouncing under beneath our cojoined hands, I can't help but laugh as the realisation dawns on me. "How many pictures do you actually have of me?"

She says something, but it's so quiet I can't make out the words. "I can't hear you, baby."

"I said that I've lost count," she repeats herself with a sheepish look on her face. "You don't exactly make it hard, baby."

"You ever gonna let me see these photos?" Knowing her, it's probably half pictures where I look decent and half pictures that could be turned into memes.

Willow takes a minute before she answers, seeming to mull over the answer in her head. "No."

"Then I'm not letting you see the wonderful collection I've gathered of you, Blue." It may be childish, but it does exactly what I wanted it to. Willow's grip on my hand tightens ever so lightly and I can feel her practically burning a hole into the side of my face with the intensity of her stare.

But she is stubborn, so she keeps her lips pressed tightly together. She keeps her view directed out the window at the cars, buildings and people we pass by.

"Am I sleeping in any of them?" she eventually breaks the silence. Her fingers drum along with the rhythm of 'Sweater Weather' against the back of my hand, something that I've noticed that she always does when she listens to music.

"A couple," I confess, holding in the urge to laugh at the way her cheeks turn crimson.

Clearing her throat, Willow tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "If they ever see the light of day, you're losing your dick."

Slightly taken aback by how casually such crude words flew out of her mouth, I swallow hard with wide eyes, "I will remember that."

-

[dreadnotau]

So, what the heck's been going on with Dread Not?

First off, kind of a big announcement, the twitter is officially GONE. As "twitter" (x?) added a policy that starting from November 15th, all posts made by users would be fed to their AI algorithm, both my personal twitter as well as the Dread Not twitter are deleted, to prevent my content from being used to feed some shitty AI algorithm. Tumblr isn't exempt from this bullshit AI fad either, but at least they gave you a toggle to opt out of it. It's a low bar and yet sites keep not clearing it. Don't be afraid, though, I've downloaded the archive of the official twitter account and if the fancy strikes me (and if there's enough of a demand for it) I might mess around with the html and make a downloadable version of the Dread Not Twitter for anyone interested in having it as a remnant of that bygone era. I'd just have to find a way to scrub all my actual personal data from that account first though, lmao…

On a more serious note, you probably noticed the comic itself hasn't updated properly since, what, June? And that was only one page. Before then the last update was in September 2023, so it's been well over a year since proper, consistent content for this comic has been made. For that, I am genuinely sorry. I made a lot of false promises and with the update in June I hyped it up with being "finally back" and then held up none of what I promised. That sucks and I wish I had anyone else to blame, but it's all me and my shitty nonexistent work ethic. I COULD'VE finished Act 1 during the summer, but with the way my motivation for art works, I got swept up in other projects thinking I could make up for lost time eventually, and then just didn't. This sucks and I wish it hadn't happened, but here we are.

Moving forward is going to be difficult because of this. As mentioned, I have other projects I'm working on now, projects I'm arguably more invested in than Dread Not. If Dread Not was EASIER to make, it'd be less of a problem, but I've set up a kind of impossible standard for myself of putting my everything into every page. This makes it look phenomenal, I can't deny it, the last few pages have been some of my best work and I still look at them very fondly, but there's also an aspect of… what it is that I'm actually putting so much work into. I don't mean to diminish my own fiction here, but Dread Not was kind of made on a whim, and while it has themes I find interesting it's not as… deeply significant as some of my other work is, or at least is MEANT to be.

To use a metaphor to illustrate, Dread Not is like popcorn that I've painstakingly made a giant ornate bowl to serve it with, while my other projects are fully planned meals that I need to find a good way to serve, and if all my energy is spent trying to figure out how to make my popcorn snack presentable, what time does that leave to the Actual Full Course Meal I'm planning? I hope that metaphor makes sense, because popcorn is still good! It's tasty! You can make it really nice and spicy, but at the end of the day that's not a gourmet meal, and I'd like to try my hand at more serious (culinary) projects. Projects that require me to work not just physically, but also mentally, to explore more difficult themes that mean a lot more to me. And, don't get me wrong, Dread Not HAS interesting ideas in there, it's just that I haven't reached them yet because I've been so preoccupied with this fucking BOWL. The popcorn is cold now and I still haven't finished painting it's goddamn container. There's a reason you usually serve this stuff in a paper bag.

And, paper bag analogy is right, because if you've seen my latest art dump on my art blog, you might've seen a couple of different styles in one place. Flat colours, monochrome colours with an emphasis on shading, a general complete lack of backgrounds, etc. What I want from you, dear reader, is to tell me what YOU want from Dread not. There's no way for me to finish act 1 in a reasonable time frame without downgrading the art, so I want to know what kind of downgrade you're willing to put up with. My personal ideal would be if I could just release the remaining pages as just line-art with minimal shading, but I understand that's probably not what people want, so…

Here's a forum for you to weigh in! (I recommend filling it out after you read this whole post)

On a different note, I want to heavily stress that I'm not abandoning the project, it's just morphing into something different now. It kind of HAS to in order to survive. Originally, working on Dread Not was something I did between classes, it was my only real "organised" artistic outlet if you could call it that, but now that I'm going to school FOR art, something as demanding as a full comic is less an outlet and more a chore. Even WITH downgraded visuals, that's still time spent on something that's not getting me grades or recognition, and while it's fun I'm kind of planning on doing art as a career now, so fun projects have to be REALLY fun for me to still invest so much time into (again, refer back to how my shitass art motivation works). This is why Act 2 is now planned to be entirely text, like other fics I actually work on in my spare time as a Break from visual art. It's a continuation of Act 1 still, just as originally intended, but I'll be adjusting my original script for Act 2 to fit into the new format. I'm sorry if this is disappointing to anyone (if the visual downgrade for the end of act 1 wasn't enough), but this is the most reliable way I can get myself to actually work on Dread Not since, again, I don't think a "passion project" should be draining to think about.

All of the technical stuff about the comic/AU/fic ASIDE… I want to give a huge shoutout to everyone in the Dread Not Discord server. Despite all the hiatuses and despite all the Lack of content I've given them, the server's been decently active and we've even made stories and characters completely divorced from Dread Not or even Deltarune as a concept! It's a really nice group to be a part of and I'm eternally grateful that something I made attracted such creative and thoughtful and SKILLED people into one place to share new ideas and discuss old ones. It's just a great time all around, and I don't think I'd be where I am today if it weren't for that server, as corny and stupid as that may sound.

I'm sorry this ended up being kind of a damper of an announcement, but seeing the state this blog is in I think it's a little necessary to make a proper post addressing all the stuff that's been going on behind the scenes. I hate leaving ya'll in the dark, but I also know that these posts are really long and probably really boring so getting something like this every other week would probably be even more annoying than complete silence.

Again, thank you all for your patience and, by all means, weigh in on what you think should be done with this AU going forward.

-Kooki

PS - I'll announce my other projects when they're in a more presentable state, for now you'll have to wait for those too, sorry.

[all-hail-the-crows]

Maybe it's just because I've watched The Boy 11 times.... There's notice all the stuff that Brahms has in his room? (I went through this scene frame by frame)

A fridge, which means Brahms strong as hell, or the maintenance guys were very confused by the placement of his appliance

A mirror and sink, so he's probably not as stink and gross as y'all make him out to be (I just think he sweats a lot)

Microwave!! (I just think that's nice, sweet boy deserves his food warmed)

Several watches hanging for the ceiling

A violin and sheet music (I'm not the first to point this out)

It looks like he's got a little dry pantry, cans of soup, coffee?, pasta, something pickled and a box of what I think are crackers. So many cans of beans.

POTTED PLANTS!! I cannot emphasize this enough, he has living, almost flourishing, potted plants in his attic of a room. He's got to have a serious green thumb.. how are they alive? I can't even keep a succulent alive.

A keyboard piano

Sewing machine

At least six lamps

A star shaped light over his bed, string lights on the ceiling in no particular place

Fine, I'll acknowledge it: the greta doll

Little animal figures

A whole shelf of jars and a little drawer that looks like storage space, though I'm not sure for what

A step stool, as if his 6 foot 3 ass needs to be any taller (short man spite)

Several chairs piled high with books

A dresser, and it looks like he's got a few sets of extra clothes behind it

A segment of the famous painting: The Garden of Earthly Delights, which is about hell

Actually, he's got a lot of artwork on his walls, though it's too blurry to make out what it is

Little dolls and figurines plastered to his walls...

Stuffed owl, and a stuffed duck

What I'm fairly certain are bird cages, they are empty though

Whatever those harness things in the background are... Like.. what are they? What are they? I genuinely no idea but want to know

???

This has been me trying to argue against the portrayal of Brahms as a pathetic sad sack. I mean he is, but he's also a capable guy and can take care of himself. He just hasn't had any healthy contact with another person in 20 years.

Anyway, I desperately want to get mercilessly railed by this man<3

[lu-is-not-ok]

If you are still taking EGOs to analyze, have you done Sunshower / Drifting Fox?

I have not yet, so let's take a look!

Under the cut, wheeee~

Let's start with the Drifting Fox itself. Unlike most Limbus Abnormalities, for which you have to do some deep readings to recognise their themes, Drifting Fox spells out its themes quite clearly in its Observation Logs.

Here, we're dealing with the idea of feign kindness vs genuine kindness. Kindness done to make yourself feel good without thinking of whether or not it will actually help the one you're being kind to, vs kindness done because you genuinely care about the one you're being kind to.

Some other themes that can be read from this abnormality are abandonment, seeking affection, thoughtfulness behind one's actions (and lack thereof), and learned distrust.

Now, there is also the fact that Drifting Fox and its E.G.O, Sunshower, seem to have some inspiration in the Fox Rain folktale, which mostly revolves around unrequited love. However... There isn't much about Drifting Fox that seems to really connect to that theme at all. The most I can say about it is that the theme was twisted into one about the Fox struggling to accept love from others due to its bad experiences with people who pretended to love it for selfish reasons.

As such I won't really be using the folktale in the analysis, as while I'm sure some connections can be drawn between it and Sunshower E.G.O users, in my opinion they're not as important to character analysis as drawing connections to the Drifting Fox itself.

While we're talking about Sunshower E.G.O users, let's name them finally. Outis and Yi Sang. While Heathcliff uses a Lobcorp version of the E.G.O in one of his IDs, I won't be looking into it in this post because analyzing Identities is a very different process to analyzing E.G.Os, and one I'm still trying to polish. Maybe one day I'll be able to dip my toes into full ID analysis, but until then, E.G.O only.

With Yi Sang, we can definitely see Drifting Fox's themes here, especially with the context of Canto IV. After all, feign kindness is exactly what he experienced from Gubo after the League disbanded, an event that led to him feeling abandoned and distrustful of everyone but Sang Yi. Which, speaking of him, is the main person Yi Sang was seeking affection from during the time he was effectively abandoned.

Now, when it comes to Outis... We really don't know much about her or her background. However, I think one way the theme of feign kindness presents itself in her is, well, with how she acts. Outis's whole schtick is that she's pretending to be kind towards Dante, seemingly for her own benefit.

However... Something tells me it's not as simple as that. Thoughout the story, we get hints towards Outis's life. How she had to sacrifice a lot during her time on the battlefield, and hints towards some complex feeling regarding family she had to leave behind to join the war.

Does she believe she abandoned her family? Or, now that the war is over, does she think they had abandoned her in return? Is feign kindness something that only applies to her own actions? Or is it something she herself experienced as well, and had to learn how to use by herself to survive? She certainly feels like the distrusting type to me...

We don't know enough to say for sure right now, but it is certainly interesting to speculate about.

Let's move on to Sin analysis, as this is where something very interesting happens.

Sunshower is the first shared E.G.O we have that has Different Sin Damage depending on its user. This, of course, paints a very different picture of how these themes apply to each of its users.

Outis's Sunshower deals Gluttony damage. Gluttony is a Sin that represents actions done out of hunger, both hunger for survival and hunger for more. With what little we know about Outis, I think in this case we can firmly place this Gluttony as the survival type.

This implies that her own feigning of kindness is something she began doing as a way to survive what she has gone through, likely during the war and after it had ended. It could also symbolize her own distrust being a way to survive in the wake of other people feigning kindness towards her.

Yi Sang's Sunshower deals Sloth damage. Sloth is a sin that represents actions done out of apathy and inaction, which at this point is a Sin Staple for Yi Sang. This, of course, represents how he deals with feign kindness and abandonment - apathy and resignation.

When the League fell apart, Yi Sang resigned himself to following the guidance of whoever first told him what to do. When met with Gubo's feign kindness, Yi Sang responded with apathy, and resigned himself to following his orders because there was nothing else he thought he could do.

Sin requirements-wise, both Outis and Yi Sang require Sloth, Gluttony, and Gloom, while Yi Sang also adds some Pride on top of that. Let's take this one at a time.

For both Outis and Yi Sang, Sloth represents some form of resignation and/or apathy. This, of course, is extremely clear for Yi Sang, whose very character arc revolves around overcoming his depressive apathy. When it comes to Outis, I think this also applies, if in lesser amounts. Over the course of the war she participated in, she likely had learn to be complacent, to simply follow her leader's orders and not grow too attached to anyone.

Next up, Gluttony. Like with Sloth, I think this represents the same thing for both Outis and Yi Sang, that being that their actions were a way to survive the circumstances they were in. For Outis, it was the only way she could make it through the war, and the only way she can keep going after. For Yi Sang, it was the only way he could survive the League's disbanding and being captured by N Corp.

Then, we have Gloom. Gloom as a sin represents actions done under the pressure of negative emotions. It implies severe emotional stress. Knowing what we know about Outis and Yi Sang... Yeah. Yeah it makes sense for Gloom to be there. I don't think I need to go into too much detail on that.

Lastly, we have Pride for Yi Sang. Pride represents actions done purely for their benefit, while their consequences are ignored. This, I think, is meant to reflect the dilemma Yi Sang was going through during his time at N Corp. He had to do whatever Gubo was telling him to just to survive, and had to ignore the damage he would be indirectly contributing to by helping him.

Before we end off, let's briefly look at the dialogue lines.

Outis's lines are quite... interesting, in my opinion. Her Awakening line reflect the theme of rejecting feigned, meaningless kindness, which I think further affirms Outis's distrust towards others.

However, I think her Corroded line here is much more interesting. It seems to represent Outis's fear of being abandoned. Not only that, but it implies it's something that happened to her at least once before. Perhaps I wasn't that far off about the idea of Outis suffering through something herself that made her learn to feign kindness herself.

Yi Sang's lines on the other hand seem to be more focusing on his own inability to do anything about his situation. His Awakening line reflects his worries about not being able to truly help anyone, while his Corroded line seems to show him falling fully into hopelessness and lamenting over the situation only getting worse.

So, there you go! I might at some point later analyze Sunshower Heathcliff once I figure out a proper method to analyzing IDs, but that day isn't today.

[yurigalactica]

would you mayhaps infodump about LC! lyrics? 👀👀 /nf

(I saw you on the anon game and am incredibly interested)

OOOOOOOOOH YESYESYESYES I WOULD LOVE TO INFODUMP ABOUT LOS CAMP LYRICS

okay okay so first of all. this band is so good. they have so many banger ass songs and that cannot be denied. HOWEVER in my heart To Tundra will always reign supreme. like holy shit. it's got lyrics like "meet me at st. nicholas among the oaks, behind the church that sway like pig-tailed girls as summer wind whistles around your bare-skin knees and the forsythia leaves" and "we take on the burden of all these sad-eyed children with lilies bunched in our hands" like. those lyrics are so visceral and potent they literally leave me with my mouth hanging wide open after i hear them. oh my GOD that song is magical

some of my other favorite songs lyrically is OBVIOUSLY tiptoe through the true bits. that's the song that whenever i hear it i have to stop literally everything i'm doing, turn up the volume as loud as it will go, close my eyes and just absorb the Vibes. it's so gorgeous AHHHHHH. the bit that makes my heart go !!!!!! is the part where it goes "the bed-spread decked in suns and moons and symbols of the star-signs, how you read how mine applied to how I would be sex-wise." like that paired with the little guitar picking up in the back and the drums kicking in are SO GOOD AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AND. IN MEDIA RES. that song changed my life genuinely. like WOW. the whole vibe of it, especially the end when the trumpets (i think they're trumpets at least) kick in and gareth goes "if you were given the option of dying painlessly in peace at 45 with a lover at your side, after a full and happy life, is this something that would interest you? would this interest you at all?" like WOW what an existential crisis moment while you feel like you're running through a rainy field. man that hits yknow

ALSO i am emotionally attached to Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #4. i dont know why but the first time i ever heard it my brain latched its claws onto it and now it wont fucking let go. so whenever i hear the guitar at the beginning i am Legally Obligated to belt out at the top of my lungs "I RESTORED YOUR MOTHER'S FAITH IN MEN WHILST BORING YOU TO DEATH LEFT NOTHING MORE THAN A CIRCLE OF STUBBLE RASH AROUND YOUR CHEST--"

AND!!!!!!!!! for flotsam also has a very special place in my heart. i love the lyrics in that one, particularly "summer of odd-numbered year" like. MY GUYS YOU ARE SO CREATIVE???? all of your football metaphors to describe your boredom and emotions. like i don't watch football but you go guys i think its so kickass. i love you los campesinos. also the bit where they go "flotsam, jetsam, and spindrift, all the girls i have loved, dumped to earth by a spendthrift, gilt angels from above" with the "aaaahhh" in the back and the very faint piano in the background that i can only hear when i'm listening to it with my gaming headphones on bc my gaming headphones have really good mid range. just AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

AND WHAT DEATH LEAVES BEHIND TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 fun little fact this was the first song that i listened to when i first decided to listen to their discography all the way through. and let's just say that was a VERY good start because i was very impressed right off the bat. like "i was the first match struck at the first cremation, you are my shallow grave, I'll tend you as a sexton, if you're the casket door that's being slammed upon me, i'll be a plague cross painted on your naked body" LIKE HOLY SHIT. THATS SO EVOCATIVE. HOW DO YOU USE SO MANY METAPHORS AND BIG WORDS. THEYRE SO GOOD AT WORDS. i love listening to this one because it is so lyrically complex and yet it all goes together so well auuugghhhhhhhh

also since i started university recently, hung empty rings very near and dear to my heart. like the bit in the bridge that goes "my vision is fading, it's blurry, there are fingerprints all over the sun, we're glad to be loved but we're lonely and we feel like we're the only ones." like. that's the experience of moving out right there!!! i don't know where the fuck i am and i'm so lonely but it feels so bright and new and cinematic. this song Gets me on the most fundemental level it feels so very College-Esque

ALSOOOOOOO she crows!!!!!!!!!!!11 i LOVE she crows. someone inject this song into my veins Right This Fucking Instant. i need to live and breathe this song right now. just the instrumentals combined with the anthemic feel of the song really seals the feeling of looking back on your life and all of your mistakes and acknowledging that all of them brought you to where you are now. especially the end bit, i don't know why, but when it goes "big tip for the pretty girl waiting the IHOP, these blank napkins/unwritten suicide notes, it's dark inside these eyelids, blacker than the ink (squid)" it really feels like the end of the day. these are the lyrics that buzz like caffiene in your veins as you sit outside a dutchbros at eleven pm surrounded by the only people you feel like you can be yourself around. it's the feeling of cold biting at your skin while your heart feels warm and full. it feels like an open finale, the first time you smile in a long time, an acceptance of the complex beauty of life, that unforgettable moment when you realize that you wouldn't trade who you've become for the world

and CODA A BURN SCAR IN THE SHAPE OF THE SOONER STATE. I LOVE CODA SO MUCH AGH. PERFECT CRYING IN THE SHOWER SONG. like the lyric "an artist's impression of the manhattan skyline" will get me fucking SOBBING immediately. it feels like watching the world move on without you, the world a blur as you crumple inward under the weight of your emotions, a collapsing star in an endless void. and then obviously "i can't believe i chose the mountains every time you chose the sea" WOAH the SYMBOLISM i will just pass away right here in my dormitory with my headphones on. no sorry professor i can't write my essay i am unwell about the romance is boring album again. sorry yeah i'll be unavailable for 3-5 buisness weeks

but uh. yeah. los campesinos amirite???????????

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: Kidnap The Sandy Claws

This video (a Halloween release in 2020) is not one I watch a whole lot. Don't get me wrong, the arrangement is of course amazing, and both the song and video are very fun, but, well, lemme just say that I can promise that there will be no simping/fawning over Geoff in this one! 😅

*Long, deep sigh* Alright let's get into this!

The bathtub made a lot more sense after I actually watched The Nightmare Before Christmas last year ngl (and apparently the reason they did this video sitting down like so was because Rachel was in fact Quite Pregnant during this)

Apparently this was filmed at some location (studios?) called 1010 West, where they also filmed their Superstition video earlier in the month.

(Okay but seriously I can definitely appreciate the thought and effort that went into set design here, like the big black face in the background representing the tunnel in and out of Oogie Boogie's lair!)

We're getting introductory title card things again, like in the Moana Medley, Get Back Up Again, and the Queen Medley! (Though the latter just said their character name)

Great masks, I'm assuming they bought from somewhere?

Layne Stein as Dr Finkelstein 😉 (the "mad scientist" kind of character type kinda suits him ngl)

And Geoff as Mr Hyde...

I can't fault him exactly for his get-up (see the first pic for a better visual), because that's literally what the Mr Hyde character in the movie looks like, see below

The red lips, the green skin, the top hat, everything, but like... why him? Did Layne decide on the characters for everyone?

But anyway, that's out of my system now. I'm not actually criticising, it's just...unusual? 😅 (Also this is the third time in just over a roughly 12-month period that Geoff has had a full face of makeup/paint for a Voiceplay video!)

But with that being said, I love the makeup for Eli, Rachel, and J in this video (shoutout to Rick Underwood and Steven Puerta!). They got the designs on point, but even more vibrant! See comparison image below:

(Yeah Voiceplay went heavy on the saturation for this video, not that I'm actually criticising)

Rachel's acting is as brilliant as ever, and I love her whole look. Style icon!

That (fake) praying-mantis-looking thing is in fact a genuine reference to/moment from the movie, so I learned.

Firstly, I love that Eli, Rachel, and J are wearing shoes that match their outfits, and secondly, I can tell that I haven't watched this video a ton (and haven't paid a lot of attention to Geoff when I have) because for some reason I remembered his outfit being a lot more black (and in all due fairness, he does wear black a lot in videos), but actually he's wearing a dark green long-sleeved shirt I believe, plus some weird baggy vest thing that looks like it might have been made or altered for the purpose of this video. Also that's probably his actual hair? Hard to say, it looks a little lighter and shinier than usual, but that could be due to the lighting and/or having some sort of colouration product in it.

(Also Geoff and Layne look just a little extra big compared to the other three in this shot. It may be at just partially just some perspective/camera trickery (though they are of course the two tallest of the group))

First of all, love the facial expressions, and second of all, Oogie Boogie here is played by Tony Wakim, aka Voiceplay's previous baritone before J joined the group! He now co-owns PattyCake Productions with Layne, and helps out behind-the-scenes with some of the videos, especially in regards to stuff like providing filming spaces, setpieces, and costuming!

Eli: "because Mr Oogie Boogie is the meanest guy around!"

(followed by a sudden cut to Geoff 😉)

Not going to post a screencap of the Mr Hyde's Hat thing, but basically when I saw that moment in the original movie I was like "OHHHHHH I get it now!"

Eli/Lock is looking suspicious, Rachel/Shock is trying to look like a perfectly adorable angel, and J/Barrel is looking like he is Planning Mischief 😁

"We do our best to please him, and stay on his good side!"

(Ngl I do the same thing as Eli when singing this part of the song 😝)

"SHUT UP!

Love Eli's grumpy face here (even funnier when he's still vocalising while looking grumpy!)

Are those fake teeth or did Layne literally colour some of his teeth black for this?

Also I know this video came first but Layne with the wooden spoon is definitely reminding me of the video for Drunken Sailor for last year (see my profile picture!)

Rachel and J doing chopping motions during the "chop him into bits" part

Also it's very blink-and-you-miss-it (especially when again, you're not actually looking in his direction for a lot of the video), but a comment on a reaction video pointed out that when Geoff sings "Mr Oogie Boogie is...", he freaking winks! Which is of course a cheeky reference to the fact that a little over a year earlier, Geoff was Mr Oogie Boogie (and he kinda sorta reprised the role in December 2023 for the Jingle Bell Rock video, though full-body costume for that one).

The shoulder movement that Geoff does when he hits a subharmonic on "kicks", like even his self-conducting movements are a extra creepy/character-y for this video! 😅

Genuinely not sure whether Layne nearly falling over on his seat/stool thing was deliberate or a "nobody broke character so might as well leave it in there" moment 😂

Well, Voiceplay aren't called The Theatre Kids Of Acapella for nothing! And also their arrangements and vocal performances are so good that you can honestly forget sometimes that their songs don't use instruments! They basically don't need them!

But anyway, this is the last Nightmare Before Christmas song I will be talking about until I eventually get around to talking about Geoff's cover of Jack's Lament (which might take a while, but boy am I looking forward to it!).

[widowspeakconnoisseur]

Silly blog PSA!!

To the person in my ask box, I'm not ignoring you, I was just making my Halloween costume lmao. I know I've been slightly (very) inactive.

Here is visual proof with the Thranduil crown I made (the base is the wrong colour because I'm stupid). I will likely correct that later.

This is the end result of the whole costume:

I think, all things considered, it turned out pretty good! We were kind of on a budget so it's not entirely accurate. Creative liberty and all that. My mother made the robe out of a duvet cover and I made the crown using garden wire, lots of hot glue, fake leaves and acrylic paint. I also really need to make my bed lmao. That part of the background is very distracting.

Yes, the censoring on this photo is genuinely ridiculous but A) I don't want to dox myself and B) I don't want Tumblr to see my cringe ass phone case. (Also yes, that is a Monster High doll in the background. Ladies, form an orderly queue).

[spacemimz]

What is your process when doing fully rendered art! I've always loved looking at how detailed they are

I can show you with a couple screenshots of a current wip

1. I start out with a super rough sketch. For people it's a basic skeletal sketch of where what body part goes. For background sketches it's just vague shapes in the places where I'd like them to be.

2. Clean up time baby!! That's the stage where my vague shapes turn into full shapes. It's also the stage where I settle on details.

This is what a clean sketch looks like. Mind you not every detail I sketch is something I do in lineart, some things are just colors

3. Lineart woo-hoo!

This is what finished lineart looks like for me. What I also do is paint in shadows on my lineart layer for more depth and to give myself visual clarity too

4. Colors. For big pieces like this one right here I already color code the setting, give the whole thing a vibe

See this? No shading, that's all just coloring. Coding the colors this way minimizes the amount of layers I need to shade plus I tend to work on max. 3 color layers anyway. What I do for big pieces like this is color normally, then adjust the value and all that with a separate layer and merge everything. The minimum layer approach is something I picked up on when I was using ibis paint x on my phone in 2014 I think? Back then I had 3 layers to work with and I made that count and I guess that never left

5. ~shading~✨️ aka my favorite part aka the part where everything comes together. The shading really depends on the vibe and thing I'm drawing. Some shading is complex and some shading is simple. It's definitely the most fun part

6. Detailing. That's what I do afterwards stuff like rim lighting or texturing! Tho texturing is something new im trying. I'm kind of sick of my art looking flat sooo I use a variety of brushes to help with that. Genuinely think it looks good, makes my stuff look more alive

7. Sign it. I cannot stress this enough. SIGN YOUR WORKS!!! WHATEVER IT IS, SIGN IT!! I put my signature in places it's difficult to remove because you never ever know if some bloke wants to steal or not. Protect your creative property and sign it, watermark it. Make sure that people know it's yours and yours only

Wow that got long I'm sorry! But that's basically my process from start to finish, wait I forgot the collapse after I'm done oh well not that important hahaha