#from every perspective lmao

[waterimark]

oh we are so back

Sketch under the cut!

[dawnthefluffyduck]

Class got canceled so I drew while zoning out to music with the extra free time

[witch--tips]

you NEVER need to wait “until you have the money” to start practicing witchcraft. you do not need ANY money for witchcraft. you can have all the money in the world and practice witchcraft every single day without spending a single cent on it. everything you need you already have, inside of you and around you as well.

[a-most-beloved-fool]

sometimes, that fictional man from your tv shows does actually like women. like, he can like men, too, but sometimes that fictional man is pansexual. not gay. it isn't always comphet, i promise. you can write that he's loved women. it doesn't take away from his queerness.

[coredrill]

funniest thing abt bravern is that isami goes around saying shit like “there’s no point in saving the world if smith’s not here” “i’m not strong enough to do this but smith made me feel like i could” “hey smith i feel your dick” “smith gets full body waxes?” and also literally begging smith to talk to him from beyond the grave (in a callback to their first conversation no less!) and yet the poor dude is like. struggling to hold onto his spot as the third gayest character in his own show LMFAO

[nanihirunkits]

one of us has to take one for the team and tell directors and editors that we do not need 34798284 angles of the exact same kiss .and while we're at it we should also talk about the overuse of slo-mo during pivotal moments

[protect-namine]

I am about to start a neji route (because I feel that I need at least three playthroughs to fully understand neji and his plays, so I can't leave him for last). so my thoughts on this may change, but for the moment, my thesis is that neji and kisa are the same kind of thespian, just in different fonts.

(I am slightly exaggerating kisa'a character here. there are hints and I do think pushing the envelope of what her character could be is part of what makes kisa... kisa. as I'll explain later, for better and worse, kisa is constrained by the conventions of being an otome heroine.)

anyway. in essence. neji turns Other Persons into stories,

and kisa turns Other Persons into performances,

while they both simultaneously run away from, avoid, or sacrifice Becoming Persons themselves, for the sake of theater

or maybe it's the other way around. something something discovery if not recognition of the self through the other... except they're both unreliable narrators so who's to say if the recognition actually takes hold, really. kisa at least is a little bit self aware. neji, on the other hand, deals with realizations of the self through writing, without actually processing them (e.g. ms robin, domina, etc).

I keep thinking about (novel) kisa closing her eyes and feeling like her sense of self would melt away until tsuki centers her and gives her theater as a way to heal from the grief of losing her mother. it happens again during tsuki's univeil performance: kisa curling in on herself and tsuki pulling her back to theater as way to help kisa move forward with her dreams. pretending to be others is more fun than being herself.

and then there is neji (insert spiderman pointing at spiderman meme). but in his case, he would rather play eccentric roles, caricatures, comic relief, than be a Person With Depth on stage. neji is always either a seer of some kind (a fortune teller, a ghost who sees 10 seconds into the future) or a bit character (employee A), or... whatever he initially planned for domina. he is the mechanic behind the stage, but never the lead actor. his vulnerabilities do not need to "stolen" for the story, though others' are fair game.

kisa does not think about gender as it applies to herself in her daily life (mostly) and only sees it through the lens of acting and theater. how does she act mukai vs maiden, charles vs chicchi? the same way that neji does not think about the motifs and characters he writes as a window to himself, but rather as objects to be put on stage. rukiora is based on a younger neji, mary jane is I Am Death: Revisited (mary jane is to takihime as gashadokuro is to jacob), sissia is always meant to be the foil to I Am Death. but neji doeen't really understand that just like how he didn't understand oh rama havenna. sissia (kisa route, jack jeanne ver) is to kisa as domina is to neji.

literally kisa at her most extreme is just theater thoughts 24/7

kisa "I don't like being me; I'd rather be other people" tachibana 🤝 kokuto "I need to experiment and witness visions I can't create or I'll die" neji: this is a totally sane and Normal way to cope with abandonment and grief 👍

(it is not implied in the game, but since kisa turned to theater to cope with grief as a child, I wonder if the reason she never looks too deeply into tsuki's disappearance is because she's once again using theater as an excuse to conveniently Not Think About It. out of sight, out of mind. tsuki must be doing well, wherever he is, whatever it is he's doing.)

there is also the meta perspective of how kisa in-game inhabits a role where the player can (and is expected to) self-insert. otome dictates that protagonist kisa must be malleable to the player (who can choose to focus on a variety of relationships in her stead), and the plot dictates that actor kisa must be malleable to her stage roles (jack or jeanne, maiden or hero, flower or vessel), and novel kisa dictates that kisa must malleable to pretending to be other people because it's more preferable to being herself.

every thought she has about herself must be tied to acting, somehow. kisa's personhood is defined through stagecraft. she is the maiden, and mukai, and charles, and chicchi, and sissia. she can romance anyone in the school, of the player's choosing. she can be jack, and jeanne, and jack jeanne. don't get me wrong; kisa is her own character and has a strongly defined personality, but the story also demands for her to be malleable. a painting and a blank canvass at the same time.

neji externalizes where kisa internalizes. where kisa Must Perform™ to function and to avoid herself, neji Must Create™ to function and to avoid himself. scriptwriter neji dictates that neji must use everything at his disposal — his memories, his classmates, his obscure knowledge — as inspiration for stories. director neji dictates that he must use everything he knows about his actors — their complexes, their relationships, their weaknesses and strengths — as inspiration for stories. from the cook (mitsuki) needing apricots for a recipe and wanting to harvest honey from a beehive, to mary jane (fumi) being good at sewing and wanting an equal in jacob. suzu and sou fighting and developing a rivalry leads to jire and fugio fighting over chicchi. kai limits himself as a vessel in hasekura, and kai learns to embrace his desires as the priest. from the water/ocean/drowning themes, to rukiora being based on neji's younger self, and her family life and relationship with domina.

every thought neji has must be tied to stories, somehow. neji's personhood is scattered through stagecraft. the more you read his plays and lyrics, the more you get a glimpse of who he is. it is to the point that neji himself doesn't... really see how his stories reflect himself. ms robin being a "random" song the jazz lounge singer sings thay hasekura and ando can dance to, oh rama havenna being a so-so throwaway play that neji doesn't understand why it's entertaining. lmao. neji, please.

and this is why when problems arise, neji becomes a demanding director and kisa becomes a chameleon actor with a shaky sense of self (we don't really see this a lot because jack jeanne is not that dark of a story and kisa is still an otome heroine of an uplifting game, but it's a reasonable conclusion if you push hard on the kisa from neji's "good morning" exercise, or kisa going ham on method acting as charles. kinda wish the game explored more of that. I think a very stressed kisa can get lost in method acting, just as a very stressed neji is almost paralyzed by the fear of the death of talent).

idk where I was going with this. just. them. they have the same issues, just in different fonts. and I think that's actually what first attracts neji to kisa. kisa "steals" (to borrow neji's own words) just like him. kisa is a fountain of inspiration, an ever changing muse. and neji provides kisa with an endless amount of prompts and characters for her to inhabit. kisa does like to play pretend a lot. that's why she's in theater!

kisa and neji: Art Imitates Life people stuck in a Life Imitates Art video game

ANYWAY usual disclaimer that I'm jotting down livebloghing thoughts and I know some spoilers to neji's route but I'm only just about to actualy start his playthrough so. yeah. this was drafted all the way back in may lol, opinions may change and all that

[dnangelic]

honestly understanding is different from acceptance and dark and daisuke don't really ever ask for anyone to understand them. dark especially super doesn't care and doesn't ever even have first hope of anybody understanding him. it's okay if you or your muse don't 'get' how dark and daisuke work because it doesn't really matter, knowing how they work is for Me, the Mun. what DOES actually matter to them is whether or not you think they're still like, cool and worth talking to or being friendly with. you don't have to get what goes on between them as long as you can acknowledge the absolutely baseline understanding that they are the same person. that's enough.

[bibururokku]

One of my friends just sent me this picture with nothing but the words "You with Kaiser," which has made every verbal spat I've had with him in RP exponentially funnier to me.

For context, Kaiser is 186 cm or 6'1", and I'm 4'11" or 151 cm, so this is the same exact height difference I'd have with him. Though I know Rin is also the same height, so this would apply to him too, LOL.

[todayisafridaynight]

I’m fairly new to the fandom, but I do have a question if you can answer it! Why do people ship Daigo with Aoki / Masato? I tried looking to see if they’ve interacted before, but couldn’t find anything! Sorry for asking I’m just </3 dumb AND I LOVE YOUR ART OF THEM!!! Nerd looking ahhhhhh

hi ! welcome to the community i hope you're having a lovely time so far and ty for enjoyin my stuff :) no need for apologies it's a very fair question to have :]

i cant speak for everyone (all. ten people into masadai anyway) but Personally To Me i just think the idea of them together is very funny. thats quite literally it im afraid..

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

I know I'd decided to only write one more bowuigi fic aside from the one I'd already written but I can't stop thinking about the idea of Bowser repeatedly kidnapping Peach for relationship advice and Peach getting so fed up with him about it that she tricks Luigi into being her body double so that Bowser kidnaps him instead and they can talk like Actual Adults instead of using her as a third party to vent to all the time

[beepsparks]

Hyperfixating on something you never really acknowledged too much previously is actually so funny because then you’ll start doing deep dives into the thing you faintly remember from like years ago and go “OH MY GOD I DIDNT KNOW (blank)???”

[nebulouscoffee]

Me, attending the latest in a ridiculous number of funerals this year in the place of a childhood friend who couldn't be there, watching the lifeless body of an old lady who used to make me snacks in the kitchen when I was a kid be carted away forever while my friend's mother cries and tells me she's grateful I could be there because it felt like having the support of her own daughter, hugging her and talking reassuringly and not processing a single one of these emotions: ... I am going to write soooo much fanfiction about this

[tea-of-destiny]

*voice of a guy who all but disappeared over the last month because he's already got too much to do* you know what would be fun? if i did some kind of month-long drawing challenge during this end part of the year

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also was revisiting a little bmc bway interview ft. william last night & him saying his favorite part of the show was probably doing the agtikbi reprise scene on the couch at the party & mentioning the Nonverbal aspect of jeremy & christine's interacting / communicating there & a way of exploring/depicting Love & Affection in a way you don't always see everywhere and like aaaarghhhhh so true good lord that specific scene. and Again the bway obcr version Existing and being like that, it's just like. winded exhale yeah obsessed 5ever thank you all

[crimson-catalyst]

wrote some prose for my december 2023 neph prompt, "gift shopping" ft Jesse, Oliver, and their sister @skittykittycat's Ersie! enjoy Jesse being a piece of work <3

~~~~~

"Anyone special you’re getting a gift for?" Ashleigh waggles her eyebrows, making conversation as she and Jesse leave class. 

Jesse rolls his eyes. “I have no more time to date anyone than the last time you asked me. Nor money to go shopping with.”

“You’re not shopping at all? Nothing for your family or anything?” she looks shocked, almost hurt, her little ears drooping. Different strokes for different folks, he figured; Seasons' Gifting had never been such a big deal to Jesse, besides as a reason to ask his parents for things.

He shrugs. “They live all the way in Roost. I'm not gonna get something there intact in time.”

“No like- don’t you live with your brother?? and isn't your sister here in town too??”

“oh” Jesse blinks, “right.”

Ashleigh circles in front of him, corralling him as she walk backwards. “Have you really never gotten them Seasons’ Gifts before??”

Jesse quirks an ear. “Not really, no. Ersie moved out before I had my own money and Mom and Dad have always gotten everything for me and Oliver.”

“omg." she practically prances, little hooves clipping excitedly on the ground. "Then you totally should!! Start a tradition!!”

“Wouldn't it be weird?”

“Of course not!! You're an adult now - mostly. You've got your own place and you're independent! You should totally pick something out for them, it'll be fun!”

He tilted his head, thinking. “I guess I could,” it did sound fun. Maybe he could be the star bringing them closer, starting a new tradition between them all. Surely they wouldn't have thought to get him anything; it wasn’t really a habit for the Sceo siblings...

-- How did he get here, again?

Jesse stares blankly at the shelves in a street-level shop selling… whatever this shit was. Glass sculptures clearly from molds, mass-produced macrame that'd fall apart in a month, stock photos printed on canvas. Useless knick-knacks and dustables. Kitsch. He wrinkles his nose and pointedly looks away from the display of fish shaped mugs so contorted they were long past useable for drink.

You're buying gifts for Ersie and your stupid brother, he reminds himself. How’d you let yourself get suckered into this one?

He didn't know what they’d want. It's not like they ever shared their interests with him. All Ersie ever did these days was get on his case, after she insisted on dragging the twins out and about with her to socialize. And Oliver was… Oliver. He hid in his room for days and days and only showed his face for food he didn't have to make. Jesse feels his lip curl in annoyance.

Whatever. Whatever!! This isn't what he was here for. He heaves a sigh and shakes his head to clear it, trying to calm down. Maybe all this’d be a good reason for them to open up more with him. He had been pretty busy with school and hadn't been able to devote them that much of his time and attention, after all. What in the world could he get them, though? He really didn't know what either of them liked these days - although at the very least, he certainly wasn't going to find what he was looking for in this shop.

C'mon, Jesse, brainstorm. Ersie's easy she just likes lights. She wears them all the time and she won't shut up about her light shows when you get her going.... didn't Ashleigh just show you her new fairylights in her dorm?? Done. Sorted. He mentally pats himself on the back. This was easy. Ashleigh would love that she was his inspiration. Now Oliver.....

Gods. He really did just spend all his time in his room, out of sight and talking quietly to his Whisker chat. Video games would be an easy answer but he definitely had all the ones he wanted, sometimes even before they were released; and he knew way more about his ludicrous gamer tech than Jesse ever would. Neither of those would work. He'd have to get a little more creative. As he passes the last shelf in the store he stops and thinks. Maybe...

--

"HEY hi Jesse sorry, I only finally got out of work!!" Ersie adjusts her grip on her phone, holding it slightly above her face so she looks okay on camera. "We've been sooo busy this season. What's up?"

Jesse smiles at Ersie on his screen, admittedly with a little pride. “I left you a gift in your mailbox between classes!”

“Oh?” Ersie’s eyes light up, though her voice belies a bit of her confusion. “For Seasons’ Gifting? I wasn’t sure if you wanted to do an exchange so I haven’t bought you anything yet, forgive me.” The background of her video shifts through her apartment as she moves towards the door, little sparkly lights behind her putting starbursts in the camera.

“It’s fine,” Jesse sounds smug. “It was my idea to surprise you anyway.”

“Aw, sweet of you!” Ersie’s picture dipped to her paws for a moment as she opened the door. “Reception’s kinda bad in the lobby so if i drop you just call me back!!”

A moment later she was scurrying back into her cozy flat, backlit by her softly pulsing light display on the walls. Balancing her phone atop the gift, she snaps her claws and another set of brighter lights illuminate the room at her bidding.

“Okay!!! Let’s take a look,” Ersie exclaims as she plops onto her plush couch, box in hand, wrapped in a perfectly nondescript way indicative of the paws of a tired retail employee. Jesse watches as she untied the glitter-filled ribbon and delicately tears down the middle of the paper with an extended claw, exposing the packaging beneath.

"...Little Kits'... DIY fairy lights? This is cute, Jesse." She pulls out the prepackaged craft kit: little die-cut origami papers to fold over an included string of lights. She was smiling, sure, but Jesse had heard her freak out over something she loved before and this wasn't it.

"You don't like it?" His ears twitch, irritated, and he thumps the carpet with his tail off-camera. 

"I didn't say that! This is really thoughtful," her voice is still cheery as she turns the box over in her paws, examining the packaging, clearly branded for children.

"You don't need to lie to make me feel better."

Ersie rolls her eyes and picks her phone up from its stand. "Jesse, I'm not. I'm really, honestly flattered you went out of your way to pick out something for me when you didn't have to and that you got me something I enjoy! We've only barely known each other for a year now." "I'm twenty y-" "-and we've hardly interacted for fifteen years, Jesse, yes. I'm really, really happy you dropped this off, okay?" She smiles earnestly into the camera. 

Jesse narrows his eyes and swishes his tail, but this finally passes his approval. "Okay well good. I went to like three different craft stores before I found the right ones. And the Highe's lighting aisle is wild? what's up with all the chandeliers? there weren't even any stupid light strings." he shakes his head. "Shopping sucks on its own - stores never have what you want and you wander all over and spend so much money, and then you still have to walk home..."

"How you suffered for your generosity!" Ersie snickers. "This was really sweet, Jesse, thank you. I'll see if I can't scrounge something up for you too before the season's over."

His ears perk up, triumphant, but he can't let it go. 

"-but for real Ersie. What didn't I get perfect?"

Ersie bursts out a good-natured laugh. "I love you, and I love the gift, but this is for spittens, Jesse. I do this for a living."

--

“...a candle.”

Oliver holds a round jar candle in his huge, scarfy hand, peeking through the barest crack of his bedroom door. It’s a question disguised as a statement.

Jesse shrugs. “I dunno, people who spend all day in the house like to make their place… smell nice, or whatever. Look, it's scents of Roost. Mimos rosa and spring winds.” He grabs the jar back from his brother’s hand, pointing at the pink label.

“I…. can’t leave candles burning when I’m streaming, I’m not paying attention to my surroundings for too long. And fire… doesn’t… tangle well with um. fabric.” he whispers the last word about his curse, as if his voice wasn't already too soft. “Why are you giving me this?”

Jesse rolls his eyes. “It’s Seasons’ Gifting, obviously. Happy Seasons’ or whatever. You're welcome.”

“You’ve… never given me anything for Seasons’ before?” Oliver shifts his weight, hesitantly lowering his hand from the doorway, candle still in Jesse’s paws. “thank.. you? um…”

"I thought I'd start a new tradition," Jesse snorts in annoyance. "We should buy each other Seasons' things now that Mom and Dad won't - and Ersie"s around. It's fine if you didn't get me anything this year. It's not like I told you I was gonna. And there’s still a week anyway.”

“y..yeah, okay." His eyes shift away and his eyebrows furrow at the mention of leaving the house. He's trying to shrink back into his room, Jesse can tell. His ears twitch.

“At least take it.” he thrusts the candle back towards his brother. "Ersie liked hers."

“I just told you I can't use it.”

“You said- there has to be times you're not huddled over that stupid microphone - Its for you, you can just let it look pretty! I don't want it!” he waggles it meaningfully, his arm extended, tail rising in anger. His brother doesn't even raise his hand from the floor.

“Thank you Jesse but I don't want fire in my room.” an edge creeps into his voice as he turns away from the crack of his door.

Jesse bristles, and snarls as he turns away in a furious huff. "Gods, so much for new tradition! sorry I bothered!"

He doesn't seem to hear Oliver's quiet retort as the door shuts with a click. “Maybe you shouldn't have.”