#he's absolutely full of it btw

[mannequinswithkillappeal]

thank you so much! 💖

hey remember when assad was talking about armand's "looks of love" while looking at eric. can we go back to this for a sec.

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[nightmare-foundation]

Nightwing is not the favorite child, he's the favorite soldier. Dick Grayson is the golden child turned scapegoat. Everyone needs Nightwing but no one needs Dick. In this essay I will-

[evelyn-and-art]

TORSO STUDIES (extras): Kotoha, Shizuka, Tsubakino and Endo

Art Studies with Eve #2

The studio welcomes three lovely queens 🫶

...and a snake 😕

And that completes the torso studies! Thank you for the positive feedback on the first part and for waiting for this one 🫶.

Part 1

[riddlemearose]

Phoning a Friend

Warriors watches the two Champions blearily, forcing his eyes to stay focused on them. He knows one is the Shadow but he can’t let himself entertain the possibilities of who the other one is. For now, he has to think of it nothing more than another potential enemy.

The one with the odd spear that gleams gold, its green gem ornaments clinking softly against the shaft as he twirls it, keeps himself between Warriors and the twisted Champion. The golden spear spins and spins, batting away a sickening dark blade every time the bloodstained, withered Champion tries to break through his guard.

Watching the spinning spear is actually making Warriors feel nauseous. Well, he mentally amends that to ‘more nauseous’, glancing down at the blood spreading across his tunic.

And this weird noise, whatever it is, isn’t helping! There’s something heavy weighing the clearing down, pressing into Warriors’ skin.

All he can hear is this pulsing loud tick tick tick in his ears, accompanied by an odd warping sensation in his limbs.

It’s magic, he knows that much, but he’s never felt it before and has no idea which Champion it may be coming from, if it even is either of them casting the spell.

He turns his head to spit out a mouthful of blood and it feels like the movement takes an eternity to complete.

So either his blood loss is more severe than he thought, or there’s something else going on.

The spear-wielding Champion darts backwards, his grip along the spear finally shifting into a proper stance, grinning wildly.

Ha, Warriors is hilarious.

A large shining gem sitting at the dip of the first Champion's throat lights his face up from below, all deep shadows and softened edges. He’s breathing heavily, a slight tremble visible in his fingers as he readjusts his grip.

The other Champion across from them makes a sweeping gesture with its withered arm and something red and alive spurs into life, lunging forward. The shape twists, absorbing what remains of the rotted flesh, and large, monstrous fingers stretch into existence. They reach through the darkness for the first Champion, wicked under the moonlight.

The first Champion raises the spear slightly in response, his grin vanishing as it's smothered under a blank, smooth expression that Warriors refuses to recognise. The fingers, the vile magic, get closer to his face, closing the distance rapidly—

And Time shoots out of the bushes, the Biggoron sword catching the moonlight as it arcs through the air and severs the arm from withered Champion's body. The arm hits the ground and melts into a writhing pool of furious magic, thrashing around that Champion’s feet.

The ticking in Warriors’ ears stops so abruptly he's thrown off-kilter, reeling at the sudden silence left in its wake.

Time glances at him, a quick look filled with concern and worry, then shifts his gaze to the spear-wielding Champion — Wild, Warriors lets himself finally acknowledge.

Dozens of micro-expressions fly rapidly across Time's face before he finally decides on grim determination.

“That,” he says in an almost wobbly tone of voice, taking up stance next to Wild, “is loud.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told. Sorry about that.” Wild agrees, still focused on the withered copy of himself standing in front of them. He shoots Time a small grin, barely there but blindingly obvious if you know what to look for. “Worked though.”

Time lets out a quiet huff of laughter, his own small smile twitching across his face. He shifts, sword held tightly in both hands. "You're definitely not wrong about that, Wild. When we get back to camp, you'll have to tell me how you managed to make your magic even louder than it already was."

[sesamenom]

maglor's first time getting to go to a concert / his favorite singer attending maglor's first big concert

[johnconstantinesdick]

So close to writing one of those “betting on wrightworth” fics where the twist is that Klapollo are krisnix truthers

Just like. Apollo references Phoenix’s bad taste in men at some bar association event only for everyone around him to immediately get on his case for insulting Edgeworth.

Athena’s like “don’t be rude Apollo, Mr. Edgeworth could hear!!”

Apollo: why does it matter if Edgeworth hears. I’m sure he knows all about Mr. Wright’s horrible romantic decisions :\

Kay steps in and is like woah buddy Mr. Edgeworth may be a stick in the mud but Mr. Wright couldn’t do better than him!!

Apollo is like. Yeah. Because Edgeworth is a catch?? I don’t know what you’re trying to say.

Klavier butts in and asks if Kay seriously thinks Wright would date their boss?? Like huh??

Klavier and Apollo are now being treated to the most incredulous looks known to man.

Apollo (now convinced that people are trying to fuck w him): Mr. Wright would never make a good romantic choice in his life. Don’t try to pull one over on me. I was there for the divorce.

Kay: they got DIVORCED????

Sebastian: they got MARRIED??????

Klavier’s like [fake German voice] nein Herr Forehead I know for a fact it wasn’t a divorce. Because I had to dispose of the unused engagement ring.

Apollo is like finally some gossip that makes fucking sense while everyone else is like you think PHOENIX WRIGHT was fucking your BROTHER???

[redbean-nom]

din djarin, age 10: clone wars refugee child

boba fett, age 11: in federal prison for destroying an entire venator while trying to kill mace windu

[unproduciblesmackdown]

imagine...

...that some things have changed (including some marigold ventures?) and Atlas May is like uh oh both lackadaisy & i are doomed, but if i set up my own death maybe only i'll be doomed and lackadaisy might have to shutter but perhaps more so on involved people's terms, such as mitzi being fine financially, but also if she thinks it's her fault that'll be good for maintaining my posthumous Image to her, perhaps she did some defrauding again? and i'll have mordecai, my trusted & effective gunman, be the one to fatally shoot me, & of course he doesn't want to, but it's Mere Work Ethic time, what's he gonna do besides argue at all maybe, ultimately refuse? (no) and he may hate it but he's not going to want to fully turn on mitzi or anything after because then what would have been the point

[grail-lifesupport]

Truly a day for Sir Dinadan the humourist

[keirientez]

band au rahhhhhhhhhhh

[atlas-dr0wned]

we need to stop making wolfwood so suave and smooth in fics. we need to make him a complete loser. he is just so touch-starved and horny that when vash puts his hand on his thigh for the first time he gets so hard he almost passes out

[serpentface]

Does Janeys know that Brakul has a wife and son? How would he react if he learned?

He actually does know and has known pretty much from the beginning.

Early on in his stint as a POW turned mercenary, Brakul would repeatedly invoke his wife and son as reasons he could or could not do certain things + to insult Janeys like 'okay but some of us have actual, tangible responsibilities in this world and people who depend on them. Like my wife and son, who I will be returning to immediately when my contract is over. You're never going to see me again. On account of my wife and son.'

When he started actually Liking Janeys and wanting to be with him, and seeing a chance to Avoid All Consequences And Never Go Back Home, he gradually reversed course (and attempted to rationalize it to himself) like "Ahhh they'll be fine. I mean everyone probably thinks I'm dead and/or an oathbreaker anyway so Sirudan's gotta be remarried by now. My brother probably got in on that, and he really has his shit together so they're in good hands. Honestly it will be worse for them if I go back. They're better off without me. They're fine. It's not a big deal. I'm soooooo single and unattached btw" And Janeys was like "Okay. Yay."

13 years down the line Janeys almost never thinks about it and when he occasionally remembers it's like

He does not give a shitttt about the wife/child abandonment angle whatsoever, but he's aware that Brakul still has some attachment to them and regrets over skipping out, and he's kind of insecure about it. The concept of Brakul having a child out there completely independent of their whole Thing also makes him uncomfortable in ways he can't really put his finger on. He's not actually scared that Brakul will return to his ex-wife though, like even with all his profound insecurities and abandonment issues he knows there's not a chance in hell that he's gonna actually attempt to make amends. Bottom line is he doesn't like to think about it, and mostly doesn't have to.

[singaporehelmet]

you say "i hate lando because he's arrogant, bratty and thinks he's better than everyone else", i hear "i hate lando because i believe everything i read on the internet".

[invaliowat]

I don’t often acknowledge the fact that Nick Bradshaw canonically died in Top Gun, BUT, if I were to do such a thing it would be like when I was thinking the other night (I know- dangerous) and I was like rip to Nick Bradshaw you woulda LOVED the 2008 classic movie Step Brothers.

[danketsuround]

First name basis - regarding Kuwana's one-sided relationship with Mitsuru through a cultural and linguistic lens

I haven't seen anyone else point this out so I wanted to mention it because I think it provides some insight to Kuwana and Mitsuru's relationship to each other despite them never having the opportunity to interact in game.

Has anyone else noticed that Kuwana refers to all of his former students by their last names? (Yui) Mamiya, (Yasushi) Akaike, (Shinya) Kawai, (Yoko) Sawa - then, Mitsuru (Kusumoto).

It could be argued that Kuwana refers to Mitsuru by his first name in order for players to be able to immediately distinguish between "Kusumoto" (Reiko) and "Kusumoto" (Mitsuru), but I also read it as how Kitakata unintentionally ostracized Mitsuru from his peers: how, in turn, Kuwana treats Mitsuru more preciously than others.

Tellingly, Kuwana refers to Mamiya and Sawa with the -kun honorific. Most people who have a rudimentary understanding of Japanese know that -kun is often used for young(er) boys. However, using -kun for adult women is more of a formality. In Sawa's case, I believe -kun is used for her out of mutual respect. -kun can also be used by male teachers to refer to their female students.

Despite never seeing Kitakata interact with any of his students in the past, we can infer from the above information that his way of addressing his former students, at least, has not changed.

Kuwana does not refer to Kawai with any honorifics because he is dead and they clearly do not have a close relationship. He uses -san with Akaike or none at all.

However, Kuwana also occasionally uses -kun with Mitsuru - not out of formality like Mamiya, or respect like Sawa, but rather, because Kuwana still views Mitsuru-kun as a child, or the schoolboy he knew long ago.

**** It's worth noting that Kuwana sometimes does not use honorifics with Mitsuru at all. Similar to Akaike, this is more closely related to how Kuwana used to be his teacher (you may drop honorifics of those who are socially inferior, like teachers with students) and not how Reiko NEVER uses honorifics with Mitsuru because they are family members.

To me, this is why -kun popping up occasionally is rather important. It demonstrates that Kuwana believes in a close relationship or kinship with Mitsuru that he never had.

This presents itself in other ways. Firstly, I'd like to note how he speaks to Kusumoto Reiko. Reiko is the only person Kuwana uses honorific language with (です・ます specifically, keigo, but not full seppuku zarei 許してください type of keigo, just a more formal/distant way of speaking, she mostly returns the formality - Kuwana seems to lower himself when speaking to her. Literally and figuratively, lol).

He also uses the fairly distant-yet-respectful sounding 「あなた」 with her. It's no question that he respects her undyingly ("virtuous and capable"!), yet I believe it is very interesting he refers to Mitsuru using -kun when speaking to her as well! He speaks about Mitsuru with her as if they all know each other well.

Take this line from the finale, while speaking to Reiko on the phone after Ehara's trial ended:

"Enough is enough. You and your son have been through enough hell. I want to protect Mitsuru-kun too. Almost as much as his mother."

(This is my favorite line. It's darling.)

Here, Kuwana is recognizing Reiko's struggles while veeeeeery preciously reminding her that he deeply cares for Mitsuru-kun - comparing himself, almost (and boldly so) to that of a maternal/parental figure.

While I don't think that Kuwana actually views himself as a parental figure to Mitsuru, it is important to note that Mitsuru is quite literally the figurehead and motivation to Kuwana's vigilantism:

"If it means I can prevent another Mitsuru Kusumoto, yes, I will keep killing." (Chapter 10)

"Mitsuru and all those kids... For them to have justice, this is what I had to become!" (Chapter 11)

"The day Mitsuru leapt from the roof, I vowed to atone for the rest of my life." (Chapter 11)

"Do you have any idea what [Mitsuru] was like thirteen years ago? Then you have no right to speak to me that way!" (Chapter 11)

This might be a good place to note that Kitakata's name change is referential to the date Mitsuru attempted suicide (September 17th): Kuwana, Ku (9) + wa (1) + na (7) - it's goroawase! Plus 仁 (Jin) meaning humanity, virtue, goodness.

I'd like to use all of this to talk about a much broader and darker theme. As I wrote in the beginning of this post, I believe Kitakata referring to Mitsuru by his first name - unlike the rest of his classmates - had unforeseen consequences. Being called by your first name by teachers is the choice of that teacher, and it is a very deliberate choice in high school. Kitakata "othered" Mitsuru, unintentionally showing him that he was not deserving of the same respect as his classmates.

Kuwana mentions that he thought he was well-liked by his students, even going as far as to not believe that that level of violence, abuse, and bullying could be happening right under his nose. While I don't believe Kitakata ever willingly participated in bullying Mitsuru, Mitsuru still remained outcasted in his own homeroom until the day he fell into a coma. In part, thanks to the way Kitakata singled him out.

By taking this to heart, Kuwana developed this idea that he and Mitsuru are foiled - that his selfish vigilantism is all for "Mitsuru's sake". In Chapter 11, Kuwana says "Mitsuru and all those kids..." - this shows an inability to recognize Mitsuru as anything other than a victim and a child. Mitsuru is not "Kusumoto-kun" or "Mitsuru-san", he is: Mitsuru-kun. An innocent young boy.

Kitakata may have unintentionally put a target on Mitsuru in class, but Kuwana singles Mitsuru out intentionally - by feeling so indebted to him that Kuwana, frankly, develops a parasocial relationship to Mitsuru's tragedy. And in a way, Mitsuru had become his unintended victim twice.

Moreover, the child he failed to protect, and the one he hurt the most.