#i was definitely referencing the last drawing i did

[mbirnsings-71]

something something having a new hyperfixation and now having several new WIPs about it AND just starting to draw certain characters from it just yesterday uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah-

[angelpuns]

Kid Leo Au: "Follow the Plan"

Here's Part 1 of Chapter 12!!! I made a cover for this one cause I wanted to :) In general I am trying to do more background and stuff :3

I am also gonna go with the two big updates a week like I did for the last mini arc and if everyone decides they hate it I'll go back to the shorter, 3x a week updates :3

I'm pretty excited about this arc and I really hope everyone likes it! I haven't resketched anything YET, but we'll see if I end up doing so closer to the end or not.

Also side note, since she deserves the credit, the room layouts in this arc are referenced from @miiukkaa 's room layout drawings!

Here's Leo's.

My rough backgrounds definitely don't do it justice, she put so much detail in these it's amazing!

NEXT TIME ON KID LEO...WILL LEO GET CAUGHT DRAWING UP A (TERRIBLE) PLAN!? JOIN US NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT!

Kid Leo Au Masterpost | Next

[junipernight]

I redesigned Yangchen's outfit!

... I actually designed a lot of outfits for her, because I am Extremely Normal about these books, and also I like costume design and learning about historical clothing.

Short disclaimer: These fantasy clothes aren't culturally or historically accurate, just historically and culturally influenced. I don't have any expertise in East or Central Asian culture or clothing, I've just been clicking around on the internet a lot the last two weeks learning things because that's my idea of fun lol. If you wanted to talk to people who actually know things you should check out @atlaculture or like @ziseviolet, both of whom's blogs I referenced while drawing.

I only designed two alternates for the outer robes. The first is based loosely off the robes Buddhist monks wear (loosely, because drawing draped fabric is hard ^^') especially the Tibetan zhen robe. This garment is just a long wide rectangle of cloth which can be draped across the body in lots of ways (versatility ftw!).

The other garment I drew is a Chuba, a traditional garment from Tibet and the Himalayas. It's a robe, but it highkey reminds me of kilts and hoodies, in that it a) can be worn over one or both shoulders or just as a skirt and b) it makes a giant pocket over the stomach. The long sleeves can be folded up or tied back btw.

I spent the most time on the middle layer, because I was thinking it has to be something she could comfortably fight in while also being suitable for diplomatic meetings, meditating, espionage, and possibly sleeping.

And like. You can fight and hike and whatnot in loose skirts, but it's annoying how twisted up they can get while sleeping. ALSO, YC does a lot of flying and leaping, so my girl needs pants. My faves are definitely the Xiaolin monk pants and the yellow wrap pants Aang wears. I tried dhoti (Indian wrap pants) because that kind of looks like what the giant statue of Yangchen meditating might be wearing, but I think it looks odd paired with a highwaisted shirt instead of a long tunic. Maybe I'll do some more drawings with her in a tunic and dhoti or a monk's dhonka and shemdap later, idk.

As any good historical fashion nerd knows, foundational garments are everything (◡‿◡✿).

But also, there's a scene where Yangchen and Kavik pretend to be lovers, and are "discovered" by a maid sleeping in the same room, with Yangchen in a state of partial undress (gasp!)

I am living for this fake drama; I need to know how scandalized the maid was lmao.

When the maid walks in, Yangchen immediately wraps herself in a bedsheet before ushering the maid back out the door. Maybe all she did was take off her outer robe... but why would she need to wrap herself in a sheet if she was wearing a long-sleeved high-necked gown? I got the sense from both the book and cursory research about buddhist monks that walking around without your outer robes was socially acceptable, at least in casual settings. I think it more likely she was in her underclothes, which historically (in the west anyway) would also double as sleeping clothes.

"The Aang" is censored because this is Tumblr-dot-com. Its mostly a joke, but also, I know other countries are less uptight about bººbies, so like, maybe it's a valid option ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The ~Water Tribe~ look is based off Sokka's swimwear and not Katara's, mostly because chest binding seems antithetical to airbending.

All the other undergarment designs are based on hanfu neiyi, because that's what I could find reference photos and romanized names for.

I'm tired of typing now. Lemme know if you have questions about something, or want me to post a larger version of a specific outfit. I am open to feedback and tentatively open to requests.

[maybeafrog-blog]

In Defense of Donnie's Gifts

I'm ngl I sorta think the shock collar was still just an odd writing decision but as far as PREMISE:

It CANNOT be a coincidence that this is the first time (and one of VERY few times) that Donnie's soft shell is referenced. Once, when Raph is hesitating to tell Donnie his gifts suck ass, and he uses the soft shell metaphor, and after that with Meat Sweats and his paprika, describing it as not just soft, but delicate. Weird, but he is a cannibal, so. (Side note, Meat Sweats never removed his battle shell? How does he know? Or did he take it off and replace it after the pound of butter? Is he using it to facilitate steaming and tenderness? Is it broken? I feel like it should have something in there that could break him out of the sausage links)

Then in that last little scene- "Forget it. You guys are great the way you are!" - we get the shot of Donnie from behind pre group hug, with his brothers facing the camera. (Idk if I'm making shit up, but I feel like this is a staple for Donnie episodes? It def happens in the Purple Game, maybe Smart Lair.) The framing draws attention to his battle shell. The battle shell even kinda matches the gifts, compared to the rest of their gear and even Donnie's tech, color coded and way more streamlined than stuff like the tech bo.

Donnie's soft shell is an innate, unchangeable part of him, a feature of his species, that he treats as a handicap. Probably MORE unchangeable than the character traits he sees as holding his brothers back, which they do sorta... not mature out of, but refine, rather, over the course of the show. Donnie's shell can't experience a character arc, but he sees it as holding him back. So he FIXES it.

The Mad Dogs don't really have a motivation for beating stuff up besides "Hero Time!!!" at this point. That's why it's so interesting how EARLY this happens, unlike with Mind Meld, he isn't trying to change his brothers to make them better at a task that he actually CARES about. Donnie in particular never gets a super intense moral compass besides stuff that threatens people he already cares about, and he doesn't have any grudges (no Purple Dragons) at this point in the series. Hero Goals are largely devices for him to hang out with his dum dum brothers. I'm not diagnosed or anything but my vibes are certainly... Spectrum-Adjacent, I definitely have trouble with literal thinking and reading people. One thing that happens sometimes is people will be using "task" as "reason to hang," and I will get a lot more fixated on completing said task than I really should, to the point of annoying people. I confuse "Successful Task Completion" with "Successful Social Interaction." It makes me come across as bossy and controlling without realizing it.

So, we got a Donnie who thinks Arbitrary Goals are essential to Hero Bonding, who has been treating his life like an mmorpg - armor upgrades, skill trees, grinding, sometimes fighting through random dungeons to hang out with his bros. He's probably even slightly better at Fighting Stuff than his brothers atp, he isn't dealing with a mystic learning curve and his special interest has been Weapons of Mild Destruction for years already. His brothers want to level up, take harder missions, he tries to get them there with his access to High Level Loot.

Of course, his brothers are all min-maxing, not trying to multiclass their purple ass out of squishy glass cannon town. So, it doesn't go well. Unfortunately, the lesson Donnie learns (besides brotherly affection) is that his brothers don't NEED fixing like he does. Mind Meld and Donnie vs. Witch Town sorta finish this arc out as best as the series can.

Where I would have liked to see this go:

A S2 Donnie's Gifts or Mind Meld style episode (Donnie tries to improve his brothers, to their dismay) where the motivator isn't goal completion, but protectiveness. We see a bit of the fear in Purple Game, a bit of the contingency planning with the escape pods in the movie. Maybe a more upfront "training montage" type scenario, a high tech robo dojo to develop their mad skills, or just a tense moment after a skin of their teeth Genius Built rescue.

The brothers confront Donnie eventually-- not just the passive conflict resolution of Donnie's Gifts. They get mad. Push Donnie to the point he's at in Turtle-Dega Nights. They get a rant about not wanting them to get hurt, of course, but also that he's already done so much to FIX himself, make sure he's not a LIABILITY, why can't they at least try to stay SAFE? The dangers are real now, and as far as Donnie knows he REALLY can't do anything about threats like the Shredder. His tech did nothing the first time. His brothers are the ones with the mystic mojo, and they don't even realize how SERIOUS things could get.

Anyway. Protective Donatello my Beloved. Let my boy go apeshit.

//I REALLY Like the 2003 episode where Leo is hurt and Donnie is fucking PISSED at Usagi. All Donnies should be allowed to enter a feral protective rage, as a treat.

//If anyone knows of any Purple Game Aftermath fics lmk. Like, going home, getting donnie out of the evil gamer chair, guilt, whatever. or just good Purple Dragons being Assholes content.

[sixofcrowdaydreams]

Can we talk about this?

During his conversation with Kaz, Wylan looks like he’s tucking his shirt in.

The first couple of times watching it, I assumed Wylan was tightening his pants/belt, (which is actually referenced in CK when Wylan remembers tightening his belt because he was starving during those awful his first couple of weeks in the Barrel and working at the tannery.) I assumed the action was meant to draw the viewer’s eye to Wylan’s waist to notice how skinny he is before Kaz asks when he ate last and Wylan poignantly doesn’t answer.

I don’t think that analysis is wrong, but after staring at this gif, it looks like there’s more to it.

He’s definitely tucking his shirt in. Why? Because he was just robbed and roughed up for the few measly kruge he made while busking.

We never actually get to see Wylan robbed, so I had just assumed he handed the money over and escaped unscathed. But the gif above and below implies the thugs touched him (searched through his pockets?) and pushed him around too.

Notice how Wylan’s tie is pulled out and crooked, like someone grabbed and yanked on it. Yeah, someone definitely did.

Also worth noting that Wylan never wears a tie in the rest of the season. Can’t imagine with his book backstory he’d be comfortable getting pulled around by his neck. He learned his lesson after this robbery and ditched the tie.

This is just a theory, or perhaps a headcanon, but I’d say Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel, sent those thugs to rob Wylan. To scare him. To intimidate and push Wylan into being desperate enough to agree to work for Kaz again. Kaz knew Wylan would refuse to build a bomb on principle. So he sent some men after Wylan to scare him and steal all of his money so that he had no choice but to accept Kaz’s job offer. Kaz appearing immediately after the robbery is a bit … suspicious

All this is to say, Wylan being robbed was worse than it first appeared, implied. He wasn’t only robbed, but he was also touched by the thugs enough that he needed to tuck his shirt back in and needed to adjust his tie.

[suzukiblu]

I have no context for liger pups. Is sacker someone we are meant to know, or is it spoilers?

. . . I apologize in advance for how long I let this explanation get, lol.

Sacker is a minor antagonist from the arc that this WIP is a canon divergence of, and he's one of the beast-men in the Wild Lands. Specifically, he is a giant old snake dude who runs a huge storehouse/trading post/fortress type thing, and he was the guy who initially enslaved and drugged Kon into his feral/depowered state when he crash-landed in the Wild Lands after Sacker also, like, literally shot him out of the sky. He does that to literally every single human who washes up on shore, because he is the only person in the Wild Lands who has ever actually met a human who was in their right mind and after that experience he immediately decided that humans should not be allowed to have their right minds anymore.

In his defense: HUMANS.

The mark Panthera is referencing Kon drawing is Sacker's slave mark, which he puts on all his humans via differently-shaped pendants. Kon's version of it looked a bit like the S-shield, so Kon was attached to it when he was feral and wouldn't originally let Sacker take it back. See: below. Therefore, Panthera doesn't realize he is actually NOT drawing Sacker's mark.

In the original arc (it's like issues 50-54 of Kon's OG solo title, I belieeeeeve it's called "Last Boy On Earth" or something like that), he agreed to sell Superboy to Prince Tuftan in exchange for a historical artifact, as long as Tuftan agreed to keep giving Superboy regular doses of his serum. At the time Tuftan did not know humans were actually, like, PEOPLE, and thought he was just agreeing to sedate a wild animal to keep it controllable. Superboy was a few days out from his last dose of serum, though, and when Tuftan forgot to bring the drugs to put into his dinner and a mercenary attacked the king while he ran back for them, Superboy got his adrenaline up enough to burn through enough of the remaining drugs to remember how to talk and also, like, break his restraints and smash said mercenary through a wall, which kiiiiinda blew the lid off the whole "totally just a wild animal" lie. This AU is one where Tuftan did not forget to bring the drugs, and Superboy has as a result been in the Wild Lands ever since.

Issue 50 of that run was actually the first Superboy comic I ever read and my first introduction to the character, so I have a serious soft spot for the arc and I just could NOT resist writing something related to it when I got enabled to, haha.

For the record, this is Sacker:

And THESE are Tuftan and Tawna:

And they totally introduced themselves to Kon as a couple by making out literally a foot away from him while Tuftan had him tied up and collared on a leash AND on his knees.

Look, if I were feral(and-definitely-repressed-bisexual-probably-also-a-furry-by-now-lbr)!Kon, I would ALSO pick being a pet to the buff and noble tiger-prince who wanted to give me to his badass scantily-clad lioness fiancee over being enslaved by the morally dubious prick who shot me, drugged me, AND stole my sick leather jacket. Like, no question!! No question whatsoever!!!!

[sparkanonymous]

Let's get one thing out of the way; I messed up.

If you want to go more in-depth, read this post. If you don't want to, here's the jist of the situation: For the last year - I think - I have been coloring Raj's skin tone lighter. This is completely and utterly my fault.

I'm not going to make any excuses, in fear that it will give others an excuse for their own deplorable actions. Though I don't see myself as a racist person, this is still an example of colorism, and I can't stand by it.

Total Drama is something I hold dear in my heart, and Raj is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. The fact I did him this dirty makes me never want to draw him again.

I'm so sorry. All I can do is apologize, and that's definitely not good enough. I will do better in the future. I don't want anything like this to happen again, and I won't let it happen again.

There is nothing I can say that'll fix this situation. I have disappointed myself and hurt an entire community of people. I hope I can eventually make up for my mistakes, but I know that isn't possible in a short amount of time.

I don't expect this to be taken lightly; it shouldn't be. If this is the last I see of some of you, I hope you take care.

The rest of this post directly responds to parts of thesicklycowboy's post.

○■○■○

For this portion, I have also edited Raj's hair to be the correct color. (I didn't know where else to put this part, sorry.)

I won't be responding to everything, as I do think the post was well-spoken and something that certainly needs to be said, just parts that I felt I should respond to.

Blue is for them, and red is for me.

"So when you were addressing this and saying "it's color theory" excuse why did you not show your earlier pieces of Raj as well? The ones with far darker hair and deeper skin tones? You only referenced all the ones after after the lightening had begun."

As mentioned before, I don't know when the lightening began. The pieces I grabbed for comparisons were the ones that I could actively get the flats for. A lot of my previous pieces have been deleted from my iPad after being moved to my laptop for storage reasons. While you can tell that Raj is darker in my oldest TDI posts, I wouldn't have been able to color grab the original skin color to compare it to the others, which is why I added ones that I could find the flats of directly off of my page. I do wish I had gotten the flats for the oldest ones, but I can't really do anything about that now.

"The beginning of your ask responses is blatantly false and you contradict yourself at the end? So why keep that whole schpiel at all?"

Here is the part that they are referring to: "I didn't? I think he just looks lighter because of the filters I used on top of it."

I left this in for transparency because I genuinely thought that that was actually the case. But it wasn't. This is why I added, "Looking into the color issue..." I wanted to double check the claim because it very well could have been an issue. And it was.

... "And not yet another piece that is still super light."

Okay. I think I might know what the problem is here in particular. I add texture overlays (the layers with the filter of 'Sl' - Soft Light) to give my pieces... y'know, texture. The layer color I use is usually an off-white. I do this in all of my pieces because I thought it might help with keeping my work safe from AI, and because I like the paper-like look that it gives my art. I didn't put it over the entire piece because the background already has a ton of texture.

The one above is at 50%, and the one below it is at 30% for both Raj and Bowie.

Here is the same piece with the texture overlays turned off:

(Left is w/o the overlays, Right is w/ the overlays)

I don't want this argument to seem like I'm lessening my actions. This is the only thing that I think I have the right to stand up for. Texture is something I most likely won't take out of my work, though I may replace the texture overlays with something that is more full proof against AI, like those AI-disturbance layers that Ibis Paint has.

None of my actions were excusable, but I felt this needed to be explained.

Other than that, though, I don't know what else I could possibly do to fix the piece, considering I have fixed Raj's skin tone in this piece.

○■○■○

The rest of the post is not something I feel the need to respond directly to. I do think you should go and read the original post criticizing me and decide what you want to do in this matter.

This was not a "silly mistake." What I have done is genuinely messed up. I'm not going to run from this situation and say that I was ever justified in my actions. Because I never was.

I can only hope to be given the chance to amend this situation with future works, whenever that might be. I will most likely not continue to talk about this unless asked to. Idk what else I could possibly say that wouldn't make this situation worse. I am the guilty party, and the only thing I can do is learn from this and do better in the future, which I will.

Again, I am so sorry. I have fucked up, and I am prepared to take the consquences of my actions.

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 6.1 Patch Notes Breakdown

That time of the month again! Let's take a quick look at these together, and that part is actually important, because people have cross-referenced the Japanese and English patch notes and confirmed that there are several mistranslations in the latter, so stick with me as we roll through these!

This patch is heavily focused on balance changes, and outside of those, the only thing that isn't a bugfix is of course the Mincemeat Metalworks renovation. With that out of the way, let's look at the Main Weapon changes:

N-Zap gets two more damage, which makes it combo better with other sources of damage like the splash damage from the '85's Suction Bomb. There seems to always be a completely unnecessary Shooter buff in every patch nowadays, and this is the one this time, but it's at least balanced out by the fact that this weapon is also getting nerfed further down the notes, but we'll get there.

Dynamo Roller will now deal lethal damage in a wider spread than it did previously. Splat Roller got this buff a while ago and it was pretty good for it, so this is a definitive W for Dynamo mains everywhere.

Flingza Roller gets the exact same buff, plus a buff that cuts 5 white ink frames off its' vertical flick. Some nice quality of life for sure.

Inkbrush now moves faster, cheaper. Three percent doesn't sound like a lot, but I promise you that even such a small change is going to throw your aim off quite a bit, so get ready to get circles run around you in Clam Blitz even more than you already do.

The Brella gets 13% better ink efficiency off its shots, and that's quite a lot! Brella likes to play the long game and draw out fights, and most builds for it run a lot of Ink Saver Main as a result, so this should give it some more ability flexibility.

Undercover Brella can now... do full jumps while firing? I don't think this is a very impactful change, but it is neat, and I think if used properly could be a way to get more mileage out of your shield and avoid damage.

This is a mistranslation!

The first change is actually the complete opposite of what it says in the patch notes. They did not reduce Squeezer's ink consumption when tap-firing, but increase it, making the cost tap-shots 9% more. It'll also paint slightly worse when holding down the firing button, and considering how this weapon has been utterly dominant at all levels of play both of these changes are fair.

Ballpoint gets a small accuracy decrease in long-range mode, which frankly seems a bit uncalled for, because this weapon hasn't been on top of the metagame for a long time. At least it's also kind of a paint buff?

And finally for Main Weapon changes, Stamper gets its charge slash paint cut by 10%. Compared to the changes this weapon has been getting in the past it's a bit of a slap on the wrist, but it does in fairness paint really well, and Neo Splatana Stamper does put out a lot of Crab Tanks, so this isn't an unjust change.

After that comes two Special changes, and these are very interesting:

Wave Breaker will now immediately locate enemies upon being placed for a short while. They don't specify the range or time of the effect, but I have to imagine it'll be within the same area of effect as the Wave Breaker's Waves. Giving it an immediate effect is really cool to me, it makes me think of Splatoon 1's Echolocator, which Wave Breaker already kind of felt like a rework of to begin with.

THIS IS A MISTRANSLATION TOO AND IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN THE LAST ONE

Again, this change is the complete opposite, reading the text you'd think this was a nerf to Ink Storm, but it's actually a buff, because it makes you heal faster in Kid Form when inside your own team's Ink Storms. This is essentially completely unprecedented, as we've never had anything that messes with the health regeneration system like this before, and I'm very curious to see how it shakes out.

And finally we have the Points-For-Special changes:

Neo Sploosh, Forge Pro, Luna, Bamboozler, and Zink Mini all get their Points-For-Special cut by 10 (a change Forge has been begging for since it released, seriously starting it at 210p was completely unreasonable) while Slattershot, N-Zap '85 (here's that nerf I mentioned at the very top of the list), Tri-Slosher nouveau, and Heavy Edit Splatling get another 10p added to their Special charge.

Overall I think this is a pretty good patch that has some really interesting ideas in it, but there is also a very notable omission. They went after all of the most popular Tacticooler weapons, and increased their Special charge, except for Snipewriter 5H. Snipewriter has been skyrocketing in popularity in competitive player for its' ability to serve as paint support, long-range damage, and Tacticooler spammer, all at once, and it got completely overlooked here. I suspect that nanowrimo is coming early in the world of competitive Splatoon 3, because everyone is getting their pencils ready.

[color-craz]

AF MidWeek Round-up!

This is just a simple post compiling all of my attacks so far along with some artists notes! Mostly because I found myself much more active this year than last year (Minus these few couple days due to some appointments). I'll be tagging everyone and linking to other socials so you can see these lovely folks. Of course if you want to attack me, I'm ready to fight! Without further ado, here's all the attacks so far :>

@cosmicdenro @stellarknightz - Weekend Date The name of the game for these first few attacks was to get everyone who I was supposed to last year but ran out of time ^^;;. I decided upon Jesse's Zircon over Jesse the character (one in my bookmarks) b/c it seemed like Turquoise Zircon was less drawn this year but was his icon on AF. So easy pick from me :> (Btw doing Sodalite's stripes and copying Zircon's shape language was really fun!!)

@/clawothy (Twitter) - Chill Cat Another attack from last years bookmarks! It was definitely a soft but enjoyable opening into drawing furries since Claw's so human shaped. It was fun drawing his tail and patterns :>. This is just a nice character design all around.

@twidaisi - Speedy Service Twi was also one from my bookmarks, but also a doorway down an ArtFight rabbit hole. Which will become apparent in the next two pieces. For this one, I had a pretty clear pose in mind so I placed it onto O.R.B.I and went from there!! His design is so neat and he seems so cool! The pose was also pretty fun to do as well, just an overall fun art piece (Also this one got a revenge!!! I still really really love thank you so much!!!!!)

@scratchgeist - Escapism Ho! This was a doozy! Twi had Scratch's profile linked so I ended up hitting him with an attack too. Drawing Scratch's mane turned out to be a pleasant experience despite me originally fearing it. This scene idea also came from a prompt of Scratch going outside. I ended up putting Polish on this because all those scratchy "ink like" lines I actually did manually (take a fuzzy brush and then go over it using a sketchbook eraser). It was nice dipping my toes into BatIM again and trying out more animal feature.

@/stylin.art Instagram @/crypticc0rpse Instagram - Pirates in arms One of those two people were linked on Scratch's profile and the person linked also linked to the other person. But I realized that both Stylin and Crypt had some shared characters. So this ended my little rabbit hole of people by attacking these two lovely fellows at the same time. This little crossing swords idea took me a nice minute to come up with but I liked how it ended up anyway. I really did like drawing James together like this (probably helps that I really like pirates in general). Also yes I know her hand is fucked up I noticed way to late to fix it.

@smoresthehalloweenqueen - Listen to the waves Once I finished up with that I moved onto the next bookmark, which was Smores! Originally I was gonna draw Brutus but then I was like "I like his sona it looks like fun!" So I drew them listening to music because why not :>. I struggled on the arms initially but it came out real clean and nice. Honestly might be my best work so far! (Fun fact, I color picked the waves + background from Seafoam's icon.)

@skittisketch - I got it! Mr. Sascachawean himself! I referenced this pose form the classic Objection point because I thought it would fit his personality. This was also a little bit of a test with a style I had only done in sketches (Basically my human style but omitting a neck which somehow shaves off a lot of time). This was a super fun pose to do with a pretty nice background! (Once again, fucked up hand I know I noticed too late again)

@justpainterrobot - Rare Nightly Sight I had this really really clear picture of what I thought up for this attack and I'm happy that I was able to make it a reality. I put the polish tag on this one because I almost got super super detailed of what the junk was below her (Stuff coming down from Elysium n all that) but due to a lack of references I just went with typical metal and wood. Fun fact, the night sky in the background is based on the one from Deponia itself (The first game's scenes with the professor at night). I think this rewrite of Toni was really cool from what I could find about her. Overall a labor of love type of attack.

@coelpts @swan-swanno - Boss Battle I thought to myself "Hm, I see Coelpts around a lot, lets hit him with an attack." and it turns out Ciel's gay married to Swanno's charater Mikhail, who was the last one in my bookmarks from last year. So another double attack for this one! It was a struggle starting this one mostly because I was debating whether or not to draw Ciel's Lord outfit but I ended up doing so because why not :>. It was a fun experience copying Swanno's more angular style, which is a stark departure from my more rounded shapes (As you can see here). Has a nice venture doing the lighting as well, overall a good experience.

@tailsylennon - Sweet Treats Mitchell showed off Tasily's proflie one day and I saw their sona and was I was like "Lemme draw it!" and did! I ended up following another prompt by her because it was their birthday! (By the time I started on this it was 8 pm and I freaked tf out and got to work). Her sona was really cool and I really loved drawing them. Fun fact, each of the set pieces references the Hallows Souls trio. The chair is decorated after Terra, Markus is the table, and Whistle pallet is used for the tea set :>. It was just a pleasant and cozy attack to make overall.

@ceaseless-enemy - Congratulations!!!! I've actually known about Voila for quite awhile now and thought his design n theaming is quite neat! I actually based the pose off of Ai from Oshi No Ko (I think one of her key arts before the anime released, ifykyk). But I skillfully cut out the legs because I can't draw digitigrade legs... Hooray... Otherwise it was quite nice to work on this attack in particular, especially the eyes and the hair :>.

@killbent - Getting Ready This is another one I had a real clear idea of prior to doing this, specifically because Killbent gave a prompt to give Mr Fairchime pink hair, so i thought a "pre-show" set up would look nice :>. The lighting was another new venture for me, because I usually do cool/night time like lighting but I think it turned out nicely for Fairchime. It was also fun doing the accessories and stuff on the vanity as well. Fun Fact, it's a bit hard to see through the watermark + lighting but the face paint and pallet both have the colors of his make up! Overall a pleasant and warm attack for this year.

And that's all of them so far! I picked up some new bookmarks + I gotta get Twi back for drawing Compact!! So those will probably be compiled by the end of AF so about, early August-ish if I keep up the pace. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and gracing me with the opportunity to draw all of these amazing characters!

Until next time!

-Gappy, Witch of the Stars

[lycankeyy]

boyf wake up, you fucked up big time

Casually unveils this shit from being gatekept to dms for nearly a full month for some reason. It's been referenced twice (I think) so might as well

BFs in this one-shot: fc!bf (boyf, mine), yourself (ys, @ochrearia)

Because, okay, admittedly, he'd felt it creeping up on him - the sore throat, the tiredness, the (worse than usual) inability to focus. He'd brushed all those things off as fall allergies or something, mostly for his own sanity, but partially for his partners'; Girlfriend had plans with Nene through the weekend and Pico was off being the sole breadwinner, so he didn't want to worry them. Besides, it was just a cold or something. He'd be fine.

-

Boyf might have to fight Pico for his reigning title in always getting sick at the worst possible time.

Sunday morning hit, and the best way Boyf could describe how he was feeling was "like that guy people always chose to run over in the trolley problem". Which was kind of his own fault, but still.

He'd spent the whole morning in bed, failing to fall back asleep despite how much his body seemed to want to. He partially blamed that on the fact that he was sweating buckets, and that made lying in bed kind of gross. The coughing fits that felt like his throat was being shredded didn't help, but he was doing his best to ignore those, because this was definitely still allergies.

An indeterminate amount of time passed (felt like about an hour, but his perception of time was wacky at the moment) before he realized he was really, really hungry. The idea of actually fixing himself something to eat sounded atrocious right then, but he was sure he could scrounge together some peanut butter toast or something.

He spent another ten minutes (again, maybe less, maybe more) laying there listlessly before finally finding it in him to push himself up. The world teetered a bit in front of him and he had to blink a couple times to correct it. The fact that it did correct was enough for him to assure himself that it was probably a one-time thing.

Boyf used his nightstand to leverage himself into a standing position. Again, his head spun, which was becoming an increasingly not good sign, but he was hungry, and it wasn't like not eating until someone got home would help.

So he pressed onward, managing a few steps before having to lean against the half-wall that separated his bedroom from the rest of the apartment. He tried to measure the distance between there and the kitchen in his mind by squinting really hard in that general direction, but his mind was drawing up blanks.

He shoved himself off the wall and immediately stumbled, his face feeling like it was on fire and his vision turning to static. It was here that the alarm bells finally cut through the self-righteous fog to scream at him that this was a bad idea and that he needed to sit down before he passed out.

That was his last thought before he found himself on the floor with a pretty solid guess as to how he got there.

His whole body was stupidly heavy, even if he wanted to get back up. (He genuinely could not remember the last time he vacuumed, and he suddenly cared a lot about that.) Honestly, just kind of laying there forever sounded like a decent plan at that point.

If it weren't for the fact that he'd completely forgotten a certain someone else he'd hoped to avoid worrying.

He wasn't even sure where he came from, given Boyf was currently lying in a heap on the floor, but he could come from just about anywhere if he was desperate. (Oh, God, he hoped he wasn't desperate. Fuck, man.) He heard him before he saw him, then felt his hand against his face before he cared to. He managed to lift a hand long enough to swat his counterpart away, glaring up at him through glassy eyes.

"Oh, thank..." Boyf wasn't sure if Yourself hadn't completed his thought or if he was just too out of it to hear the rest of it. Regardless, the rest of it was much more clear. "What the hell are you doing alone like this? Where are your partners?"

Boyf, extremely alert and awake and alive right now, squinted at him like it would somehow strengthen the other's telepathic magic and very eloquently answered, food.

YS blinked down at him, though neither of them were sure why he was even surprised at this point. He took a deep breath. "You're dehydrated. When was the last time you drank water?"

He couldn't tell if his memory was this fallible at the moment because of the not-illness, the fact that he'd recently passed out, or if it had genuinely been so long that he just couldn't remember. He did his best to shrug while lying completely flat on the ground.

His taller counterpart pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, okay," he muttered, before standing up from where he was kneeling. "Stay there."

Finding a bit more strength now, Boyf was able to prop himself up on his elbows as YS went to the kitchen to grab him some stuff. He stared after him for a few minutes before deciding the floor was actually way too uncomfortable to heed his command. (And also because he didn't give a shit about commands anyway.)

It was mildly pathetic to have to literally crawl back onto his bed with how his legs were continuing to not really want to work with him, but it got the job done. He also understood where YS got the idea that he was dehydrated from - his heart was absolutely fucking racing by the time he managed to situate himself back under the covers.

Alright, maybe he could be a little grateful that YS came through to make sure he didn't, like, need to be hospitalized or something. (And now that he had a clearer view of where he'd been laying, particularly of the shiny vinyl box next to it, he probably also owed Darnell some appreciation for being indirectly involved in making sure he didn't fucking die in the two seconds his partners had left him alone.)

"You're a stubborn little bastard, you know that?" YS piped up as he reentered the room, far from surprised to find that Boyf had ignored his one request so blatantly. His expression was far from irritated, though, as he walked over to set a glass of water on Boyf's nightstand and hand him a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on it. Truly a meal of kings. "I'm not leaving until you drink all of that."

Boyf opened his mouth to say something along the lines of "okay, mom", but was jarred out of it by the realization that it was even harder to coordinate himself into speaking than usual. He wasn't sure why he hadn't expected it, but it upset him so much that it distracted him from his insult completely.

YS sighed as he noticed the clear shift in Boyf's demeanor, suddenly gone from confident to somewhat small. He glanced behind him, finding his ill counterpart's laptop, and he walked over and plucked it from its charger. "Work on some music when you're done eating," he said, setting it next to Boyf before sitting on the edge of the bed himself. "It'll take your mind off it."

The rapper frowned at him, still deeply bothered by his newfound mutism but unable to argue, even if he could, that YS was wrong. In his annoyance, he took a big bite out of his PB&J, something he immediately realized was a bad idea because chewing and swallowing was probably also going to be a good bit harder if his motor skills were deteriorated. He hoped to god he didn't choke while YS was there. That would be embarrassing.

Luckily, he didn't. The two sat in silence for a while, YS making good on his threat, considering Boyf hadn't touched the glass of water yet. It was around that point that Boyf was finally willing to admit that he felt really, really awful, actually, and he was pretty thoroughly regretting not having either of his partners there to comfort him.

In his sudden craving, he located YS' shoulder next to him and promptly collapsed onto it. His other self snorted in surprised amusement. "What?"

Like it would somehow emphasize his point, he, more gently, headbutted it again. Apparently, he felt like fighting Pico on the honorary housecat award as well.

YS looked down at him, visibly trying and failing not to smile. He covered it up with a sharp inhale, adjusting his position to something more relaxed and turning his face away. "Just because you dumbasses are addicted to my hugs doesn't mean I'm going to give them out like candy. You've got to earn it."

Boyf pulled away, genuinely pouting at him. Screw dignity, he was sick and miserable and he wanted a fucking hug. YS was more confident showing his face now that his expression was a cocky grin, knowing he had him on the ropes. "Drink half of that water and tell your partners that you're sick. Then I'll consider it."

The man drove a hard bargain. One he was very lucky Boyf wanted the prize out of. Begrudgingly, he did as he was told - forced the water down and then grabbed his phone, and though YS couldn't make Boyf cough up the detail that he'd passed out from dehydration if he held him at gunpoint, he did inform them that he was maybe not feeling so great. He all but tossed his phone away from him and looked at his counterpart expectantly.

His hardass act was, of course, immediately disarmed by one of YS' arms wrapping around him. It genuinely wasn't fair. Even his half-hugs felt like being embraced by a guardian angel. "See?" He said, still keen to tease; "not so hard, is it, little man?"

Boyf leaned into the hug, all but burying himself in YS' side as the taller man squeezed harder to compensate. This, he decided, almost made all the fussing he was sure would be sent his way later worth it.

Almost.

[afrogwhocantdraw]

SBG Spider-Au intro: Taylor (part 1)

_____________________________________

Okayyy for what is *definitely* not going to be the last time, let's do this

My name is Taylor Hernandez. I was bitten by a radioactive spider a year ago and for 7 months. I was the one, and only, Spider woman.

During that time, I did the regular:

Spend almost 3 weeks trying to figure out how this thing actually works (my patience definitely took a hit)

try my best to lie to my brother (how he remained clueless I'll never know)

And, of course (as the job entails) fight crime

Yknow I don't think I ever realised how much villainy there actually WAS in our area until I was the one having to deal with it but after not very long, beating up bad guys became the norm for me.

After a while though, I started noticing things, I'd catch glimpses of movement in shadows, hear russling in bushes whenever I passed by, and the ever growing feeling of being watched started becoming worse and worse.

It became unbearable, whatever or whoever was following me clearly had a reason to, and whatever that was it probably related to that biology trip months ago. Where it all started. So I decided to do some digging to try find out how I even became like this in the first place.

They might say curiousity killed the cat, but surely it couldn't kill a spider, right?

_______________________________________

The drawing in the first image is referenced from this photo I found on Pinterest!!

And the last image is referenced from this photo of ghost spider I found on Google

[waitmyturtles]

Possible TWs if I get there: domestic assault, sexual assault, corpses

I've been trying to conjure what to write about Shadow the Series since I binged it last week. It seems tenuous to make any guesses about this show, since each episode does it what needs to do, and adds information that colors and has me questioning any theories I'm coming up with. Instead, I'm just going to meditate on a couple of bits that are sticking with me, and questions that I have about references the show may be making. Full disclosure: I have NOT spent enough time searching for meta in the tag, so my apologies if I'm repeating anything that's already been written.

1) The scene in episode 3 with the monk had me thinking a lot. In reference to an unrelated conversation with @lurkingshan, the legend of the story of villagers sending dead bodies floating down a river as sacrifices to local wild ghosts -- and the timing of the Catholic school being built after World War II -- had me thinking if, within that legend, there were any references to the building of the Burma-Siam Railway, also known as the Death Railway. I rewatched that scene yesterday, and noted that the referenced dead bodies were not necessarily attributed as being of the village in which the monk is from.

I'm extrapolating: taking into consideration that memories of assault or trauma among children are often dissociated into stories (think Life of Pi), the same will often go for local legends of attack and war. Again, I'm extrapolating, but I think it's interesting to note that this school was built on otherwise venerable grounds, meaningful to the local villagers, and that ghosts considered inhabitants of this area began to rebel against not being worshipped.

Catholic schools in Southeast Asia were already plentiful before WWII due to colonialism; in fact, a Catholic school built AFTER WWII would be relatively new, as compared to schools built before and at the turn of the 20th century. I wonder what it meant that that school was only built after the war.

2) I very much appreciate that Dan never lacks a critical eye or question. He heard from the monk that he should use his dream ring to bring him back to reality; but also, that staying in the dream realm for too long would expose him to "things he shouldn't know" (I'm paraphrasing). And Dan asks why.

Dan's someone who questions, and who lets other people who that he's going to question.

I appreciate that while the set-up of Dan's exposure to the Buddhism of the monk seemed like a reprieve from the weird-ass vibe of the Catholic school -- that Dan didn't fall into the mindset that what he was experiencing at the temple was necessarily "a" or "the" right path. The monk still told him -- as so much of Christianity tells Christians -- to not question certain things, which is out of the possibility of Dan's internal philosophy to find answers.

3) A priest using hypnosis. SMDH. "Feelings aren't reality"? Biatch. I got shivers when Anurak popped out the Rorshach drawings.

4) I mentioned this to a few other folks, but it's definitely giving me the jibbles that Nai seems okay with Dan taking the fall (multiple times) for Nai's revenge scheme against Anan. Without intervention, the oppressed will oppress.

5) Episodes 6 and 7 did not seem as tight as the earlier episodes; it seemed to me that the show, as it continues, is holding a lot of stuff, and will need to unwind on this stuff as we near conclusion. I'm hoping for a tight ending, but we'll see.

I have no theories on the shadow, except, again, many of those who have suffered trauma as children may experience dissociation. But I'm not going to offer that as a theory for conclusion -- it's far too early to make those conjectures. My tastes having me paying continued attention to the themes of Christianity living side-by-side with Asian traditions of religion, spirituality, and local/regional practice, and what it means to have your questioning sides shut down when one has questions about how these cultures co-exist, if at all. I see the clash of cultures especially as juxtaposed during the funerals of Dan's parents at the temple, with Anurak visiting both times.

This is a FANTASTIC show, and it's honestly a HUGE refresher to take a break from traditional BL to watch a queer thriller. I can see that Nai may be attracted to Dan, but I'm honestly so glad to not actively ship Fluke and Singto. They are SO GREAT in their roles, holding their own, and I would be perfectly happy with no couples at the end of this show -- this wouldn't be an element to an excellent ending that I need or that I'd ask for.

[oboetemasuka]

Amane lands a hit on Es, but the lasting consequences prove it wasn’t worth it.

"Unexpected Bypass" meets "Order of Attack"

Tags: hurt/comfort, trauma, canon typical violence, violence against minors, blood and injury, restraints, hallucinations, cults, implied/referenced child abuse

Thanks to @purgemarchlockdown, @rainbowghostcat, @lostxmelody, @justzosiahere, and @amugoffandoms for proofreading.

Rambling under the cut:

This fic... This was meant to be a short "what-if"... Well, 1197 words isn't exactly short for my fics, but the final product is thrice as long. The first draft was just Amane’s interrogation (Kazui and Shidou didn’t show up, so she was all alone), the visits to Mahiru and Fuuta, and Kotoko’s interrogation.

OoA Amane has so much more baggage than canon Amane. OoA Amane was beaten within an inch of her life while she was restrained. Canon Amane was not attacked, and there's no definitive proof that the guilty prisoners were restrained in the interim.

The scissors attack plays out differently. OoA Amane makes a quieter, more calculated attack. Es has less time to dodge and takes a nastier hit that needs to be checked out sooner. (In the original draft, they didn't even get to turn their head.) But since Amane has a blind side and is already badly injured, Es can exploit those to get the upper hand without Kotoko's help.

Es leaves Amane alone, and she fears that Kotoko will come back to attack her. This fear carries through the rest of the story. At first, it was just about Amane seeking comfort from her closest friends, but then I added a scene of her cutting the sleeves off so nobody could ever use them against her again.

Then Beans tagged me in a writing game, and I realized I didn't want this fic to end on YONAH, so I moved the kitchen scene to the end and added some shorter scenes between the other passages.

Es is also reeling from the incident. In lieu of Kotoko showing up at Amane's interrogation, she tells Es her opinions of the incident during her own interrogation. I later added Mikoto and John's interrogation to draw parallels with Amane. (And then three people told me the scenes were too short, so I added some dialogue to connect them.)

I have more to say, but it's pretty late at the time of this writing.

Oops, did I just make a director's commentary? Well, feel free to request a commentary for a shorter passage.

[schadenfreudich]

Hi!! I come to you since you're my dearest German mutual, and I've been learning German since 2020 and well, I can learn grammar and vocabulary but I wanna find more german (real german, not just textbook german yk) content to listen to and become more fluid!! I'm guessing you might know stuff like music and youtube channels and maybe podcasts and that sort of stuff-? It'd be very helpful! Thanks in advance :3

This is so much, especially music. We just listen to a lot of german music a wide variety. Sorry or you're welcome

Youtubers:

coldmirror: one of the longest existing youtubers, comedy

Spacefrogs: mostly political humor

Iblali: hasn't really been active on that channel but at least was funny

Hand of Blood: comedy and gaming, and weird costumes

Zeo: comedy, mostly speaks in understable german, mostly (Chill deine Basics has a character who speaks in a thick Bavarian accent)

der Heider: haven't actually watched him in a while, also thick Bavarian accent sometines

Klengan: talks about stuff happening on youtube, mostly, last video I remember was about Jeremy Fragrance

Tommy Toalingling: gay, as in he makes a lot of videos about queer topics, also he's gay (this could be helpful if you want to know more about queer terms in german)

Kegy: comedy and also I keep referencing him and no one gets it, also hasn't uploaded in 4 years

Malternativ: in case you want to listen to a german man scream about annoying things (he's funny, I promise)

MiiMii: really hard to describe, weird drawings

Rob Bubble: politic humor, Anti-Webvideopreis (for the worst video of the year)

Podcasts:

Brainpain (by Heider and Klengan)

einer von den Guten (having actually listened to that one, but Zeo is one of them. so it can't be bad)

nicht mehr ganz Twitter (also includes Zeo and the guy who did Iblali)

Lästerschwestern (by Rob Bubble)

I really don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but those exist and the people aren't awful in other media)

Not a podcast, but an audiobook:

Känguru-Chroniken: have you ever wanted to listen to a story about a communist kangaroo and an anarchist artist? Because this is that. It's really funny.

Music:

Comedian Harmonists: you should definitely listen to "mein kleiner grüner Kaktus" at least once. They're old and made what wikipedia calls "volkstümliche Musik"

Cro: rap/pop kinda music, I recommend "Einmal um die Welt" and "Bye Bye"

die Ärzte: punk band, have themes such as death, kink, random gay lines and anti-fascism. I recommend "Junge" and "M&F", just because they're like the most popular songs. But if you want to listen to a weirder song, I'd suggest "meine Ex(plodierte Freundin)", way too happy for the fact that he's talking about his girlfriend exploding.

Die Prinzen: A cappella, "alles nur geklaut" is very popular and the funniest song to get cover

Die toten Hosen: punk band, our syskids really like "Walkampf", maybe a little too much. "Tage wie diese" and "Altes Fieber" are quite popular. Also "zehn kleine Jägermeister", just be aware the source of "zehn kleine [word]" is racist, if you choose to look that up, not this song, just the original one.

EAV (Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung): they were an Austrian punk band, so if some words are confusing, that might just be because they're Austrian. Also "Ba-Ba Banküberfall", because it's really funny.

Falco: also Austrian, Neue Deutsche Welle, you should listen to "Rock me, Amadeus", "Egoist", "Dance Mephisto" and actually basically every song. We just really like Falco.

Glasperlenspiel: electro-pop, "geiles Leben" and "Echt" are really great, also "Traumtänzer" and "Legoschloss"

Haggefugg: medieval rock, "Daheim" and "Märchenwald"

Heldmaschine: industrial metal, sound similar to Rammstein (they have a song about that)

Herbert Grönemeyer: rock(?) singer, I recommend "Männer" and "Kinder an die Macht", also "etwas warmes" (that one's gay)

LaBrassBanda: So Bavarian they were Lederhosen in every picture, but they have an entire album they recorded in a cow barn, so I had to mention them

Mark Forster: pop, very popular, "Au Revoir" (and on that note, Sido, I guess) and "Chöre" are great

Max Giesinger: pop, "Wenn sie tanzt" is very nice

Megaherz: Neue Deutsche Härte, they have a cover of "Rock me Amadeus", and also "Schwarz = Religion" is great

Musica Immortalis: medieval music, I saw them in person, they only have 60 monthly listeners on spotify but they are so so good. Like, "Kraken" and "der Sturm", wonderful.

OOMPH!: one of the first bands under Neue Deutsche Härte, there is so much, so I'll recommend albums this time. "Des Wahnsinns Fette Beute", multiple queer songs, crossdressing, being scared of your own homosexuality and public gay sex with a sailor. Also one song about suicide. "Ritual", a lot of pain and suffering, also a song titled "TRRR - FCKN - HTLR", which does include the line "terror, ficken, Hitler" being shouted multiple times.

Reis Against The Spülmaschine: parodies, also only three songs but they're incredibly funny

Schattenmann: Neue Deutsche Härte, some quite explicitly sexual songs, but they're good. Like "Choleriker", which isn't about sex but is about violence and anger issues

Tanzwut: Neue Deutsche Härte but also medieval

The toten Crackhuren im Kofferraum: punk, all women, great, wonderful, I recommend "ich und mein Pony" and "Punkrock hat mir das Herz gebrochen"

Voxxclub: also very Bavarian, it's great 👍

Nena: Neue Deutsche Welle, especially "99 Luftballons" and "Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann"

And this is more so specific songs that were a very formative experience when we were 12-15:

"ne Leiche" by SDP, Sido (yes, it's about a corpse)

"Willst du" by Alligatoah (sounds like a love song, but it's about drugs)

"Über den Wolken" by Reinhard Mey (this one is just nice)

"Monsta" by Culcha Candela (we call it the german monsterfucker song, because that woman is a literal monster and he's like "even better!")

"Major Tom (... völlig losgelöst)" by Peter Schilling (this one's sad)

"Die Da!?" by die Fantastischen Vier

"Nur ein Wort" by Wir sind Helden (just a love song)

"Stadt" by Cassandra Steen, Adel Tawil

"Perfekte Welle" by Juli

"Vom selben Stern" by Ich + Ich

"Skandal im Sperrbezirk" by Spider Murphy Gang (be aware it's about prostitues and the language is a little outdated, but the song is good)

I don't think I have to tell you about Rammstein, but also "Mann gegen Mann" is gay

[readingtoinfinity]

Anathem

Every so often I read a book, and it stops being a book and starts being a Thing. Anathem is just such a book. I remember trying to read this book years ago and being disappointed. And now I've read the whole thing, and I'm still disappointed.

In a world where monk-like avout live cloistered lives developing advanced math and physics theories, a conspiracy starts brewing with one avout, Erasmus, at its center, and he gets roped into a conspiracy that has been brewing for longer than he knew.

If there's one thing that Neal Stephenson is exceptional at it's world-building. An entire glossary of made up words is included in this book for you to fully understand that it's history is not like Earth's. And while the glossary is helpful the book is unforgiving and its usage of those terms, using them just as much as our English variants. There are layers and layers of this world that are referenced, pulled apart, debated and refuted that feel just as extensive and, at times, pedantic as real life. When this book is about monks arguing with each other about philosophy and science, this book is at its best.

But this book is not about monks arguing philosophy and science with each other, and therein we start to get into the issues.

Perhaps I'm just a heathen when it comes to architectural design, but I had extreme difficulty picturing anything described in this book. I had to look up images of the main concent of Saunt Edhar and it wasn't an image I can hold in my mind easily. There's a Big Dumb Object later that is fully described and does not stick in my head. I don't know if that's a problem with me, specifically, or if everyone else had the same difficulty.

One thing I can say I had a problem with in the book is that the characters are very flat. Two dimensional at best, never quite getting to the point where they had distinct personalities. There are exceptions: Barb the autistic avout is a personal favorite, and Lodoghir the contrarian has layers to him that make him interesting. But two of Erasmus' friends, Jesry and Arsibalt, don't have enough characteristics to set them apart, and I forget which is which even to the end of the book. It feels like this book suffers from the Isaac Asimov problem, where the author is more interested in ideas and things than people and characters. There's definitely a market for it, people who are receptive to plots as mechanics and problems, but it makes for some very dry reading.

My other complaint is that the book is very long. Almost all of its length is justified, but it doesn't really feed into the finale. Some things just... happen and then we move on. I couldn't help but feel at times that some things were just entirely unrelated to the plot, a distraction until we got back to it. And for all that the world is layered and feels realistic, it is not interesting enough to justify going on a road trip and diversion.

My last complaint might be a draw for some: this book is very dense. There are three sections at the end of the book that are just longer conversations about math and calculations that were too long and dry to be included in the narrative proper without affecting pacing. But there are explanations in this book that are longer and more difficult to parse, and the finale of the book especially requires referencing back to everything we've learned about the beliefs of the avout. Some may find it mind-blowing, intriguing; I found it strange and opaque.

And with that I come to my final thought: this book is definitely its own thing. The entire thing feels complete, uncompromising, the director's cut on a movie that was already quite long. I got the feeling that Neal Stephenson crafted this book exactly as he intended it, without anything feeling wasted or unintentional. To change one aspect of it would be to change the entire thing irrevocably, and for all that I didn't enjoy the ending of this book nor did I enjoy the plot as we went along, I can admire the tenacity and skill it took to create such a dense and complicated narrative. Please give it a read, and even if you can't finish it you'll get the idea that this book, for all its flaws, is a complete, unique, Thing. I just didn't get it.

[avionvadion]

Listen. The chapter isn't even done yet. I just started writing it. So dialogue may very well change. But damn was this an image my very soul needed me to draw.

Here's the snippet!

“Uh… I don’t… think they’re even in that kind of relationship to begin with…” That was a mental image Kagome definitely did not need. But, then again, Irene did seem to really like Sesshōmaru. Kagome couldn’t deny that. It was just Sesshōmaru himself that was the problem. “She likes him, but he’s… not the kind of person to fall for someone.” 

“But he sounds as if he’s head over heels for her.” Eri pointed out. “Forget whether or not he might be the head of a mafia group- if he saved her from being killed, then found her each time she was kidnapped, despite never going out of his way for anyone and despite being a total villain like you said, then clearly there’s something there. He has to feel something to let himself go out of his way for her. Right?” 

Kagome was stunned. “Uh… I mean… yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” 

Huh. 

Kagome picked up her soda and took another long sip, furrowing her brows as she thought about this. Could Sesshōmaru have feelings for Irene? 

Maybe. 

Guess I’ll find out the next time I see him.

If he truly went out of his way to rescue her from Naraku’s clutches, then Ayumi and Eri were right- something was there. If he went out of his way to use even the tenseiga which he hates so much to bring her back to life, then… Sesshōmaru truly cares for her. 

But Irene isn’t from the Feudal Era. She was just like Kagome, hailing from a time far in the future. After Anastasia is defeated… she’ll probably be separated from him. 

Kagome might not ever see Irene again, either. 

Not unless she finds me in her time, and that’s… 

That’s assuming Kagome doesn’t have to make a choice to stop traveling between eras herself. 

“I just hope we see her again soon.” She sighed, hanging her head dejectedly. “The last time anyone saw her was when Sesshōmaru saved her from her kidnappers. Since she left with him, no one’s seen her. He's the only one who could keep her alive at this point, but with how he is... who knows?” 

Yuka and Eri were utterly convinced now that this older brother of Kagome’s supposedly bad boy boyfriend was the leader of a criminal organization, and they could only imagine what it must have looked like as this “Sesshōmaru” rescued the young woman from her kidnappers, before stealing her away for himself so her life would no longer be threatened. Ayumi, on the other hand, was utterly enamored by the visual in her mind, giggling and smiling to herself as she imagined a dashing man in white bravely rescuing his lover. 

“Kagome…” The girl blinked and looked up, sweat beading nervously down her cheek when she saw the concerned stare Eri was giving her. 

Yuka frowned. “Tell us as soon as you find out what’s happened, okay? This sounds serious! He saved her from her kidnappers, just to kidnap her himself!? He’s worse than a psycho! He's... He's absolutely nuts!" 

“Total villain was right.” Eri huffed, referencing Kagome’s earlier description. “That poor woman deserves better than to be held hostage by the man she likes.”

Ayumi laughed and waved a hand at the two girls. “Aw, you guys are over thinking it! Isn’t it obvious what happened?”

Yuka, Eri, and Kagome all blinked, staring at the curly-haired, innocently smiling Ayumi. 

She held a finger up knowingly. “They eloped!” 

Kagome’s forehead never hit the tabletop so hard in her life. She all but shot up onto her feet, slamming her hands down on the wood as she shrieked, “They’re not together! Sesshōmaru would never love a human!”  

The original version, without the filters!