#i hope it made up for the wait

[awkwardtickleetoo]

Yo, hc brain is back in full swing. Towards the end of a wrecking with Dream, (we'll make his ler Karl for this one) he's given a small break to breathe, his wrists pinned to either side of his head. "We're gonna do one more thing and then we'll stop ok? Now, tell me to tickle your tummy~" the idea of the ler making the lee tell them to tickle their death spot and halfway through making them say "keep going" and only stopping when they know the limit is reached

sleepyyyy hello hello hello!!! okay okay I LOVE this so so much oh my gOD THIS IS SO GOOD

more under the cut bc I got . a little carried away lmao

and this is SUCH a karl thing to do as well, he would love embarrassing his lee by doing stuff that he Knows will get to them- whether it be forcing them to make eye contact (cough cough george) or telling them to keep their arms up (cough cough sapnap) or telling them not to laugh (cough cough quackity) – but especially with dream, because dream blushes and gets embarrassed and stuttery and giggly so quickly, doesn't he? poor baby :(

so when karl holds his arms down on either side of his head, rubbing his thumbs along his wrists while he takes in huge gulps of air from the tickling karl's already dished out to him, he thinks maybe he can handle whatever else karl has planned, they're probably nearing the end anyway.

but then karl leans down and presses a tiny kiss to his palm, making dream giggle softly before turning his head to dreams ear and saying exactly what you mentioned, "Okay, we've got one last spot to get to and I know you're gonna like it. I'm gonna tickle your tummy, which is your favorite spot, right? isn't it, angel?" and dream would giggle, laughter bright and bubbly, his entire face tinted pink and his eyes squeezed shut when he nods in response to karl's question.

and karl would smile and go, "good! good... you're gonna ask me to tickle you there, tho :)" and dream would whine through his giggles, his face flushing even more red at the thought of having to ask karl to tickle his tummy knowing full well he loves it. and when he cracks open his eyes to see karl staring down at him, face barely a foot away from his and enough adoration in his eyes to make him feel light headed, he whines even louder, closing his eyes again and tilting his head back to shake his head while karl giggles. and karl eggs him on, softly going, "come on, handsome, we both know you want it. there's no need to be embarrassed, it's just us, dreamie, that's it."

n dream would still be all flustered and whimpery, but after a few seconds of waiting silence he'd mumble, just loud enough for karl to hear, "could you please... ti-tickle my tummy? please?" and karl's face becomes even more adoring, thinking about how he even threw the 'please' in there, and he would almost immediately say, "of course, sweet boy, since you asked so nicely" and he'd kiss dreams palm again, before pulling his hands off dreams wrists and moving down, pushing his hoodie up just slightly and pressing the softest kiss to his tummy just to make him giggle. and giggle he does, while karl sits back up straight so he can watch him laugh and starts scratching his nails all over dreams tummy

and dream immediately bursts into bright laughter, his eyes closing and head tilting back again as he laughs freely and happily. his hands curl into fists and he shakes them around happily, eventually moving from where they were once pinned. one hand goes to cover his mouth (but not fully, his fingers are open and it's loosely pressed, and he's not muffling his laughter so karl let's it slide) and the other goes down to squeeze at karl's leg where he's straddling him

and soon after, karl goes "you like this?" and dream nods, a little "hehe- yeheheah" coming out, and karl goes "Okay. ask me to keep going, then" and dream laughs a little louder, nose scrunching up at the idea, but he's outwardly having too much fun to disagree, so he goes "okahahay keheheep goihing! keep gohohoing– ohokahay?" and karl giggles and nods, unable to hide his happiness either, and goes "I won't stop til you say so, okay?" and leans down and blows a raspberry right on dreams tumny

which earns him a slightly harder than needed palm to the back of his head, not pushing or pulling, just staying and scratching at his hair in a way that (ironically enough) is more comforting and calming to him than it should be, and another hand gripping the fabric of the shoulder of his hoodie, both hands obviously trying not to push him away as dream laughs his heart out. his legs are kicking and curling the best they can under karl, his eyes are squeezed shut and tearing up, his giggles are high pitched and turning raspy and squeaky, but he still doesn't stop karl for another solid few minutes.

and then he forcefully pulls karl down on top of him and makes him be his blanket, heavy breathing and residual giggling be damned, and neither of them would have it any other way :)

[egophiliac]

still ruminating over Lost In the Book With Spooky Skeletons Part 1, so here's a selection of some of my favorite little bits! (...some more loosely paraphrased than others) (I just feel like Idia has no room to criticize in general, okay)

anyway, I'm sure we're just going to have a fun time celebrating Halloween and nothing bad is going to happen whatsoever! :)

[somnimagus]

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

[666news-and-horoscopes]

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Queen of Tears text posts, 4/? (Parts 1, 2, and 3)

[couthbbg]

Bianca Stone, “Artichokes” // x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x

[runawaymun]

Elwing's goodbye, for @nolofinweanweek filling both prompts for Day 4 and for Day 5 (Elwing, Elrond, Elros). Double posting today because I'm working the rest of the weekend and I don't think I'll get around any more prompts this year.

This hurt to paint lol. I need to go lie on a cold floor for a while.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

I've been utterly fascinated by Good (better? nicer?) Chase design by @lizard-color4 from this post and desperately wanted to know more. Who's this man? What's his story? Why is his hand bandaged? Why is his fashion taste is so much better than Original Chase? And why the hell does his hug looks so nice??

so i um, decided to explore his design a little ;D

also bonus+ sorta?? continuation / my take on the after hug because i really craved more of that

bonus++ a silly doodle of my first attempt on his design because why not

[spear-gsun]

Drew a Renko to go along with the Merry from yesterday

[franeridart]

The Housecat Philosophy - Ep 37

Ep 00 || < Prev || Next >

Read the next four episodes on Patreon || support me on ko-fi~✨

[originalaccountname]

Mori Ougai’s belief as the boss is [...] “The boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” For the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.��� That is the duty of the boss. [...] “Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.”

Kafka Asagiri, for the BSD exhibition

On Mori and regret.

This man acts based on his perceived "optimal solution". It means relying on cold logic, detached from (his own and others') emotions. In that way, he fits right in as one of the smart characters of BSD, contrasting for example Dazai's way of working with/around people's feelings, and Fyodor's way of manipulating and twisting those feelings into monsters.

Mori remains cold, logical, distant, efficient. It meant disregarding Yosano's and the soldiers' deteriorating mental health during the war because the concept of an army that cannot be wiped out was too good. It meant following Natsume's plan and taking the old boss' place himself to fix Yokohama's underground and protect the city and its people. It also meant disposing of Mimic by sacrificing Oda in order to get the special ability business permit, despite (and perhaps because of) Dazai's attachment to the man.

The thing is, humans are not logical creatures, and will inevitably encounter conflicting emotions.

(does this look like the face of a man without regrets to you?)

Mori in Dark Era tried to pass on to Dazai his practice of putting aside his own feelings for the sake of choosing the most efficient solution that will benefit the group. It backfired spectacularly, so much so even, that Mori regrets it to this day.

For the BSD exhibition, Asagiri wrote some individual character commentaries, all very interesting insights into their characters and the writing intentions. For Mori, here's what he wrote:

“He who fell out of the optimal solution” Mori Ougai’s belief as the boss is described in the novel “Dark Era” and “Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen”. That is “The boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” For the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.” That is the duty of the boss. There is an unspoken additional point to it. “Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.” We can catch a glimpse of that in this scene. [the ADA-PM alliance meeting] Mori’s expressions after “Burnt it.” and “Like what you did to your predecessor”, gave us a glimpse of his true feelings that were made sacrifices for the sake of the “logical optimal solution”. (By the way, it goes without saying that Dazai is inducing Mori’s thoughts by words that will make him regret the past. It is to make him decide to form an “alliance”.) source and translation: Popopretty

(notice the inclusion of Hirotsu in this scene. Remember that later, Hirotsu suggests that Dazai knows why Mori did what he did to overthrow the old boss, which, in my opinion, is both a proof of Dazai's support in Mori's goal, and a reminder to uphold it.)

One of my favourite parts of the Dark Era light novel is a small scene during the epilogue that was not adapted into the anime. This is two weeks after Dazai defected:

To quote Asagiri again, "Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings." Mori is conflicted about the outcome of the Mimic incident. He holds in his hands the Silver Oracle he himself gave to Oda, and reflects on its purpose: to "help the man mentioned above without hesitation in the face of any and all trials". Didn't he fail to do just that with Oda? Didn't he set him up and sent him to his doom? Didn't he abandon him to his trial?

But he rationalizes the events by saying he got the permit they so badly needed. No matter if he sacrificed one of his men. No matter if he drove Dazai away. He accomplished his priceless goal. It was a total success.

And yet, he poorly folds a paper airplane with the very Silver Oracle he gave Oda, throws it, watches it crash immediately, and mourns the loss of his right-hand man, without ever moving on.

But we have a direct example of Mori expressing regret.

The perception that Mori in BEAST is a completely different character than Mori is in canon, when that perception doesn't extend to any other character from that universe, rubs me the wrong way. The characters in BEAST are very similar to their canon selves, with some core traits getting a new twist. They are all one or two major life changes away from becoming these versions of themselves. As far as we know, Mori's only life-altering event was being forcefully removed from the Port Mafia by Dazai, and secretly put in charge of Atsushi's old orphanage.

Mori unambiguously made that orphanage a better place, as stated by Atsushi himself. BEAST!Mori is a lot softer, vulnerable and honest. That Mori offers to be a father to Atsushi while he heals. He also expresses regret in not being able to help Dazai when he was in his care.

I think it's very interesting, especially when knowing that Asagiri wrote both BEAST and Fifteen at the same time for the Dead Apple movie, because in Fifteen we have this:

The beginning of the first chapter of Fifteen is a gold mine. It is narrated from Mori's point of view, the man of logic and calculations, and yet it is full of doubt. He is alone and struggling to fix everything with so many people against him. But, throughout this scene about grasping at the Port Mafia's power, there is also this secondary thought being woven in, of Mori having started to actually care for Dazai.

The teenager is scary to him, smart enough to be a threat should he decide to be done with all this and turn against him, and yet, he immediately (and with a hint of sadness) finds that Dazai reminds him of himself. This lonely, lonely man found a kindred spirit, bright enough to grasp any situation in seconds and prone to using an uncomfortable obsession to divert and keep you guessing his true intentions. Mori entered Mentor Mode™ then. He taught Dazai his ways, he shared his struggles and thought process, he fought tooth and nail to keep him alive.

So when he asked Dazai why he wanted to die, it was with the concern of someone who has started to care. It was with the mind of someone who is trying to prevent the worst by fixing the problem at its source.

(translation: Reneray)

But it's also that self-projection/ability to relate that made him drive Dazai away, when he pushed too hard and forced Dazai to adhere to his optimal solution philosophy. Because Dazai cannot separate himself from his attachments, could not ignore his emotions like Mori does, and chose Oda over Mori's logic. From Dazai's point of view, that was betrayal. Mori and him were accomplices!

Dazai planted the idea that Mori was afraid of him taking over as boss, and Mori seems to agree with that thought (would it be because he feared for his life, or for Dazai's ability to replace him?) Yet, for a man afraid of his closest subordinate backstabbing him, he seems to be hanging on quite hard to the possibility of Dazai coming back, leaving his seat open to this day, inviting him back twice in the same arc, and...

(yeah I used this picture at the start too. "I hAvE nO rEgReTs" he says)

Mori may try to convince himself he feels no regrets and no guilt over his own actions by weighting gains and losses objectively, but he still hurts and has a very hard time moving on. He's human despite his best efforts, prone to mistakes and doubts. He's lonely and wishes to impart his knowledge onto others. His cold logic has both helped him in fixing the city, and alienated him from some of the people he most cared about.

In a similar vein, should the ADA employee transfer be of topic again, and should Mori clash with Yosano again, I wish we get to see some similar conflicting emotions in Mori between the usefulness of Yosano's ability, and Yosano herself as a person. The war was 14 years ago, that's a long time, and I want to believe that counts for something.

[egophiliac]

doylist explanation for why Gidel is only in Fellow's non-idle lesson animations: probably something about space constraints and making sure two sprites in one seat aren't covering anyone else when they're not in focus

watsonian explanation for why Gidel is only in Fellow's non-idle lesson animations: he snuck in and is hiding from the teachers, don't give him away 🤫

(I've reached my limit of unsuccessful attempts at pulling them before I need to save keys for Halloween, so I've been living vicariously through youtube videos...but the fact that Gidel just pops up from under the desk to wave his arms around happily is really testing my resolve. D: I'm gonna die when they finally get to do alchemy...)

[a2zillustration]

I carried this thing for MONTHS with the EXPRESS PURPOSE of putting Raphael in it (knowing full well Larian wouldn't let me do that, mechanically) and I had one major miscalculation.

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

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[pain-in-the-butler]

A compilation of art for my Dadbastian fanfic Coattails that I commissioned from the incredibly talented @tomoyoo! They went above and beyond with the details... Each picture feels as cozy and warm as a storybook, right? I'm so delighted with how they turned out!! Thank you for making each one so beautiful! 🥹🥹🥹

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Still very wild to me when people try to gotcha Jason with the whole "if you can kill other people for being evil why can't they kill you" when jason is like. One of the most passively suicidal characters I've ever seen. What if man

[ineed-to-sleep]

*me immediately after going through a terrifying and traumatic experience* haha yeah I guess it was rough but I'm fine now like I'm totally chill. It was kinda funny actually if you think about it