#i kinda like em better without the bg

[jazzzzzzhands]

Decided to put all my nightly Wallys together! I just really enjoyed drawing him in his jammies so much that i needed to separate them from the scenic bg

[pasharuu]

THIS IS THE FIRST PART.

idk why but i wanna show tumblr my aranara quests themed custom tarot deck lmao. i finished it in february but since i created this acc just recently, i gotta put it here now. im just really proud of this project and the fact that i actually finished it.

unfortunately tumblr will only allow me to add 10 pics per post, while there are 23 cards, so that kinda sucks. will have to separate em it seems. i'll also explain a little about my choices on these. so here we go, first ten.

0 the fool - "where the journey begins". i think its already a tradition to put some main figure on the fool card and so did i. glad i used his correct design for the card-

basically theres nothing to explain except for the monarch butterfly symbolism, which usually is a sign of a chosen. not like Arama is any "chosen" in a common sense, but i felt like adding this anyway. 6/10 nice Arama card.

I the magican - creation and manipulation. Aranimba got here for his exclusive sense of beauty and the will to create the beauty. he is an artist after all.

the story of the bg is kinda wonky. it was at release of 3.4 and due to my disappointment i made a pic where Aranimba points at that shiny cave northwest the mt. damavand with excitement. well, now its a boss enterance, but back then i had no clue, i made it literally at the release day lol. but it worked well on the bg of this card. i think you wouldnt guess it was that cave if i didnt tell, and that was done on purpose as well. 8/10 for backstory, and im proud of this card overall.

II the high priestess - waiting for the impulse from outside, confidence. first of all, the high priestess to me was always associated with some whimsy loud woman, and if you ask me, this is where Arapacati fits. however here she is depressively hugging a viparyas cuz she kicked her brothers a decade ago and now shes sad. what did i tell u about whimsy woman? 6/10, solid.

III the empress - the mother, fertility, the birth of a new. THIS IS WHERE WE STARTED, THE MAMA. no need to explain why i put Rukkhadevata here? 6/10, i struggled with this card cuz i hate drawing people, but it came out solid imo.

IV the emperor - the father, discipline, responsibility. to remind you, Araja is basically the one who runs the Vanarana dream realm, the tree of dreams. he is also here for a very simple reason because of being a big boss here, and looking like one as well. 7/10, nice mustache.

V the hierophant - attention to visible and invisible, search of the essence. if you ask me why i put Arapandu here, theres my answer - because he was the only major character who didnt have a card in the process of planning. i have some really vague explaination why exactly on hierophant, its mostly because of Varunastra actually, not Arapandu. i honestly dont have any emotional connection to Arapandu, he's kinda boring. 4/10.

VI the lovers - chosen by heart, determination and aspiration. ONLY BECAUSE OF SUCH INTERPRETATION. im against shipping aranara x anyone.

i think i wouldnt even make any better choice for this card whatsoever. they are here because they share dreams and aspirations and i really love their duet. 9/10 i teared.

VII the chariot - knowledge of the world, searching for the new. these goofy guys are here mostly because of "searching for the new", even though their methods were unsafe and archon knows what would happen to these dummies without any sense of self-preservation if we werent around. fact: they've been wondering for at least 4 years, but i love to say a decade. nay, theyre just very lucky. 5/10.

VIII justice - "play nice, and others will play nice with you". this is a card for Nara Varuna specifically and i decided to make both Lumine and Aether so that everyone will be satisfied. since Nara Varuna did nice in the past, all the aranara praise their name in the present.

the bg is again kinda symbolic. these are runes on Varuna contraption: "the water", when the rain pours, for Lumine, and "the sky", when its sunny, for Aether. i only hate how i made them so vague that theyre barely recognizable eh. but overall good cards, 6/10.

THATS ALL FOLKS.

for now. i bumped into images limit. gotta complete it in the next two posts!!!

[skullvins]

S4 dynamic ratings from my fave/best to my least fave/worst let's go

these are NOT necessarily as SHIPS, just their dynamic as characters. I talk a bit about ships but I'd only go for some of these in a ship sense

WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY:

aloha + skull - absolute comedic duo. they're both kinda chill/carefree and Skull's enough of a bitch that he could defo subtly get aloha to do stupid shit and laugh at it internally the whole time. they're the more obviously practically inclined of the S4 so the idea of them just going out and doing stupid shit together isn't unrealistic. I can see aloha being like 'u wanna do X?' and skulls just like sure. Let's kill some time together. I can also see them both being super irresponsible sometimes and they just enable each other. Aloha comes up with the dumb ideas and skull is the muscle that lets them happen. He's on full autopilot with aloha whilst thinking he isn't and it's great. Catch aloha pestering the staff while they're out shopping like there's no tomorrow while skull wanders about buying whatever he likes in the bg. Most underrated S4 dynamic change my mind

army + mask - they're both huge nerds and yet no one is interested in the nerd and nerd dynamic? they've both kinda gone from being super up themselves to being more chill/humble, and also they're both the more 'responsible' ones but not really. army's responsible until you compare him to mask, and then he's actually really excentric. Having the more excentric one be the more traditionally nerdy one while the more levelheaded one is the sarcastic gamer nerd makes for an amazing dynamic. army can also strike me as the slightly out of touch rich boy and altho mask is definitely not mainstream 'normal' he could defo be like army. Get with reality.

army + skull - the 'should we be concerned' / *eats popcorn* 'nope' combo. Oh my god. Look. This will make more sense with the next point but aloha and mask are a fire waiting to happen in a good way and these two are the mutual witnesses to it, except skull is SO much more easygoing/does not care with it (and probably older/more experienced with this kinda thing) while army is like uh. Guys? Is this? Is this normal? they're also probably the two more battle minded ones and I could see them sharing notes/strats, and if you go with the idea of skull being older/more experienced then there's a bit of a 'skull helps army with his turf war homework' dynamic. not saying army can't hold his own (he's part of the S4 ffs) but I think he would be somewhat open to Skull's advice. these two are pretty agreeable compared to the other two, so I could see them casually getting along. Also, food.

aloha + mask - best contender for rivals to lovers/besties. aloha's an asshole and mask initially doesn't like him, PLUS they're both the middle S4. makes for an interesting game of one-upmanship. they seem to argue the most out of the S4 too, so a long run of them slowly getting along better or finding things they have in common could be really interesting. I also think seeing them in the arguing phase is entertaining, even if I don't think initially they'd like each other very much. also, this fuels my previous point further, so there's that

mask + skull - only S4 dynamic I'm neutral on? I could see these two getting along, if only because skull can be so passive. they're more just sit in the same room and vibe characters, so tho I think they'd get along well, I don't think their dynamic is as interesting as the last four. that being said, I can see mask commenting on skull's antics being funny. honestly this is a better combo if you make mask the chatty one, which is. Weird. Could work tho

army + aloha - ohmygod this is SO OVERRATED. Someone tell me WHY this ship is so popular???? aloha has more interesting or shippy dynamics with rider, mask, hell even scuba or skull. WHAT is this???? army also has more interesting or believable dynamics with say specs, mask, rider, WHERE does this ship get all its popularity???? I do like their dynamic as friends, but more in an 'aloha shows army how to loosen up a bit in a way that is 100% to army's detriment'. if more people played them up as friends, or army's naïvety as easy fodder for aloha to be funny and/or an asshole, then maybe I could get into it more? army probably finds aloha annoying while aloha finds army out of touch and that COULD be capitalised on for humour but I don't think taking it in a shippy way is as good for it. That being said, this isn't a review of them as ships, but a ranking of their dynamic as a whole. I still think it's the blandest of the six

bonus round: combos of three but we leave someone out, GO

leave out army - comedy gold in the sense that aloha overrides masks common sense and skull doesn't give enough of a shit/finds it entertaining. you know when army gets back he's gonna have to nag at everyone and yet you know aloha is just gonna keep provoking and the other two are gonna fall for it

leave out skull - the interpretation of the other three being somewhat intimidated by skull is REALLY interesting, although I don't think it offers as many hijinks. I honestly think it's more interesting from Skull's perspective, but also the image of them all discussing skull with each other while skull is actually just off stuffing his face with ice cream is very funny

leave out mask - leaving out the ACTUAL common sense and these three are gonna get real stupid real quickly, maybe. I like skulls dynamic with em both but not really their dynamic with each other as I feel they'd both bounce so well off mask instead. army having to deal with the force of skull n aloha and aloha having to deal with the force of skull and army is funny tho. I don't think skull would end up the victim of their mutual bullshit, however, unless they could both find something obscure to agree on

leave out aloha - aloha's the confrontation that fuels most of this, otherwise it turns into the more passive three who probably wouldn't engage with each other much unless they had a central focus. more just becomes mask + army with skull as a third wheel. COULD be fun if they all had to work together on something as I feel it would bring out both the best and worst of them without aloha as one big loud pink distraction

[ambidextrousarcher]

Sarcastic StarBharat Reviews: Episode 1- The one mega-huge episode.

Okay, so the viewer is kinda looking down from heaven, alright. This is cool…man this show has damn hot sets! I’m not sure what the music is supposed to be, romantic, maybe, but it’s just putting me off, and lulling me to sleep. And…the series begins! With a canon fail right off the bat!! Canon fail #1: Satyavati was NOT Shantanu’s mistress. He came across her fishing in the Yamuna, fell in love, had a boner more like, and petitioned her dad for marriage. Shantanu: A King whose ultimate wish is for memory loss. All the while having a boner. Wow. Ideal King, man. Satyavati: A lady who’s badass! Ambition makes sense, lady. Hello, fake fish! Satyavati suddenly looks like a psycho while she casts the line. But a psycho who’s independent. It’s almost ancient Indian Titanic accident, but this lady is a single-minded one. She’s got the fish. Almost. Her hands are bleeding. And, she’s caught it! There’s the boring music again. Followed by cringey sexy talk. “Iccha hai hriday ki shakti.” I kinda agree, but Krishna doesn’t, so that’s moot. Oh, no. There’s the telltale Krishna music, and here comes the part I always skip. Krishna Gyaan. That sounds really pretentious to my ears, I think something is wrong with me, because exactly these scenes receive rave reviews. He’s telling us about the wishes that drive humankind. Okay, not even for reviewing can I sit through this wank. Skip, skip, skip. He’s introducing the Mahabharat. Hello, show!

Enter humanoids, very terrible looking ones, in…a village of Hastinapur. I don’t think THAT can exist, so here comes… Canon fail #2: Hastinapur is a city. Kururashtra is the Kingdom. It’s a village in Kururashtra. But this is a very minor fail, I guess we can let it pass. But I doubt Shantanu was this terrible of a King that he didn’t put soldiers to patrol villages. There is an obligatory vandalism scene, and a damsel in distress calls upon the King. Oh, shit. This place has no Queen. Hence no yagnas. Gods rarely pay heed to yagnas, but without yagnas, they’re totes deaf. There’s another damsel in distress asking ‘Who will protect Hastinapur?” Boom! Enter Devavrata. We still don’t know that it’s him, BTW. But it’s totally not obvious. This guy is flying Tarzan! He materializes out of air in front of a kid who’s nearly being killed. Wow, he has a powerful voice. And Boom! Lone hero wins! There’s another irritating thing in this show: Arrows coming outta nowhere with a swish. Ah, such an honorable man…promising Rakshasas safety. Right after that, of course, a bunch of ‘em are killed. By Shantanu and his soldiers. But here comes our hero, protecting his allies. Philosophy too, bro. Wow. Shantanu is pissed. Of course, Devavrat takes mama’s help. Ganga. Ganga, who has a beautiful BG tune. Anyway, we ain’t there yet. #Bridge of arrows. Then Shantanu asks Devavrat “Who are ya? How can she listen to you?” Ganga’s the one who makes the announcement. “This is not just my son, but yours too. He’s your heir.” Immediate absolution. “I love you, my son!” Ancient Indian version. While Ganga is giving her sales patter, that she’s fulfilled her oath. And then she says, ‘A river is the Queen in every town she flows through…” Chill lady, this. BTW, this seems to be actual canon fail #2. I don’t think Devavrat made an entry like this in canon…but I might be wrong, Please correct me, experienced folks! There’s a truly beautiful panoramic shot, and a butterfly is flying surrounded by fireworks…did they exist back then? “Handwaves” Hey, what are fireworks compared to divine weapons? So yeah, I guess they did exist… Enter Satyavati and her maiden coterie, who’s trying to catch the butterfly, but catches Shantanu instead. If you ask me, the butterfly’s the better option. Shantanu’s still in the bliss of getting his goddess-begotten kid back…but Satyavati isn’t. Not that he notices. He’s here to take her with him. He’s planning on retiring and crowning his son and retreating with Satyavati after their marriage. She is not thrilled and makes it clear in a roundabout way. Not that Shantanu gets it. Until she makes it clear. Again, this is an extension of canon fail #1: It’s Satyavati’s father who makes the demand, as far as. I know, not Satyavati herself. I actually doubt she loved Shantanu in the first place. #EpicLoverBattle occurs. Kind of. She lays out an ultimatum. He foreshadows what is going to occur in the future: that is, Satyavati’s heart will bleed. And so the ground is set, to the tune of dragging music. Shantanu walks right into the coronation of Devavrat as the crown prince. Cue the coronation. Shot in all sorts of dramatic angles. Aw, he’s such a good son! Susses out that his dad is the doldrums after his lover’s spat. Those doldrums last for a damn long time, BTW. But that’s a little later. Right now, he announces Devavrat as the crown Prince of Hastinapur to a BG music that reminds me of the dramatic prairie-dog music from Jodhaa Akbar. Then there’s this classical song that precedes all the coronations in this series. The process looks very uncomfortable to me, actually. But who am I, a lowly commoner, to comment? Shantanu is in teary-eyed doldrums at first, which is followed by fits of rage. Devavrat gets concerned. My advice, buddy: DO NOT BE THIS GOOD OF A SON! DON’T! But you ain’t gonna listen. You’re too emotional right now. Too sad that you can’t fulfill your father’s wishes. So you decide to go on a hunger strike. Gosh, apparently this whole clan is populated with drama Queens. Shantanu pretends to be a good father and says that he’ll learn to live with his sadness. Devavrat promises to solve his father’s sad issues. And does. He goes and finds Satyavati. All respectful. He’s here to beg a boon of her. Of his father’s happiness. She’s sad, too. He’s confused. He has no idea of lovers, or lovers’ spats, sweet summer child. She tells him that she’ll always be sad if she marries the King. He asks her what is so lacking in Hastinapur? She wants respect. He’s like ‘I’ll give you respect. You’ll be the Queen first, and then the Royal Mother.” He promises to give her the respect due to a mother. But this lady is more ambitious than that. She wants power. Cut to Shantanu rushing on a horse. Devavrat is still eulogizing his still alive dad. Satyavati lays down her litany of woes. Regarding her still unborn kids. Further elaborating Canon Fail #1. Devavrat gets all emotional, again, and blames himself. She gives him an ultimatum: either his dad can live with him, or her. But he resolves to be a good son. Newsflash, bro. Wrong decision. But hey, he can’t be stopped. So he goes over to the Ganga (hello, mom) and cuts his palm. Ganga goes all red (with pain over her son’s bleeding? I doubt he bled all that much…) The skies follow suit. Clue enough that this is gonna cause all sorts of problems, but does anyone care? #Cliffhanger

Precap: Shantanu giving Devavrat the boon of dying at his wish, at the time he wishes to, at the place he wishes to, and at the hand of whom he wants to. He also confers the name Bhishm on him. Seems like a strange boon to me… (Also. Poor Arjun. Kid ain’t born yet, and he’s prophesied to kill Devavrat. Ouch.) Oh, I forget. This hasn’t happened yet. #spoileralerttoolate.  

[tenyatrash]

Day 2: A House on Fire

This is my entry for Day 2 of the BNHA Noir Week 2019. Tumblr hates my ao3 links so let’s try this instead. @bnha-noir-week Heist, Fatale, Detective

In which Fuyumi and Touya take back control of the narrative. This one didn't exactly meet the prompt as much as I would like, but it's as close as I could get and I like it too much to orphan it, so here's some noir-lite. Come for the twins pulling off a heist, stay for the fatale/detective pair up. 

Ships: BG Fuyumi Todoroki/Ryuko Tatsuma

Characters: Fuyumi, Touya, and Enji Todoroki + Ryuko Tatsuma

Rating: Teen (Some lang, references to past abuse)

Word Count: 2925

It was a hot one, a scorcher of a day that’s left a memory of fire radiating off the pavement even now, hours after the sun disappeared. Slithering heat and muggy night air swirl into a heavy fog that tries to paint the city white and pure, but it fails. Nothing can hide these sins.

This world vibrates with a sickness that skitters just below the surface, coating everything in bitter bile, destroying everyone, one way or another. Some are destroyed by simple violence, quick knives in the dark. They’re the lucky ones, if anyone can be called lucky here. Everyone else? They sit and stew as the corruption eats away at them like rust.

There’s a pair of prowlers on the town tonight, eyes and hearts hardened to cut out a spreading cancer. It’s a night of reckoning for a family name that shoulda been put down long ago.

Pine needles crunch underfoot, sap oozing into the dirt path that marks the road to so many memories, all of them as dark as the oppressive and moonless night. Fuyumi pushes back her bangs and picks her way across the garden that she was never allowed to enjoy, to the house of the Father she was never allowed to escape. She’d smile in bitter triumph, if she remembered how.

There’s a hand at her back now, burning too hot, fingers tapping a steady beat against her spine.

“Pick up the pace, will ya? Pops ain’t gonna be away forever, and yous the one who said no violence.”

Fuyumi looks over to her twin. He’s a scary looking one, alright. The kinda mug folks on the up-and-up cross the street to avoid, the kinda heel soft chippies would gossip ‘bout, bed, and then hide like some kinda dirty secret. Meanwhile, the same skirts are always falling over themselves after the sonofabitch that did it. Just more proof that this world is rotten.

They’ve all got scars of Enji’s ambition, his are just on the outside, is all. Enji got smarter after that, or maybe Touya was just the bravest of them. Either way, dear ol’ Dad learned to keep his abuse strictly need-to-know after that. Learned to hurt, to control, to destroy, all without leaving a mark. Not that anyone would bother to investigate anyway.

Not when every two-bit political wannabe and too-blind copper saw him as some kinda hero.

Fuyumi slides the door open. Just like Pops to not check after his own home security. To assume no one would challenge him, least o’ all here in his pretty little estate. It’s the same arrogance that bred them, after all. Lord, they’re going to enjoy watching the place light up, all pretty blue flames and falling ash.

Touya is eager to start, fingers already caressing awards and photos, skin shivering as they smoke and char. It’s all a lie and God does it feel good to let it burn. A happy family, a heroic life-- filthy deceit that mocks them with every pose and word of commendation. He’s a hero, huh? That what you think, Mr. Mayor, Sir? Then why don’t you try living with him.

Try being a child under that roof.

The two twins slide through the house like shadows, feet still remembering all the steps, remembering which boards creak and which doors groan. They had to learn early, how to hide. How to be silent and unseen. All that training, all that pain, and for what?

To make them big goddamn heroes?

Nah. Turns out, he’d been training them for this heist their whole lives. He mighta been able to catch ‘em, to stop ‘em, to contain ‘em...if he’d cared enough to notice, that is. As it is though, he’s just going to have to say goodbye to all this shiny scratch and all the dreams he had for this name.

Touya’s got his predisposition for fire, and Fuyumi’s got matches, accelerant, and a dream.

First stop is the study. It’s all mahogany slabs and stiff stools, designed so everyone but the kingpin himself can experience stress and smallness and pain. What kinda way is that to do business, much less raise kids? What kinda notes do you give your interior designer when building a room like that? ‘See pal, I wanna room that screams gangster, but you know, classy and legit and all. Wanna keep everyone on their toes.”

Sheesh. They could make a fortune on the book rights alone, if this was any kinda just world. As it is though, Fuyumi knows they’d get buried by law hounds and dirty money the second they so much as pitched the idea. Reputation and respect are the only currency Enji trades in, and if you threaten that, he comes down on you like the fires of hell.

Just ask Touya. Or Ma.

They fiddle with the safe, bad memories making ‘em antsy to get this job done and dusted. Neither knows the code. Not like Enji would trust ‘em with it. After all, they were barely worthy of taking his name, much less accessing his secrets. Lady Luck loves making a fool outta a fella though, and it’s not long before the too-weak twins have their hands on secrets Pops would have done anything to hide.

Fool set the combination as the date his poor “masterpiece” Shouto started manifesting his gifts to the world. It was the third set of numbers they tried. Once this place was ash and his legacy was crushed, Fuyumi hoped she’d have the chance to lean in, real close, and let him know just how his empire came crumbling down.

Let him know that it all came down to his own damn failing. His played-out narcissism and twisted family pride.

They sort through documents and trinkets. It’s all here. Sheathes of paper on the special training they all had to endure, notes from doctors that expressed concern, before blood money overwhelmed their morals, even a dowry arrangement that looks damn sure like a bill of sale.

Touya is more than a little amazed. It’s like Christmas, but happy for once. “What kind of no-good scoundrel does shit like this, then keeps records?”

Fuyumi frowns down at the papers in her hands. She should be pleased. It’s what they’ve been after this whole time, right? But all these names...she wasn’t prepared for that. She might be playing at being a hood tonight, but she’s lived her life more or less on the right side of the law, more or less with faith in people.

And now there’s this. A whole damned mountain of names, of people who knew something sick and twisted was brewing in this house, and who did absolutely nothing to stop it. Hell, even Ma’s parents were in on it, selling her off like a broodmare. Something twists in her gut and all the sudden, she thinks she understands why Touya comes home sometimes, smelling like gunpowder and copper blood.

He sees red, but she feels ice. Ice creeping up her veins and into her heart, that small and abused thing that beats with love, that never seems to learn better. Never protects itself. They all knew. They all knew and they did nothing. Long as the image stayed shiny like the coins that passed hands, they were happy to send them all to the slaughter.

At some point, Touya starts rubbing circles across her palms, gently prying away the documents from her death grip. He helps bring her back to reality, to the job they’ve got to do. She’s not a helpless little girl anymore, and he’s not a throwaway kid. Damn but it’s chilly in here.

There’s no way to heal a festering wound like this one, but at least they can get even. Can show the whole world exactly what they’ve been complicit in. And Fuyumi’s not just interested in taking down Enji. No, she wants them all. Every single patsy and punk who let themselves be bought.

It all clicks in place. That’s why he kept the evidence. Insurance. Pops was never going to go down alone. No, if he got caught, he’d take the whole damn place with him. Fuyumi has no problem making that last request come true.

She wants them to burn too.

They move on, mirror images splitting in two to check the rest of the house. It’s just as impersonal as they remember, with more shadows than furniture and more blood than memories. When he squints into the cloaking night, Touya can swear he can still see the scorch marks from his last training session out in the yard.

Fuyumi touches his arm. They start the fire in two places. Touya begins in the dojo, letting steam and tears lift off his body like all those unanswered prayers, body convulsing as he watches the sparring mats and training dummies that engulfed his childhood be engulfed by flames. Fuyumi begins in Enji’s bedroom, getting drunk on the smell of gasoline as she douses the bed and lets the barren room be swallowed up.

She does it for Mother, who laid on that bed until her body and mind were broken by a man she never loved. She does it for Touya, who destroyed his body and fractured his mind trying to meet standards that he could never reach. She does it for Natsuo, who was called worthless from the start. She does it for Shouto, the masterpiece who never asked for any of this, who spent so long in a gilded cage that he forgot how to feel. And most of all, she does it for herself.

For the girl who did the best she could, who was never enough. Who wasted years trying to tiptoe around a dragon, who blamed herself every time the world descended into flames. For the woman she is, and the woman she could have been.

She spends an eternity looking into the licking flames before Touya, who has more experience in these kinds of things, pulls her out of the room and out of the shuttered home. They leave the lot, no glance spared back until they reach a high hill a few blocks away, at a distance Touya declares safe.

They don’t sit. They stand and they stare and they watch the harsh beauty of orange and blue flames dancing across the collapsing roof and black smoke rising above the murky white fog that still blanketed the lower-lying parts of the city.

They don’t feel the release they had hoped for, but they feel a type of validation, and that’s enough. At least for tonight, their once-home is just as ugly as hellish outside as inside. A four-alarm fire that can’t be ignored. No one gets to turn away. Not tonight.

---

It’s morning, when Ryuko finally makes it home from the clubhouse, just long enough to grab a shower and a bite to eat. Her shift had been held over last night. Whole damn city was losing its mind over that fire especially when some loose-lipped recruit let it slip that the whole thing was cut-and-dry arson.

Ryuko shakes her head and steps into the shower, rivulets of water washing her skin clean but doing nothing to unlock the dark swirls of smoke that clung to her hair and pores. She shudders at the memory of Old Man Todoroki himself, all claws and fire and vitriol as he pushed through the wreckage of his ancestral home. Man damn near started a whole new inferno when he opened the scorched safe and found it empty.

Detective Tatsuma had been sent over, boot-licking superiors and ashen-faced patrol boys offering her as a sacrifice to his anger.

“Come on, you’re shackled to his baby girl. Makes sense you’d be the one to interview him-”

Ryuko had resisted the urge to fill them in on just how much Enji and Fuyumi would hate that characterization, but had trooped forward anyway, too tired to fight for rationality. It’s a losing battle anyway, and it ends up not mattering, at all.

Enji claims the safe was always empty. Nothing is missing. He’s lying like a cheap suit. It doesn’t matter. His word is law, after all.

Ryuko closes her notebook, nods her head, and feigns deference as the hero stomps off, no doubt eager to take out his rage on whatever poor chump is planning on breaking the law today. Once her towering Father-in-Law leaves, she peeks into the safe herself.

It’s bare, that true, but not totally empty. Sitting in the middle of safe like some kinda proposal is a single metal staple. Looks surgical. Ryuko takes note of it before slamming the door shut.

If Enji doesn’t care about who robbed and ravaged him, why should she? Sure, she’ll go through the motions, maybe even catch the doers. But she’s not going to kill herself. Not on a case like this, a one without a real victim.

The shower ends. The house still reeks like smoke and something squirms against the back of her mind as she steps into their bedroom and leans down to press a kiss into Fuyumi’s tousled hair.

Lord love her, but she looks like death warmed over. Ryuko feels a stab of regret. That was Fuyumi’s home, and Ryuko hadn’t been there to deal with whatever emotions hearing about it burn must have elicited. Fuyumi’s never been that forthcoming about her family, and Ryuko has never pressed. Didn’t want to seem like a fame groupie. But surely, there’d been memories there, tokens that Fuyumi might have wanted to take with her. And now some nameless, faceless thug had ripped that away from her.

She’ll make it up to her. She’ll find the arsonist, maybe even find answers. It’s the least she can do.

---

Out in the boonies, Touya’s got one last bit of trash to take out, one last crusade before he can maybe put all this filth behind him. He knew Endeavour would take the bait. Had to, with all he had to lose. He wouldn’t drag Fuyumi into this darkness. Sure, she was mad. And she has just as much right as he. But he’s already lost, his soul already in tatters. He doesn’t mind adding another mark to his debts.

He hears Pops before he sees him, skin simmering and crackling like a bull under a sweltering sun. His ears got trained a long time ago, to recognize that sound and flee from it, but he’s not a kid anymore. Whatever innocence he had was burned to nothing on the floor of that house, under the heel of his no-good progenitor. He stands tall yet disrespectful, scarred hands jammed into soot-stained jeans, a smirk chasing away the tiredness and fear of his eyes.

“Yo, Endeavor. Long time no see.”

There’s a roar. Charming.

The man who was once Touya laughs darkly as hands close around his throat. Well, this isn’t exactly how he saw this going, but he’s nothing if not adaptable.

“You sure that’s your move, Sir?”

Enji realizes there’s no loot bag. No scraps or scrips. He releases the boy who was once his son.

“What’s your game, boy?”

Dabi smiles all lazy and languid. What is his game? Ha, it’s hard to even remember. Oh, right. He’s at a crossroads now.

He could kill the man. Fuyumi would forgive him, and maybe he’d finally be free. His mind flickers forward, already seeing the State Funeral and hearing the cloying speeches of sycophants and snakes. His jaw tenses, metal scraping and clinking with every roll of his neck. Nah, he don’t wanna see that, not at all. A sight like that, no telling what it would do to a man. Nasty things, probably.

He feels his sanity start to slip, just a bit, like a pickpocket's just rifled through his head. He needs to get clear of this, and as good as it would feel to smother those flames once and for all, he can’t let him die a hero.

There’s some things that are just beyond bearing.

That leaves him with his second option. A more….poetic type thing. An execution of public sentiment, if not of the man himself. He ruffles a hand through sooty hair and smiles and Enji glowers at him.

“My game? Gee, I guess...I just wanna rob the house. Prove it can’t always win.”

“Talk sense, or don’t talk at all.”

Touya flicks a spent cigarette into a grimy barrel, still slick with the oil that powers this city, that keeps all these poor bastards rolling to and fro, as if anything really matters. As if they’re good people. As if they’re in control. He hops up on to a railing and starts to teeter before giving a false salute and dropping down to the street below.

“You’ll see.”

Enji stares at the spot for a long time, not sure if he’s more concerned or calmed by the lack of body. He doesn’t trust Touya, how could he? But a body is a hard thing to explain. It’s one thing to have a son who ran away, maybe to Europe, maybe to love. It’s another thing entirely for the corpse of a known hardened triggerman to fall at your steps. To look so much like you.

Enji’s still staring when the newspaper inquiries start to come.

They want to know about the fire, and the safe, and the strange articles and evidence that are hitting papers and precincts all over the city.

He grinds the phone into dust.

[artnerd1123]

I ended up saving a bunch of the bits n pieces of this particular drawing as i was working on it (thank u, ms paint, for ur weird layering effects) and figured i’d post em to let y’all see what a drawing develops like :D

some notes on all this undercut!

i’m sad i didn’t save the sketch, but that’s jus how ms paint drawings go ‘^^ start out with a sketch, then go over it, and use some cut n paste shenans to remove the sketch from existence :V

in any case, i actually started out drawing miss mentireiro, then drew the sillhouettes in front of her. there were some strings, too, but they were jus in the bg-- the first drawing up there is the lineart from after i went over the sketch!!! u always have to start out with different colors there. Makes it easier to go over/change it in blocks via the eraser tool. lineart came in real handy for covering up any messups i happened to have ‘^^ second pic is jus sillhouettes. I needed those so i could go overtop what’s in the third pic (all dem s t r i n g s) without completely murdering my old progress.  third pic, the strings, was a real fun time :D actually had to go over the sillhoueettes twice in that one so things looked right. Nevertheless, it helped immensely in keeping the foreground consistent.  pic 4 is just the lineart but i made the bg green and got rid of the characters! u kinda gotta do that in ms paint so u can edit larger spaces all in one go. its like a greenscreen, and appropriately colored like one there! the fifth pic is what happens after u slap a stock image overtop the green. thank u google! got a proper bg now ^^ pic 6 is miss revaew’s colors stuck inside the lineart. had to get rid of the sillhouettes to get that one properly colored, and then used the gradient in pic 7 to color the lineart!!!

slap all that together into one drawing, use ur fancy copy/paste skills to edit the sillhouette colors into smth better than the weird ones we started with... and ur almost there :D i ended up adding the cool glowy particle type deal u see in the final product with the spray paint tool. its a real easy one to use ^^ and then i went over a few places (mostly the strings) with the eraser tool a few times to make colors pop...

aaaand you’re done! 

its a whole mess of a process, but it’s actually p easy when u get the hang of it. i swear it is slkdfjsdklf--

[yungjustus]

It's not the dark blue bg so much as the reblog sign, like u said. That sorta... Brightness is just awful. That kinda neon doesn't really adjust to my eyes, it just slowly wears on em, until I get a headache or I stop looking at whatever it was. So yeah, without xkit, I wouldn't use the site on desktop anymore, or at least I'd have to be v v limited in using it.

Hmm, I guess the editor or programmers never really thought of that. Honestly I wouldnt even think of that, because even I have an astigmatism, so I understand what you mean, but my eyes just kind of get used to it ig? Like at first i was sort of squinting to look at it, but after awhile it just kind of got better, and it seemed fine. 

[tellywoodtrash]

ishqbaaz 11.08.17 lb

plain text version here.

pinky’s back home and being all uncharacteristically familial with rudra?? 😕😕😕

daaaaaaamn, rudra isn’t in the mood tho. rudy boy, you savage! 😗😗😗

... no but really, pinky is usually quite cutting with rudra, but she’s being kinda... like... how to explain? she’s acting like lovingly reproachful choti maa from the days of yore, when she used to be kinda affectionate with omRu... oh pinky, please revert to those days. i miss that pinkyyyyy. 😔😔😔

chota mooooh, badiiiiii baaat. 😐😐😐

news mili nahi hai, toh bataana kya hai? 🤔🤔🤔

my godddd, anika, honestly. this hugging his clothes thing is getting a little TOO much. go spend time with sahil, to keep your mind off things. 😑😑😑

omg please, BURN THAT UGLY BLUE SUIT WITH THE GREEN AND YELLOW STRIPES. PLEASE. 😩😩😩

i haaaaaaaate when ppl see you crying and ask RO RAHE HO???? y u gotta make shit awkward like that???? 😒😒😒

standard “aankh mein kuch chala gaya hai” excuses have been given. 🙄🙄🙄

awww, rudra distracting with pari ka feeder. (why they call it that and not a bottle, idgi.) 😊😊😊

god i love rudra so much. what a cupcake. this boy’s love for anika truly knows no bounds. 😚😚😚

and anika KNOWS it. 😘😘😘

excuse me: why no rakshabandhan special for these two????? 😞😞😞

gosh i thought that was pinky skulking in the bg, but thank god it’s bhavya. 😐😐😐

ok, reallyyyyy fucking awkward editing, that anika was in the room, and now SUDDENLY back in the mandir? like... you could have shown us the rudra/anika scene yest and the whole of the mandir scene today? what the fuck is even wrong with the editing team of this fucking show? 😟😟😟😖😖😖

ouff gauriiiiiiiiiii, yaaaaaaaaaaar. matlab vishwas koi sweater toh hai nahi ki jab chaaha cupboard mein se le liya, jhaad liya, aur pehen liya. 😣😣😣

lo the Star Plus waala Dramatic Dhaarmik Music™ has started. 🙄🙄🙄

ok, won’t talk about this scene anymore, you can read my thoughts about it here. meanwhile, fwding. 

Awareness™!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😯😯😯

RUN ANIKA RUN! 😥😥😥😥

(i’m already sobbing btw 😭😭😭😭)

again, explain to me why she’s running down the stairs, when the mandir is on the lower level of the house. matlab, kuch bhi. 🤔🤔🤔

(goes back to sobbing. 😭😭😭) 

and the award for the most dramatic entrance into OWN damn house for 2017 goes to.... 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

imma enter my house like this when i return from work every day from now on. let’s see how the mother and cat take it. they better be this amazed and wowed and grateful to see me. 😎😎😎

lol look at his face, the fucker, koi emotion hi nahi. as if he just went to the kirane ki dukaan to buy a pack of smokes and came back. 😐😐😐

ok girl, calm down with the verbal diarrhea. 😕😕😕

okaaaaaaaaay, she just damn near confessed everything! WHY IS THIS FUCKER SO NON REACTIVE THO? IS HE OK? KAHIN SAR-VAR PE CHOT TOH NAHI LAGI? 😟😟😟

yo bro, sayyyyyyyyyy something. 😧😧😧

LE. ISSE TOH KUCH PATA HI NAHI. SAB KO ACHCHA KHAASA CHUTIYA BANAYA. 😑😑😑

TIME TO GIVE HIM THOSE KAAN KE NEECHE THINGS THAT YOU PROMISED RAGINI, GIRL. 😒😒😒

he’s still on this BS. even after she said everything that she said rn????????? 😧😧😧

lmao vikram be like “kahaaaaan phas gaya main yaaaar.” 

boy be looking fireeeeee in all black though. mmmmhmm. 😏😏😏

EXPLAIN WHY YOU COULDN’T BOTHER PICKING UP YOUR FUCKING PHONE THEN???????? 😤😤😤

shakti - eternal optimist and #teamAnika. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

omg bitch, after EVERYTHING SHE JUST SAID?!?!?!?! HOLD MY PIZZA SLICE, IMMA KICK HIS FUCKING ASS. 😤😤😤

still the hope in his eyes - hoping she’ll say NO. 😥😥😥

SAHIL PLEASE! KNOCK SOME DAMN SENSE INTO THIS ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!! 😫😫

ouff sahil, chamchagiri bandh kar. yahan pe sab bigaadne waala yeh tera SSO hi hai. 😒😒😒

he doesn’t even know they’re divorced. how even are they gonna pull this shit off without him knowing? 🤔🤔🤔

meanwhile, sobbing because:

whoooo boy. private mein confrontation. 😬😬😬

“ek mauka diya tha maine tumhe...” 

my god this vengeful bastard. 😧😧😧😡😡😡

MY GOD, YOU TWO ARE SUCH FUCKING STUBBORN ASSHOLES. YOU BOTH. LORD. 😤😤😤

“rishta hum dono ka tha. decision tumhare akele ka nahi ho sakta.”

oh right, as if you asked her before signing those divorce papers. which btw, why were you still holding on to??? don’t try to paint yourself as the ONLY victim here. 🙄🙄🙄

my god this fuckerrrrrrrrrrrr is soooo fuckkkkkkingggg blinddddd. i s2g i want to slappppp the blinders off him. 😡😡😡

OH GOD GIRL. WHYYYYYYYYY????? YOU COULD HAVE JUST SAID THINK WHAT YOU WANT, BUT I WON’T MARRY VIKRAM. WHY ARE WE BACK ON THIS BS??? 😫😫😫😫

i hope rudra is storming in there to beat the sense into bhaiyya. 😡😡😡

ugh i really dgaf about these two. i realllllllllly hope svetlana murders them. 🙄🙄🙄

yaaaaaas, rudra CALL. HIM. OUT.  👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

“aansoon khushi ke bhi hote hai.”

yeah those really looked like khushi ke aansoon. esp that part where she asked you to STOP THIS FUCKERY. yeah, now i have zero sympathy for this fool. i want anika to actually marry vikram and go cheer him on in his marathons, instead of wasting her life with this loser. 😒😒😒

btw, this asshole used to be the one who used to be like MAIN TUMHARE AAKNHON MEIN KABHI AANSOON NAHI DEKH SAKTA. today he’s perfectly okay with it. i’m so fucking done with you shivaay. 😑😑😑

god, that “haq” thing realllllly fucked him over. 😭😭😭

pft, yeh kya apna stupid defective heart follow karega. idiot. 😒😒😒

oh. sahil knows. 😐😐😐

bulbul here, to make a valiant second try.  may the force be with you, bulbul. 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

oh my heart, shivaay expresses himself naturally in english, but he’s translating all the english into hindi for her. i can’t. i just can’tttttt. i love these two together soooo muchhhhhhhh. 💖💖💖

le, yeh ittu sa bachcha bhi samajh gaya, lekin yeh do idiots... khair chodo. nothing more to be said. 😒😒😒

ok tearing up at sahil baandhofying rakhi for anika. 😭😭😭

“baandh sakte hai na?” *biggest, most earnest bulbul eyes* 

“poonch kyun rahi ho?”

LEGIT CRYING LIKE A BITCH BABY HERE COZ OH MY GOD THESE TWO ARE LIFE. THESE TWO ARE EVERYTHINGGGG TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I WILL DIE TO PROTECT THESE TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“main waise bhi tumhari koi baat taal nahi sakta tha; ab toh bilkul bhi nahi taal paaonga.” 

bulbul laughing through her tears at “maayke waale” like... what even is this chemistry between these two... i just want to set everything on fire from how perfect it all is. 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫

how quickly these obros switch over to bhaabi/devrani sides, lol. bhai jaaye tel lene. matlab bros before hos ka koi concept hi nahi hai is ghar mein. 😆😆😆

oh god, her face and voice, so heartbroken and small, as she says “woh haq toh hai hi nahi humare paas.” i legit died. 😢😢😢

oh god shivaay, pehle apna shaadi aur biwi toh sambhaaaal. ouffff. tang aa gayi hoon main is ladke ki samaaj sevak mentality se. 😣😣😣

but he promised her, COZ SHE’S HIS CHOTI BEHEN NOW. 😭😭😭 PRINKU WHO??????????? LOL FOR THAT MATTER, OMKARA WHO?!!?? SHIVAAY SINGH OBEROI NOW HAS BROTHERLY OBLIGATIONS TO ONLYYYYYYYY ONE PERSON, AND ONE PERSON ALONE!!!!!!!!! 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

HP number plate? not in mumbai anymore? 🤔🤔🤔

wow, a vacay in manali. WHEN YOUR HOUSE AND FAMILY IS ON FLAMES BACK THERE?????? 😧😧😧

waise yeh bhi theek hai. matlab, if you wait for things to settle down there, you’re never gonna get to go anywhere. so why NOT now??? 😌😌😌😌 

self contained bungalow. mwahahahha. OH MAN. I CAN’T WAIT TILL SVETLANA COMES HERE AND FUCKS YOUR SHIT UP AND THERE’LL BE ZERO WITNESSES. HAHAHA FUCK YOU TWO. 😆😆😆😂😂😂

isn’t this the same house used for the hacker bhavya went to visit? also the same house that anika came looking for dobin during her amnesia track??? also it may have been the cabin shivaay and anika stayed in, in the jungle???? 🤔🤔🤔

ok it’s fucking august. how cold can it even be? 🙄🙄🙄

lol you two gonna fucking dieeeeeeeeeeee. 😈😈😈

SVETLANA. MY GODDESSSSS!!!! YAAAAAAAS! FUCKKKK EM UPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!! 😊😊😊😎😎😎

yaaaaaaaaas, bulbul to the rescueeeee. LIKE ALWAYS!!!!!!!! 😇😇😇

[artnerd1123]

Please talk about paint dad.

*quietly but eagerly pats table*

okok so you weren’t specific and i have mANY feelings on aiden, so you’ll be getting a crash course in paint dad ig lskjdfks–

aiden is a questor, born into a family of questors! his mom n dad were p much always on the move, aside from when he and his younger sister were v little. being brought up in a constantly changing (but, thx to his family, always loving) environment taught him a lot about the world and life. It’s one of the main reasons he’s so tolerant and willing to roll with the punches (aside from his general chill personality). his questing bg is also the reason he’s so against dark magic. he’s seen more than enough of the destruction it can cause back in his day, and it’s certainly not gotten any better.that being said, aiden originally wasn’t too fond of questing on his own. he had this idea that he could just go ahead and settle down somewhere, since he thought he’d seen plenty of his own share of action. ‘course, that all changed after he got a familiar of his own. Roo was more than just a friend. He was family. and he gave aiden someone to protect after his family moved on without him. it was only a matter of time after he created roo that the questor calls started coming. and, tbh? he couldn’t be happier with it. it gets em plenty of food, water, treasure, time to help others/work with his hands, appreciate dungeon art, and anything else he could need (minus a stationary home).in fact, the only things he’s really regretting taking up the questing life for would be less time to make/space to store paintings, and roo’s occasional unhappiness with travelling so much. nevertheless, he makes sure to take care of Roo, and to find time to just stop and paint every so often. gotta make do!!!

aiden in general is just… a very dad-like dude. he likes to make sure that those around him are doing alright, and ends up caring for many creatures/people temporarily before he moves on to a new quest/area. and he’s always v gentle. which is good, because if he wanted to? he could snap a tree like a twig. he is a strong dude >:Vtho, ofc, his gentle kindness, caring nature, desire to keep people safe, and do what’s right aren’t the only attributes to give em. Everyone’s got their rough patches. 

aiden’s always been willing to hear people’s opinions, thoughts, and learn from his own mistakes, but he can be kinda bullheaded sometimes. If he’s made up his mind to do something, then there’s pretty much no way you can stop him. he can be really really stubborn sometimes :/This is especially true when it comes to keeping his loved ones safe. he can get pretty reckless in that regard. if sacrificing himself would keep someone safe, he’d do it without a second thought. Which, in his line of work… might not be the wisest idea. sometimes he needs a good whack on the back of the head and a moment to actually think before he goes and hurts himself. believe it or not, there’s actually ways to get out of it where nobody gets hurt by something! amazing ik lsdkjfsAiden’s also kind of a mess. and i mean that literally. the dude’s house looked like a landfill before he made roo. he has a habit of keeping things of sentimental value, and you can imagine how quickly clutter would accumulate. he can be made to get rid of some of it!!! but he’ll need someone to give him a nudge before he’ll even think about it. not to mention his organization system is “i threw it over there, so that’s its place. until i move it again, that is.” messy boi ._.and one last thing? sometimes he won’t listen if he believes what he’s doing is right. if he has an idea of what he’s doing, and he feels really solid on it, esp if it involves someone else, he might not listen to you if you tell him to stop. Roo’s gotten distressed over this a few times when aiden’s tossed him to saftey but insisted on heading off whatever was chasing them/fighting them. it may or may not also happen with journal in the future. someone doesn’t want a “kid” goin after him on a dangerous quest…

aside from all that??? aiden’s just doin his best, man. despite his shortcomings, he really just wants people to be content and safe. he strives to be a source of stability for everyone he cares for. especially his bois. after all, life’s a tough masterpiece to get in one brushstroke. might as well give people a hand, and show them all the colors they can use while they’re at it.