#dragon tries to explain

[dragon-of-timeless-blue]

The Free! soundtrack art and the evolution of Haruka Nanase 🐟

aka: Dragon is obsessed with the Free! soundtrack and finds symbolism in everything

Ok, here I am again, overanalyzing aspects of the official art of Free! and finding symbolism too obvious or taken from heavens knows where, Specifically, and in honor of Haruka's birthday, I'm going to be talking about a subject that drives me completely crazy in a good way:

The album cover art of the soundtracks of the different seasons/films of the series

🏊‍♂️*** 🏊‍♂️

The Free! soundtrack makes me immensely happy, and for that matter, not only the music perfectly conveys the feelings and motives of each season and scene, but also the art of the album does it, in addition to showing the stage of the series and especially the character development of Haruka

Ever Blue Sounds

The first music album of the entire franchise,

In this first art we can see Haru with headphones made of bubbles in what appears to be an underwater environment.

I really like the shades of blue and the fragmented and triangular shapes, because despite giving a feeling of "imprisonment" due to the shades of colors, we have a kinder aura, the blue that surrounds Haru is bright and shinny, as if that light came from the surface...

And precisely we have Haruka, with an expression softly amazed and even nostalgic looking at the surface, that is to say: the origin of light

I think you already know where I want to go with this, Haru underwater, still sunk in the waters of the past, longing for the light that is on the surface

All this concept of Haru submerged and being guided to the surface by "the light" reminds me a lot of this specific part of the opening

it's too obvious the headphones are there because this is the soundtrack art, but imagining they had some kind of hidden meaning I would like to think that they symbolize how alienated and isolated that Haru was with his own feelings, stopping swimming as he usted to even tho he longed to swim again with his friends like that time,

Clear Blue Notes

The soundtrack of the second season (and of the following ones) is at times basically a variation and reference to the most important melodies of the first season, and the concept of art is also similar and seems to refer to the previous one but with a completely different attitude.

The environment is already more "watery" if we can say it that way, the darker shades of blue no longer occupy part of the the foreground and blend very nicely with the other tones, The same goes for the bubbles that hardly appear anymore.

However, we still have the light, here, in fact, way more clearer and more visible, the surface feels closer and the light surrounds everything. Haru here has an expression of amazement, that light getting closer, waiting for him, so coarse and beautiful, his attention is totally focused on that brightness, and from the pose he is in he gives us the feeling that he is about to follow it, to swim after it as freely as he can, as if he were about to reach out his hand towards that light, that light in a brand new scenery

JUST LOOK AT THE BRIGHTNESS IN HIS EYES, HES FINALLY KNOWIING THE FUTURE HE WANTS TO FOLLOW, THE WORLD HE WANTS TO BE PART OF IS JUST SO SLXNOENXLSNX

Deep Blue Harmony

I'll have my opinions about DTF but something undeniable is that the soundtrack is just so cool (i mean, this is where "Rhythm of a new sensation" appears), but, anyways, the intentions in this one are quite clear...

The surface is positioned right above Haruka, a smile is drawn on his face, the future its just around the corner, I feel that those circles In addition to being used to emphasize the light that now directly bathes Haru, it also gives me the feeling of "being accompanied" all of Haru's friends will be there to support him and he has returned to meet old "circles" of friends.

Over Blue Refrain

The soundtrack of the first part of The Final Stroke, unlike what happens with the soundtrack of the first and second season, here the music of the first part is actually a reference to the second part (specifically to the main melody "the final stroke"), and something paradoxical that I think happens with this art is that the pose, expression and environment seem to be a reference to the art of another album... but i'll talk about that in a moment.

HARU IS FINALLY ON THE SURFACE!!

The blue of the sky and the blue of the water that splashes they unite and contrast, Haru observes something, as if analyzing his new horizon, amazed and finally at the starting point to fulfill the dream...

Now, The reference and parallel I was talking about earlier is this:

Pure Blue Scenes

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

This is the art of the "Starting Days" soundtrack, and i love it so so much, Haruka's uncertainty, entering a new phase of her high school life and the inevitable changes that entails, his look, with a hint of nostalgia precisely turning to see the cherry blossom petals (aka: memories of the relay and specifically of Rin)

The parallel here is very straightforward, the entrance to the "new world" and changes and remember the true core of swimming (swim with friends / be free)

🏊‍♂️***🏊‍♂️

I could talk about the artwork for the character songs or the other movies, but to keep this short, I'll end with a quick mention of the artwork for The Final Stroke vol. 2 because it's literally the one that breaks the chain that I've been trying to explain and that threw me off when I first saw it, but hey, here I go

Never Ending Blue

To be honest as much as i totally adore the TFS2 soundtrack the cover of this latest album makes me quite boring compared to the others, but it still has its charm...

A determined expression, Haruka in a more "sketch style" as if implying that it is the beginning of a new era.

I think that one of the reasons why this cover doesn't cause me much emotion is because it looks more like a cover that one could find on some music record without thinking that has to do directly with a series or something like that is how I feel, and precisely thinking about this was that I remembered what album it vaguely reminded me of:

This is the OLCODEX album in which Rage On (the opening of the first season of de Free!) can be found (there is also the single but conveniently let's ignore that), the design of their albums is similar to each other and, idk, im probably reading too much into it but my theory is that by having an OLCODEX song for the anime one last time, the soundtrack art is a tribute to the album where the first song comes out...

ANYWAYS, THAT WAS MY RAMBLING OF THE DAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARUKA, THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR EVERYTHING I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LEARN AND SMILE THANKS TO FREE!, I HOPE I CAN FACE THE FUTURE WITH THE SAME RESOLUTION AS YOU, U R LITERALLY BEST BOY LOVE U 😭💙🐟🌊❤️

[inkskinned]

it is all chaos and entropy. the thing is that the chaos and entropy make it beautiful and lovely.

yes, it's true that nature and the universe are uncaring and unspecific, and that is terrifying. i have lived through some of the unfairness - i got born like this, with my body caving into itself, with this ironic love of dance when i sometimes can't stand up for longer than 15 minutes. i am a poet with hands that are slowly shutting down - i can't hold a pen some days. recently i found a dead bird on our front porch. she had no visible injuries. she had just died, the way things die sometimes.

it is also true that nature and the universe are uncaring and unspecific, and that is wonderful. the sheer happenstance that makes rain turn into a rainbow. the impossible coincidence of finding your best friend. i have made so many mistakes and i have let myself down and i have harmed other people by accident. nature moves anyway. on the worst day of my life she delivers me an orange juice sunset, as if she is saying try again tomorrow.

how vast and unknowing the universe! how small we are! isn't that lovely. the universe has given us flowers and harp strings and the shape of clouds. how massive our lives are in comparison to a grasshopper. the world so bright, still undiscovered. even after 30 years of being on this earth, i learned about a new type of animal today: the dhole.

chance echoing in my life like a harmony between two people talking. do you think you and i, living in different worlds but connected through the internet - do you think we've ever seen the same butterfly? they migrate thousands of miles. it's possible, right?

how beautiful the ways we fill the vastness of space. i love that when large amounts of people are applauding in a room, they all start clapping at the same time. i love that the ocean reminds us of our mother's heartbeat. i love that out of all the colors, chlorophyll chose green. i love the coincidences. i love the places where science says i don't know, but it just happens.

"the universe doesn't care about you!" oh, i know. that's okay. i care about the universe. i will put my big stupid heart out into it and watch the universe feast on it. it is not painful. it is strange - the more love you pour into the unfeeling world, the more it feels the world loves you in return. i know it's confirmation bias. i think i'm okay if my proof of kindness is just my own body and my own spirit.

i buried the bird from our porch deep in the woods. that same day, an old friend reaches out to me and says i miss you. wherever you go, no matter how bad it gets - you try to do good.

[kaleidoru]

see you in hell i guess

[galactaknightyaoi]

It's my OCs' first birthday today, yippie!! They're enjoying their birthday with some tiny company and a horribly baked cake. But it's the thought that counts!

These are Pai, Aurelio, and Lizzie. They are a couple and run a diner together in the low suburbs of Halcandra. Their shop also serves as a safe space and shelter for other Star Borns just like them.

They also tend to take in the more little ones of their kind, soon after they've first formed. They look after them and teach them stuff, before letting them go to live independently. But they're always welcome back in their house! Be it for shelter, or a nice cup of coffee.

More about them under the cut. Be warned it gets kinda long.

Pai's ability is Cook. When he was little, he used to use his ability to make food to share with his whole neighborhood as a way of uniting everyone.

Since then he's been steadily building towards a goal, to open his very own Diner. He wanted to create a space for his community to thrive in, though he was severely disadvantaged in such a large city.

He's not one to give up and he always looks on the positive side of things. He tends to spoil the kids they look after with treats, and has a hard time saying no, so he often takes on more than he can handle.

He is the one that looks after the well-being of the kids, and generally, things that require a bit more... Tact. He looks after them when they're sick or injured, which is how he ends up meeting future GSA founders Arthur, Erebus, and Anansi.

Aurelio grew up in a scrapyard with 6 others of their kind, being kept there as guard dogs for the paranoid old man who owned the place. They were encouraged to fight each other for fun, which is how they got the scar across their face.

When they got too big and troublesome, most of them were kicked out of their home and left to fend for themselves.

Aurelio's Spear ability eventually landed them a job as a Knight for Halcandra's elites, where they worked alongside a few of their friends. Their job was to guard the meeting room and defend their assignment from threats.

A few years into this job, they and other soldiers were given a mission. A pair of dragons were nesting at the bottom of the Haldera Volcano, they had to get them out. Dragons are calm if not provoked, so relocation shouldn't be difficult...

As it turns out, the dragons were a mated pair. A male and a female, and they were viciously protecting their egg clutch.

In the battle against the dragons, Aurelio was injured and burned by fire, but their natural fire immunity allowed them to be one of the few survivors. Nevertheless, the Knights were successful in their mission and managed to drive the dragons out.

The 4 eggs that weren't crushed during the battle were passed off to the Ancients for research. They became the Guardian Angel Landia later on.

She was forced to retire from Knighthood at age 31. Due to the lasting effects of their injuries, Aurelio is the one who spends most of the time with the children. For better and for worse.

Because of their childhood, they have very skewed ideas of how to treat children. She'll often put them in dangerous situations unintentionally since she has no frame of reference to tell her that taking kids out to the Gator Pond isn't a very good idea.

Aurelio teaches the rougher life lessons. They've been through quite a bit, so they want the kids to learn how to defend themselves, and to be careful and not have others take advantage of them.

She does most of the disciplining and the one that gives timeouts and other such punishments. She is of the opinion that sometimes rough love is necessary to set someone straight. She's calm and loving, but a bit stuck in the old way of doing things.

Lizzie, real name Angeliz, is a 2-time college dropout who grew up upper class despite her species' disadvantage. She never had many friends growing up, since other kids didn't really like her, and resigned herself to being what her parents wanted her to be.

She tried to study medicine but quit after 2 years. Not wanting to further disappoint her parents, she went into law. Which she also hated but tried to commit to finishing despite how miserable it made her.

Meeting Pai and Aurelio helped her get through the year, but after Aurelio was injured, she quit law and started living with them. She helped Pai balance his business with taking care of Aurelio and eventually used some of the money she still had left to give Pai's Diner the little push forward it needed.

Despite the many etiquette classes she took as a child, Lizzie completely lacks social skills. She's a total disaster, especially when talking to someone she likes. Once she gets comfortable, her true personality starts to shine through.

She's a huge slob and kind of vulgar despite her cute appearance. She's easily angered and does not like to be teased, which makes putting up with bratty kids more difficult for her.

She tends to treat kids as little adults instead, which causes her to not be very mindful of their sensitivities. Even when in a good mood, trying to do her best, she always ends up saying the wrong thing and makes everything worse.

She handles the business aspect of their Diner, crunching numbers and reading over legal documents. She's really smart and knowledgeable, so she's the one who tends to teach kids reading, writing, and math.

Her ability is Bubble. She never used to like it, it was silly and useless to her, so she kept it hidden for years. After meeting her partners and becoming happy, she's started blowing bubbles more frequently. The kids love them.

[writer-room]

Hey. The Finders have no idea that Bonzle was captured. Fritz and Spitz are still waiting, playing video games in the Monastery, for Cole to bring their sister out of hiding now that the blood moon is over. Geo is still sitting by the window, watching and waiting for a dragon on the horizon to return his kid safe and sound. Cole took a very unsure Bonzle, assured them all everything would be okay, and they'd be back soon. He promised he'd find a way to protect her.

Don't think about how they'll smile when Cole finally trudges back, happy to know he's okay. Especially don't think about the Finders stopping, looking out over the group, and how Cole can't look them in the eyes when they turn to him and ask; where's Bonzle?

[mightierthanthecanon]

[sapphire-draw]

When life gives you fire, make marshmallows

Oh.

Originally these were some tiny low-quality doodles mixed in with other nonsense but I redrew them digitally for clarity.

Here's the comparison.

(Can't even erase a line without vaporizing the whole drawing.)

[batfossil-fr]

after playing FR for over 9 years ive realized it has become impossible to explain to people what has kept me here this long without sitting them down and giving them a several hour long lecture about the intricacies of petsite economies

[peppermint-jade]

not at all what I normally post, but I just have to talk about this book. As an amateur Arthurian nerd who is slightly out of practice, this book was amazing. Now granted, the King Arthur Brainrot has been on the downlow for a bit for me, but safe to say I'm back into it. I picked it up on a whim and finished it in record time (I don't have the time/energy to read like I used to) so I know it's good. It's so refreshing to read something Arthurian by someone who gets it??? Like.... so much good stuff here. we have:

Kay centric narrative (!!!)

Historical accuracy for the 6th century! (mentions of no plate armor, accurate weapons, place names, romans, saxons, etc)

Galehaut (who I didn't even know existed but am now obsessed with. what do you mean he acted like a romantic rival to Gwenhwyfar??? (as her name is spelled in the book))

on that subject, queer Lancelot

Warrior King Arthur (who swears like a sailor and is depicted in a unique, almost negative light)

Glastonbury Tor as a central location (yes I know he was "buried" at the abbey but the tor is so iconic)

calling the sword from the lake Caliburn rather than Excalibur

Neutral Morgan le Fey/Morgana figure (sorta net positive I guess)

Christopher Marlowe is here

probably more stuff I'm forgetting tbh

anyways please someone go read this book. It's very good I promise. Especially if you're an Arthurian nerd. You can tell the author had all of this knowledge and decided to write about it, rather than an author who decided to write about an Arthurian topic then researched it if that makes sense.

[lilcetis]

callum doesn't get enough respect for his lunacy. like sure, he's a fool in love, but he's also fool out of love, okay! this idiot tried a lightning spell he didn't know the words for and almost electrocuted poor rayla #neverforget 😭

[transmasc-rose]

RULES: make a poll with 5 of your all-time favorite characters and then tag 5 people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favorite! (tagged by @seaweedstarshine)

Tagging (don't worry if you don't want to/have done it already!): @transgenderdoctorwhomst @27-27-gruff-triplets @quietwingsinthesky @lost-tardis-room @a-shard-of-quartz-lol

[dragon-of-timeless-blue]

I KNOW THIS SCENE IS SERIOUS AND ALL BUT BUT-

I just think Is so funny ok?

LIKE, first we got Ikuya just like looking the whole situation like he was looking at a bug squashed on the pavement

Then, Makoto looking like that guy from jurasicc park trying to keep everything in order

THE FACES ARE JUST SAYING "DUDE U OK??" THEY LOOK SO CONFUSED LMAAO

"I'm going at the speed of light, Haruka-sempai, wait for me"

A wild Nao spotted in the background:

AND OFC LETS NOT FORGET THAT THIS ALL HAPPEN WHILE RINHARU IS BEING GAYER THAN EVER (if that is even possible)

sorry I had to GET that out of muy system...

[wolfs-writing-den]

Snippet #1 - Aftermath

Obi-Wan and Dragon!Anakin escape, with the main casualty being Anakin’s arm. This is the late-night, unedited, rambling edition of a conversation that comes later- after the reveal that Dragon!Anakin is In Fact Vader The Sith.

Dw tho. I’m sure things go fine later. Mace is gonna be thrilled.

•Snippet Below!•

“Vader… your arm needs treatment. This ship’s kit barely has a decent strip of bacta, you need professional medical treatment-“

“Then drop me off at the next spaceport, and go home, Obi-wan.”

The Jedi seemed torn, and at that he could only growl through clenched teeth. The room swayed, another flash of pain left him almost breathless, clouding his senses and adding to the fog coating his thoughts.

Obi-Wan was shaking his head. Why was Obi-Wan shaking his head?

“I’m not going to abandon you.”

“Why not?!”

“Because you are injured! Severely!”

“That has never stopped anyone before!” Anakin’s growl turned thunderous, eyes flashing sickly golden-yellow. Obi-Wan faltered, before setting his jaw and staring back just as fiercely.

“Jedi do not just discard their allies- their friends- so easily.”

“Good, because I am neither-“ Anakin hissed, irritation and pain fueling his ire against this stubborn, stupid old man. “- I am a Monster, Jedi Knight. Worse even- a Sith Monster.” He spat, teeth sharpening into fangs even as a white-hot pounding in his bones warned against any further shift.

“I don't need your mercy or your help.”

The sad look he got from Obi-Wan in response only stoked the flames. With a bitter curse he moved to stand- only to try and brace himself with his missing hand. A guttural cry ripped from his throat as the roughly-bandaged remains of his forearm failed him, sending him to the floor in a rather inelegant heap.

Or well- he would’ve ended up there had Obi-Wan not caught him. He fell limp against the Jedi, his remaining hand clutching the other’s robes as he let himself be guided down to their knees. The gentleness and care that Obi-Wan took startled him, so abruptly different from his usual existence. It felt utterly surreal, like this was all merely a fever dream.

“No monster would’ve saved my young padawan like you did- no sith would’ve taken the care to ensure safe escape for all those slaves at the camp.”

“…” Anakin shivered, falling into the warmth of the Jedi holding him up, breathing ragged and broken. His arm burned, his senses felt muddled- the force was muted in a way it never had been before and instinctively, he knew it was associated with the loss of his arm. It would never be the same again.

“I- I am no friend of the Jedi.” His voice felt hoarse, and his words lost their bite. He was pretty sure he’d reopened something and was bleeding all over Obi-Wan. “You and Ahsoka don’t count. You’re both crazy.”

He got a quiet chuckle at that.

“But I’m serious. What do you think will happen when you bring me back to that fancy temple of yours on Coruscant?”

“You’ll get medical treatment, and proper care afterwards. You have valuable information- a deal could be struck for your safety. A sort of witness protection.”

Anakin could only blink up at the man owlishly, his sheer naivety astounding. “Obi-Wan…. I’ll be put in suppressing cuffs and thrown in the brig. They’ll torture whatever information they want out of me and then kill me if they know what’s good for them.”

Even before he was done talking, the other’s head was shaking ‘no’. Again. Damn him.

“Please- trust me. If you can’t trust the Jedi, trust in me. I won’t let your wounds go untreated- you lost your arm saving us, Vader. If you don’t get treatment now you may lose your life-“ his voice cracked, and to Anakin’s flagging consciousness, the emotion over something so trivial made absolutely no sense.

But… Obi-Wan believed it. The truth of his promise chimed out into the force, even muted as it was. He was so, so tired…..

“Fine.” He huffed, “do as you see fit.” Black spots flitted in and out of his vision- making his head hurt something fierce. He thought he may have heard his name being called as his eyes slid shut and he slumped against the warmth at his side- but he was unconscious again before it could matter.

Obi-wan was left holding his new charge- hoping desperately that he wasn’t making some horrible, horrible mistake.

•✨🐉•

[theknittingshadow]

Can we please have more moments where Mei gets sooo protective of MK, you can’t help but remember she’s a dragon? she doesn’t hoard gold or jewels but MK is precious to her. He’s her best friend and her greatest treasure.

We can add Red Son to her hoard too

[sqlmn]

I never draw Adlyn and he's really cute ??? So here's an Adlyn feeling absolutely betrayed when Pops says "easy enough thanks to your Family Messenger Dragon swooping in" to Vikrahm. How dare Vik have a family messenger dragon and NOT TELL HIS BESTIE.

Adlyn is a mage who is most attuned to fire and he's trying to teach Vikrahm but sadly, that guy doesn't have much magic ability AT ALL so it's mostly just them hanging out while Adlyn does magic.

[tetras-stuff]

day something of romancing solas for the first time and I'm obsessing over the angst potential so much that my bf has told me twice to shut up about solas (lovingly)