#and now i can get excited about the things i'm learning

[trappezoider]

Hi! You were the first Hogwarts Legacy fan artist I came across and I wanted to say how much I love your works 🥰

I recently saw an ask about which program you use to create your pieces which got me wondering... 👀 do you have any tips to share with aspiring digital artists trying to learn how to properly add shading/lighting?? I'm happy with my pieces during the flat colour stage, but every time I attempt shading/lighting or other methods of adding texture/definition/perspective, it always looks "off" to me 🤔 so my WIP folder is huge rn.

Thank you in advance for any advice you're willing to share 🙏😊

Hiya there!! Thank you so much for this ask!! First of all, I gotta say how wonderful it is that you're excited about art and want to learn more about it. I just had a chat with a friend about this but I think art is such a fun, vast hobby, full of endless possibilities, and whenever people want to get into it and learn, it's just wahhhhh. Fills my heart with joy and makes me bounce :D Now, full disclaimer, I am not an art teacher so my say on the matter is not that of a professional. I struggle with these things myself as well but I'm really happy if any of my advice can help a fellow artist. Keep in mind that works for me might not work for you, and "good art" is highly subjective. But I understand that achieving that fine balance between knowing how to imitate life and then being able to recreate that imagine in your head on an empty canvas is something a lot of artists want. That's hard af though. But you can't have success without failure, that's why we have so many WIPS xD Lucky for us, our brains and hands are amazing at learning. Eventually those WIPS might become actual realised works. Crying, praying and manifesting for us both xDDD Now, if you're struggling with shading and lighting, I suggest doing value studies. Perhaps take black and white photos with a striking relationship between shadow and light, then try to replicate that without colour picking. Try to observe the whole picture, without paying too much attention to the details at first, Make your brush strokes large especially when sketching out the initial shapes. You can give yourself a time limit of say, 5-60 minutes, for each study, but I wouldn't go over a 1,5h hour limit. I recommend using fairly simple images, with less textures and where shapes are the main character so to speak. Then when you think you're ready, you can do the same thing but this time choose coloured images but still use only white/black. Excercises like these help me a ton when I feel like I wanna update my skills. Doing art is a never-ending learning curve but I feel like that's what makes it so stimulating hehe Below is an example of one value study I did recently. I don't do these often but I know I probably should xD I always just do colour studies nowdays cause that's something I'm most interested in observing at the moment :D But this is just an example of what you can do if you want to learn shading in particular. Now it doesn't need to be perfect, it's just practice that may help you get used to values and how they interact with each other on the canvas.

You can also do colour studies if that is something you're interested in. Those might be a bit more challenging but as long as you keep each study short and use simple images (like literally just an image of an egg on a table or something xD), it shouldn't be too intimidating. Sorry for such a long reply xD I hope you have lots of fun and get all the possible enjoyment from making art! So happy for you!!! Wishing you all the motivation, success and inspiration in the world!!!

[mothstvrnz]

ʚ♡ɞ・"WHAT'S UP DANGER?" 0.5・ʚ♡ɞ

"Before we begin, I'd like to say something, well, maybe two things. Possibly three, or four, or maybe even five things-?" The hero says awkwardly while you put your mask on. "Listen carefully, I'm sure you're aware I have a powerful quirk, it's called 'Black Hole.' I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust." Thirteen explains, holding her hand up. "That's right! You've used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven't you?" Izuku asks while Uraraka is eagerly nodding her head at everything that's said. "That's true, but my quirk could very easily be used to kill." Thirteen says grimly. "Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus, or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly." Thirteen continues to explain with a short pause.

"Even if you're trying to do something virtuous, like rescue someone. Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your quirk's potential, and because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be.when used against other people. Carry those lessons over to this class.Today, you're going to learn how to use our quirks to save people's lives. You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that's what being a hero's all about, saving others." She concludes with balling her fist up. While she was talking about that, you couldn't help but think of how your quirk could be dangerous. Sure, Bakugo's could easily be dangerous, he has explosions for heaven's sake, but you? You've got spider webs, sure you've got that adrenaline boost thing, but, what good is that?

You're freed from your thoughts as your classmates around you cheer with excitement. "Right, now that that's over,-" Aizawa begins before the lights around the facility begin to short circuit and buzz out, and the fountain stops. You squint your eyes to see below what was appearing, but to your surprise, it's a portal with a man stepping out. "Stay together and don't move! Thirteen, protect the students!" Aizawa yells. "Whoa, what is that thing?" Kirishima asks upon seeing people step out of the portal. "Has the training started already? I thought we were rescuing people?" Kirishima asks and takes a small step forward. "Stay back!" Aizawa snaps. "This is real, those are villains." He says while putting on his yellow goggles.

"What the fuck is that thing?" You ask nobody in particular as you see a giant monstrous thing step out of the portal. It's clearly strong with bulging muscles, but that's not what's scary about it. Its brain is exposed and instead of a normal mouth, it has a yellow beak with sharp teeth poking out. Its eyes are wide and the only human-like thing about them is a black pupil.

"The only real heroes I see here are Erasure Head and Thirteen. Perplexing, according to the schedule we retrieved from UA,, All Might was also supposed to be here." The giant purple smoke with yellow eyes said with a deep voice. "So you scumbags used the press as a cover and sneaked onto campus." Aizawa accused while getting into a fighting stance. You watch as Aizawa's hair and scarf flare up while the rest of you sit back and watch.

Fear strikes through you like a rattlesnake would its prey, except the villains are the rattlesnake and you're the prey. However, as soon as that fear freezes your veins, the ice is replaced with the familiar intense heat of adrenaline. This isn't the normal adrenaline you cherish so much, it's the kind of adrenaline that courses through your veins to keep you on your toes, but in all reality, you can't get enough. Your brain tingles as your body shakes with the urge to fight the villains in front of you and your class.

"What? Real villains? How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure?" Kirishima asks from somewhere in front of you, and Yaomomo is quick to chip in. "Yeah, Thirteen, why aren't the alarms going off?" Thirteen looks around the facility before replying. "Good question. I'm not sure." Thirteen answers with fear evident in her voice. More of your classmates speculate about the situation, but a voice next to you distracts you.

"Bug, you alright? You're shaking like a goddamn chihuahua." Bakugo scoffs from your side. Your (e/c) eyes look at his crimson ones, and if you look close enough, you can see a small, teeny-tiny hint of fear. You had heard he was attacked by a sludge villain a while back, was he scared because the thought of villains brought him back to that danger?

"Yeah, I just haven't felt adrenaline this good in a while." You admit while shaking your hands out and grinning like a mad-man at the villains. You feel his gaze harden as he looks at you, but he scoffs and looks to the fight ahead. You're about to turn and say something to Katsuki, but Aizawa beats you to it.

"Thirteen, get them out of here and alert the main campus. Actually, if they've got the ability to block the censors, then they might be jamming our regular communication system as well. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school." Aizawa instructs, Kaminari doing as told immediately. "What're you going to do? You can't fight them on your own! There's too many of them, even if you can nullify their quirks, your fighting style's not suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights. That's not gonna help against a group." Deku tries to reason.

"You can't be a pro if you only have one trick." Aizawa says while readjusting his goggles. "I'll leave it to you, Thirteen." He says before jumping down the flight of stairs and in front of three people. In a matter of seconds, he ties them all up in his scarf and hits their heads together with enough force to knock them out. He goes on to knock out villain, after villain, after villain with such ease it's incredible.

You're sitting there watching the group of villains as you stand next to Izuku. You're just itching, twitching, basically freaking out that you can't go down there to fight. When adrenaline courses through your veins, it's never normal adrenaline. It's always boosted in a way, never fades away like normal, and always lasts longer than it would with any normal person. Not only that, but it's so, so incredibly more influential than a normal person's adrenaline. You don't hear the voices of your classmates around you, the only sounds coming into your brain like fuzzy radio signals.

Upon noticing Izuku begin to run, you force yourself to follow suit, the little voice that you like to think belongs to Adrenaline Rush screams at you to go down there, use your current adrenaline and then continue to fight using your special ability. Adrenaline always feels odd in your body, like fire and ice clashing in an internal battle as it tries to make you run away or stay and fight. You get close to the entrance, but get stopped by the same purple portal freak that brought all the villains here.

"There is no escape for you. It's a pleasure to meet you, we are the League of Villains, and I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say 'hello'. And besides, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the symbol of peace to take his last breath? I believe he was supposed to be here today, and yet I see no sign of him. There must've been some change in plans we could not have foreseen. Oh well, in the end, I suppose it doesn't matter, I still have a role to play." The purple cloud of smoke finishes as he begins to grow in size, but you see two of your friends begin to get into a fighting stance, clearly about to launch at the villain.

The loud commanding voice of your adrenaline screams and screams, yells and yells. 'Go fight with them, use the pent up adrenaline. Go fight with them, use the pent up adrenaline. Go fight with them-' it gets louder, and meaner every time until you can't take it anymore. Fuck it. Who's going to stop you besides yourself? You bite your lip and jump up at the villain just behind Bakugo and Kirishima, the two boys let out an intense yell, which you're biting back laughter at the feeling of finally being able to burn off your adrenaline. Bakugo lets off blast after blast, and you make the mental note to thank your friend in the support course to thank her for making your suit more blast and fire proof.

"Did you think we were just going to stand here and let you tear this place to shreds?" Kirishima challenges with a toothy grin. The grey smoke from Katsuki's explosions fades away, and the voice of the villain fills the air. The same loud voice of your adrenaline is yelling at you for more, more, more, more, more, but you don't get to do such a thing. "You live up to your school's reputation, but you should pay more attention, children, otherwise, someone might get hurt." The void says before Thirteen gets the chance to speak.

"You three, get out of the way, right now!" She says in a panic before the villain speaks once more. "I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades, and your death!" The purple smoke laughs. "You guys, hold on tight!" You yell to Bakugo and Kirishima as you shoot as many strong strands of web you can spare to the ground and at the two boys next to you to hold on. "I don't need your damn webs, bug!" Katsuki yells over the raging wind, but hangs on tight despite his complaining. Around you, classmates are thrown up into the air, and around the facility, one by one, you're all separated. "Bakugo, (L/N)!" Kirishima yells as the webbing breaks apart, thread by thread until everyone of you are thrown from each other.

ʚ♡ɞ

"Fuuuuuckkk!!" You yell as you begin falling through the sky with Kirishima and Bakugo falling not far from you. "Okay, assess the situation. Where are you?" You think to yourself while looking around at the environments you're about to land in. You recognize the area as the collapsing zone Thirteen had pointed out upon your arrival. "Kirishima, Bakugo!" You yell as you send a line of web to the ground to help bring yourself closer without damage. "(L/N)!" Kirishima yells out as Bakugo carefully lands onto the ground.

You get to the ground and send out a bundle of webs to help soften Kirishima's fall, which does a great job. "Bug? You got thrown here with us?" Katsuki asks while you three circle up with backs facing each other, villains circling around you three. "No sweat, we'll squash these guys with ease!" Kirishima confidently while throwing up his arms, skin turned into jagged points. "Heh, no fucking problem, let's show them what happens when you mess with Class 1-A!" Katsuki cackles while his hands begin to fizzle and pop with explosions. "Hah! They're delusional if they think they've got a fighting chance at killin' us! Fucking losers. Make sure to keep up boys!"

You cackle with excitement while sending out webs to pick up two of the villains in front and hit their heads together, tossing their knocked out bodies to the side as the villains begin to charge with yells. Katsuki lets out a yell of his own as he begins to blast villains left and right, while Kirishima charges, punching villains without mercy. You know everyone around the facility is fighting for their lives, and reminding yourself of that only makes the adrenaline pushing through your body louder and meaner in your head.

Your vision begins to blur from the adrenaline rush of fighting real villains, blood begins to seep onto your abused tongue, the sweet taste of metal invades every inch of your mouth as you either knock out, or tie up each villain that's within your reach. Your heart feels like it's being both electrified and doused into a pool of acid within seconds after the other. You shake yourself from your intense adrenaline rush after feeling Kirishima's hand on your shoulder.

"Yo, man, are you okay? You were shaking, like, super badly." Kirishima asks as you turn to face him with a shuddering breath pushing past your lips. "Yeah, just.. Just fine." You say as tingles of what feels like static energy pulse through you. "If you say so.. Let's hurry and find the rest of our class. If us three are still in the USJ, then everyone else probably is, too. Not all of them have the offensive skills we do. We gotta make sure they're safe, especially since we screwed things up when we got in the way earlier. If Thirteen had been able to suck up that villain, then we never would've been separated like that. We have to help the others" Eijiro explains with a huff.

"If you wanna track down the others do that, but i'm going to destroy that warpy bastard." Bakugo snarls, getting a confused look from both you and Kirishima. "What in the world are you going on about? Our physical attacks didn't do a thing to that purple bastard." You say with confusion. "Would you shut up? I'm going to take him down because he's their way in and out! If I cut off their escape route, they'll be stuck here and have to pay for what they've done. We'll just have to figure a way out." Katsuki says, snapping in your face, canines peeking past his lips.

Suddenly, he reaches over and sends off an explosion at a villain that was invisible. You feel your eyes widen from astonishment at the fact he knew the villain was there. "Anyway, if all these villains are small fry like these guys were, then our classmates can handle 'em." Katsuki explains as he holds up a guy with a chameleon quirk. "Woah, that reaction time was insane, also, since when do you act so calm and rational?" Ejiro asks. "Bad question there, Kirishima." You mumble to him before Katsuki can reply.

"I'm always calm and rational, you red-haired loser!" Katsuki angrily barks. "Yeah, there you are!" Kirishima laughs before Katsuki scoffs. "Go find the others if you want to." He says while he begins to walk away before he's stopped by the redhead next to you. "Hey, I think what you're really saying is that you believe in our classmates, and that's thinkin' like a man, Bakugo." He says with a toothy grin and clashing his fists together.

You bite back a small laugh as he rolls his eyes and grumbles something incoherent to you. "What was that?" You tease as you hear the voice in your head begin to quiet down. "Nothing ya' damn bug." He grumbles.

ʚ♡ɞ

"Oh my... All Might!" You basically cry as you, Kirishima, and Bakugo step out of the zone you just cleared, but how are you supposed to feel now that you see what that Nomu freak is doing to him. Katsuki is already blasting off, letting out a yell. "There, the fight is just right there!" Adrenaline rush yells at you, and you feel so forced to use it now because, what the hell, it's either the bird fuck kills you, or you kill it. That's just how it'll go, no way around it. You feel tears spill over your eyes from the adrenaline pushing through your entire body.

It feels so good, so painfully good. Your vision blurs as your heart rate increases and breathing speeds up. Fuck. The adrenaline just feels too good to ignore. Your body shakes with overwhelming power as raw energy zaps rhythmically through your body. You open your eyes and shoot web after web towards All Might. You fail to notice the way you slowly begin to catch up with the blasting blonde boy, and Izuku running towards you guys just the same.

Because of the sweet static pulsing through you you're so much faster than normal and you almost want to laugh because how can something feel so good? As you get closer, and Midoriya's hand gets in range of the purple smoke freak, Katsuki lets off an explosion, "Get the hell outta my way, Deku!" He yells as you watch Bakugo pin the body of smoke to the floor, and ice rakes up the entire body of the Nomu. You help by webbing the metal piece that must be protecting the body of the warp villain and move on to web the arm of the Nomu to the ground. You turn to see the half-and-half haired boy, eyes glaring at the villains. "One of your poorly trained thugs told me you're here because you think you can kill All Might." Todoroki says bordly.

All Might pries himself free of the Nomu's grip, his hands now laid flat to the ground because of your webbing. "Are you okay?" Deku asks All Might with tears in his eyes while Kirishima jumps from the air and lands less than a foot away from the hand fetish villain. That desirable acidic burn you can only get from using your ability starts whispering things to you again. It begs and pleads for more, and you want to listen, you really do, but what else is there for you to attack?

Words are muffled from your friends as you feel your body shake and hands fly up to your mask. "Oh this feels so, oh so good!" You say with a small laugh to yourself. You're broken from your thoughts as the blue haired villain begins to talk. "Kurogiri, how could you let this brat get the best of you? You've gotten us into a real jam here." He complains, ah, so the purple warp has a name.

You hear slight muffles of voices around you, but you're so focused on the Nomu, it's hard to hear. That hand villain says one simple word, its name, and suddenly the bird monster is back to life. It moves itself out of the portal even at the cost of its right arm snapping through the web and breaking off because of Todoroki's ice. It snaps your strengthened webs as if they're nothing.

You want to vomit as it regenerates half of its body. The way you watch as each necessary thing falls into place, being created from nothing is sickening. You aren't able to decipher what the voices around you say. The little voice of adrenaline gets louder, telling you things you don't want to listen to, but hey, what's the point of it telling you things if you're just going to ignore them? While it speaks, a particular sentence sticks out from the rest. "Watch as they prepare to fight, they're not prepared for killing if it's necessary." Now that's one hell of a thought.

"First we need to free our method of escape, get him, Nomu." The head villain instructs, to which the Nomu heads straight for Bakugo."Katsuki!" You scream, sending webs around him as quickly as you can, you lower the density so they move through the air faster. In a matter of seconds, you wrap him in webbing and yank him towards you guys all while a flash moves to Bakugo at the same time.

"Woah, (Y/N), you managed to save him!" Deku says with shock, but you know for a fact that you didn't do that yourself. "No I didn't, All Might had to have helped in some way." You say from your spot on the ground as you undo the webs around Katsuki's body, his crimson eyes are widened slightly with his skin a tone paler. "These are kids, and you didn't hold back?" All Might asks with disgust in his voice, followed by a glare. "I didn't have a choice, he was threatening my companion, besides, these kids are no angels. The plain looking one? He tried to kill me with a maxed out punch. What kind of 'hero' does that? You think you can get away with being as violent as you want, as long as you say it's for the sake of others." The man hidden behind a hand says with his scratchy voice filling the air. "Well you know what, All Might, that pisses me off. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic and others are villainous? Casting judgement as to what's 'good' and what's 'evil'. You think you're the symbol of peace? Ha! You're just another government-sponsored instrument of violence, and violence always breeds more violence. I'll make sure the world understands that once you're dead."

As the villain rants about heroism, you feel a deeper part of your adrenaline say something that sounds so far away, you're not sure what it is, like a sudden gust of wind that leaves no signs of ever coming, but before you can make any guesses, it's gone again. "You're nothing but a lunatic. Criminals like you always try to make your actions sound noble, but admit it; you're only doing this because you like it, isn't that right?" All Might asks the scrawny man in front of you.

"We've got them out numbered." Todoroki says from beside you. "Right, and Kacchan figured out the mist guys' weakness." Izuku adds before Kirishima speaks up. "These dudes may act really tough, but we can take them down now with All Might's help. Let's do this." He says, flashing a few of his sharp teeth. "Yeah, let's kick some villain ass." You add with a challenging smirk, the eyes on your mask showing your expression perfectly.

"Don't fight. Get out of here." All might instructs, holding his arm out to show that you and your classmates won't be sitting here fighting the big fight. "You would've been in trouble if it weren't for me, remember? You need our help." Todoroki says coldly while holding out his hand, preparing to launch more ice if necessary. "I thank you for your assistance, but this is different. It's going to be alright, just sit back and watch a pro at work." All Might argues.

"But you're too hurt. You're bleeding, and you're almost out of-" Midoriya says, pointing out the obvious, but cutting himself off at the end. What did he mean? 'Out of time, out of energy'? You're pulled from our thoughts as you see the hand freak come running towards your group of five. "Heads up, guys, looks like we're fighting after all." Kirishima says, getting into a fighting stance and activating his quirk. You all do the same, but things change up in an instant when All Might begins to fight the Nomu with a renewed determination.

"Didn't you hear me, idiot, one of his powers is shock absorption!" The blue haired villain yells, but All Might simply ignores him and begins throwing punches faster than your human eye can follow. Wind pressure begins to build up from the fight, causing the villain that was just running at you to fly a bit away, leaving you and your classmates struggling to stay in place. You hold yourself down with a bit of webs as you feel the first sign of Adrenaline Rush leaving your system. "No! No! No! Not now! Now has got to be one of the worst possible timings!" You yell internally as your eyelids feel heavy after a simple blink.

"He's going to fight that brain guy head on!?" Deku asks out loud while struggling against the wind pressure. You notice a small stutter in Nomu's punches, small, but still a stutter. "A real hero will always find a way for justice to be served!" All Might yells as he throws Nomu into the ground; before speaking once more. "Now you may have heard these words before, but always go Plus Ultra!" He yells as he punches the monstrosity up into the air and out the glass dome of the USJ. "That was like a finishing move in a video game. He beat the shock absorption right out of him. I've never seen that kind of brute strength!" Kirishima says in astonishment, while you sit there staring at the hole in the glass. "Hell yeah, All Might beat the shit outta' that bird freak" You say with a chuckle before Bakugo speaks up. "Imagine having that kind of strength, he must've been punching that monster so fast, he couldn't regenerate" Bakugo says with his mouth slightly left open.

"You've been bested villains, surrender. We all want to get this over with quickly" All Might instructs as you watch smoke come off from his body. You watch as the scrawny villain begins to grumble and mumble to himself as he intensely scratches his neck. "What's wrong? Not attacking? Didn't you say you were gonna' clear this level earlier? Well, come and get me, if you dare." All Might threatens despite clearly being tired.

"Man this is... intense." Bakugo says from your side, causing you to turn and see his widened eyes. "As I expected, there's no reason for us to fight now, he'll handle this." Todoroki says as they begin to walk off, with you sticking behind to try and get Midoriya to follow. "C'mon Midoriya, (L/N), we should regroup with the other guys, last thing we want to do is be taken hostage or get in his way." Kirishima says with the other two boys.

"Deku?" You try to ask, nudging his shoulder a bit, but it's no use. Whatever he's thinking about, it's intense. By now, you're so close to passing out on the spot it isn't even funny, you're fighting a whole other battle to keep your eyes from closing and from keeping your body from collapsing.

"What, are you scared?" You hear All Might's voice boom before Kirogiri speaks. "Tomura Shigaraki! Please do not fret. Look at him, he has definitely weakened, Nomu's attacks were successful. He's on his own, the children appear to be frozen in fear, and look, our underlings are recovering. We likely still have a few minutes before their reinforcements arrive. If you and I work together, we can do this. We haven't missed our chance to kill All Might." The mist says, getting Shikiraki to calm down

"Shit, okay, not good. You're about to pass out and there's more fighting to do. Wonderful." You think to yourself while you shakily prepare yourself into a fighting stance. You're not sure how strong your webs will be now, but it'll have to do. "All Might can hold his own against those two main guys, let's make sure these dudes don't hurt anyone else." Kirishima says, preparing himself for battle.

You watch as Izuku disappears and reappears right next to All Might. "Woah, Midoriya!" Kirishima calls out after you all find him in the air. He yells something you can't understand before a hand reaches out of Kirogiri's must and aims right for Izuku's face. The hand is mere inches away from Deku before a gunshot goes off and shoots a hole straight through the pale hand More gunshots go off before you turn to see principal Nezu standing with more heroes than you care to count with Iida straight in front.

-

"Your class rep has returned! I've fulfilled my duty, and I've brought reinforcements!"

Chapter .06 teaser quote: "Fine, if he wants to be rivals, I'll be waiting."

Chapter .06 will be posted on March 8, 2025

Taglist: @mystic60@cupkiki

[burningcheese-merchant]

*PUSHES THE DISCOURSE OUT* Okay! I just wanted to talk about this bit of the story because I hardly see anyone giving it attention.

Remember there was this whole segment in BY 5, where it talked about the Soul Jams? It fascinated me of how it talked about the two halves shouldn't be united, since everything would perish because of the union. One could assume that it meant to emphasize the point that the Beasts should not get the other half of the Soul Jam, bu after the latest BY episodes, with the whole thing about PV and SM soul merging (no matter how brief it was), it feels like there could be more to the poem now.

Maybe it's my shipping brain making me delusional, but I feel like the poem might become applicaple in some way for the rest of the Beasts and Ancients later on in the story. I would absolutely go wild to see GC and BS soul merge-

Don't worry, I'm equally as delusional lmaoooooo and also, you have a point. As the Beast-Yeast storyline goes on, I feel like they're diving deeper into the truth of the Beasts and Ancients' dynamic: they're not just generic enemies, they're literal soulmates. Two halves of a whole. They want and need each other, they ARE each other in some ways, for better or worse. They went full mask-off with PV and SM but imo you see it in the other pairs and their episodes as well.

With the commentary in ep 5 about how the Soul Jams shouldn't reunite, I really think it's the more baseline thing of "if they reunite, BS will be unstoppable and evil wins". Eps 7 and 8 reveal the truth of the matter for ALL the pairs imo, not just PV and SM, which is that they belong together, it is actual, literal destiny, they are nothing without each other and define each other's lives and the virtues/vices they uphold. What is Truth without Deceit? What is Abundance without Destruction? These things simply cannot be, unless they are together. (BS himself even acknowledges it in one of his leaked affection lines: "You see, a world of Abundance can only be built on the ruins of the past". He admits that Abundance needs Destruction. That Golden Cheese needs him. And he needs her.)

I've said this before but I can honestly talk about the BurningCheese dynamic for SOOOOO long. They drive me insane. There's so much to dissect and analyze about them, but no one will do it except for me 😭 Look:

They even have their own "in the end, you will become me" moment 😭 their relationship is just as deep as PV and SM's, you guys... Please, I can't be the only one who sees and knows this......

(also... Dude. I would have KILLED to see them merge souls like PV and SM did. CAN YOU IMAGINE. BS already demonstrated that he cares about HER, not the Soul Jam, not really (he had it in his hands and he DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WITH IT. He just went "meh whatever this was supposed to happen" and then started whining and fussing about wanting to see GC again). Can you fucking imagine if they followed through with the line shown above and had GC give in to destruction, like how PV gave in to deceit? If GC had her own "corrupted" skin, like Truthless Recluse? I dare you to tell me BS wouldn't have been excited as all hell if she submitted to him like that. He was horny af throughout their fight, he would've busted a nut on the spot if that happened 😂 the concept has been haunting me since ep 8, I would've died happy if there had been a BurningCheese soul merge, God I need to learn to draw properly so I can bring that shit to life myself-)

[tokiro07]

Ichi the Witch ch.23 thoughts

[I'm Not Brutalized, But I Seem to Be Struck By You]

(Topics: character analysis - Gokuraku/Ichi/Kumugi, speculation - worldbuilding)

Confirmed! The new companion is, in fact, a man! And what a pretty man he is, too

I've always been a fan of those sorts of gauntlets and greaves, his hair has a lot of interesting things going on, the markings around his eyes are distinctive, and of course, as a freckle-haver myself, I'm quite impressed that Usazaki made those such a prominent part of his design

But before we dive into discussing our new best boy, though, I'd like to take a brief moment to talk about our previous one, Ichi, and his little uh...proposal for Kumugi

What'd He Mean By This?

It's immediately clear that Ichi doesn't actually have a firm grasp on the terms of the contract, as the literal first thing he does after learning that he's now indentured into Desscaras' servitude is draft his own copy of the contract and run to Kumugi, asking her to be his family too

What this tells us is that a) Ichi doesn't realize that he'd be endangering himself and Kumugi by doing this; b) he thinks that all it takes to forge a magical contract is a regular pen and paper; and c) his takeaway from that conversation with Desscaras was that they have, in fact, become family

Ichi is so excited by the prospect of having someone in his life who he knows won't leave him that he tries to apply it wherever he can, so naturally he goes to the only other friend he has, Kumugi. I won't suggest that this means that he feels anything romantic towards her, but he does value her and want her around. Even if he misunderstands the weight of what he asked, that misunderstanding in and of itself carries its own weight and implications, that he never wants Kumugi to leave him

Of course, from her perspective, he basically just waltzed in with a marriage license and said "let's get hitched." She doesn't have the context for what Ichi thinks that contract is for or even what it actually is in the first place. She saw paper and heard "family," and her imagination went wild. She does seem to appreciate that Ichi probably didn't know what he was saying, but that only leads to more confusion on her part: what did he think he was saying, and whatever it was, what prompted him to say it?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Kumugi starts to develop feelings for Ichi over the course of the story, but I'm also not quite sure that I want that, at least not yet. This doesn't seem like a story that's built on romance, meaningful glances and women drinking from each other's glasses notwithstanding, so unless Nishi lays a lot of groundwork first, I just don't see Ichi settling down or anything

That said, if Family is meant to be a major recurring theme, perhaps tackling the topic of marriage would be helpful for developing that theme? Marriage is a contract, so perhaps a comparison could be drawn between marriage and the Mentor-Pupil Blood Contract? Like how much control one relinquishes or gains in a wedded relationship vs. how much is lost as a Pupil

We can probably explore that fine with the contract on its own, but it already doesn't seem quite as all-powerful as I expected

The Ol' Ball-and-Chain

As the gang arrives at Origumo's nest, Ichi prepares to mozy on in without hesitation, only to be pulled back by Desscaras who gives him a number of orders: "don't rush in, don't get cocky, don't eat stuff off the ground," all of which Ichi acquiesces to. This is presumably because he is under magical contract and can't defy any order from Desscaras, except there's one more that he doesn't seem bound to follow

After he says yes to the orders, Desscaras pulls a Makima and insists that the correct response isn't "yes," but "woof." However, Ichi emphatically and successfully refuses this order, even though she tries it two more times

This implies one of two things: 1) Desscaras' orders aren't absolute and there is some mitigating factor such as the reasonability of the request or relevance to the mentor-pupil relationship; or 2) that wasn't a serious order and the spell is powered by intent, so an "order' like that that's only meant for banter doesn't necessarily count

It's a minor detail and one that doesn't really need to be dwelled on, but it's a pretty immediate inconsistency that I think is worth at least considering in the event of future contradictions

I think the exact wording or specific circumstance is important to consider as well, as Ichi does manage to defy the order not to charge in unprepared after seeing Gokuraku's treatment of Oniguro. Does the context of already being in the nest negate the timing of the order? Does he have some reign to say "I'm not unprepared, so now I can charge in?" It seems strange that he's already able to resist the contract after such a big deal was made about it, so I'd really like an in-depth explanation on the mechanics

I don't expect we'll get it for a little while if we're not getting it now, but one that I think we will get an explanation for is Gokuraku's armor

Gauntlet Thrown, Gauntlet Picked Up

The clearest takeway from this chapter is that, whether or not there are men aside from Ichi in the world who can use magic, Gokuraku is not one of them

And yet, when he kisses his ring and declares "Synchro Rate 10%," he seems to be able to augment his strength at will. This gives the impression that the kiss is meant to activate the ability of his armor and that this strength comes from it rather than purely from himself

My question is how

That sounds pretty similar to the leg augmentation of Ichi's magic boots, but that requires that the user charge them with magical energy. Gokuraku can't be using magical energy on his armor because he doesn't have magic to use, but we don't have a clear alternate energy source in the story yet

Gokuraku is either here specifically to introduce that new energy or technology or to expand on the lore of how magical items work. Perhaps the armor already has magic imbued into it from another Witch and that's what Gokuraku is synchronizing with?

Or maybe he's actually incredibly strong naturally and he's adjusting his physical output to a smaller amount to account for the current situation? The kanji used is "tekigou" (適合), meaning "compatibility/adaptability/conformity," so I could go either way, but I think it's clear that Gokuraku's strength is being scaled to something, and I'd really like to know what

The idea of compatibility is particularly interesting here because that seems to be Gokuraku's goal: to find a Magik that he's compatible with, but there's something about him that's making it impossible

Swipe Left

Some of Gokuraku's dialogue ("what a silly little Magik you are" in English or speaking with heart emojis ♥) and his actions (kissing his ring, attacking with a playful forehead flick, etc.) gives a sort of whimsically flirtatious vibe. It's almost like he's looking for a partner or a soulmate and trying to convince the Magiks to love him

I don't know if that is his motivation, but I think with the theme of Family starting to develop, I'd say someone that's desperate to find love would be a perfect angle to analyze the theme from at this point

Even better for that analysis is the fact that, despite thinking that he's just doing his best, Gokuraku is actually disincentivizing the Magiks from wanting to be with him by being cruel to them. Gokuraku may be looking for love, but he's not actually trying to find it, he's trying to take it by force

Gokuraku is, for the time being, an abuser

He's a toxic man who refuses to listen to what anyone else says if it contradicts his opinions or desires. It can't possibly be that he's incapable of acquiring a Magik, it has to be that the Magiks are either lying or lazy. They either know exactly what they need to do and are being stingy, or they aren't willing to put in the same work as he is to figure out a way around it

He's deluded himself into thinking that "magic" can do anything, can break any rule that proves inconvenient to it, inconvenient to him. If there isn't currently a way for a man to acquire a Magik, then the Magik should be able to cast a spell on him that will allow him to

But magic simply doesn't work that way. A Magik only has one spell. Maybe they can use it in different and clever ways, but they aren't miracle workers. They can't change the rules of the world, no matter how much they want to

And that's unacceptable to Gokuraku. Maybe it's because accepting it would mean giving up on some kind of dream. Maybe it's because admitting he was wrong would make everything he did to all of those Magiks pointless, a colossal waste of time. It would make him the bad guy

And I think that's the problem. It's his unwillingness to accept other people's perspectives to overwrite his own, his refusal to be open to anyone outside of himself, that's keeping him from acquiring a Magik, at least on a symbolic level. I don't think having a change of heart will get him what he wants immediately, but I think the narrative is keeping him from his goal because he's allowed that goal to turn him into a monster. He is not fit for a relationship, to be family with anyone, so he doesn't get to be

It'll only be when he abandons his ego and his insistence on everything going his one, specific and unreasonable way that he'll find what he's actually looking for in a place he never looked. Once he ceases to be cruel to Magiks, he'll be able to open his heart to humans and find his family among them

But he has to change first

Necessary Evils

From this introduction, it seems like it will be difficult to make Gokuraku an ally. Not because he won't be willing, he's already endeared to Ichi, but because Ichi already doesn't like him

While Ichi does take pleasure in killing, he only kills because it's necessary for survival. It needs to be done anyway, so he might as well enjoy it. However, suffering isn't necessary for survival. There's no sense in hurting a rabbit, the goal is to kill and eat it; drawing out the process only makes it more likely that the rabbit will get away, and will waste precious energy that the rabbit is supposed to be refueling. A quick, painless death is the most beneficial for everyone involved

The World Hater doesn't seem to take pleasure in anything, they only kill because it's necessary for ridding the world of the things they hate. It needs to be done as a matter of course, so emotional investment isn't necessary. The death they bring hurts, and clearly a lot, but likely not for long. The goal is to kill them and be done with it; drawing out the process only gives humanity time to breed more to replace the ones that died. A quick death without concern for pain or pleasure is the most efficient for the World Hater

Gokuraku has no desire to kill Magiks, he wants to acquire their spells, he just needs to convince them to let him do so. They're unreasonable and won't give him what he's earned when he passes their trial, so he has to retaliate. It's not like they'll die, they won't even be so much as scarred! They'll walk away exactly the same as they were before, and they know it, so he's gotta get a bit extreme to really make his case. And hey, if he's gonna be there for a while, he might as well have fun with it! The goal is to make them give up the goods, and it's completely up to them how long that takes. He doesn't want to hurt them, they're making him hurt them; they're drawing out the process, and the longer it goes, the more painful he has to make it to convince them that giving him what he wants is the only way to make it stop

Gokuraku's approach shows a complete lack of respect for the Magiks or their lives. He thinks because they'll heal that he can do whatever he wants, completely ignorant of the psychological damage that they'll be left with, and how that will impact their immortal lives going forward. Worse, he revels in that ignorance, whistling while he humiliates and tortures them in creative ways

Ichi can't possibly accept that. His philosophy of Death for Death assumes the capacity to die, a dignified conclusion to a battle for survival. Nothing that Gokuraku is doing helps him to survive, and doesn't offer a way out for the victim to escape. The Magiks are not a threat to Gokuraku, and he doesn't live longer because of their suffering - Death for Death does not apply anywhere in this process

The gulf between Ichi's philosophy and Gokuraku's actions is so wide, it would be near impossible to reconcile their differences without forcing Gokuraku to grow. Somehow, Ichi needs to prove to him that what he's doing is causing real harm for absolutely no benefit, and he himself needs to be able to admit that he's wrong

I see this going one of two ways - either Gokuraku gives up hurting Magiks but is still clearly a deeply unhinged and sadistic individual in every other aspect of his life, OR he has to fight the urge to be sadistic and struggles with it for the remainder of his storyline. I'm not sure which would be more fun to see, but either way, I'm very compelled by his character already and I greatly look forward to seeing how he develops

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[queer-reader-07]

i'm thinking back on the year i had and the beginning of 2023 feels so far removed from where i am now.

at the beginning of the year i was halfway through a year long course taught by the worst human i've ever had the displeasure of meeting and genuinely on the brink of a mental breakdown daily.

and then? the school year ended. i got to visit 5 new countries this summer, i went to 4 concerts (2 with my dad and 2 with my best friend), i spent so much time with my favorite people, i got into good omens (legitimately life changing), i've fallen in love with learning again, i've been reading & writing.

like damn. things do get better.

[lexosaurus]

I know that was a shitpost for the latest Danny Phantom fandom meme, but I'm genuinely impressed and how authentic it sounds. How much of Dash's monologue is real advice, and how do you know all of that? Do you work out?

Yes I'm so sorry to inform my good people of Tumblr that I've secretly been a part of the gym fandom for all this time. I've only recently come out as a gymbro in this phandom via my creation of the current dp gym bro au meme that I've forced upon everyone in this good holy christian space. I mix whey protein into my overnight oats, I track my macros, and I have a closet full of Gym Girlie Outfits™️.

And just know it's a badge of honor that I carry to be able to say I've converted multiple members of the Danny Phantom phandom into regular gym goers as well 💪

[seaofreverie]

Had the most awful ruined day because my flatmates who had been telling me that I'm not doing something (doing my portion of the weekly cleaning) that I very much DID do each week, decided today to fully reveal their awfulness and keep pestering me over it once more, telling me that I don't clean and asking me to tell them what exactly I cleaned like they're the owner of this flat and not just someone I'm sharing a living space with, and all the while I was being polite about it and not attacking them over all the things I could be bitching about if I were them, like how THEY don't clean after themselves and how they're loud at 4am and keep inviting friends several times a week. What I got in return was that they apparently thought I wasn't home so after I stopped texting them the same thing over and over they all met up and loudly made fun of me and congratulated each other over the "sick burns" they threw at me and implied that they think I'm stupid and somehow don't understand what I'm being told. All the while I was sitting in my room wanting to blow the entire place up because I needed to leave for a meeting I had later and couldn't leave that godforsaken flat.

[la-galaxie-langblr]

So Much happening, lots of it good but So Much

[mortellanarts]

2023 go bye bye

[ratspider]

i gotta be honest i am stoked to be a janitor. i see mops and i get excited

[loverboybrightsideghost]

i really do love practicing 🎻

[trans-yllz]

latest news in the ben learns to drive saga is that we practiced in a stick shift today and it was evil and I hated it. BUT THEN we went back to the other car and I drove myself all the way home even along a busy street for a few blocks and then I parked in a parking spot and everything 😌

[waitineedaname]

I am going to tear my hair out

[trebeksfault]

[sysig]

Me while rereading: You should kill him

Also:

They marriages hehe ♥

[spotforme]

it's very stupid