#i'm yapping and i love asks

[overleftdown]

can u talk more abt his apparent affairs w teachers and relationship w sex in general? so many ppl gloss over that bit

of course! i'll link a couple posts for preface, although i'll probably paraphrase some stuff anyways.

[my commentary on sex and consent in saltburn.]

i received an ask regarding farleigh's queerness the other day, to which i tied in this little tidbit about farleigh's affirs with teachers. the explicitly male/male language that felix used when recounting farleigh's sexcapades with teachers was interesting to me. farleigh is pansexual (as stated in the screenplay), but felix uses male/male language exclusively. part of this could be the erasure of pansexual or bisexual reality. people either exclude the homosexual aspect of someone's identity, or the heterosexual aspect. but this could also mean that farleigh did only harbor affairs with male teachers.

that would be an interesting complex to think about. although women in positions of power are absolutely capable of abusing that power and asserting dominance over others, men have a different dynamic within that. the fact is, farleigh does things to gain the affections of other people, because he isn't automatically handed that affection. farleigh does play into teacher/student dynamics, whether it's overtly sexual or not. you can see this in the tutor scene and the brief montage moment where fareligh is sitting on the floor in front of the tutor, while they both ignore oliver. consider it an investment, of sorts. there's always a possibility that a white teacher will have academic bias against you, and the need to mitigate that is strangling sometimes. teachers are also just dicks. i find myself in "teacher's pet" positions for a number of reasons, a few of them are bias related.

where it gets complicated is the sex aspect specifically. if it is true that farleigh has been expelled from an absurd number of schools specifically for harboring teacher/student sexual affairs, then this is can really only be perceived as compulsive. also, can i just say, the fact that farleigh was expelled instead of the teacher being fired is disgusting. i kinda wanna call this evidence of discrimination, as well. queerness and perceived sexual deviancy, blackness and the constant inability to be seen as human and innocent. arghgh. i digress. the fact is, if farleigh truly was harboring sexual affairs with teachers for his own benefit and that alone, then he wouldn't have made the mistake so frequently. he would've recognized that the disadvantages outweighed the benefits and found other ways of playing teacher's pet. archie talked about the quickstart dynamic and said that although it was ambiguously consensual, farleigh is attracted to and aroused by power dynamics. many people are. where that compulsive need to buy into power dynamics comes from, i'm not sure. it could be a lot of things.

the neglectful nature of farleigh's upbringing could've resulted in a need for validation and attention from those who are in a position of authority. farleigh's queerness could've resulted in an internalized feeling of perversion that was then externalized through a desire to be taken advantage of. the nature of submission is also often linked to a need for control in other areas of life, and therefore relinquishing control in sexual dynamics. some marginalized people play into eroticization because it can be more validating than exclusion. many people learn to crave their own objectification, and it's often a manifestation of sexual trauma or other forms of trauma. if i get really convoluted and let my angst-fanfiction brain run wild, i start to imagine what environments farleigh was in throughout his childhood. as archie said, farleigh was involved in overly "mature" conversations and situations through his mother. what that could mean for farleigh's perception of sex, nobody knows. i can let my imagination go insane though. i can imagine a lot of weird scenarios. those are all conjecture, of course.

i'm just going to conclude that whatever sexual complexes farleigh has, they're not healthy. i don't think that they should be fetishized or ignored. i think that they're relevant to farleigh and oliver's on-screen dynamic, especially considering oliver was in a position of power over farleigh when they had sex.

[sallufix]

If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the process you go through to shade? How do you make it look so textured?

HELLO ANON!!! I'VE MADE MY LATEST PIECE FOR THIS SPECIFICALLY!!! I'm glad u asked... I love sharing my process because it makes me feel like a smartass 💀 I LIKE SHARING THINGS OKAY!!! IM A YAPPER!!! Now, click on keep reading for the shading process of THIS thing 👇

1st is the base colors, I normally color pick from their references and just adjust the settings of the pallete, but you can also just color them however you like :P for this, I wanted a good balance of yellow and blue, so I put a yellow filter by using darken. My advice for 1st step color adjusting is that you should play with the blending modes alot. The ones I use the most are lighten (if you want it to become more pastel or soft) and darken (if you want a more dull atmosphere or are planning to add alot of bright highlights anyway) so yeah!! flat/base colors!!!

2nd is first layer shading, aka the shadows themselves. Recently, I've guided myself with the direction of shading using the red sun as to figure out where the highlights or light sources would be, and the blue moon for where the shadows should be headed or inbetween. As you can see the sun is both at the top and bottom, which means the shading will be focused in the middle and shouldn't look too strong due to alot of light heading towards it!

3rd is the one I like doing the most, which is having reflective light off of shadows. It's basically light inside of the shadows due to some sort of light bouncing off of a nearby surface. Since the light here is blue, I used blue for the reflective light too. It's the one I use the most, but it can vary for what color the nearby surface is. For this step I use the blending mode hue almost always, but for this I used color since it wasn't visible on Shadow Milks shading before

4th isss highlights or lighting! As I've said, 2 light sources, so I kept in mind the one above and the one below, though the one below is more stronger than the one above. This step is pretty simple, just add thin highlights for where you've already marked the light to move to. Yipee!!!

5th and last is the overall piece adjustment and texture addition :P The thing that makes my art look more textured is this metal image thing from ibispaint's gallery, and sometimes the noise effect if this one doesn't really fit the piece. Again, I play with blending modes for everything to work! The second image displays me adjusting the colors using an effect rather than manually, this makes me have more control with the pallete and its vibrancy, that's why it begins to seem more green and desaturated than what I've shown from this point!!!

Aanndd voilà! That's how I do it!!! I switch it up ALOT of times, I change and experiment with shading styles a ton, but this one has stuck the most and is the one I've been using recently! I hoped this helped some people or just gave them a fun thing to read and learn about. If you guys want the brushes I use then I'll probably share them if there's an ask for it! bye bye :]

[batbabydamian]

what is your fav damian/robin outfit- canon, hc or elsewise? i love the way you draw damian btw!!

visually, it would have to be the Patrick Gleason/Jonboy Meyers Rebirth suit read Robin: Son of Batman (2015)!

Jonboy Meyers concept art and Robin: Son of Batman (2015) #1

so many iconic bits - his hood!! tunic!! red and green lace-up knee-high boots!! extra gold accents!! really solid shapes and details that can translate well in any artist's style!! idk it's a design that looks good in almost any hands, whether it's in rest or action

few of my fav artists drawing this suit:

Robin: Son of Batman (2015) #4

ofc Patrick Gleason!! chunky lace-up boot to face! fluttering gold accented hood/cape! also my excuse to show off this ridiculously cool panel look at Damian's stabby bracers and narrowly missing a scar to his eye

Super Sons (2017) #2 and #15

love how Jorge Jimenez leans into the drapery bits, like Damian's cape/hood and bottom of his tunic that really accents his slim design and sharp posing. he's probably my fav example of using Damian's suit details for extra energy in the secondary action down to his shoe laces!!

Adventures of the Super Sons (2018) Covers #12 and #3

it's Dan Mora LOL idk what else to say...anything looks sleek. the second pic is just cool posing to me - capturing the twisting and arcing leap in midair RAD

Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) #2

Jorge Corona's one of my absolute favs in the industry, his traditional inks and overall style is so shaped! textured! frenetic! it's always fun to see how he translates designs, and you can see his style/Damian evolution in Robin War (2015) #1, Nightwing (2016) #42 (DICK & DAMIAN + WIGGLES!!), Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) #2-3, and Robin (2021) #4!

The Boy Wonder (2024) #1 and Truth & Justice (2021) #6

Juni Ba's rendition of the suit!! especially adding that lil bird skull🥺 along with Corona, Ba's style exaggerates some details and proportions for extra appeal, like Damian swimming in his hood and cape!! his big ribbony boot laces!!

sentimentally, Damian's original Robin suit by Frank Quitely is my fav - the blueprint for his hood and lace-up boots!! it always makes me think of Batman and Robin (2009) especially #4 🥺

Dick calls out the disadvantage of Damian's hood, even physically challenging him. then it rains and Damian gives Dick this smug look, but Dick just smiles in good humor 😭

The Batman Files has a drawing and note that says it's Dick's design for Damian's Robin uniform, which contradicts the comic but i still think it's cute to mention!! like maybe Damian wasn't satisfied by Dick's work until he would add a hood, so there's older drafts somewhere in the cave lol

[bigidiotenergytm]

(Same anon who asked for the kiddo’s of Ody, Poseidon, and Zeus. /You can find my real account in the comments\ I have more questions but I’ll ask one for now.)

How does Penelope and Telemachus feel about this?

Hello, dear anon! Sky's second in command here to answer your questions :3

I'm super happy to see you're enjoying the twins AU! As for Penelope and Telemachus, they're perfectly cool with it and love the babies with all their hearts <3

Penelope helped deliver the twins (along with Artemis) and is honestly sooo proud of her hubby for this. She was pregnant once as well, so she knows exactly what to do and how to help Ody through it all. She's his rock and biggest support in life.

Telemachus also adores the twins and sees them as his brothers. Honestly, he's been all on his own throughout most of his life so when he found out he was going to become a big brother, he was beyond elated! Dude spent days just losing his mind and going wild XD

The whole family loves the babies so, so much and spoils them like crazy. They'll grow up surrounded by love and attention <333

Anyway, thank you for asking and I hope this answer was good enough XD

If you want to know more, I suggest either asking me ( @shinedoitsulikeabright ) or @axt-bs . We created this AU together so we can answer better than Sky :3

[katiekatdragon27]

Guys what is this book and what is the Bill on it? All I know is gay shapes-

A. Sphere: I'm not calling you "Good Boy" A. Square, that court case was SHIT.

Me earlier: Wow! The Book of Bill just came out, that's cool ig.

Everyone recently: *being super active in the tag, watching the movies, relogging and liking my art*

Me: *me carrying some small doodles over* WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE???

Thanks for bringing me back to brainrot by spam-liking all my old posts guys I forgive none of you (/J I LOVE YOU ALL)

More stuff below cut (BE WARNED NEW FLAT-PEOPLE SOME OF IT IS LOWKEY SPOILERY):

A. Square and A. Faux Line: Damn, that circle kinda a hottie- ...

I had this silly idea after my 29374th time watching Flatland that a majority of the first part of the movie is just A. Sphere watching all the shit go down like the worst telenovela you've ever seen. Also, that A. Line was originally going to be the apostle, but... uh... she can't really do that anymore, so he banks all his money on A. Square.

Also, I thought it would be super funny of A. Square and A. Faux Line both crushed on A. Sphere when he first showed up lol. Crazy smooth priest spawns and everyone swoons.

Older Hex doodles too. I love Hex, they're such a real one the whole time. With all the faults of Sphereland, I do like Hex maining in that one. But I also like picking and choosing which things I take as canon in my own work, so you get young adult Hex with their totally not-romantically-involved-with-at-all partner Punto (P. Octagon).

It's been a bit since Flatland happened in this hypothetical, so A. Square's still around. He's trying to be supportive of his masc-nonbinary kid who likes kissing boys, but still has to be annoying with dad jokes and the occasional backhanded compliment. He means well tho.

A. Tesseract: Hello A. Square!

A. TESSERACT OH HOW I'VE MISSED YOU POOKIE <3333. She's probably one of my most favorite ocs I've made (and the one that gets the most art <3) She's also the one I feel the least awkward about shoving into the source material lol. I yearn to work on A Heightlander's Escape again, but we'll see.

I just wanted to draw something cute between her and A. Square. She may or may not be the voice at the end of the movie hmmmmmmmm.

At least A. Square would end up in good hands.

"There is always something beyond. There is always INFINITY."

Just a little doodle of smth I may or may not render cuz I really like how it looks. There is always something greater after all.

Thank you all for the recent support on those old-ish drawing, y'all made my week tbh. I have a new AU cooking for this so look forward to that lol. Have a good one :)))

[ladyinthebluebox]

wE wAnT cOmPaNiOnS tO bE mEaN aGaIn!!!!!!!!!!

my siblings in the maker, you can't handle Taash calling Emmrich a death mage couple times or [checks notes] ...asking Neve about her clothes [?????????????]

[shaanks]

Okay I gotta ask this silly question bc I see this headcanon around a lot and I want to hear your take on it: do you think Shanks bathes? Like I don't think he has a five-step skincare routine or anything but I also don't think he's severely lacking in personal hygiene either, y'know? Any thoughts? ����

I have a little backlog of Shanks asks in my inbox but THIS one I absolutely have the energy for.

I have no idea beyond like. A desire to apply this universe's pirate era hygiene to the OPverse's residents, and/or a need to kind of downplay a fictional man's standards by applying IRL men's aversion to soap to them, why or how people have come to the conclusion that Shanks stinks and never bathes and all his clothes are greasy and so on and so on ad nauseam. Weird work weird behavior, even from the folks who like want him real bad.

Like to a degree I can see where a group just starting off might end up a lil stinky if they're like. On a skiff like Luffy Zoro and Nami started out on in the baking sun or whatever but like?? Shanks went from Roger's crew on Roger's big nice ship where prime Rayleigh was and where they also had facilities, money, and a doctor on board, to his own crew and the shortest stint ever as Regular Pirates before becoming a Yonko himself and acquiring the Red Force which is also a big nice ship with facilities and a doctor on board.

Not only would hygiene be easy to keep up with, but any doctor worth their salt (which Crocus and Hongo both certainly are) wouldn't let them get the battery of preventable illnesses that come from not keeping themselves clean.

Additionally?? And I covered this briefly in another ask, but like?? Shanks has nice clothes! Are the prints on his pants silly? Sure. But everything he wears is nice good quality fabric, his hair is thick and soft, he keeps his facial hair, brows, and nails trimmed nicely? Aside from just like. Being a guy, I would love to know what part of his appearance suggests he doesn't take care of himself. Because I truly don't see it.

Also ALSO additionally it's canon that Shanks is very attractive and well-enjoyed by loads of folks but esp women, and I can't imagine if he was gross and filthy and stank that that would be the case. To each their own, ofc, but like. Statistically speaking.

tl:dr I think that while he probably isn't doing a 12 step K beauty routine or whatever, Shanks is clean and well kept and smells nice and takes care of his teeth and the like. Definitely not a man who would be shy about washing his ass, you know what I mean?

[sonadowcentral]

if you’re still doing the q and a i wanted to ask; how does silver fit into your au? (if he does at all)

Okay I'm gonna be honest, I want to add Silver into this AU just for funsies but I don't know how I could put him in the plot without overcomplicating it even more than it already is right now.

If I ever made an extended ending, MAYBE he could be a new addition along with Blaze but until I conclude the initial ideas I have, I cannot confirm anything.

(But if you guys really want it, I could make a Silver design for this AU anyways even if he's not part of the main story 👀)

[lu-is-not-ok]

Sorry if you've already analyzed this recently but it would be neat if I could possibly get your thoughts about this.

I'm currently trying to theory craft for The Surrendered Witnessing (Canto 8), so I was looking at the Limbus TGS Teaser for more hints. Cuz the background art has been quite accurate so far.

When you look up Hong Lu on Google one of the first pictures you get is that art of him in the white outfit with the dandelion.(Which is also briefly shown on the TGS Teaser) At first I thought he was blowing the dandelion as a symbolism of being carefree and whimsical, similar to how children blow on dandelions to make wishes.

But then I noticed a few things. First, he doesn't necessarily seem happy, or really showcasing any kind of 'whimsy'. Also, the dandelion isn't up to his mouth. It's not positioned in a way where he can blow. It seems more likely that he is watching a common weed blow off in the wind with more freedom than he would ever get while he's with his family. Dandelions in general are also a symbol of hope, which means this could be a representation of him feeling hopeless.

But then, the screen briefly shows a zoomed out version before jumpscaring you with Heathcliff.

At first I thought this was a rebellion with the sheer amount of grey bodies seeming desperate. But then I realized they are reaching. Are they possibly reaching for Hong Lu? Do they just wish to be in his shoes-- desperately wanting just a sliver of his family's influence and wealth? Or is their desperation more focused on the red paper?

Hong Lu also doesn't seem that pleased, the zoomed out version seems way more bored than the zoomed in version.

The dandelion seeds turn into something red. It could be red envelopes used to gift money, but I don't know why Hong Lu or his family would even bother using something so formal on people with such low status. A very unlikely theory is that it could also be related to Hong Lu's previous mention of a 'red passport'. Though I'm just assuming it has significance specifically where Hong Lu's family resides, either something important within his house or something that has to do with how the district works.

--

Another interesting thing that pops up is a speech bubble. I'm not fluent in any other languages so I had to Google translate it, so it may very likely be wrong, but it says "it's almost like filming a play". I don't have a clue if that has been a previous line from Hong Lu, but the outline is in Hong Lu's color. So maybe he's referencing an event after the sinners return to his residence.

The other thing to note is the positioning of this picture directly over the dandelion picture. The only other person that really has that happen in the teaser is Sinclair, but that is because the Sinclair images happen within the same cutscene in-game. I have zero clue if the positioning in the video is that purposeful to make an entire theory on it, but I think the lineup is interesting. The image used is from The Unloving.

--

The last glimpse I'll talk about is the lil angy/displeased Hong Lu.

That looks like Outis' hand grabbing him by the shirt. I was trying to find any other pictures of sinners grabbing each other by the shirt-- but the only shirt threatening content we've gotten are both in The Unconfronting. One by Virgillius (not a sinner) and one by Don Quixote.

So my assumption is that this displeased Hong Lu could either happen during The Nocturnal Sleeping or The Surrendered Witnessing. Likely The Surrendered Witnessing because no intervallo art seems to have been out in the teaser. (All of the characters that already have cantos have art in the TGS that doesn't surpass their focus cantos, though that also could be due to Project Moon not wanting to spoil too much from the initial 3 release cantos)

Anyways! That's my thoughts! I kinda wanna hear yours if possible, no pressure though. :3

(Also, sorry if the formatting is weird I have zero clue how Tumblr's ask formatting works)

Oh boy that's a lot. Ok. Let's see how I wanna get into this.

Let's start with the bits I know I can explain for sure.

First, the dialogue lines. Last time I checked, every single dialogue line shown in the TGS teaser comes from the first three Cantos. Which, if you think about it, makes sense, as those were likely the only Cantos actually fully written by that point.

The line you pointed out specifically comes from Canto 2, it being the second half of this dialogue line that happens after the Sinners beat the Tingtang Gang.

I think its purpose in the teaser is mainly to reinforce the idea that Hong Lu's understanding of reality is very strange compared to other people in the City, him comparing whatever's happening to something as benign as a movie set.

You could probably also make a case for it being used to highlight the theme of the blurred line between Fiction and Reality, what with him comparing a Real situation to that of a Fictional scene one would be filming for a movie.

Second. The angry Hong Lu CG.

I've already discussed that CG at length in this post, but to summarize: this is a scrapped Canto 1 CG, from what I believe to be the original version of the scene where Yuri reveals her backstory, which in the original draft took place outside of the dungeon with all of the Sinners around and thus available to respond. The person grabbing onto Hong Lu's shirt is Gregor, and the reason his skin looks like that in the video is because of the heavy color overlay effects over the teaser itself. I included the clearest picture we have of the full CG in the post I mentioned.

We don't know whether this CG was scrapped before or after the TGS Teaser was made, so it's much harder to ascertain the purpose behind its inclusion here. Regardless of which it is though, it's clear that Project Moon deemed it important to show Hong Lu's capacity for anger in such an early teaser, meaning it was something they were focusing on as a point for his character even back then.

Now. Onto the things I get to actually speculate about.

Let's just first establish this - we have no way of knowing how similar Canto 8 will be to what Project Moon may have initially planned it to be. I'm not one of those people who claims that PM are serial retconners, but I'm also realistic in that I doubt they have more prepared future Cantos than maybe some rough outlines at most. As such, the scene shown in the TGS Teaser might not end up being framed in the exact same way as it was initially planned to be.

This is especially important to note as Vellmori CGs, aka the ones shown in the Teaser itself, are not being used beyond the ones already in the game. We can tell from Canto 6 and 7 that there's no guarantee that we'll get any exactly equivalent CGs from the current artist either. After all, we did get two whole scenes of a Heathcliff arriving to Cathy's funeral, but neither was framed in any way similar to the teased CG.

Here's some of my own observations though.

First - according to recollections from multiple DOTRC readers, the outfit Hong Lu is wearing in both CGs might be a reference to the mourning robes Baoyu wears after Daiyu's death. Considering how sensitive Hong Lu is about things that seem to remind him of an event that is very likely Limbus's equivalent of Daiyu's death (as I discuss in this post), it's likely that Canto 8 will put a notable amount of focus on that event and its aftermath.

Second - in higher quality versions of that first CG, it's possible to see that the shadow cast by the dandelion is a different color to the rest of the shadows being cast - it's notably more red in hue.

This could be another nod to Daiyu, as their Land of Illusion counterpart was the Crimson Pearl Flower. I think you're onto something here with Hong Lu not actively blowing at the dandelion, but rather merely watching it blow away in the wind by itself. It could be a representation of how fragile Daiyu's life ended up being, swept away as if by a gust of wind.

It makes me think of the Flower Burial Song from DOTRC (as do many things around Hong Lu in all fairness), which in itself also represents Daiyu's own mortality. Flowers fall, people perish, and neither of them know.

Third - A few notes about that second CG.

For one, I don't believe that the dandelion seeds are being turned into the red papers (for a lack of a more specific term to call them). You can see that the seeds are actually floating Among the papers, implying they're both falling at the same time rather than one turning into the other.

For two, while it's a bit hard to see in the particular screenshot you took, you can see that Hong Lu has his other arm thrust forward, while still holding the dandelion with the one he held it in the previous CG. This I believe implies he's not just watching the people below, but is actively throwing whatever the red papers are down towards them.

Now.

Here's my own unhinged theory as to what those (now unused) Canto 8 CGs might be showing.

Obviously, I already made it clear that I believe this is taking place after Daiyu's death ,what with both Hong Lu's robes and flower symbolism.

However, I believe the specific event that is happening here is Hong Lu creating a distraction for his Family so that he can escape.

I've made it no secret that I believe Hong Lu is in fact a runaway, and that the "sent out to experience the world" thing he mentions as his reason for leaving his home is in fact a blatant lie. After all, if it were true, why would his Family be searching for him? Why would they want to prematurely cut him off from experiencing more of the world? Add the Lasso Hong Lu corrosion voice line to this, where he's clearly acting out what his Family might sound like once they catch up to him, and you can see why I think this might be the case.

It's also not that hard to imagine why Daiyu's death would be the catalyst to Hong Lu deciding to take a chance and attempt an escape. Daiyu's death has been implied to be an event that not only deeply hurt him, but is also alluded to being the one thing capable of rousing Hong Lu's anger enough to actually lash out. If there was one thing that could make the otherwise docile and obedient Hong Lu act out in such a way, it would be crossing a certain line he believed should never be crossed.

What I believe we're seeing is Hong Lu drawing a group of desperate people towards a likely otherwise very secure household (if his musings about defense systems in Canto 6 are anything to go by). Perhaps, the things he's giving out are specifically invitations, as in Canto 6 Hong Lu mentions (in a way that almost feels like he's speaking from experience mind you) that having an invitation protects one from a mansion's security measures.

So, by "inviting" in as many disruptive people as he can, Hong Lu could be creating the perfect distraction for the Jia Family to deal with while he himself assumedly slips away unnoticed.

At least, that's my theory.

Hope this helps, or is in any way coherent WHEEZE.

[gummy-worms-in-my-brain]

trade offer

i receive: information about your OCs

you receive: crappy doodle of whatever you wish for

[thekittyokat]

Hi! Please please please, could you tell me more about your coffin chain ideas?/nf

I am obsessed but barely anybody has jumped onto the ship yet and I am VERY new to the fandom so I wanna wait with making it myself until I know more lol. You are lowkey fueling this entire operations and I wanna thank you for that either way.

(rubs my paws together) you have no idea what you've unleashed anon i've been holding onto this ask specifically bc i've been sapping dopamine from it like a little leech waiting until i had time to hastily doodle up a little dynamics timeline for different stages of the ot4

i REALLY hope this makes sense . i feel the need to say this every time i post abt coffinchain but my ideas are rly specific and i've had time for them to infect my brain like mold so i'm defo ready to accept this all being rly niche and really just for me and like 3 other people

buuut if this little peek into my mind speaks to ANY of y'all i absolutely encourage implore and beg you to send me asks and ideas and whatnot about these 4 bastards literally whenever you want!!

TL;DR one half of the trauma bonded couple reaches out and forms an immediate kinship with the big scary guy that no one likes & convinces his petty boyfriend to let him fw them. then he starts bringing his deranged fbi otter around they start double-dating only for it to become a situationship and then the worst polycule ever

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

Mist and Alpha late night talk be upon ye. Their relationship is very important to me.

It's quiet on the roof. Getting there isn't easy, but once settled, Mist relishes in the sense of peace that washes over her. Tonight, though, she only gets two lungfulls of smoke before a voice cuts through the relative silence of the night.

"Got one for me ?"

How Alpha always manages to find her hidding spots is beyond Mist's knowledge.

"Die," she grumbles without looking at him, even as she extends the pack of cigarettes toward the fire ghoul.

The fact alone that he lights it without flourish tells Mist Alpha is preoccupied. That and the tension sitting heavy in his broad shoulders.

"You good ?" he rasps after a long inhale, voice always a bit veiled, scratching in his throat.

Mist shrugs vaguely, eyes finding a star and latching onto it. There's a long silence, an unusual display of patience from Alpha, before she sighs in defeat.

"Worried about Omega."

A gush of winds raises goosebumps on her skin. She should have brought a jacket. It becomes a bit more bearable when Alpha reajusts his stance and the heat he naturally radiates washes over her.

"Yeah, me too."

Smoke billows in front of them as it escapes their mouths, curling in hypnotizing shapes.

"...don't get me wrong, I love Terzo, I think he's a great guy, but..."

"He's human," Alpha finishes for her, "mortal. And Omega is not. I mean not really. No one's eternal, but us ghouls come close."

With a heavy sigh, Mist nods, lower lip bitten raw and stinging.

"Omega always had a big, bleeding heart. If- when he loses Terzo to human fragility, he's going to feel it with his entire being."

Alpha grunts in agreement. There is no way Omega won't fall appart at the loss of his lover, no matter the circumstances.

"Can't get too close to humans. Will just bring pain."

Mist huffs.

"Hypocrite."

"Fuck you, Secondo and I are just a thing of convenience, nothing more."

What a poor liar Alpha can be, when it comes to these matters, a tremor in his voice and longing in his eyes. Mist raises an eyebrow, tilting her head toward him.

"I didn't even mention him."

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Alpha runs a tired hand on his face, through his hair. Mist wonders if he still struggles to sleep, or if he stays up late just to catch a break, have a quiet moment to himself. If so, her presence doesn't seem to bother him; after all, he sought her out in the first place.

"You still having nightmares ?"

Mist tenses.

"Fuck d'you think i'd be doing here if I wasn't ?"

Alpha doesn't answer. Mist bites her lip, inhales, exhales, shaking off the guilt churning in her guts. It's instinctive, biting when she feels cornered, when a touchy subject is on the table. And if it was anyone else, she probably would storm off. But this is Alpha. The fire ghoul knows, and understands.

"Sorry. I meant, yes, I still have them."

Somewhere in the night, an animal screeches. A cloud momentarily hides the moon. Nightmares are terrible things, forcing Mist to face her deepest fears without being able to do anything about it. She doesn't remember when it started, but now she can hardly spend a night without having her own mind playing those cruel tricks on her.

Some nights, when Mist wakes up with the taste of bile in her mouth and torn sheets sticking to her clamy skin, she forgets where she is. All that she feels is how small and lonely she is.

"You don't have to sleep alone, y'know."

It's as if Alpha read her mind. A tempting offer. Mist considers, stomping on the butt of her cigarette.

"You'd hold me, sparkling ?"

The light tone she tried to inject in her voice falls flat, as does the nickname Alpha hates so much. As it is, he only hums and finally turns fully toward her.

"You know I will. If you let me."

The cloud drifts away, silver moonlight pouring once again on Alpha's face, highlighting the deep scars on his cheek, the days old stubles, the crease between his eyebrows.

"Alright then."

They stare at each other in silence for a while. There is something off with Alpha's expression, like he's trying very hard to school it into his usual bitch resting face. Mist is not sure how to word the question she's burning to ask.

"Do you- did something happen ? You look...upset."

The way Alpha opens his mouth in an instant, ready to retort, lips starting to pull back in a snear, reminds Mist of herself just a few minutes ago. But then he looks away, shoulders and chest rising with the inhale he takes.

"Got into a fight with Pebble."

"Again ?"

Mist isn't sure what Alpha and Pebble's relationship is. Most Siblings and a few other ghouls are convinced they hate each other's guts - and given the amount of screaming matchs they get into, it's a fair assumptions. But Mist knows damn well it goes further than that.

She knows they both respect each other, despite everything. She knows Pebble tends to seek Alpha's gruff approval, even if the earth ghoul would vehemently deny it and possibly comit murder if anyone mentionned it. Mist has keen eyes, and she can see that Alpha orbits toward Pebble much more than you'd expect. That he looks out of the earth ghoul and genuinely seems to care about him, in his own way. Their fights tend to get to both of them, no matter how much they try to shrug them off.

"...yeah. It's fine, we'll get over it, I just...wasn't even trying to piss him off, you know ?"

Yes, Mist does know. Whatever bound those two share, it's torny and full of knots, a difficult thing that's still strong enough never to let them severe it. She hopes the squeeze she gives to his shoulder is enugh to convey her understanding, all the reassurances she doesn't really know how to put into words.

It seems to be, if the way Alpha leans into it with the faintest hint of a purr is anything to go by.

Her musing is interrupted by a jaw-dislocating yawn.

"C'me on. It's so late it's almost early," Alpha mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

They don't speak of the fire ghoul's offer again, but when Alpha steps into his bedroom, Mist is right behind him.

Maybe, tonight, warm limbs will ward off the horrors of the night.

[nyaagolor]

Umi-Inu AU stuff, mostly Battlers in varying states of distress

[nekrosmos]

NEKROS I NEED YTO YELL AT YOU FOR THAT NIKPRICE ART THE SUIT HELLO!?!?!? SIR???? i am fucking destroyed my friend..... You can't do this to me, the colour, the cut, the sheer fuckability I need to go stare at a wall to cope, I may never recover

TEEHEE I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT !!! I was really hoping people would like Nik's suit especially so I'm glad that it seems to be the case :3c

My inspo was this picture of Andrew Garfield btw. Really liked the color ✌️

Also here, the lineart only version as a little bonus 👀

Thank you for the love Hexx, you're awesome <3

[mirensiart]

Youve got MY brain churning now >:D

With regards to the lu x kiznaiver au, if someone is in so much pain that they pass out, do the remaining Links get an instant reprieve? The panic that would seep thru the chain if so- especially the first time it happenssss oohohoho

Im also watching the anime with a friend next week, ty for the unintentional recommendation 😂

It's such a fun concept, the brainrot is real lol!

And ooh, I would think so! Like when u pass out cause of pain, it's because the brain wants to shield u of it, so I would assume that if one of them passes out the rest would stop feeling that link's pain 🤔

The potential hurt/comfort though... you're cooking!

I actually want to rewatch the anime now too! I've watched it twice, but the last time I did was in 2017 so it's been A While lol

It's a short but fun watch, i liked the concept a lot, and I believe there's so many ways to explore it outside of what the anime did !!

I hope u enjoy it! I do remember the cast being very lovable hehe

[realtapiocafan]

https://www.tumblr.com/realtapiocafan/772608693856583680/jjmarr

Ever wondered why he holds Tee so near and close his heart ?? This is why and the dynamics being completely different where Ja’Marr basically says he’s more relaxed and unguarded because, it’s not a competition with Tee 😭🥹

!!! I have. so many thoughts regarding justin and tee and their different relationships with ja'marr. i wrote a lotttt

ok, ja'marr and justin reallly were attached at the damn hip. we all talk about the handshake and the dances and shit, but like. they used to share airpods. airpods, for fuck's sake. and the slushie/icee thing? 😭 how many of us used to have dumb arguments like that with our friends? it's those little things that really define jjmarr for me, the things that you'd only do with someone you love.

all of that is beautiful on its own, but it makes the ending hurt even more, doesn't it? you used to talk everyday and do everything together, now you need to schedule around practices and time zones and it's so much work. and then you get home and you're tired and before you know it, you haven't talked to them in weeks.

ok, pardon me for going on a side rant here, but i did try to use the twitter interactions as like a microcosm of the entire jjmarr relationship, to show how a friendship that close can fade over time.

the first three tweets (bantering about practice, making fun of justin's first down celebration, sharing airpods) are all in the lsu era (2018-2019) when they were still doing dumb shit in practice and hanging out and coming up with their silly celebrations

the next three (justin rolling his eyes at ja'marr flipping, ja'marr teasing justin's attempt to get into the nba, reminiscing about what they used to do in practice) is set in 2020-21 (when justin was in the nfl and ja'marr was not). and you can see! they're STILL bantering. still making fun of each other with delight! but it's about what they used to do, not what they're doing now then.

then the last time ja'marr mentioned justin on twitter, was last year (before justin signed his extension and everyone thought he might go to a diff team). justin never responded (on twitter, at least.) again ja'marr's said a few times that justin's the one that doesn't answer his texts. while i take his words with a grain of salt, all of the throwback photos and birthday posts are from ja'marr. i catch myself thinking about justin's most toxic trait being communication all the time.

now, do i think justin is at fault for the 'breakup'? no, i really don't think so. unreliable narration aside, they live in different states, different timezones. they have different schedules, different practices. justin has a c, ja'marr doesn't (yet). justin is like, the sole Face of The Franchise, whereas ja'marr has joe to carry the burden with him. my point is: justin has a different life and different responsibilities and it's understandable that a friendship would fade under those circumstances. it's life. it happens.

but for ja'marr... you can know that it's perfectly natural for friendships to fade. you can know that it's not anyone's fault. you can know that's just how life goes. but it still hurts, because of what you shared together. the friendship was still there! the memories still exist! the love didn't last, but that doesn't mean that it didn't matter. it mattered! it mattered a lot!

justin changed ja'marr (and ja'marr changed justin!) like all friendships do and especially with college friendships. in college, we still have no idea what we're going to do, who we are, and that's fine, because that's what college is for. it's just... when you don't know who you are, how are you supposed to tell where you end and where your friend begins? (there's a reason why college friendships can sometimes seem almost codependent and why so many fade out. when you grow that close to someone, the only direction left is away.)

so, getting back to tee, anon. yes, i do think the past jjmarr weighs deeply in ja'marr's mind with the current tee situation. he's clinging onto tee with everything he has, because he already knows how easily his best friend can slowly slip out of his life. like arguably justin and ja'marr were just as close, if not closer, than he is to tee rn (ARGUABLY). and if justin can drift away from him... in ja'marr's experience with justin, once you're on different teams, it'll never be the same. it'll never be what it once was. so if it were up to him, he won't let tee go on a different team, won't let tee become a stranger the way justin has.

then the competitive aspect bc i DO also have lots of thoughts of that. above, i said justin changed ja'marr. if you look at videos and even tweets of ja'marr before college, it's like a different person. he just seems so much more shy and quiet in those old videos 🥺! a baby! i don't know exactly how to describe it, but he's definitely not confident the way he is now. i do think justin was one of the main reasons why this is the version of ja'marr that exists. there's a quote somewhere, that ja'marr had to speak up and demand the ball because justin was. because justin was there, ja'marr had to learn to speak up for himself and come out of his shell.

it's always a competition with justin and ja'marr, that's part of their relationship. maybe they'll forget about the slushies/icees, about the airpods, but that competitiveness will always be there, pushing each other to new heights. now, ja'marr knows himself. he knows the heights he's capable of reaching, and you can see that. would he be the same without that competitive aspect in his relationship with justin? i don't know. i don't think so.

but with tee, as much as i've compared jjmarr to teemarr in this post, they're two entirely different relationships. tee... ugh, how do i phrase this? tee's... tee's gentler than either justin or ja'marr. whereas justin's reaction to ja'marr leading in triple crown stats earlier this year was "don't count me out", tee's was "i'll get to tell my kids i played with a triple crown wr". justin pushes ja'marr. tee supports ja'marr. they both affect ja'marr, help him get better just in different ways.

jjmarr hits different for me, bc i just love that drifting-apart angst, but really, teemarr is so so very special. in lsu, justin helped bring ja'marr out of his shell. in cincy, i consider tee to be the safe place for ja'marr, away from all the cameras and reporters. it has to be a lot -the social media trolls, the talk show bs, even the expectations of the fans. i have thoughts of an overwhelmed rookie ja'marr being found and comforted by tee. because having that one person that you can lean on, that one person who gives you peace... that makes a world of a difference.