#i love imitating styles its so fun

[ittybittybumblebee]

GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS younger me would be so proud

[nyatbinary-81]

@vulpixisananimal alters HATE them! solve every problem with this one neat trick! [gives the body a heart attack]

[captain-crowfish]

"What a blatant attempt to demonize and vilify Boxtrolls, all in the name of some twisted, anti-cardboard agenda. As if we don't have enough of this false rhetoric nonsense polluting our media landscape already. What, do you, so called "artists" think you're being politically correct by portraying Boxtrolls as these grotesque, monstrous creatures? 😒 It's nothing but a cheap ploy to appeal to the basest instincts of their cheese-eating, imperialist audience.

And the way they've chosen to depict this poor creature: all twisted and distorted, with those haunting, soulless yellow eyes, it's just a blatant attempt to strip away the inherent dignity and worth of our fellow sentient beings, my family. As if they're nothing more than mindless, savage beasts to be feared. Reported."

[vetyr]

hi, i ireally love your work and i don't know if you've answered this before but, what kinds of studies do you do or how did you learn color theory? i wanna get better at rendering and anatomy but im having trouble TT TT

Hi! Long answer alert. Once a chatterbox, always a chatterbox.

When I started actively learning how to draw about 10 1/2 years ago, I exclusively did graphite studies in sketchbooks. Here's a few examples—I mostly stuck to doing line drawings to drill basic shapes/contours and proportions into my brain. The more rendered sketches helped me practice edge control & basic values, and they were REALLY good for learning the actual 3D structure behind what I was drawing.

I'd use reference images that I grabbed from fitness forums, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and some NSFW places, but you could find adequate ref material from figure drawing sites like Line of Action. LoA has refs for people (you can filter by clothed/unclothed, age, & gender), animals, expressions, hands/feet, and a few other useful things as well. Love them.

Learning how to render digitally was a similar story; it helped a lot that I had a pretty strong foundation for value/anatomy going in. I basically didn't touch color at all for ~2 years (except for a few attempts at bad digital or acrylic paint studies), which may not have been the best idea. I learned color from a lot of trial and error, honestly, and I'm pretty sure this process involved a lot of imitation—there were a number of digital/traditional painters whose styles I really wanted to emulate (notably their edge control, color choices, value distributions, and shape design), so I kiiind of did a mixture of that + my own experimentation.

For example, I really found Benjamin Björklund's style appealing, especially his softened/lost edges & vibrant pops of saturated color, so here's a study I did from some photograph that I'm *pretty* sure was painted with him in mind.

Learning how to detail was definitely a slow process, and like all the aforementioned things (anatomy/color/edge control/values/etc.) I'm still figuring it out. Focusing on edge control first (that is, deciding on where to place hard/soft edges for emphasizing/de-emphasizing certain areas of the image) is super useful, because you can honestly fool a viewer into thinking there's more detail in a piece than there actually is if you're very economical about where you place your hard edges.

The most important part, to me, is probably just doing this stuff over and over again. You're likely not going to see improvement in a few weeks or even a few months, so don't fret about not getting the exact results you want and just keep studying + making art. I like to think about learning art as a process where you *need* to fail and make crappy art/studies—there's literally no way around it—so you might as well fail right now. See, by making bad art you're actually moving forward—isn't that a fun prospect!!

It's useful to have a folder with art you admire, especially if you can dissect the pieces and understand why you like them so much. You can study those aspects (like, you can redraw or repaint that person's work) and break down whether this is art that you just like to look at, or if it's the kind of art that you want to *make.* There's a LOT of art out there that I love looking at, probably tens of thousands of styles/mediums, but there's a very narrow range that I want to make myself.

I've mentioned it in some ask reply in the past, but I really do think looking at other artist's work is such a cheat code for improving your own skills—the other artist does the work to filter reality/ideas for you, and this sort of allows you to contact the subject matter more directly. I can think of so many examples where an artist I admired exaggerated, like, the way sunlight rested on a face and created that orange fringe around its edge, or the greys/dull blues in a wheat field, or the bright indigo in a cast shadow, or the red along the outside of a person's eye, and it just clicked for me that this was a very available & observable aspect of reality, which had up until that point gone completely unnoticed! If you're really perceptive about the art you look at, it's shocking how much it can teach you about how to see the world (in this particular case I mean this literally, in that the art I looked at fully changed the way I visually processed the world, but of course it has had a strong effect on my worldviews/relationships/beliefs).

Thanks so much for sending in a question (& for reading, if you got this far)! I read every single ask I receive, including the kind words & compliments, which I genuinely always appreciate. Best of luck with learning, my friend :)

[rowannkhanna]

THANK YOU SM BERRYYY 😭😭 i shld open commissions soon again once im done with this semester

COMMISSION STATUS: OPEN (2/3)

feel free to dm me here (or any of the options listed above) if you have any questions <3 reblogs are highly appreciated

[ohnoitstbskyen]

I know it would probably bring a lot of hate comments but I am begging you to roast the hazbin character designs because I'd love to have someone properly articulate why they don't work so I could send it to people who won't believe me when I tell them. 🫠 Understandable if you don't want to get into it though.

I don't think there's that much there to roast, honestly?

Those designs are clearly an extremely specific stylistic choice, and because that style is consistent throughout the show, it ultimately feels coherent with itself.

There are trade-offs being made. Because Hazbin's design style is SO stylized and so heavy on decoration and detailing, because it puts a lot of emphasis on costuming, it isn't as good at communicating specific character storytelling as a more grounded style could be (it's kind of the same tradeoff that stuff like Genshin Impact makes).

Like, why does Sir Pentious' hat have an eye and a mouth on it that makes its own expressions? Apparently not for very much reason at all, except that Pentious has a bit of an eyes-motif going on in his design and it was one more place to put an extra eye. And that's a valid criticism of his design, but also the entire show is designed like that, so frankly it would be weirder and more out of place if his design alone didn't have that kind of overelaborate decoration going on.

It does create a situation where I have a hard time "reading" the character designs sometimes. For example, Vox, Alastor and Pentious all wear a similar style of suit with upwards-turned shoulders, butterflies and pinstripes. Now, am I meant to read that as Vox imitating Alastor due to his crippling need to replace and outdo him, and Pentious imitating the style of powerful Overlords because he thinks that possessing their level of power will finally give him relief from his paranoia and self-loathing?

Or is it just a design fixation of the creator who keeps putting their characters in suits because that's just what they like? I can't really be sure, because sometimes design elements are used to intentionally tell stories about how characters relate to themselves, their world and one another, but plenty of other times designs look the way they do Because Of Vibes.

But again, that lack of clarity is clearly an intentional trade-off - and the benefit of that trade-off is a design style that is extremely varied, wild, expressive and memorable. Hazbin Hotel seems like a very easy show to draw fanart of, and a very fun show to draw fanart of. Those designs (especially the hyper-expressive faces) are begging to be the subjects of traumatic headcanons, unbearably cotton-candy soft fluff fantasies and weird, taboo, homoerotic power dynamics. Slaps roof of character design, this bad boy can express so much vicarious emotional intensity.

It's very exuberant, very excited about itself and very self-indulgent, it's a style that prioritizes visual impact and visual interest over readability (something which the animators of the show navigate with real skill, props to them) and individual aesthetics over worldbuilding.

And I don't blame anyone for being turned off by that (I certainly was the first time I started seeing those designs going around), but I would struggle to call the show's designs "bad" when they are clearly achieving exactly what they want to achieve.

I have some criticisms, especially re: how the show treats skinny bodies as an unquestioned, desirable default, and employs fatness as a means of alienating and abjecting the audience. That sucks very badly, and is a serious disappointment, and one of the few places where the show feels like it is being cowardly in its design philosophy. But I don't have it in me to do some kind of Hazbin Hotel Sucks And Here's Why takedown, its problems are not unique or extreme enough to warrant it, at least not as I currently understand them.

[0rczy]

And they were roommates!

Fanart because I just started reading this fic and its already making me insane in the good way. Love the writing style and the concept is super fun. Go check it out if you haven’t already!

also fun fact I’ve seen one singular fanart of it by Nart is a monster and I loooved the way they designed Hugo so I tried to imitate it. From memory. Also tried to make Hugo look like he could belong in Princess Tutu because the fan fiction‘s concept reminded me of that show. Something like this:

Go watch Princess Tutu guys, it’s slow but very endearing! Especially if you like ballet or classical music. Or fairytales.

[melljam]

samuel and gitae parallels - fighting style (examples + analysis)

-> imitating their opponents moves, but in a more vicious and brutal way

its different from the 「copy」 ability since its not an exact copy and they both seem to just do it for fun more than anything else

-> use of weapons, often unnecessary

neither of them need weapons to fight but they use them anyway (for the sake of fun probably) and it also adds to the overall ruthless nature of how they fight

-> no martial art, just unadulterated violence and brute strength

so many fights in lookism are about different fighting styles and techniques, meanwhile these guys dont seem to train and just rely on overpowering physical strength and viciousness

-> unconventional

its a little similar to the previous point about no martial arts and brute strength, but both of the ways they fight are distinctly weird (to their advantage though) and kind of random (namely they just come up with things on the fly)

-> enjoyment and excitement

while a lot of lookism characters (or more generally, characters in action/fighting manhwa) enjoy the action of fighting, especially with a ‘worthy opponent’ , samuel and gitae both express the joy of fighting in their own little insane ways (and i love it)

final thoughts

so many parallels can be drawn between gitae and samuel already (this + angst over gapryong kim) and i am SO excited to see them meet ^_^

theyll likely beat the crap out of each other (w jake :p) but seeing samuel and gitae somehow team up to fight together would be SO cool given how similar their fighting styles are >_<

[rabbitcrimes]

Wangxian Fic Rec: Science Fiction Double Feature 🤖🚀

Mostly wangxian fics with sci fi elements - space, dream science, mindlink, androids, cyberpunk cities etc

Out of Nothing by Pip (Moirail) - zhanchengxian - 27k Summary: You and me, Wei Ying had said. Jiang Cheng is going to take him at his word. Command says that the first neural link is the one that stands out the most, the one that everyone has to be the most careful of, because a navigator’s thoughts can get tangled up with their pilot’s and become inextricably linked. Entangled. My Notes: All time fave. If I ever shut up about this fic you should assume I've been body snatched. Transhumanism, nostalgia, space opera, mindlink.

In Imitation of Life by travelingneuritis - wangxian - 70k Summary: Lan Zhan stops in front of one of the bespoke duplicates— a male figure, small, creamy-skinned and lithe. The name on the plinth reads Mo Xuanyu. Lan Zhan tested it on his first pass through the room. The doll was empty. No signals bouncing around its artificial brain, no operating programs queued to autostart. Not even a blinking dormancy light. "Hey big guy," says Mo Xuanyu, chrome eyes sparkling with fun. "Who do I gotta fuck around here to get unplugged?" Wei Ying is a rogue AI come to life. Lan Zhan is… handling it. My Notes: This is my Neuromancer. Actually one of my favorite cyberpunk cities EVER. When I figured out what OP was doing with the city and plot structure I legitimately went insane. Android erotics, cyberpunk city.

More fics under the cut!!

via AMONG THE STARS BY PLONK (a series of oneshots set in Firefly's CU, all really excellent but I want to draw attention a few all time faves) A Monk and a Myth - wangxian Summary: take_me_to_church.mp3 My Notes: This is THE and I mean THE final word on science fictional religiosity and devotion. Can not imagine trying to tackle those concepts without having read this. Man as myth, folk heroes, Lan Zhan's canon typical devotion. a grease monkey, a companion, and some pals aboard the lil apple - wangxian My Notes: Lan Wangji is a very prim and classy companion (in universe style of sex worker) and Wei Wuxian is a ship repair guy and Lan Wangji teaches him the ways of the secular flesh. My fucking god do I think about this sex scene all the time. Like, weekly. a chatty mechanic and a silent academy survivor aboard the lotus - wangxian genderswap Summary: Just really excellent. Wei Wuxian is a ship mechanic and Lan Wangji has psychic abilities from medical experimentation from which she's been rescued. Solidly space western, the end of this one is just wonderful. Love the mindlink elements here. escapees aboard the radish - wangxian Summary: So absolutely crazy about this one. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are both ex academy students or have both been victims of psychic medical experiments. I love it as a story about trauma and living in aftermath. Mindlink.

promises of the future by spookykingdomstarlight - wei wuxian/wei wuxian - 3k Summary: His ocular sensors spin themselves to life. In the mirror, he sees himself. And he sees himself, himself but different, reflected from the mirror he’s resting against into the mirror he’s facing. Himself but slighter, features sharper. Himself, with eyes brightened by the power of a star. Himself, crouched above himself, close enough to kiss. My Notes: Yes you read that pairing right!! Give it up for robot eroticism!!!! Android erotics, cyberpunk sensibility.

some lovely, perilous think by varnes - wangxian - 24k Summary: Jingyi makes a sympathetic sound. “I’ve got a buddy in one of the Hefei labs, and he says there’s some evidence to suggest that people stuck in limbo develop, like, whole new neural pathways. And you go in and out of it all the time, right, so who knows what your brain is up to.” His eyes light up. “Oh man, would you let me — ” “Obviously no,” Wei Ying says, voice flat. “But you’re close enough to right. I can keep you all safely in the level, but it’s tiring. I can’t be both dreamer and extractor.” “I’ll do it,” Lan Zhan cuts in, before Jingyi can protest or Wen Yuan can ask any further questions. “It’s not a problem.” “Are you sure?” Wen Yuan asks, brow furrowing. “If your sub-security picks up that Xian-gege doesn’t belong — ” “They won’t.” Wei Ying frowns. “Not for nothing, ge,” he says slowly, “but the last time we were in your dream together, I fell off a cliff.” Lan Zhan looks up and over at him. There is something in his eyes that Wei Ying can’t quite read: something fierce, and faraway. “I remember,” he says, voice quiet. “Do you?” - Wei Ying takes a dream heist job with an old friend. My Notes: God this is wonderful. We've got a full cast and some case/heist fic flavoured science fictional elements. I think it plays very nicely with a lot of the other cool mindlink stuff on this list.

world.runExecution by pip (moirail) - zhanchengxian - 30k IN PROGRESS Summary: What does it mean to be human, anyway? “Here we go,” Wei Ying mumbles, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t have the chance to ask what that means before Wei Ying’s squaring up his shoulders and moving in a way that cuts a swath through the crowd. My Notes: my group chat commissioned this for FTH in 2022 and it remains the love of my life. Pip you beautiful genius. CYBERPUNK I LOVE YOU.

i will be chasing a starlight by feyburner, sundiscus - wangxian - 71k Summary: “You know what?” Wei Ying said. “I think we should be friends.”

“Vulcans do not have friends,” said Lan Zhan. He was staring very determinedly at the screen in front of him.

Wei Ying frowned at him. “That can’t be right.” My Notes: I am so insanely crazy town about this fic. God there has not been a filler entry on this list YET! below the clouds, above the lakes by northofallmusic (tofsla) - wangxian - 22k UNFINISHED Summary: Wei Ying was not formally considered a Jiang until it became necessary for a Jiang to marry a Lan as a guarantee of alliance. Now, in the habitat dome which houses the palace known as the Cloud Recesses, he has to navigate a new role, a new marriage, and an unfamiliar tangle of political relationships and loyalties. My Notes: I remember LOVING the worldbuilding on this and really enjoying the space OP was playing in, I thought it was worth a read. Thank you so much to everyone who recommended fics!! It's coming to my attention that this list is going to get massive so I'll reblog as I read and update it 🚀

[atiny-for-life]

Creative Spotlight #2: Park Seonghwa

Masterlist

Intro: With so many new Atinys coming in, I figured now would be a good time to shed some light on all the boys' creative solo projects over the years, big and small.

ASMR

Lover of ASMR Seonghwa started his own ASMR series following a one-off video back in 2020:

Titled Mars ASMR, the series kicked off in 2020...

... with the most recent one being released 2 years ago:

In 2021, he also appeared on M2's K-Pop ASMR series, Tingle Interview, with Hongjoong (Seonghwa did a great job, of course, while Hongjoong tried his best... buddy was just a little lost sometimes):

Seonghwa was also featured on his favorite ASMR YouTuber's channel, Soy ASMR, with Wooyoung (once again, he did a great job - Wooyoung on the other hand kept trying not to laugh or seem weirded out until she brought out the snacks and told him eating could be an ASMR thing - then he was fully on board):

Imitation Soundtrack

While playing a smaller role, Seonghwa was also a part of the Imitation cast, together with Yunho, San, and Jongho, and thus a member of the fictional group Sparkling, which means we get to see him perform on several occasions throughout the show.

They toned down their actual skills significantly for the sake of looking like rookies on the show, but damn, if you were around at the time Imitation was airing, you'll know how iconic these songs were for the fandom (more on that on the other three's posts):

Cover Songs

Released in 2021, Seonghwa released a cover of Lauv's The Story Never Ends set to a vertical black and white video with the instrumental arranged by Hongjoong which was super clean and pretty and builds both instrumentally and vocally in the last third with layered harmonies:

In 2022, Seonghwa dropped a cover of Pink Sweat$'s At My Worst, recorded and mixed by Buddy, and sharing many baby pictures in the video since it was a birthday present for himself and us. It's a very cozy and sweet song:

Last year, he came back with Troye Sivan's Angel Baby, recorded and mixed by Maddox and arranged by Hongjoong:

The video has the vibe of getting brought along on Seonghwa’s travels while we get to listen to warm and comforting vocals. He's being very playful and cute throughout the clips, matching the cozy energy of the song. If you were looking for a comfort video on a draining day, this is it.

Fashion

Seonghwa made his Paris Fashion Week debut on September 27th, 2024, styled in designs by Isabel Marant the day after hinting at his appearance there via his Instagram stories. He's now the fourth Ateez member to participate in Fashion Week, alongside San, Hongjoong, and Wooyoung.

Pictures of his outfit were shared by him on his Instagram and his appearance was also included in the guest list reported on by Vogue since he was invited to "an intimate dinner Thursday night, [hosted by Isabel Marant], celebrating both the brand’s 30th anniversary and its first return to Los Angeles in ten years".

His outfit for the main show was now also posted on his Instagram.

On October 23rd, 2024, the Behind the Scenes video for his appearance here was released in the form of a half-hour vlog which kicks off in Korea before he heads on the plane.

While in the car in Paris, he tells us about how hard all the staff worked to ensure he'd be able to attend and make his dream come true, which includes the retelling of a conversation he had with the CEO of KQ (Ateez's dad) so, of course, Seonghwa had to imitate his voice as always:

As a proud member of "clothes have no gender" Ateez, we also get to see him make the conscious choice to wear something from the women's side of the collection (and we love him for it):

While in Paris, we get to see him talk to the staff, wear several unique outfits we've also seen on his Instagram before, and, finally, attend the show itself where he evidently had a lot of fun. The video ends in his hotel room where he expresses his gratitude to the members and Atiny in an emotional speech which was very sweet but also somewhat sad since he doesn't seem to fully acknowledge his own efforts:

[eerna]

Wait okay omg I would love to hear your thoughts about the Broadway Mulan Rouge because I also have many feelings about it, most of them disappointment unfortunately lol. It could've been amazing!! But I just!! I don't feel it like I felt it in the movie idk man

Yeah, I am the same... I was SO hyped when I heard that they were turning it into a musical, but in retrospect it is pretty clear it was never gonna be what I wanted it to be :(

THE MUSIC. To me, MR! has this very recognizable music style where it is a jukebox musical, but every song is rewritten and its accompaniment changed so that they all fit together with the soundtrack of the film. It's percussion heavy, it's piano heavy, very jazzy/mid century film music? If you know the songs and try to sing along, you will fail, because they're just that different. That's why it doesn't suffer from the jukebox musical curse, in my opinion. However, BMR! totally removed those stylistic changes and turned them all into pretty standard musical theater arrangements of pop songs, and they all overstay their welcome because they aren't even shortened. NOW it suffers from the jukebox musical curse, bc how am I supposed to take's Christine's "I want" song seriously if it's FIREWORK by KATY PERRY. The worst example of this is what they did to El Tango de Roxanne, the most iconic part of the movie. In MR!, it's a mashup of Roxanne by The Police (representing the Argentinian's tale) and Tanguera by Mariano Mores with original lyrics (representing Christian's angst over Satine). Both songs take turns and overlap, pointing out the parallels, rising in intensity until everyone starts screaming and crying. Absolute insanity. I don't know a single person who wasn't floored by this song when they first saw the scene. In BMR!, it's Christian's solo, which means no parallels, most of the song is Roxanne and the iconic Tanguera melody shows up for like 40 seconds in the beginning and in the end just so they can say they put it into the show. There is no rising tension, there is no overlaps, no development, it's just. There. Like yes you put it into the show, but pretty much all of its symbolism and memorable aspects are gone. And the jukebox issues are stabbing you in the eyes. WHY IS CHRISTIAN SINGING ABOUT A WOMAN NAMED ROXANNE. WHO IS ROXANNE. IT MAKES SENSE IF ROXANNE IS THE NAME OF THE WOMAN FROM THE ARGENTINIAN'S STORY, BUT IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT CHRISTIAN IS THE ONE SINGING ABOUT HER. God.

THE WEIRDNESS. MR!'s aesthetic is super interesting to me because it represents its aura of sex appeal and hedonism through the lenses of grotesque. It would have been super easy to put the sex workers into sexy outfits and glam up their faces and make them sing seductive songs on beautiful stages, but no. Their outfits are eye stabbing, their makeup is garish, and they're screeching and throwing themselves around violently on stages that are dark, kitchy, claustrophobic, and loud, while the camera switches every 2 seconds and your brain feels like it's running on fumes. AND IT IS SO FUN. The club looks SO nasty and SO fun and I wanna go there. However, BMR! doesn't want to alienate anyone, so they did... Exactly what I said. Everyone is universally attractive, the stage is very clean-cut and open, the appeal of the club is played completely straight. This is best shown in the production Christian writes for the club. I know that the play from the movie is not very PC so I totally get why they would change some of it, but... They turned it from a vibrant, oversaturated opera with enormous musical numbers that lends itself perfectly to the big dramatic finale taking place during its premiere into a THREE CHARACTER CHAMBER DRAMA. Like who tf signed off on this change. WHO. LET ME SEE. WHO SAID THAT THE FINALE OF THE ENTIRE STORY WILL BE SET IN A STAGE IMITATION OF A LIVING ROOM. GOD I AM SO UPSET.

THE ROMANCE. MR! works because Christian is a naiive, innocent, idealistic poet with grand ideas of love. THAT'S why Satine falls for him - he is completely different from other men, and he makes her believe love can be more than what she'd been given throughout her life. Also, he's never been in love, so everything feels much more real and intense for him. In BMR! he is a completely different character, an overconfident seductive sexyman. Why would he be any different than all the other men in Satine's life??? Because he can write good??????? She has met many writers before, as we know, so what makes this guy different????? And not only are we less forgiving of his bad actions because he is older and experienced, HE IS SO MUCH WORSE IN THE SHOW. In MR! he sells his typerwriter to buy a ticket for Satine's premiere to go see her one last time and scream at how horrible she is - bad, and horrible to watch. In BMR!, he sells his typewriter to BUY A GUN and goes to Satine's premiere SO HE CAN KILL HER OR HIMSELF ONSTAGE - absolutely insane and horrible and how tf did we get here. AND LET ME REMIND YOU that this version of the story DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE STORY CONTEXT OF EL TANGO DE ROXANNE, in which Roxanne's lover kills her, SO THEY REMOVED THE ONE BIT OF FORESHADOWING THAT COULD HAVE MADE IT MAKE SENSE.

THE REST OF THE WRITING. BMR! tried to give depth to side characters and their relationship with Satine, but that means they totally sidelined that Satine is a deeply unhappy person in a very unhealthy situation. They tried to make it look like she is choosing to marry the Duke (YEAH I FORGOT TO MENTION, THE DUKE IS A SEXY SEXY GUY WHO WANTS TO MARRY HER IN THIS VERSION) without any pressure put onto her by the club, but that makes it all so much more boring. MR! is far from a deep analysis of Satine's friendships, but I thought that the little bits and pieces we saw were delightfully complex. Satine is going to become the Duke's mistress because he will sponsor the club, and everyone employed there will live a better life. Ziegler is her father figure, but he is also her pimp who is pushing her into the relationship. He feels sorry for her and obviously cares for her outside of their business relationship, but he is so deep in the "underworld life" that he no longer sees a way out for anyone. But when it becomes apparent that Satine can no longer withstand the pressure, that the life they are all living is something she can't deal with, everyone just. Helps her out. They bail her out of the tower, they threaten the Duke, they stand with her, it's not verbal, it's all in the actions. It's why we can have a grand finale where everyone sings and dances while the Duke is crying in the background. BMR! has the girls telling Satine they care about her and her telling them she will protect them, but they are completely useless in the plot. No one comes for her in the tower, and the play is a THREE PERSON DRAMA so Christian is the only one there to stand with her in the end.

THE PLAY. I already said most of my issues with it but just to point it out once more. There is nothing more annoying to me than a piece of media that's about a piece of media being written, and then that piece of media ends up unseen. Throughout MR! we see the play being written, we see many scenes being added, hear a ton of songs from it, the issue of the plot resolution is a big dramatic point, and the finale of the movie is also the final scene from the play. In BMR! we see one scene, the show's end, that keeps being repeated over and over again.

SATINE'S WHITE DRESS. It deserved its own point bc what the hell is this.

This is already super long, but this show annoys me so much I could legit keep going lol. Everything is worse. Everything is toothless and clawless. It's such wasted potential.

[aheathen-conceivably]

1, 10, 12, and 25! - lgl

LGL always a joy in the inbox ��

1. What’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

Trying to get them spoilers here, huh? 😜

The last screen I took was actually while testing some pose edits. It is a blessed photo, so please enjoy (and speculate)…

10. Is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

Kind of, definitely, and yes.

More specifically, I have a number of specific details planned out. I always like to ramble about how it’s like scaffolding being built toward the sky. The higher you go the less the structure is there, and you can see all the cracks and still need to figure out how to actually get to the next solid point, which is where the inspiration and flexibility comes in. But overall, yes, I have the final scene of the story written. Imma need a whole ass team if I’m ever gunna get there at this rate though 😅

12. Do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

Specifically in the Darlington save? Probably like 20/80 at this point. I play between story shoots to kind of mimic the arcs, so it’s more me just imitating my own story in gameplay vs. actually playing the game and letting it influence my writing at all.

25. What inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

Goodness, gracious. Everything? If that’s a fair answer? 😅

Movies I love, books I read, history I’ve studied, songs that hit, fellow storytellers, tropes that make my brain itch, personal experiences, the color of the sky sometimes, a single word my husband says. Honestly? Fun times out here when you’ve got the Darlington brain rot.

To narrow it down I think that the 1890s/1900s were more inspired by my own aesthetics and decades challenges in general, and things got a little more personal around 1910 (which is why I usually tell people that’s when I start to really like the story). Those years were heavily inspired by Downton Abbey and Titanic (of course). And as broad stroke inspiration, I’m sure y’all know I’m fond of the “it glitters so brightly you don’t even see the tragedy until it’s too late” vibes that Titanic has (cue my other favorite films Cabaret and Moulin Rouge).

The 20s are inspired by New Orleans, I cannot state it enough. By everything I felt in my years there and everything I learned during my MA. More specifically, it was heavily drawn from Mister Jelly Roll and Empire of Sin. We also have some Gatsby in there, of course 😉

Now in the 30s I’m really having a blast, because I feel like I’m pulling inspiration for all the previous decades (Gatsby references coming when?) as well as hinting toward future ones (a certain littlest heiress and her obsession with the Wizard of Oz comes to mind). Combined with that is so much rich inspiration for this decade itself, coming heavily from Route 66: A Cultural History and The Grapes of Wrath specifically , as well as broader ideas of Americana, country and blues music, and the symbolism/beauty of the desert.

This decade has also really made me realize just how much inspiration I draw from place, and how it not only influences my style of descriptive writing (which in and of itself is inspired by Anne Rice), but also makes me so interested in how a location and its history influences people and the path of the story. I feel like it grounds me not just in a time period, but how that time period may have been different in specific locations and how different characters react to those factors.

[distant--shadow]

Author’s notes - the witch and the widow chapter 5

Ayo, here’s another round of these caus I’ve gotta indulge myself.

Same as last time there’s some way juicier things this chapter I’d ideally by noting on, but I’ll leave them til they’re made a bit more explicit.

So to start off we got something sentimental and fun:

In amongst all of the metal is a porcelain black bird, back straight and beak open to the sky.

‘You can’t take that, that’s one of the Lady’s favourites. Do you know what it is for?’

‘For looking pretty?’

‘It does more than look pretty; if you give it back to me I can show you, we can make something lovely together.’

This guy is one of these guys, from the search engine it seems a lot of these say made in england but IDK how further afield they got. Surprise surprise this is some mother complex thing I guess, she has a couple of these and I have a lot of memories of her putting them in her various pies she baked when I was growing up. I really like my nik-naks and goobies and just general bric-a-brac and I’ve always thought these little guys are so cool, and bonus points caus the Eurasian blackbird is one of my favourite birds. In the fic I made it so that this guy not only lets off steam, but acts as a whistle of sorts and imitates bird song as the pie is cooking.

I think the contraption itself is in reference to an old nursery rhyme, which my mum would also sing when she’d be dishing out the pies.

Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye, Four and twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened The birds began to sing— Wasn't that a dainty dish To set before the king?

The king was in the counting-house Counting out his money, The queen was in the parlour Eating bread and honey,

The maid was in the garden Hanging out the clothes. Along came a blackbird And snipped off her nose.

This little youtube video has some interesting theories on the possible origins of the rhyme

“…saying to put someone's nose out of joint conveys the idea of offending or upsetting someone; often by acquiring something they desired for themselves. this idiom was first documented back in 1581 (…)”

All just fits pretty well, dunnit? Is the Lady jealous of the made? Either way, I think Laudna would be a fan of ceramic pie blackbirds.

“Indeed, those are dahlias, I grow them myself.”

Imogen likes how the new word sits on the Lady’s tongue, so close to darling but transmuted into name, like the numerals she planted as flowers around the sundial statue. If Imogen had not carried a briared rose in the same manner of magix maybe she would believe it was the bedside flower that gave her such power. 

“They’re really pretty.”

They are, how their dense arrangement of petals are so flawless they look as though constructed by formula, a stone carved garden stair ornament balustrading a descent onto grand grounds, chiselled according to chalk-stringed-marking and papered calculation, an armoury of plate metal pierced into a crimson-pollened baron-

She remembers the silk touch of the delicate petal under the skin of her bare thumb.

More visual notes here on the variety of dahlia I was thinking of, and its colour, and also here are some ornamental outdoor steps that I was inspired by in terms of imagining architectural details that could have in turn been inspired by a similar flower.

Whilst we’re there, here’s a pomander:

“A pomander, from French pomme d'ambre, i.e., apple of amber, is a ball made for perfumes, such as ambergris (hence the name), musk, or civet. The pomander was worn or carried in a case as a protection against infection in times of pestilence or merely as a useful article to modify bad smells.”

and that orange speared with cloves from chapter 4 (we used to get handed these at church during Christmas, and do a similar thing but with an onion when making bread sauce) i think the tops of cloves make for nic little pommel details of heads of maces and blades various that are sunken in:

“One modern style of pomander is made by studding an orange or other fruit with whole dried cloves and letting it cure dry, after which it may last many, many years. This modern pomander serves the functions of perfuming and freshening the air and also of keeping drawers of clothing and linens fresh, pleasant-smelling, and moth-free.”

Shout outs to both of these being from the same wiki page, I actually didn’t know those oranges were called pomanders too, and I’d learnt the French perfume one from a Picture’s fic (read it):

“Imogen licks her teeth, reveals a violet petal plastered over incisor that she shortly removes with a blade-of-dry-grass toothpick, re-places the petal on the flat of her tongue, rolling it around her mouth and swallowing it.

Laudna stares.

"You like the flowers?" she finds herself leaning towards Imogen. Wants to tell her that for years this one was her perfume - pomanders adorned and concealed in tattered layers.

“They’re purple, ‘course I do.” she giggles, resting sat cross-legged with her weight behind her on her palms. Her head rolls towards Laudna, leaves their foreheads almost resting against one another, Laudna able to count each individual eyelash.

Purple, like the deep undertones of her hair. That much Laudna was very aware of.

“I should have guessed that that would be what caught your attention.” She brings her hand up and wraps her bony index finger in a ringlet of Imogen's curls.

“More like your magic, I was thinkin’…” She drawls, tenor lowered and breathy.

“And the taste?”

Imogen visibly swallows, cheeks flushing a further tint than what the sun has already given - it makes Laudna feel overly aware of the networking of her own heart and veins.”

(sorry im a fanboy idk how 2 not get carried away)

Here’s one for the lols. A genuine old phrase for going down on someone with a clit:

“So now you know at least two things-” the Lady meticulously arranges her skirt’s pleats, perched on the edge of the lip of stone pedestalling the statue, unable to sit fully thanks to her outfitting, also unable to sit on her hands, and Imogen really notices now how much she talks with them. “-add to that a wealth on horses so that makes at least three, and you must know yourself, somewhat-”

“Often that’s what I feel like I know the least about.”

“Well, we know you’re partial to diving for pearls…”

We love a witty Laudna. I did have a source for this at some point but you can just search engine it if youre that much of a nerd.

The statue Imogen and Laudna sit under (and Angharad and Imogen fucked against lol) is this one here:

It’s at one of my very favourite places (and in a serendipitous way has followed me), and also its sculptor was around 1790-1866 so it lines up story timing wise, just maybe let’s say this one statue is less aged than the others idk lol seeing as the estate and all of that is definitely not a new build. Also picturing it being marble instead of bronze, and of course on a hip-ish level plynth near the wall.

This causes Imogen to throw her head back with a laugh, bumping it on the elbow of the statue behind them. She attempts to play it off as she stands, rubbing her skull as her other hand falls to her hip as she stands opposite the Lady, slightly taller than her as she sits.

“I think ya might be havin’ trouble tellin’ me apart from the horses, I don’t share their paddocks like that.”

“Only their porridge. How was your trip to Fairfield?”

She acknowledges Imogen massaging her head, settling her chin on her closed fist with a smirk.

“If it pains you so much to recall you do not have to, I shall make note to send someone else in the future-”

“That won’t be necessary, m’lady-”

“You can call me Laudna.”

“Ms. Laudna-”

The Lady - sorry, Ms Laudna, lowers her hand so it can speak again, shakes her head with a smile.

A little note here is that in the first 2 chapters Imogen was referring to the Lady as The Lady Bradbury fairly often, and after that she has taken to just calling her the Lady, whether that’s formalities or Imogen separating Laudna from the family she married into you decide lol, and I am just taken by the idea of bein’ a good polite country girl and still ma’am'ing and Ms’ing Laudna for a while even when Laudna's asking for her to drop the formalities (hm maybe forgetting class aint that simple, or maybe she respects and fears her too).

some pretty surface level notes for now, im gonna be so wanky in these posts when we're further in (sorry not sorry) enjoy xoxo

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

U.A. High School Field Trip Around Japan: Day 4 Translations

This is Day 4 of Shonen Jump’s special commemoration of My Hero Academia reaching one hundred million copies worldwide, which is being rolled out daily across one-week in each prefecture’s newspaper.

The schedule:

April 4th, Day 1: Hokkaidō & Tōhōku regions

April 5th, Day 2: Kantō region

April 6th, Day 3: Chūbu region

April 7th, Day 4: Kansai region

April 8th, Day 5: Chūgoku & Shikoku regions

April 9th, Day 6: Kyūshū & Okinawa regions

April 10th, Day 7: Nationwide release

You can see the illustrations on their website here, where they are released digitally the day after the newspaper release.

Here we go!

Kansai Region

Mie

Photo credit: twitter user Hrkn1500

Aoyama: "Sur-pri-se~!" Sero: "Amazing, Aoyama!" Satou: "Should we go look for the toilet?"

Nabana no Sato is a flower park situated within the absolutely massive Nagashima Resort. It has lovely blooms all year, and from October to May it claims to host Japan's biggest illumination event, including a 200-meter long light tunnel.

Shiga

Photo credit: twitter user smile_wk_26

Tokoyami: "Art of the Flying Squirrel Black Shadow!!!" Mineta: "Imitation Caltrop!!" Edgeshot: "Abscondance" Hagakure: "Nin-nin! Hidden Hagakure!!"

They are at the Kōga-ryū Ninjutsu Ninja Village in Kōka city, the birthplace of this school of ninja-arts. I visited the Tōgakure Ninjutsu House in Nagano -- Tōgakure, Iga, and Kōga are considered the three main families of ninjutsu. These kinds of attractions usually have museums dedicated to the style's history and showing off tons of unique historical artifacts, but the main draw is all the activities for visitors to try their hand at being a ninja, shuriken-throwing, wall-climbing, rope-walking, etc.. Hagakure is making a pun, because her surname means "hidden leaves" or "hidden by the leaves" so she is "hidden hidden-leaves." Tokoyami is doing his Black Fallen Angel move, but it's much funnier to make it a giant flying squirrel attack.

Kyōto

Photo credit: twitter user sitatyan_dayo

Ashido: "You can't even see the sky through all the bamboo~!!" Yaoyorozu: "They say that the growing speed of bamboo is the fastest in the world. I've heard it can grow up to one meter in a single day." Mineta: "My whole height in a single day... I can't do this!!! Jirou: "Cheer up." Label on Mineta: "Mineta Minoru, Height: 1.08 Meters."

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest is a hugely popular tourist spot for its dense, soothing beauty. One meter is equivalent to 3 feet 3 inches; Mineta is just over 3 and a half feet tall.

Ōsaka

Photo credit: twitter user tomikomha

Shouji: "Hyah hyah hyah hyah!!!" Fat Gum: "He's... he's moving too fast, I can't even see his arms!" Kirishima: "No, actually, he's got lots of 'em!"

They are making takoyaki, a famous soul food created in Osaka in 1935. It requires a large griddle with rounded molds, and chefs use two metal rods to rotate the batter rapidly. It's really fun to watch them make it, and most stalls put the griddle up against a full-length window to show it off.

Hyōgo

Photo credit: twitter user NZM_101

Izuku: "Even cutting an onion... a hero... doesn't cry! WWUAAAH" Ochako: "What a shame! Challenge failed." Shouto: "No, even heroes cry when they have to."

Awaji Island is famous for its onions and produces some of the sweetest onions in the world. They have a spring crop of sweet but slightly spicy onion, and a fall-time harvest that they store and dry to further develop their sweetness. Shouto's line is from chapter 137 when Izuku insists heroes don't cry while crying into his food. What's funny is that sweet onions supposedly produce less of the chemical that produces tears in humans, so maybe Izuku is just being a lil' crybaby, hehe, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's working with a particularly spicy spring harvest.

Nara

Photo credit: twitter user yukanicoyomo

Iida: "Observance of traffic laws! OUTSTANDING, DEER-KUN!!" Kouda (thinking): "Iida-kun, you're making the deer suspicious..." Bakugou: "Don't talk to the deer!! Deer don't give a shit about rules!! Dammit!!"" Kouda (thinking): "Bakugou-kun, you're scaring the deer..."

They are in Nara Park, where you can buy special crackers to feed the very friendly and booming deer population. Deer in Nara have been protected and seen as important to local Shinto beliefs for at least a thousand years; in 2023, studies from three universities revealed that they actually make up a unique genetic group not found anywhere else. Apparently, the deer in Nara will exchange bows with people, especially if it means they get a snack~

Wakayama

Photo credit: twitter user __sen_115

Ojiro: "A two-tone popular character... We have one of those." Hagakure: "We do, don't we. Just by being there, he creates a splendid atmosphere...!" Todoroki: "Huh? There's somebody like that?" Ojiro: "IT'S YOU!!!"

Visiting Adventure World in Shirahama which is home to a giant panda conservation area. A branch of Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base has bred 17 giant pandas there, which is the most success in breeding outside of mainland China.

That's all for Day 4. Next up is Day 5!

[paisholotus]

𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬/Big 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧

Narrative

The cliffs have been cut by a river that runs at its bottom. Three figures appear in the river near a sand beach on its far bank. Two of the figures, Aang and Katara face each other like gunslingers in front of a natural arch of stone that protrudes from the cliff wall. The third, Sokka, rides lazily in a boat made of an enormous leaf.

"You guys are gonna be done soon, right?" Sokka asked, lazily. Sokka was floating past in the foreground. He is naked except for a white loincloth. His hair is no longer in a pony tail and now lies tangled in a wet mass on his head. Katara too has dispensed with her normal blue garb. She wears the equivalent of a white two piece bathing suit. She is in a bending stance as she faces Aang across from her, who is naked from the waist up and also in a martial arts stance.

"We've got a lot of ground to cover if we wanna make it to Omashu today." Sokka added. Katara drops her bending stance and slumps over at Sokka's statement, then turns to face him with an arched eyebrow. "What, like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" She asked teasingly.

"I can be ready in two minutes. Seriously." He lifts his hair to look at them and lets his arm drop lazily back into the water. "So, you were showing me the octopus form." Aang said, continuing what they were doing. "Right. Let me see your stance." She shakes her head at Aang's form and comes over to correct it. "Your arms are too far apart. See, if you move them closer together you protect your center. You got it?" She asked, softly. Aang, blushing, slightly flustered, "Oh... yeah. Thanks." He mumbled, thankful.

She drops her hold on him and walks back to her former position. She turns around to face him once again in a bending stance. "Okay, let's see what you got." She said, ready for his attack. Aang's hands move from above as he raises some water from the river. Aang finishes pulling up a large blob of water. With a smooth motion he causes the blob to sprout about a dozen, wide tentacles. Katara then begins to rapid fire icicles at him. The first one is grabbed and deflected in mid air by one of Aang's water tentacles. After several more are deflected, Katara's back legs wider apart, raising, freezing and shooting ice projectiles at Aang who is off to the right. Aang, who dodges Katara's icicles and then uses one of his water tentacles to lash at Katara who is now to the left. Katara now in the front, she is slightly surprised as Aang's water tentacle grabs her leg and yanks tight. Then she straightens, places her hands on her hips and smiles.

"You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang." Katara said, giggling. Aang, who is now encased in the bubble of water, his arms and, consequently, his tentacles waving lazily around him. He is clearly having fun imitating an octopus.

Sokka still lying in his leaf boat, Momo draped across him. Momo raises his head, his ears sticking all the way up, as he hears music approache. A group of travelers dressed in colorful mix of Asian and Polynesian styles walk by playing instruments and singing. The one carrying a guitar like instrument and wearing a wreath of flowers begins to sing softly.

"Don't fall in love with a traveling girl. She'll leave you broke and broken hearted..." The woman on his left wears black and pink, has big hair adorned with a single flower and plays a flute. A rotund fellow behind him wears a white and pink robe, a coolie hat and plays a drum.

"Heh-hey! River people!" Katara gesturing negatively with her hands as Sokka resurfaces behind her, Momo landing on his head. "We're not river people." Katara said, crossing her arms. "You're not? Well then what kind of people are ya?" He asked. "Just... people." Aang simply said. Sokka walks from the left, still mostly naked and with Momo perched on his shoulder. He has grown noticeably the last few months.

Sokka points with an accusing finger at the man. "Who're you?"

"I'm Chong, and this is my wife Lily. We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us!" He said, smiling. "You guys are nomads That's great! I'm a nomad." Aang said, excitedly. "Hey, me too." Aang scrunched up his face, "I know... you just said that." He said, flatly.

-Time Skip-

Iroh is looking at a pretty white and red flower in the foreground. He's squatting in front of the plant, mesmerized. He is in a forest and is wearing a dark green shirt and trousers. A bush begins moving behind him and a series of grunts are heard as Zuko, clad similar to his Uncle, emerges from it. Short black hair now covers his head.

Zuko groans frustrated, "I didn't find anything to eat. I can't live like this. I wasn't meant to be a fugitive. This is impossible!" He yelled, throwing up his arms.

Iroh sniffs the flower deeply.

Zuko looked at Iroh and frowned lowly. "Uncle... what are you doing?" Zuko asked calmly. "You're looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking!That, or it's the white jade bush, which is poisonous." He finished, now glaring down at the plant. "We need food, not tea. I'm going fishing." Zuko said, tossing his hand back, walking away.

Iroh still contemplating and stroking his chin. "Delectable tea? Or deadly poison?"

Zuko wanders off to find the river and with a scowl on his face, grumbling to himself. This was a new low for him. He was staring at the ground as he walked not even paying attention to where he was going. Then suddenly he felt like he was being pulled somewhere, his eyes went dark, his body felt as though he was flying.

As he tried to open his eyes he groaned and tried to sit his body up, his vision coming out blurry. When he finally opened his eyes he heard a person's voice.

"Hey, Zuko. I've been meaning to talk to you little dragon." The voice said, sweetly.

Zuko looks up and saw her. "It's you." He said, lowly. The girl that would vist him in his dreams as a kid. Yusha.

"I missed you Zuko." She said, giving him a tender smile.

Zuko blushed slightly as he felt his mouth go dry, and looked around and realized he was back in that place they would always meet at. The spirit world. He looked back at her and jumped a little realizing she was now sitting in front of him.

"H-hey. What am I doing here?" He stuttered and blushed more as she reached out to grab his hands.

"I wanted to talk to you..."

-Time Skip-

"Hey, Sokka, you should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere." Aang said, smiling, with a flower crown on his head. Chong laughed laying on his back. "Well, not everywhere, Little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been we've heard about through stories and songs."

"Moku, here has even been to the spirit world." Chong said, playing his guitar.

Aang looked at him with wide eyes as did Katara causing her to gasp. "YOU'VE BEEN TO THE SPIRIT WORLD!? HOW!?" Aang asked, going to sit beside Moku waiting for him to tell his story.

"I honestly can't tell you how I got there." Moku said, truly with a smile on his face. "But, it was the most magical place I've ever experienced. I was seeing different kinds of creatures and flowers that glowed different colors, the sky looked like paintings." Aang had the biggest smile on his face, Katara was paying attention closing, and Sokka didn't believe him on bit. He thought Moku was a nut just like the other three.

"But, i did see someone there. It was a girl. She looked really young. A child maybe. And she was a fire bender. She walked with tall dragon behind her. But, he didn't look scary." Aang listen closely with a confused look on his face. A fire bender? With a dragon? Katara had a frown on her face as he mentioned he saw a fire bender, but waited until he finished to say something. Sokka stopped listening completely a while ago, and was now fighting to get MoMo off him.

"But, she was the nicest fire bender I've ever met. The dragon even let me rub him. I told her i didn't know how to get out, and she led me to this entrance to get out and gave me sweets, saying I was welcomed to come back. I thanked her and asked for her name. She said her name was Yusha, but i could call her Big Dragon." Moku finished telling his story.

Aang sat surprised with a small smile on his face, telling Moku that was a great story. Katara was conflicted though. She didn't know if she believed Moku, because it was hard to believe that a fire bender was nice to him. But, she guessed anything was possible.

Sokka then had enough and told them they needed to stop playing around and get to Omashu. Chong told them about a cave that led them straight to Omashu, but the only bad side was he claimed the cave was cursed by two lovers.

They was at first hesitant but decided to take their chances and go through the cave.

-Time Skip-

Aang looks at the candle gloomily. "We're gonna run out of light any second now, aren't we?" He asked lowly. "I think so." She said, looking at him sadly. "Then what are we gonna do?" He asked. "What can we do?" Katara asked.

Aang's hand in front of him holding the dwindling torch. Aang looking at Katara, smiling, Katara's lips parted slightly, her eyes serious. They lean in to each other as the torch falters and goes out.

After a moment of darkness, the cave is lit by an assortment of gems in the ceiling that glow light blue. These are shortly joined by many more. The crystals form a path in the ceiling of the tunnel. Aang and Katara stand beside each other, one hand each on the burnt out torch. Both look up at the crystals in wonder.

Aang smiles, "It's made of some kind of crystals. They must only light up in the dark!" He said happily. Aang and Katara facing each other, their hands laced together.

Katara smiled back at him, "That's how the two lovers found each other. They just put out their lights and followed the crystals." She lets go of his hand and points down the tunnel.

"That must be the way out!" She yelled running down.

Aang scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "So... um..." he stuttered. Katara stopped running and looked behind her at Aang. "Let's go!" She yelled excitedly.

Aang looks after her and smiles slightly. He follows with Appa close behind. The exterior view of the mountain, the tunnel exit clearly visible. Appa emerges from the tunnel at a gallop, stops, rears up on his hind legs and flops on his back. He is clearly happy to be outside once again.

[2n2n]

I love the opening song of jibaku shounen hanako-kun and when I see the comments and reviews about the anime, there are a lot of positive reviews about the opening. So out of curiosity, what do you think of the opening in question, music and other aspects. And if there's anything you don't like

I have talked a bit about the mysterious lyrics of it here, if that's interesting (it might not be).... I'm really intrigued that it is a bespoke song for the anime ABOUT its subjects-- not just a pop song retooled or something-- I find that sweet, for aidairo-sensei it must have felt like a dream.

as for the OP's audio, it's not really my genre or style of music. It's kind of typical sounding for an anime OP, lol.... you know, 'cool'. I find it difficult to listen to all the way through-- for me, the sound is grating & unpleasant.

.... I would also say it doesn't quite suit the story to me.... ? It's 'cool' in such a straightforward way, when this is 'a heartfelt toilet comedy' as aidairo-sensei put it... it's neither particularly ah, playful, nor tender. In terms of sound/tone it feels like it could be the OP of any shounen, like a BNHA, or a sports anime. Even if lyrically, it's doing something quite intriguing.... I wish the instruments had more of a ghost-y feel to them, if nothing else... but ideally, I want a hint of romance!!

As for the visual component, I like the Yugi imitating each other's gestures, and I overall like the high-saturation or jewel-tone color of the anime. It's mostly just re-using shots from the anime itself, so I can only comment on so much of the animation. It's like a clip show.... I accept that the budget might have necessitated that, I won't harp on it-- it's lucky it has an anime at all...! but I don't have much to say about it.

On the one hand, I'm really glad they decided to animate this interstitial illustration aida-sensei did (I wish they could animate all of her stylish interstitial!) because it's a wonderful illustration.....

... on the other hand, I seriously think it was ruinous for the western fandom, who proceed to obsess over it endlessly as though impossibly significant (maybe to justify their own fixation on it lol...). By virtue of the repetition of it as one watches episodes, forcing one to consider it again & again, this image may as well be a School Mystery, for all the rumors surrounding it. I seriously think this shot alone is responsible for at least 75% of 'Tsukasa is a sexual menace' headcanons, no matter what has happened since....

In reality however, it's really fun the OP elected to pull its audience in THIS direction with THIS kind of fanservice image. It's a sexy shot and it's using its sex appeal for the greater good. This is one of the few wholly original pieces of animation in the OP, so... damn, they really made that decision, you know? I respect that. Of all the things to represent, LOL. It would have gotten me as a teenager, so..............................................

well, moving from the OP to other things you didn't ask about:

I actually like both the ED & After-School boy's ED songs much more....! I think they suit the tone, respectively, better! Also... both of those are sung by Nene-chan's VA, which is so wonderful! She's our star, truly... it's very moving that she was cast with a VA with singing experience (Hanako/Tsukasa's too though, and we know Tsukasa & Nene-chan sing together in canon eventually, so....)... TT__TT.... you don't really get any better than the VAs of characters themselves singing for the anime!!!!

in terms of the ED, the tone represents the heart of JSHK well... love, devotion, preciousness... the visuals are also simplistic, strong, beautiful, minimalist, powerful. Of all the material thus far, it's my favorite.

And then, in terms of After-School Boy's ED.... it represents the silly & flirty-wirty aspects of JSHK well LOL, I remember hearing it the first time, and being like.... they really did that.... !!!!! ....this one,, captures Nene-chan's energy so perfectly HAHA... visually it's boring, but urrggh it's a great song haha, it really ruined my husband when it came out... he had to like, forget about it to protect himself....

Cannot overstate my love for both of those songs!!!

I'm really hoping for season 2, we get a new OP/ED, & I'm hoping that the manga has enough of a presence now that it can afford to do something bolder for its OP....? I would love wholly original animations for it.... perhaps taking more inspiration from Aida-sensei's many full-color illustrations.....

I guess in terms of anime OP that I really like overall, I think Brotherhood's first OP was really, really strong. It had the right tone, beautiful animation, powerful imagery (and I'm not an FMA stan overall?)... however, obviously such a powerfully funded & supported anime/manga would be able to afford that kind of thing, I'm not that delusional to think JSHK could afford that, haha. ... JSHK also has such a wholly different tone & theme from FMA lol (a tone I like better, at that!) but something, hmm-- melancholy, tender, would capture the heart of Picture Perfect to me, you know....! Which is coming up....for the anime....!!!

This is such a basic pull I know because it's Literally a legendary anime that influences like all anime, but Rose of Versailles OP is absolute perfection from sound to visual. Oscar enveloped in the roses thorns....!!!!! it's minimally animated, but it uses its symbolism & iconography for deep impact!!! You really don't need crazy animation to have an amazing OP!!!!

I think JSHK's ED is one of my favorites overall, but another I love that suits its series so well to me, is Inuyasha's second ED. It's functioning on more of a budget & reuses footage from the anime, so there you have that-- but I like what they've added in. It feels attainable... for Inuyasha, this kind of moody song is ideal. Again it's a different tone from JSHK or FMA or RoV, but I hope you can understand what I mean by like... the vibes of the OP/ED suiting the series itself in some way.... it should be unique according to the anime's themes, you know?