#if an aspect of my work might be questionable then I’d like to hear it and consider it

[rottika]

i love how each of your character who is an abuser either has ASPD and NPD!

Eugh, well, prepare for an essay because I have a lot to say here.

Well, first of all, you are misinformed on that. While Arthur, Blair, and Vince (who I am assuming you are referring to????) all have ASPD (Arthur having comorbid NPD and Vince having comorbid BPD), a LOT of other characters on the morally questionable/reprehensible list like Freddie, Victoria, Elliot, Angel (currently a character in development), and Arthur’s (unnamed) bio dad don’t have ASPD or NPD at all. In fact, Freddie, Elliot, Arthur’s bio dad, and Angel don’t have any personality disorders or any mental health issues period, despite many of them being on the morally shitty scale.

This is also kind of besides the point, but I also want to point out that, time and time again, I have made clear that my characters and their shittiness is bolstered and exaggerated on purpose and is not supposed to be at all 100% realistic. It’s a black comedy mostly built on absurdist, out of pocket humour. It’s an outlet for me to cope with my past trauma and pain. Some of that pain, yes, originating from people with mental health disorders that influenced the way they treated me.

Just because a couple of my bad characters have cluster B personality disorders (I literally have a cluster B personality disorder myself, that being BPD) does not mean that I think everyone with such a disorder is an abuser??? Like, sometimes mentally ill people do things that are bad. Shocker, mental illnesses warp peoples’ perceptions of the world, themselves, and other people. Sometimes mental illness is painful, for both the sufferer and those in their life. Sometimes mental illness is scary. Sometimes those perceptions can inspire people to make mistakes or to hurt others. From experience, I’ve hurt people deeply without meaning to because of how my mental illnesses causes me to view the world (which is my responsibility, of course, but did stem from my disability nonetheless). Disorders are “disorders” for a reason. Again, I must stress, just because a couple of my characters with disorders are bad doesn’t mean I think the average mentally ill person is an evil sadistic murder rapist abuser or something.

I think it would be a fair criticism to suggest I include more positive representation for people with NPD and ASPD, because I would agree! Maybe I should include more positive rep, I think that’s a great idea. But heavily implying I’m ableist because a couple of my abusive or bad characters—out of a VERY long list of them, by the way—have mental illnesses is just… not at all representative of my feelings on the matter.

Plus, just want to point out that being passive aggressive is more likely to get my borderline ass to lash out and refuse to hear any valid critique as a whole—I was very tempted to just block and ignore this rather than taking a second to actually consider what you were saying. Maybe approach me with a bit more tact next time, gorge. I’m open to criticism when it’s constructive.

[gentaro-kinniecom]

Do you think you’ll kill for me one day..?

Characters: Madara Mikejima, Nagisa Ran, Himeru, Tatsumi Kazehaya, Rei Sakuma, Keito Hasumi, Natsume Sakasaki, Sena Izumi Shu Itsuki and Eichi Tenshouin (x gn!reader)

C/w: Yanderish types of themes (no gore related, just mentions of killing people), obssesive behavior and themes, mentions of Nagisa’s childhood, mentions of kidnapping, religious themes/aspects (Tatsumi), Rei is an actual vampire this time, jealousy.

A/n: I’m back..and out of the (small ish..) hiatus I’ve been for one month <3 recently I’ve liked this new game called the kid at the back, so I might begin making new works for that game <33 enjoy !

Madara Mikejima

He chuckled, staring at the many photos on the wall of them. He was happy, nothing could ever separate them, at least he made it so. Their question didn’t catch him off guard, as far as Madara knew, no one resided within the 50 mile radius from their lovely home, the one Y/n wanted for so long with him. The coffee that sat on the table turned cold as his hands took hold of their waist, kissing them passionately while smiling

“Of course, my darling. I can’t bear the sight of anyone taking you away from me..”

Nagisa Ran

Nagisa’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing their words. Being held captive for an entire childhood was something he lived with to this day: a burden. One of being a talented idol, hence, why that situation had begun in the first place. However, everytime someone would get too close to his liking, Nagisa began cultivating thoughts: the same ones in which he wanted to wisk them away for good, closing y/n in an environment that only surrounded him.

“…would killing someone be of satisfactory for you, my beloved? If so, perhaps Ibara could take care of that for me..”

Himeru

A soft smile graced his features, looking into their eyes while parting a strand of hair away from their face. (E/c) eyes reflecting a sense of curiosity that seeked to know what was truly behind their loved one. A sudden breeze made Himeru close his eyes, hands intertwined while enjoying the sudden wind that was a perk of being on the school’s roof at the moment

“Is someone bothering you? Himeru..no, I, would do anything to keep you safe, even if it involves getting my hands dirty

Tatsumi Kazehaya

Glaring at the figure that sat on their knees in front of the altar, Tatsumi knew his true nature was already exposed. Soft chuckles bounced off from the church’s walls, ringing in their ear as he approached Y/n’s form, placing a hand on their shoulder, almost reassuring them. After all, he’s hurt many people in the past, what’s one more soul to him that could beg for forgiveness but never truly meant it?

“People come and go, even if I had to plead for forgiveness a million times, I’d do whatever you’d ask me to, my one and only.”

Rei Sakuma

Hands craddled their hair softly, enjoying the feeling and taste of his beloved’s blood, groaning in pleasure at the thought of killing someone for them. A bloody mess, all for them; he’s killed before, countless of times. Mostly for blood but, now that he has them, what more could he ask for? Maybe he could do something about the pesky guys who have tried to touch y/n…After all, the world is better off without them.

“Yes I will, my darling. You needn’t ask for that, I’m willing to do anything to keep you safe by my side..”

Keito Hasumi

A sigh escaped his lips, all he could think about was of all the guys that tried to approach Y/n the other day. His pen now sat neatly on top of his notebook, turning to look at his dearest, Keito’s reason of living and breathing. Keito looked out the window, noticing small droplets of water fall down, gracing the surfaces of where they would land. Pondering for a while, Keito grabbed their hand, thumb brushung against y/n’s chuckles followed by a kiss against the top of their hand

“I’ve…never thought about it in that aspect, you don’t know what lenghts I’d go for you, as long as you’re mine, nothing else matters”

Natsume Sakasaki

Another failed attempt at one of his best potions might be caused by the question y/n had asked him hours ago. His eyes trailed towards the sleeping figure resting on his couch, the same one he’s spent making potions or studying, pulling all nighters just, for, them. Natsume held gently a strand of their hair, caressing it with his face as he sighed, kissing their cheek as he spoke

“Do you doubt it my darling? Rest assured that I’ll always, always protect you, no one will ever get between us.”

Sena Izumi

A scoff could be heard across the room as Sena turned towards them. The practice room was quiet, apart from Izumi and Y/n who’s voices could be heard, along with some casual chirps from birds and rusting of leaves outside. His light blue eyes scanned the room, following their gaze towards the world outside, instead of him. Izumi was jealous of the men who would try to court Y/n, trap them in a loveless relationship..he can’t let that happen, no matter what he has to do to earn their attention. Approaching Y/n, a hand wrapped around their waist, grabbinv their chin and bringing them close.

“In a heartbeat. Anything you desire is my duty to fulfill my love”

Shu Itsuki

His sewing machine stopped suddenly, a new dress had been crafted in the spawn of 8 hours, a work of art, made for his partner. A fitting was held that same night, deft fingers tracing along their body, a sweet gesture behind the obssesive behavior towards them. It’s almost as if, Shu wanted to make them depend on him, which..wouldn’t be such a bad idea, perhaps he could…

“I’ll make sure you hace everything, killing people is..inconvenient at the moment, but if that’s what you wish for, then, I’ll do as you please”

Eichi Tenshouin

The council room was silent, the small tapping of the computer Eichi was writing on had briefly come to a halt. His eyes bored into their own as he smiled, but something about it didn’t feel..quite right. As if, there was another deep meaning behind that smile, perhaps true happiness upon hearing the question? Who knows? All that Eichi cared about was the power he had in his hands to manipulate and change stories into whatever he wanted them to be.

“My contracts will do as I please with a flick of my finger, anything at no cost, so don’t hesitate to open up with me about your desires my love..”

[emry-stars-art]

Hi, soooo I'm currently studying phisiotherapy AND at the same time I'm sucker for good cuddling and soft scenes AND I have hate love relationship with scars (visually I think they can be attractive but in a lot of other aspects they just suck). Anyway so u know how scar tissue is a bit** to work with and can cause a lot of problems like numbness in scared area, decrease in range of movement, phantom pains etc. What I'm trying to say is Neil needs A LOT of therapy sessions which should contain some salves manual work with scars and maybe needle therapy which is just prettier way to say sticking hundreds of tiny needles right thru scared tissue which most definitely will hurt BUT what if during all of this they only will learn more about themselves and will have excuse to spend long hours together away from prying eyes and most importantly being soft, clingy, touch starved wholesome dumbasses with one shared braincell?

Sorry for long, boring and probably unnecessary not so much question or message as just my thought vomit I just wanted to share.

Have a great day🫡😅🧡

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BORING AND UNNECESSARY I LOVE IT

omg thank you for bringing your expertise into this, I absolutely wrote the “long hours being touch starved wholesome dumbasses” bit into my notebook lmao. Yeah! This is good!! I’m SUCH a sucker for soft moments like this I’m right there with you. I was bouncing ideas with @paradoxolotl on it and I love the idea of Day being very methodical, he might know some of this stuff already and then he goes out of his way to learn everything he needs to know to make sure Abram can still be taken care of when he won’t let anyone else touch him. Still talking him through everything. Andrew would be as careful as we all know he can be, he never takes for granted the trust Abram has when he allows Andrew to give him more painful massages/therapy, and after, Andrew’s touch softens and neither of them ever mention that he’d already finished the actual exercise/massage a few long minutes ago… idk anything about physiotherapy so I bet there’s lots of great art/story fodder here that I’m just unaware of so if you have any specific ideas I’d love to hear them 👀👀 but here’s what I did draw, hopefully it’s not too completely incorrect 😅

(Shout out to @anon-lemon for making me realize I needed to draw Andrew with his hair down 💕)

Anyway thank you for the ask, together we can make this both incredibly angsty AND incredibly fluffy 😌🥰

[ranahan]

Mando’a tense/aspect/mood

This is where I’m currently at with my reinterpretation of Mando’a TAM. I’m not 100% satisfied yet (there are still a number of open questions like if and how the tenses combine, how exactly should fronting the particles be interpreted, etc.) so I might continue changing things later, but I figured I’d throw this out here on the off chance of getting some opinions or thoughts. I’d especially like to hear if you think something doesn’t work.

This post is something of a continuation of this previous post about TAM systems in creole languages and how they compare to Mando’a. And obliquely this one where I lament the fact that Mando’a doesn’t have a perfective/completive aspect. But then I had the thought that many languages conflate certain tenses and aspects. Like languages typically don’t have a gazillion different tenses and moods and different particles or conjugations for each. Instead they usually have a handful of different tenses/aspects/moods that make certain salient distinctions, but conflate others. Perfect tense/aspect is maybe the most familiar example, conflating past tense and perfective/completive aspect. So instead of coming up with new tenses, I started thinking about how the canon ones work and all the different ways natural languages combine and distinguish tenses/aspects/moods.

And just to be clear, this is me thinking about possible ways to do TAM in my version of Mando’a grammar, not an analysis of canon Mando’a. My goals are to make it

at least superficially compatible with canon (i.e. to not overtly contradict the canon corpus or how Mando’a speakers have already learned to do things)

not a code for English (because that’s boring)

more fully functional grammar (that allows expressing more complicated ideas)

My current (re)interpretation is that Mando’a has five tenses (one unmarked and four marked) and four moods (one unmarked and three marked). Like many natural languages (including English), Mando’a somewhat conflates tense and aspect. TAM are expressed by preverbal particles, many of which can attach to not just verbs, but adjectives and nouns as well. They can also be fronted, and so they’re not very tightly bound to the verbs.

Tense

English tenses situate an event relative to the time of the speech act (frame of reference). When I say “I ran”, I mean I ran before the time of speaking about it just now. This is called absolute tense, i.e. it’s absolute in time. However, Mando’a tenses are relative: they situate an event relative to the frame of reference, i.e. time is relative to the topic I’m talking about, not the time when I’m talking. If I’m talking about what happened yesterday and I say “I ran”, I mean I ran before whatever happened yesterday. And if I’m talking about something that happens tomorrow and say “I ran”, I mean I will have run before whatever happens tomorrow.

Why? Because what Traviss says about Mando’a tenses (that colloquially mandos don’t use tenses and tenses were invented to deal with aruetiise) doesn’t make sense—mandos wouldn’t be making business deals with outsiders in Mando’a. However, this interpretation would produce exactly the kind of confusion with and seemingly optional usage of tenses that Traviss describes.

Present (unmarked)

The present tense is unmarked. In English, it can be translated as present or simple past, or even simple future. “I am leaving”, “I left”, and “I will leave” can all be expressed by the present tense. This is why outsiders might think Mando’a colloquially doesn’t use tenses or that tenses in Mando’a are optional.

Ni ba’slana. I am leaving.

Ni ba’slana kar’tuur. I left yesterday.

Ni ba’slana nakar’tuur. I will leave tomorrow.

The present tense can also refer to an ongoing event that is still relevant to the present moment:

Ni ratiin kar’tayli kaysh sa ruusaanyc. I have always known them to be reliable (and this is still true).

Past (ru, r)

Or technically, anterior tense or relative past. The anterior tense places the event before the frame of reference. In Mando’a, it is used for things that happened before the frame of reference or things in the past that are relevant now. The closest English translation would be “had done” or “had been doing”.

It is somewhat conflated with perfective/completive aspect. The completive aspect marks an event that is complete(d) or a past event that’s relevant to the current topic. They share at least some semantic overlap, which is how the conflation of past and perfective = perfect happens in many languages.

The relevance to the topical time could be resultative:

Ni epa tiingilar. I am eating tiingilar. Or, I ate (some) tiingilar.

vs.

Ni r’epa tiingilar vaal val olaro. I had already eaten the tiingilar when they arrived. (implication: and there was none left)

Ru’pitati. It has been raining. (implication: and it’s now wet)

Tion gar r’epa? Have you eaten yet? (Implication: are you hungry now?)

Perhaps even: Kaysh ru’nari’bat beskar’gam. He’s wearing beskar’gam, lit. “he has put on beskar’gam (and is still wearing it).”

The past tense can also express completion (especially when combined with adjectives):

Kai r’epayc. The food has been eaten up. (Implication: and there’s no food left)

Jetiise droten ru’trattoko. The Republic has fallen.

Tion gar vaabi bic? Did you do it? — Ni vaabi bic, a… I was doing it, but… vs. Ni ru’vaabi bic. I have done it. (Implication: and it is finished.)

Or an experiential sense:

Ni ru’seni. I have flown (I have done it before).

Ni r’akaani, ru’tal’onidi, ru’pir’ekulo par ibic—nu draar ba’slana ni. I have fought, worked my ass off and shed tears for this—I’m not leaving for anything.

Future (ven)

Or technically, posterior or relative future marks events that happen after the frame of reference. In Mando’a, it describes events that will happen in near future or are about to happen; future that’s relevant to the present, immediate, or known to be certain or inevitable.

It is somewhat conflated with inceptive/prospective aspect. The inceptive is the mirror of the perfect aspect: it marks a future event that is relevant to the present moment. In English, the future tense could be translated as “going to”, the inceptive as “start to”, the prospective as “about to”.

Val ven’olaro. They are coming. (Implication: they are already on their way.) / They will come. (Implication: I know they will.)

Ni ven’ba’slan’at bora. I’m about to leave for work. (Implication: so be quick about it because I’m in a hurry.)

Ni ven’kyramu gar. I’m going to kill you. (Implication: and that is a promise.)

Ven’pitati. It is starting to rain. / It will rain (soon). / It’s going to rain (later).

Vaal ni sirbu jii, gar ven’viini. When I say now, you will start running.

The future tense can also be used to express inevitable, natural or logical consequences:

Ca ven’shekemi tuur. Night will follow day.

Distant past (wer)

Something that happened long ago and is no longer relevant; something that used to be true but no longer is; also stories and myths that aren’t necessarily historical facts. Best translated as “long ago”. Rarely used, mostly in some stock expressions and storytelling.

Using wer as a distant past particle (like in wer’cuy) would nicely mirror ret as a distant future. There’s no immediately useful and logical aspect to conflate it with though, so perhaps it’s rare in everyday use.

Wer’cuy. It was ages ago. (Cuyi on it’s own beginning a sentence is translated as “there is…” or “it is…”). Also used in the sense of “once upon a time…” literally “a long time ago there was…”

Ay, ni wer borari ogir. Oh, I worked there ages ago. (Implication: and I no longer do & it’s no longer relevant to the present moment.)

Wer’cuy kih gi’ka. Gi’ka ane kihne be gise o’r ani sho’cye… Once upon a time, there was a tiny little fish. The little fish was the smallest one of all the fish in the entire sea…

Wer’cuy ni bal ner vod hiibi ibic bora—bal iba’bora… Ages ago me and my mate took this job—and what a job it was…

Wer’laar, myth, song of the eons past (lit. “eon-song” or “song of eons”)

Wer’uliik, mythosaur (lit. “long-ago beast”), the long-extinct megafauna of the planet Mandalore

Distant future (ret, re)

Far off, uncertain future; conflated with irrealis mood. Events that might or might not happen or have happened, including the far off future. Conflating these two senses (uncertainty/irrealis and far future) comes from my interpretation of Traviss’s statements about the nomadic mindset of uncertain future and canon expressions like ret’urcye mhi.

Basically mandos consider anything that isn’t imminent to be not written in stone yet. Another way to look at it would be to say they have two future tenses that are differentiated by the certainty of the event happening or the speaker’s degree of belief in it: ven for certain future, ret for uncertain future.

Ret’urcye mhi. Maybe we’ll meet again.

Ni ret slana. Maybe I will go / I could go / I would go / I might go one day.

Mood

Insert some mnemonic about 4 i’s.

Indicative (unmarked)

The unmarked tense that expresses realis mood i.e. things that are real or factual in some way.

Indicative/present tense is also used for expressing general truths:

Par ibic jorbe gar nu kyranu mando’ade, aruetii. For this reason you cannot wipe out Mandalorians, outsider.

Irrealis (ret, re)

Expresses things that aren’t known to be true. Literally “maybe, perhaps”, but can also be translated as might, could, etc. See above.

Ret ni slana. I might go.

Tion’ad ven slana? Who’s going to go? — Ret ni slana. I could go. (Or just ret ni, I could.)

Re’tracyuuri, ret’nu’tracyuuri—nu’baati ni. Shoot or don’t shoot, it’s no concern of mine. (The re’ form would be used before oral stops, I think.)

Imperative (ke, k)

Expresses commands and exhortations. Mando’a uses the direct imperative much more liberally than English—it isn’t considered rude at all.

Ke davaabi ke’gyce rol’eta resol! Execute order sixty-six!

Ke’dinui’ni paak, gedet’ye. Pass me the salt, please.

Direct commands can be very clipped:

Ke’mot! Halt! (lit. “stand!”)

Ke’serim! Take aim! (lit. “be accurate!”)

Ke buy’cese! Helmets on! (lit. “helmets!”)

The imperative can express direct commands, but it can also be used (especially in first/third persons) to express exhortation or jussive mood, similarly to English “let”, “should” or “ought”.

Ke mhi slana. Let’s go. (lit. “let us go”)

Ret mhi ke’slana. Perhaps we should go.

Ke slana, ad’ika! Go on, lad!

It can also be used to express commands to a third person. Formal imperative in third person would be common in written orders & legislation.

Ke kaysh vaabi bic. Have him do it.

Kaysh k’olaro. He should come. / He ought to come.

It’s also used in some subjunctive expressions:

Cuyi jaonyc kaysh ke’vaabi bic. It is important that he do it.

Not entirely sure if it shouldn’t be ke kaysh vaabir bic & cuyi jaonyc kaysh ke’vaabir bic… When exactly should the infinitive/conjugated verb be used is one of those unanswered questions of mine at this point.

Desiderative expressions:

(K’)Oya Mand’alor! Long live the king!

Ke’cin’ciri! Let (it) snow!

And it can be used in conditional if-then statements:

Meh ni mand’alor, ke ni toryc. If I were Mandalore, I would be just. (lit. “I should be just”)

Par cuyir rang, ke’cuyir tracyn. In order for there to be smoke, there has to be a fire.

In questions it could be translated as should:

Tion ni ke’ba’slana? Should I leave?

Fronting the imperative particle usually makes an exhortation:

Ke mhi slana. Let’s go.

Ke mhi gal’gala. Let us drink to that.

Ke kaysh olaro. Let him come.

Interrogative (tion)

Forms questions. Note that the interrogative particle doesn’t affect word order—no need to invert word order like in English.

Tion gar slana? Are you going?

Tion’ad slana? Who’s going?

Tion’vaii gar slana? Where are you going?

Tion’vaabi gar? What are you doing?

Tion’ad gar kyramu? Who did you kill?

Tion’ad nyni gar? Who hit you?

All the examples we have from canon front the interrogative particle, but I wonder if you couldn’t optionally insert it in place of the word it’s replacing in the sentence, like Mandarin does:

Gar slana tion’vaii? You’re going where?

Gar tion’vaabi? or Gar vaabi tion? What are you doing?

Gar kyramu tion’ad? You killed who?

Nominal TAM

And since Mando’a can attach verbal prefixes also to nouns, here are some nominal examples:

Riduur is your spouse, ven’riduur is the person you are going to marry and is understood to refer to a specific person and impending marriage vows. Ret’riduur however would be more like a hypothetical spouse, the person who would be your spouse if you were ever going to marry someone, or perhaps someone you haven’t discussed marriage with yet (and don’t know their answer).

Buir is your parent, dar’buir is the person who is no longer your parent, and wer’buir is your ancestor (one who you’ve never met—if you had personally known them, you’d use ba’buir or even ori’ba’buir instead).

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies director interview

Interview with Asai Yoshiyuki (director)

Interviewer: Director Asai, how did you first get involved with "Buddy Daddies"?

Asai: At first, I had the idea that it was a "parenting story", but when I got to meet the scriptwriting team and read the plot, I found out for the first time that it was a "buddy story". (laughs) And so I wondered what sort of worldview I wanted to have for this "buddy story" - if it was going to include parenting elements, I figured it might be better to go for something a bit more comedic. From there, together with the rest of the production staff, I developed the characters' personalities, the overall worldview, and so on.

Interviewer: I hear that you had very clear images of Kurusu Kazuki and Suwa Rei, right from the start…?

Asai: I spent ages pondering Kazuki and Rei as characters - what sort of thoughts they'd have, how they'd talk and behave. That's how fascinating I felt they were as characters. So, rather than my image of them being fixed from the beginning, I'd say that I kept randomly fantasising about how Kazuki and Rei's story might unfold, and figuring out how that might tie in to the plot… I guess. They're in the assassin line of work, and at the same time, they're raising a child - so how can I make that enjoyable for the audience? I thought about that a lot.

Interviewer: Did you have any specific suggestions for the design process?

Asai: Kazuki and Rei's appearances were developed through discussion with the character designer, Enami Katsumi-san, but I also drew a rough sketch of my own early on, just for fun. I wanted to go for the vibe of a contrasting duo, so the sketch was along those lines. I requested a design from Enami-san based on that. As for how much of it carried over to the final version - honestly, at this point I don't remember my own sketch. (laughs)

Interviewer: Was there anything you paid special attention to in portraying a "buddy story"?

Asai: Personally, I think in a "buddy story", it's important for the two people to have a finely calculated balance of contrasting aspects and complementary aspects. For example, they may clash verbally, but they have little gestures which are perfectly in tune - it's great to show that sort of thing. And besides, this series "Buddy Daddies" focuses a lot on how the roles of the duo change going forward, as they "play happy families" with (Unasaka) Miri. How does the Kazuki-and-Rei duo grow through meeting Miri? It was important to keep that in mind while depicting the two of them.

Interviewer: This series contains contrasting elements of hard-boiled stories and sitcoms - was it difficult to maintain that balance?

Asai: That was incredibly tough. They're cool assassins, but the fact is that they're still criminals. At first, I struggled with how to handle such a worldview, where guys like that would end up raising a child, even just by chance. The fact that they deal with matters of life and death, versus the slapstick comedy of Miri jerking them around - I feel like I had to fret over that and make up my mind again with each episode. You could say it's a worldview where "anything goes", but I wanted to be conscious of the significance of "life and death", and to not make light of human deaths too much. Otherwise, the parenting thing also gets a lot less convincing. So I drew a line for myself.

Interviewer: Amidst all of this work, was there anything you personally got hung up on?

Asai: When producing animation, I essentially place a lot of weight on the characters' expressions. This time, I especially wanted Rei to have distinct "on" and "off" modes - he's "on" when he's being an assassin, but when he's "off", he's just a shut-in lazing around at home. So it was vital to have those differences in his expressions and gestures. And there was also the question of how to portray Kazuki's subtle expressions whenever he's tenderly doting on Miri. We had to be careful with that during the storyboarding process. How do Kazuki and Rei's expressions change during their family roleplay? I really enjoyed myself, coming up with the depiction of their emotional states.

Interviewer: Speaking of Kazuki and Rei, what do you think is appealing and interesting about them?

Asai: They're an assassin duo that first start out as simple roommates, but after a child is added to the mix, they basically get cast in the roles of mother and father - and as the story progresses from there, their relationship becomes more than just a duo. I think that's what's interesting about them. Since we always wanted the series to have comedic elements, we made Rei and Kazuki quite clear-cut yin and yang character types, but in fact, the yang-type character has a deep inner darkness, and the yin-type character has all sorts of problems. Ultimately, both of them are outlaws, so we also wanted to bring out the charm of this duo when they're being uncouth and slinging insults at each other. I found myself surprisingly fond of these characters, so I'd love if the audience looks at them and goes, "What the hell, are you two a married couple?!"

Interviewer: Toyonaga Toshiyuki-san, who plays Kazuki, and Uchiyama Koki-san, who plays Rei, are both perfect casting. Were your impressions of the characters enhanced by the cast's performances?

Asai: For sure. After the casting was decided, the instant I heard the first words of the recording session, I thought, "So Kazuki's that sort of person," and "So Rei's that sort of guy." It reconstructed my internal conception of the characters. I produced the animation materials with a thought process of "give them such-and-such expression; have them talk like this", so in that sense, the cast members were a huge help. I really got the feeling that these characters were being made to grow and develop in various ways.

Interviewer: Miri is the key to this story. How was she developed?

Asai: It was a process of trial and error - both with whether to make her a shy girl or a lively one, and with her appearance. I figured that if she was going to be brought up by those two, it'd be better for her to be a lively girl, but after Enami-san's character design came in, that was when I could really see what direction I wanted to take this character in. That was all due to how incredibly powerful Enami-san's design was. But Enami-san went through countless attempts before settling on Miri's final design - that ended up taking the longest. We'd decided on "a 4-year-old girl", but we tried all sorts of different things for her hairstyle, the look in her eyes, and so on. We really spent ages coming up with that.

Interviewer: And what about the performance of Kino Hina-san, who plays Miri?

Asai: When it came to Miri, we requested that Kino-san not speak in the usual style of anime child characters - we wanted a performance that was a little more true to life. During the audition, we ran through a number of different styles, and in the end we asked Kino-san to read the lines in her own voice, without trying for a child's voice. Somehow, that came closest to my impression of Miri. We didn't use that exact same voice in the show itself, but when playing a pure and innocent character who believes firmly and with zero doubt that two hitmen are her dads, that's the level of expressiveness you need - or else it won't be convincing at all. Kino-san was a real help in that way.

Interviewer: Please tell us what you think are the selling points of this series "Buddy Daddies".

Asai: Speaking as director, I'd love if the audience can fully take in the entire series, but simply put, I'd like you to pay attention to the characters of Kazuki and Rei. If you observe their little gestures and behaviour, I think you'll find a lot to love about these characters, no matter how things play out. If you're amused by these two men who aren't cut out for parenting at all, that would make me very happy as a director.

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to everyone who is anticipating this series.

Asai: Miri is going to get even cuter going forward. As the story progresses, there'll be more of Kazuki and Rei and Miri acting as a trio, but there are still some mysteries about Miri, so please watch how she gets Kazuki and Rei wrapped around her finger from now on. I hope you'll enjoy seeing how our one and only heroine, Miri, manifests her cuteness.

[saintkaylaa]

Hii!!! I was wondering if you’d be willing to give more details about Choso’s y/n’s CT if you have any? It sounds so fascinating!!! No pressure if you don’t want to share but I’d love to learn more!! Have a great day ☺️

Okaaay but I don’t wanna hear that y’all say I’m OCing 😭 bc none of this actually matters in the smau.

Disclaimer: I am not fully caught up with the JJK Manga nor do I honestly fully understand the curse energy aspect. Honestly who really does😭

Choso’s gf has a unique technique that has to do with her domain expansion. And honestly none of this might make sense but imma do my best 😅

Her technique has religious themes, and it’s an innate inherited technique based on Heaven and Hell.

Domain Expansion Name: Divine Retribution

Divine Retribution allows her to pull apart her domain and infuse the power and guaranteed hit of a DE into a singular strike. So anytime you are hit with one of her hits/strikes there is no escaping it, and it has the same impact on a target as if being in her domain expansion. So it’s like getting physically hit with a mini domain expansion.

However, the more she pulls her DE apart, the weaker it gets so if she pulls it apart way too much and tries to activate a full on DE the chances of it defeating it’s target are slim and it can harm her instead.

In addition, this may sound like she has a weak HP bar but she’s actually equipped with 2 HP bars. Choso’s gf actually has 2 celestial forms that she can switch between, at will. (Really 3, if you count her “human” form.) She has an angel/seraphim form (equipped with nearly indestructible wings that act more as shields) and a demon/devil form.

I mean, there’s more like her extension techniques and maximum techniques, but that’s kinda the gist 🤗 I hope this answered your question!

Can you guess her grade?

© saintkaylaa 2023-2024 do not copy, repost, or translate any of my work without permission. reserved rights to any original ideas. I do not own any established characters. All rights reserved.

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (8/12/2024) Episode: Luigi's Big Idea

One evening shortly following “the mouse incident” Luigi and Noemi were working together at the dining table while Skye tried some banana slices.

When his wife’s smile as she told him about the mayor of Strangerville’s praise for their latest side job turned wistful and she sighed unhappily, Luigi paused his own modding work. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“Why is programming so fun but trying to identify new talent so difficult!?” she lamented “I’ve done everything I can think of to raise my charisma skill and yet I still have such a hard time in client meetings! My meds make me feel awful and barely seem to help. I need a win.”

“Right now,” he replied, “so do I. Everyone is still dragging my name through the mud after the last game, and honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can keep playing at this level. I’ve been going at it daily since I can remember, and my body is starting to get tired of it.”

He massaged his right wrist gently, wincing: “You know that’s the reason I had to use my own mouse that night.”

Noemi rolled her eyes at how her fiancée had unwittingly turned the conversation back to himself, as usual. “Well,” she finally said “you know you have my support whatever you decide to do. In the meantime, if you have any bright ideas for “the next big thing” in tech, let me know.”

Luigi knew she’d been joking, but as he glanced back down at his computer, which still displayed his latest, half finished, Sims Forever mod update, he realized he might have something to offer her. “Actually” he said, “there IS a project I’ve always thought it would be fun to develop someday”.

Now he had her interest. “What is it? I may suck at charming prospective clients and investors, but I definitely know an actionable tech idea when I hear one. Just don’t get mad at me if I have to shoot it down. If I can’t be brutally honest with my own spouse in my own house, when can I be?”

“When aren’t you!?” he said with a laugh “its one of the things I’ve always loved about you. Let’s get Skye to bed and I’ll tell you all about it”.

A few minutes later Noemi joined Luigi on the couch after the, as always, fussy Skye finally drifted off. “That mobile you installed is a lifesaver!”

Luigi, who’d been icing his hand, sat the spent pack down on the coffee table and turned to face his fiancée “You’re welcome” he grinned “Now, about that big idea I had. Sims Forever is a unique game. There’s nothing else quite like it on the market. I’ve loved it my whole life, but I also started modding because I wanted to enrich the storytelling aspect and fix some of the many bugs.”

He continued “What the game needs is competition. I’d love to develop my own life simulation game. Incorporate the good, eliminate the bad, and add gameplay that only exists in Sims Forever with mods. Do you think your bosses would be interested in something like that?”

Luigi saw the answer to his question in Noemi’s eyes, which were sparkling with delight “You know more about that specific genre than I do, but I think any game as popular as Sims Forever could use a little competition. It would certainly be a big undertaking, though! Even with me assisting you on the programming, we’d definitely need to recruit more talent.”

She continued “Having your name attached to the project will help garner interest. You were known in the Sims Forever modding community even before you became well known as a pro gamer. This seems like exactly the kind of thing I could bring to my bosses, if you’re serious about this and willing to write up a solid business proposal.”

Ever since they’d started talking Luigi had felt his excitement growing. “Honestly until tonight I didn’t realize how serious I was, but yes, I want to do this. I’ll have that business proposal on your desk soon boss”.

Noemi smiled wickedly as she stood up. “It sounds like you’re a very good boy who deserves a reward for all his hard work… don’t you think?”

Luigi obediently followed his wife to the bedroom, grinning broadly when she pulled their “costume trunk” out of the closet. They got into character and Noemi beckoned him close “You ready to party?” he nodded furiously replying “Absolutely. I’m all yours.”

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - thirty-one | JUPiTER

You walked into the studio to the cacophonous sound of multiple keys on the keyboard being held down. You looked over at the keyboard to find Hongjoong, face down on the keys.

You laughed softly; he probably fell asleep there last night and didn’t even hear the noise. This poor guy was going to make himself deaf before thirty if he kept doing this kind of thing.

With a chuckle, you walked over to the keyboard and switched it off.

“Why’d you do that?”

“AHH!”

Hongjoong looked up at you, the lines of the keys indented on his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you fell asleep like last time.”

“Oh…” he touched his face and then ruffled his hair in frustration. “I was just thinking.”

“Having emos?” You chuckled.

“Yeah, having emos.” He turned the keyboard back on.

Now that your heart rate had lowered to a number under 180 bpm, you could put your stuff down on the table. “What about?”

“This song I’m working on for my own recordings.”

“Are you also a soloist?”

He nodded as he pressed a few keys idly. “I release under another name though.”

“Really? Why?”

He shrugged. “I’d rather people look at my solo work without being biased by my producing work.”

“Makes sense. You are one of the most famous producers in the business.”

He nodded tiredly. “Anyway, JUPiTER is coming in today so I think I need to give up for now.”

Your eyebrows ticked up. 

JUPiTER was Wonderland Entertainment’s most popular boy band. While their main concept was astronomy and Greek mythology, each of their comebacks had a different vibes, from cool, to cute, to sexy, they pulled them all off well. As expected of a group managed by Wonderland.

“Wow, really?”

“Mhm. we had finished their album right before we hired you. I think they had some questions for their performances.”

“Umm, what should I be doing?”

“You should just observe today.”

You nodded. “Okay.”

You took your notebook and a pen out of your bag so you could make notes if you needed to. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Hongjoong watch you for a moment before going back to idly pressing the keyboard keys.

A few minutes later, Maddox came in with JUPiTER behind him.

“Yes I be the cat and, yes I do the dragging.” He sang as he walked in, followed by his temporary entourage.

You looked up and bowed as they came into the room.

Hongjoong stood as well. “This is our new bassist and producer in training, t/l/n t/f/n.”

The group of boys took turns shaking your hand as they introduced themselves: the leader, Dal; the “mom”, Max; the unofficial maknae, Keeho; the fashionista, Jiung; and the actual maknae, Jongseob. You had seen them all on stage and in pictures before but - even though they were wearing casual clothes - they were all gorgeous in real life. Who could possibly think the visual arts were still needed when there were people this pretty on planet earth?

“It’s nice to meet you all.” You said.

They all nodded and responded with the same sentiment to varying degrees.

“So what are you doing here today?” Dal asked.

“She’s here to observe the recording process,” Hongjoong answered.

“But we’re done,” Keeho pointed out.

Hongjoong nodded. “And answering the questions of the artists is also part of the process. Otherwise you wouldn’t be in the studio today, would you?” He smiled.

They all nodded. He was right. 

He gestured to the chairs at the table. “Please, sit.”

Maddox joined you on one side and Keeho sat on the other side.

A few hours of discussion went by as mostly Dal and Max asked questions having to do with technical aspects, and asked for notes Hongjoong might have for the sound guys on the music shows.

You paid attention and took copious notes; if Hongjoong was really serious about training you as a producer, you wanted to show him that you were serious too.

When the conversation slowed and it seemed like the meeting was about to adjourn, Keeho turned to you.

“So how long have you been working here? You’re new right?”

You nodded. “I’ve been here… a few weeks already?

He nodded. “That’s cool. You’ll be around for our comeback-- Dal?”

Dal looked up. “Yeah?”

“When’s this comeback again?”

You opened your phone and went to the recording calendar, it had the comebacks on it. You checked the upcoming week. It was in three days.

“Umm… You know, it’s soon but I forgot the date again. I’ll check when we get back to the dorms. It’s not this week, I know that.”

“Okay.”

Your brow furrowed, could he have forgotten his own group’s comeback date? That’s weird.

You opened your mouth to help him, when you felt something hit your foot. Looking down, Maddox’s foot was now against yours. You looked up at him, confused, and he shook his head slightly. You looked to Hongjoong and he did the same.

You closed your phone and put it in your pocket.

After a few more minutes of questions and notes, the members, you, Hongjoong, and Maddox all said goodbye to each other and the members left. Maddox and Hongjoong went to their chairs at the desk and you sat at the table and got ready to do some transcribing.

“So um… is there a reason why Dal forgot his own group’s comeback date?”

Hongjoong and Maddox both laughed.

“What?”

“Dal knows it,” Hongjoong started, “he’s a really good leader who’s on top of everything. It’s just that Keeho…” He looked for the right words and looked to Maddox for help.

“Keeho is a streamer,” Maddox said, “and has spoiled every single comeback in some way since they debuted, so eventually the rest of the group decided that they had to lie to him if they didn’t want to continue getting yelled at by their managers for spoiling their comeback dates.”

You laughed. The idea was absurd. “On-- he’s spoiled them on purpose or by accident?”

“By accident. Every single one.”

“Wow,” you laughed. “Okay.”

They both nodded.

“That’s kind of ridiculous that they had to resort to lying to him about it.

“It really is.” Maddox laughed.

“Honestly, they’re doing it for his own good.” Hongjoong added.

“Does he know they’re lying?”

“At this point? I’m not even sure.”

You shook your head with a laugh and got to work transcribing.

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luvvvx • iamthehotdemon • hrts4hanniehae • rachs-words •

[securityholograms]

I confess I am very curious. What would your ideal casting be for a DJKT production of Cabaret?

oh my god, first of all, I could yap about this for hours so thanks so much for the question! (edit after typing out a bit of it: it’s already very long i’m so so sorry)

For the casting itself, I’m mostly gonna ignore the vocal ranges because I don’t really know how deep or high the djkt people can go so take that with a grain of salt😭 and i’m going off of the characters that are currently in the production in Prague (so only one KitKat boy, but they could easily add “Victor” like some other productions have etc.)

Now the characters:

Emcee: You really need someone who’d be comfortable with the whole exhibitionist shtick and can carry the show on their back. I feel like Lukáš Ondruš could pull it off (it= being a creepy little guy) but my secret wish is Pavel R.😭the reasoning is just that I know he’d lowkey love the attention and he’s been getting all the /sexy leading man/ dudes lately, which is so valid for him, but I also kinda need more from him at this point and this would be it🙏🏻( # PavelForAFreak )

Sally: Naty Dvořáková would be great, after hearing her Mary Magdalene, I think her voice would suit sally really well and she’d drive the emotional ending home. If I wanted to give a leading role to someone who hasn’t gotten one in a while- Karolína Krausová, I really loved her in Píseň pro Ninu and this is in the same category (kind of).

bonus: If she hasn’t aged out of the role.. Soňa👉👈 she’s mother to me and this would fix me (or make me worse)

Cliff: Oh boy. this is a big one for me (clearly lmao) This might be an unpopular opinion but even though Cliff is kind of in the shadow of Sally and the MC, especially in the newest West End revival (soon a broadway revival) I really believe he’s the heart of the show, he’s the audience’s link to the characters, It’s who we relate to and who is, ultimately, the good guy. And so I think he’s kind of quietly what makes or breaks the show in the end (the emotional aspects of it at the very least)….

Ok, that was a long ass way of saying I’d obviously need Pavel Klimenda as Cliff ✨ He’s showed times and times again he’s really good at the “Am I gonna finish this or is it gonna finish me” sad boy agenda, so I think he’d easily pull it off and break all of our hearts along the way. BUT HERE’S where the real conundrum appears⬇️

Bobby: So if I assume we only get one kitkat boy, it’ll be Bobby. He’s the one who’s hooked up with Cliff in London and that affair kind of re-ignites when Cliff comes to Berlin. In the Prague production, Bobby’s wearing fishnets and heels (they’re HIGH heels) and I can’t really see who from djkt could slay in the same way Pavel Klimenda could. We’ve already seen him do the slightly more fem roles in Otřást vesmírem and Fun Home + he’s a great dancer, which works super well for Bobby.. Buuut he’s already my Cliff here so that’s kind of fucked and idrk what to do with this one😭😂

… ok, going back to Cliff, I think Dušan could do Cliff really well too (he has that sincerity about him when he wants to) so maybe i’ll change my answer to that so that it could actually work. And if I go even more crazy, Adam Rezner’s take on Cliff could be interesting🧐

Ernst: if I’m going off of the typecasting that djkt usually does(sorry ok), it’s Hruškoci and it’s not even close😭 My slightly more adventurous pick would be Pavel R., he needs to play a hatable character (that people don’t want to fuck) just once tbh and I think he’d appreciate the challenge.

Fräulein Schneider: (keeping this short) Stanislava Topinková Fořtová

Herr Schultz: hmmm i don’t know the older guys that well so i don’t have anything smart to say on this one 🥲

—

Alright so.. this is a fucking mess, if you’ve made it through to here, I applaud you. I do really hope that we’ll get to see it at some point, though🥲

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Since so many of your AUs feature Peeta being in the military, do you think that's actually something he would join? If so, for what reasons? This is not a judgement, it's a genuine question!!

You might be surprised to hear this Anon, but I don’t especially think he would join the military in our world. I think it’s a possibility and I’ll get to that, but I don’t think it’s the most likely modern au path he’d take. The reasons I’ve put him in the military in many of my AU’s are varied. Sometimes, that’s what was specifically requested in a prompt.

Mostly though, it’s derived from the old world idea that the first born son in a family would inherit the business/lands/fortunes, etc, leaving the younger two to figure out their way in the world. Panem, and district 12 specifically, is not an easy place to live, and it’s not an easy place to support your family in terms of work. There are not a lot of options. Peeta’s got two older brothers, and given the situation in d12, I think it would behoove the oldest Mellark brother to claim the bakery as his and his family’s future source of income. He’s been trained for it his whole life, most likely, and even if it’s not what he wants to do, it’s bread on the table. Literally. This leaves Peeta and the middle brother to figure out how to support themselves once their oldest brother starts having a family and the bakery is no longer enough to support his brothers too. They already eat stale bread.

So in my AU’s, I translate that idea and tend to cling to that impoverished gentry idea that the two younger brothers will probably pick a profession. Law, medicine, the church, scholar/teacher, the military.

And well… it might be surprising to hear that the reason it usually ends up being the military in my fics is two fold and kind of lazy on my part. 1) Ready made reason to write Peeta as a traumatized amputee. 2) I’m personally far more familiar with the military and its issues than I am with the others.

So yeah, I’ll admit, this is one of the lazier aspects of my fic writing. If I knew more about those other professions, I’d be writing a lot more lawyer or EMT or teacher Peeta fics. But alas, I am not. And I already do quite a lot of research for many of my fics, so sometimes sticking a character in the military is an easy way for me to have less research to do. Sometimes it just fits the direction of the story better.

Why do I think he might join the military? Well, I’ve know a lot of people in the military since my life has always been tied to it. Dad was in for 20+ years, both my grandfathers were in for at least a little while, father in law for a short time, grandfather in law for 20+ years, myself for two years plus my time as a cadet, and everyone I worked with during that timeframe basically, my spouse and the vast majority of his coworkers, friends, etc blah blah blah. People join for all kinds of reasons, and most of them kinda suck, especially since sometimes it feels like the military is the best or only way out. Stable employment, escape from a shitty situation to include poverty, college scholarships.

So you can see where I might draw similar lines of reasoning for Peeta joining. HOWEVER… in every one of my AU’s, he won’t stay in for more than maybe 6 years max, depending on what’s happening around him and to him. I do not see him as the kind of character who would make a career out of the military.

Hope this helps explain a few things.

❤️ kdnfb

[invisibleicewands]

[...] Sheen—a man already well known for portraying real-life people onscreen—has outdone himself this year by playing two of the U.K.’s most famous figures, though the men in question could not be more different from one another. His leading role in the National Theatre’s Nye saw him transform into Aneurin Bevan, the beloved Labour politician who spearheaded the creation of Britain’s National Health Service and an icon to many throughout the United Kingdom. But for the actor, portraying the two men fairly close to one another led to the realization of some unexpected parallels. 

“It was interesting because I did literally go from finishing filming on this into rehearsing Nye,” Sheen tells Paste. “And so I was thinking about both of them at the same time, and it did make me think about the idea of the pursuit of power and the opportunities of privilege, and how differently you can use those things, and what you can put them to the service of. It was quite striking.” 

To say that portraying two men as different as Bevan (a Welshman from a Tredegar mining family) and Prince Andrew (the second son of Queen Elizabeth II) is a challenge feels like a massive understatement. But for Sheen, much of the work, at least from a character-building, was the same. 

“With Aneurin Bevan, there’s very little footage of him, so there was very little to go on,” he says when asked about his approach to playing two such very different men—with such very different legacies. “There’s lots written about him but very little to look at. And so piecing both of these characterizations together were very different kinds of processes. But I think what informs them both is—you’ve got to put your personal opinions aside, your judgments of characters you’re playing. Because, ultimately, you have to be looking out from behind their eyes and playing a rounded, complex character rather than an editorialized version of them.”

And to hear Sheen tell it, his performance—even when playing someone more like Andrew than Nye Bevan—still comes from many of the same places, both as an actor and an individual.

“[The performance] has got to be coming from somewhere. There’s got to be some compass that is guiding you in… I look for vulnerability, I look for contradiction. I look for when a person is getting in their own way, that kind of stuff. That’s my compass as an actor,” he says. “But then, there’s also my compass as a citizen, which you’re also putting into it. Your performance sits in the context of certain things you believe about the world and how things work in it. Inevitably, those two things, they’re sometimes the same compass and sometimes not. But they work the same for whatever character it might be.” [...]

“The car-crash nature of the interview itself and the memes that it feeds and the late-night chat show host opening monologue gags and all that sensationalized circus aspect obviously feeds our cultural appetites in huge ways,” Sheen says. “There’s a huge appetite for that. But the issues it also raises about privilege, exploitation, sex, and people in positions of power being able to silence people who don’t have a voice, it seems to explore a lot of areas we are culturally both fascinated and compelled by at the moment all in one story. Certainly, that’s what it speaks to for me.” [...]

“There’s been an ongoing debate, hasn’t there, about how you interview certain kinds of politicians and how difficult it has become to question certain kinds of people in positions of power and whether the media is somehow falling into traps being laid by those people,” Sheen adds. “That’s been an ongoing debate for about the last ten years or so, I’d guess. Particularly in the U.S., but also increasingly so in the U.K. as well.” [...]

“We’re used to the idea of politicians not answering the question and saying what they want to say regardless. But then, there’s a new wave of people who seem to have confounded a lot of journalists and sparked the debate of how you go about handling that,” Sheen says. “And [this interview] is an instance where someone voluntarily put themselves in a position of being exposed, and a journalist of great craft and skill did a masterclass on [how to do] that. I think that’s particularly… It speaks to something of now as well. That we will probably never see something like that happen again.”

[motts-erella]

An Amateur Cartomancy Reading of The Hazbin Hotel Deck

Looking into the possible meanings (if they exist) behind the character choices of the Official Hazbin Hotel Playing Card Deck This is just for fun, I have an interest in Tarot and Cartomancy, but am not a practitioner myself, if you see this and are a practitioner, feel free to comment or even tag me in your own posts on the subject. It's something that I've always had an interest in since I was teenager and I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Also this is just as a fun exercise, and in truth it's difficult to make accurate readings when much of cartomancy has to do with how the cards are drawn, what cards are drawn next to them, and the context of the question being asked So we're taking this already from only a partial read of the cards themselves.

Alright? Alright let’s go!!!

As you can see the Exorcists here are Jokers, the Trump card to beat all cards, a black and red Joker card also represent the Beginning of a Journey in cartomancy. I think the symbolism is pretty obvious here, not just as a Trump card, but as the Exterminations are what kicks off Charlie’s Story.

Now the deck comes with 3 unique suits, and one classic: Pentagrams, Keys (or Keekees), Hearts and Apples

Now interesting is the Hearts are normal suit so we can directly make comparisons. And since the other red suit is Pentagrams we can slot that in to represent

As for The Clubs and The Spades:

After reviewing both Apple and Keys I am 90% sure that if they're meant to sync up well with their characters then I believe that Apples are The Clubs and Keys are The Spades and this will be my assumption moving forward

Now moving forward this Hellish deck also wouldn't be complete without a special something for its 6s Each 6 has a special lil graphic that gives a small hint for who the king of each suit is. (Except for Pentagrams....maybe...)

Let's start with 6 of Pentagrams. Decorated with hellish eyes. Compared with The Diamonds which often represents money. The 6 of Diamonds represents "what goes around comes around", that you might be being misled by others or even yourself.

The Heart Suit represents Relationships and social aspects of Society The 6 of Hearts is the "Law of Love", a knack for big business that doesn't believe in luck As you can see it looks insectid, with a shiny glassy heart in the middle

The Keys have a familiar looking upside-down cross. The Spades are a Trump suit and the considered most valuable suit. They represent partnership and noble soldiers The 6 of Spades Represents tremendous potential is here if you're willing to accept the responsibility

Side note look at the Worm-Snake taking a bite outta the apple! So cute!!

The Clubs suit represents achievement through work, as well as evoking positive futures The 6 of Clubs is the Messengers Card, a call to duty, temptation of lethargy will tempt this person, but if they overcome it triumph over a great foe will be achieved

Charlie here is our Ace of Apples

Ace of Clubs  - Positivity, love, fosters learning, it also can represent an important location (like a hotel?) Which need I say more? That’s pretty on the nose there

Next up is the Jack of Apples Razzle and Dazzle!

Fun Fact about these guys is that they aren't printed twice flipped, they legit Razzle and Dazzle

Jack of The Clubs is known as the Lucky Card! Supposedly it brings happiness and good fortune. It often heralds in a new opportunity

The Queen of Apples is the Queen of Hell Lilith

The Queen of The Clubs  is a woman who stands for justice, truth and change. She is a symbol of the need to take action.

Which...is interesting if you look at a blink and you miss it poster in the pilot...hmmm

The King of Apples is of course Lucifer

The King of Clubs is a symbol of taking charge, of determination, and of attracting the attention of someone influential in the world. In cartomancy drawing a King of Clubs means Be Assertive and your goal is within reach which is and interesting possibility for Charlie, that she might need to be Assertive to her father to allow her goal to succeed It's also interesting considering how Lucifer became ruler of hell in the first place, by being Assertive to his father.

Next up Hearts Suit

Ace of Hearts is Cherri Bomb!

As an Ace of Hearts this card represents new love or the start of an emotional journey. This card represents love, happiness and celebration and a strong foundation

(Also there's a tiny Cherri on the bomb and I think that's adorable)

The Jack of Hearts is our dear Spider Boi

The Jack of Hearts represents a person who's going through a difficult time, but will overcome it and start fresh. It is also said that this card represents a man pining for an unobtainable lover or an unrequited love.

The Queen of  Hearts  is our lovely Velvet of the triple Vs

 Interestingly she has her phone as the centerpiece with a little like heart popping off it. Culturally the Queen of Hearts is associated with a chop happy character from Wonderland. Which might be some inspiration here.

But what does it mean? The Queen of Hearts indicates someone with a magnetic personality, the sweetheart, the adored daughter, the favorite sister, the beloved mother. Drawing this card usually is an indication that you are loved, but perhaps require self care yourself

Leaving us with our King of Hearts, Valentino himself

Also known as the Suicide King the King of Hearts is always shown with their weapon (usually a sword) going through their head. Interestingly no weapon is seen, but!  -he is holding his signature cigarette whose smoke is implied have some sort of control over Angel Dust.

We'll see when the series comes out, but if his use of this smoke ends up being his undoing I get to say I called it...sorta 

That's lovely but what does the King of Hearts MEAN? Well in Cartomancy this King often represents a loyal romantic partner. Which....yeah, who knows I guess.

But it also is an omen that BIG change is coming, could be good or bad, but it is coming and there's no stopping it

Now onto the Key Suit which again we’re using Spades for

Ace of Keys is best girl Vaggie

Vaggie is our Ace of Spades and she looks amazing! Now the Ace of being one of the most important cards in the card is often more elaborate looking, and you can definitely see more attention placed on the colors and defined shape then with the other cards

Ace of Spades is known as the semi mythological Black Spot (no really this was used as the black spot in Caribbean piracy) also known as the Death Card And if your wondering why called it a semi myth, it's because the Black Spot as we know it was invented by the book Treasure Island

Feel free to Google that if you don't believe me, fun little trivia fact for the day 

In Cartomancy tho the Card is not a reference to Death, but instead Loyalty. Many Spades Cards represent hardships of some sort. With the Ace representing deep personal troubles.

Jack of Keys belongs to our grumpy boi Husk

Ofcourse he's got  card in the center, interestingly it appears to be a 2 of Hearts which means romantic love between 2 people I'm also 90% sure this isn't the first time he's been seen with the 2 of Heart's either..can't confirm tho

In cartomancy the well positioned Jack of Spades is kind of an unstoppable force; primed for success, but that itself is primed to be their downfall The Jack of Spades is often described as a con man, they are sharp and clever, but if they're not careful they will play themselves

Time for the Queen of Keys! Nifty!

Look she's even stabbing the bug from the pilot!

The Queen of Spades is intelligent and clever, using her creativity and organization to outsmart her opponent

The Queen of Spades however is also considered an unlucky card that represents death & change

Also fun fact the Queen of Spades considered the dark mirror of the Queen of Hearts So these two crazy gremlins might be foils to each other

Lastly is The King of Keys, Alastor

The King of Spades is the 'Top Card of the Deck' and represents Power and Self Mastery, Mind over Matter, Head over Heart, and how these powers can be used for creation or destruction

Also ironically depending on how it's drawn The King of Spades can also represent an obstacle or problem in the work place and if that's not a little on the nose I don't know what is 

Onto the Pentagrams which we’re again using Diamonds for

Ace of Pentagrams is Helsa Von Eldritch, an apparent rival to Charlie, who is Ace of Apples 

Diamonds itself represents money and the Ace of Diamonds is all about Value and Wealth. It is a warning about when money becomes more important than people

The Jack of Pentagramssss issss our dear Sssir Pentiousssss 

Jack of Diamonds typically represent someone who is always fidgeting and working with their hands. Very smart and productive.

It's a card that often flip flops on whether it means good or bad luck. And it sometimes represents crime and even deception! Generally tho the Jack of Diamonds is potential just waiting to be realized

Queen of Pentagrams is my gurl Rosie 

Queen of Diamonds typically represent a philanthropist contributing their wealth to the arts. They typically are used to mean your relationship between yourself and a wealthy benefactor

And lastly drum roll everyone, the King of Pentagrams Vox 

The King of Diamonds is a shrewd cunning business man.  A "wheeler dealer" type. The King cards represent Power and Diamonds represent money and that's what the King has in spades. The King of Diamond's is willing to gamble cause they have all the money in the world, and they rarely ever lose.

With that I close off this reading. Like I said on my first post this is coming from someone who's not a professional at this sort of thing, and this was more or less for fun.

Did they line them up like this on purpose?

Can the reads be all just coincidence?

 Absolutely!

We won't know until the show comes out if the reads or cards are accurate, but it was a lot of fun to dive down this rabbit hole and find some possible connections!

 Anyway have a wonderful day everyone! Hope you had some fun!

[spark1edog]

i’ve always been open to the constructive aspects of generative ai but there’s a lot of… dissonance. on one hand i understand that all art is derivative and there’s no such thing as true originality but on the other hand, it just irks me to hear the phrase “established AI artist.” like… it just fills me with Questions. and i’m trying to find some kind of middle ground because i’m very prone to instantly being vehemently “anti” or “pro” whatever side of any issue i care about.

i’d like to validate the accessibility point. as much as i say “if you can’t draw but want to be able to draw, you should draw anyway and you will naturally learn how to draw,” i see the other side. someone with tremors or hypermobility or any number of conditions that would disable someone from learning to draw by hand could absolutely find genuine value in ai art. i don’t want to take that away from anyone. i know some people also don’t have the time or energy or motivation to actually learn to draw. that’s also ok, not everyone has to be an artist. and not all artists have to do everything the same way.

learning how to create prompts is a skill, knowing about the model and program that you’re using to generate images is a skill set. i don’t have that skill set. I imagine i could figure it out, but i don’t think that’s intrinsically less valuable than writing a novel or coming up with a concept for art you want to make by hand. all of these are nebulous skills and there’s considerable overlap with what i feel a nudge to call “real art,” but i’ll use “manual art” instead. “real art” is a social construct as much as “real genders”

i hate talking about pricing also, i feel like it makes me seem greedy or self pitying. but i feel like there’s a difference in the amount of labor that goes into making manual vs ai art. i feel like manual artists should be offered more money. but that’s a feeling. there’s nuance. i don’t know enough about that part to draw a conclusion. i come from a place of trying for so, so many years to get anyone to even care about the art i make, let alone spend money on it. i come from a position of never having money as a kid and trying to sell my art so i could get a snack after school, to very little avail. im forever grateful for the handful of people who commissioned me when i was growing up. i think there were three or four. that’s more than a lot of people get.

part of my initial rejection of ai art as Art is that there’s such an audience for it. it’s resentment, but i don’t think i can fairly describe it as a resentment for ai artists or ai art as a concept, it’s a resentment towards the general public attitude towards manual art. the commodification of “gimmicky” things like ai, those “minimalist” faceless traced photos, and basically every successful art trend. resentment from how hard it is to find footing in the art world at all, especially as someone who often falls into slumps, therefore falling out of algorithmic favor and my reach being obliterated from not posting constantly. i don’t hate ai art on its own, and i certainly don’t hate the artists. but i hate how easy it is to make ai art. how even though it takes a few minutes to generate, you get 10x the result of hours of my work process. i resent the fact that i have to worry about it drowning out my and my peers’ work from the feeds of people who might resonate with it. i hate the circumstances that make ai art a “”threat.””

i hope this makes sense, it’s 4am and i took my meds a couple hours ago so im sleepy but. i had some thoughts.

[polyodynos]

Hi, hello, this is Hecate! I go by she/her and they/them pronouns, and I’m 29! This is a low activity or sporadic activity RP blog, because I am busy and also bad at executive functioning. I love talking to people and making friends so I’m always happy to chat! Anyway, for people on mobile, you can read about Yumina in this Google Doc! Parts of it are still a work in progress, and I will be updating it as we go! Rules are beneath the cut!

Yumina’s species, abilities, home galaxy and home planet, and the Aeon she’s an Emanator of are all things I made up. If you have any questions about her or any aspects of her, please feel free to ask!

I won't force ships, and I won't assume character dynamics. Also, if you're more comfortable with Yumina being a frequent or semi-frequent passenger on the Astral Express, just let me know!

Yumina possesses powers of death and decay and suffers from trauma as a result of the last time she wielded them. There might be occasional and brief descriptions and references to body horror.

This blog might be low activity because I procrastinate and am busy. Thank you for your understanding. 

My graphics and icons were all made by me. My Tumblr avatar and sidebar were made using this Neka. Please do not steal them.

I’ll try to match your word length or at least give you something to work with, but sometimes my brain doesn’t cooperate, and I apologize in advance. 

I will tag potentially triggering subjects with the appropriate tags. If you’d like something specific tagged, I’d be happy to tag it for you!

I tag triggers in the form of trigger tw or trigger ////.

I’m open to platonic, antagonistic, and romantic ships. Please bequeath me with platonic and antagonistic ships, because they’re just as fun as romantic ones. I’m always open to hearing ideas about how our muses would get along and I love talking in depth about character dynamics! Also pre-established relationships are a-okay with me. 

Romantic ships will be based on chemistry and prior discussion.

This blog is multiship! Each ship will exist in its own verse.

If we write a fight thread, I prefer talking over the events beforehand or concurrently so no boundaries are crossed.

I don’t send in passwords, but I have read your rules!

I will roleplay with OCs as long as they have an about or I know the person that made them! It’s nothing personal. I just like having information to work with! However, I will be semi-selective with them just as I am with canon muses.

I won’t follow or interact with accounts that are cis swaps of characters. I also block accounts that RP deities from real world mythology on sight. I’d rather not see people’s beliefs be made the butt of jokes or treated like a fun quirky thing just because the worship of certain deities isn’t as widespread as others.

That being said, if you have an account that isn’t a cis swap or a real life deity, I’m not going to block you on that account. 

I have a low tolerance for sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, or any bigotry of any kind. If I witness you engage in this sort of behavior, expect me to unfollow you.

If we’re mutuals, feel free to slide into my DMs or ask for my other social media and Discord. I love talking to people and making friends!

[threadsun]

🎃 Anon Asks: "UGH! And this is why I love you! I can’t even imagine the stress you and countless others involved with sex work have to go through daily because of how people are. Between this game and a couple of others (DoL is one that can be mentally f someone up but at the same time be hot) and how those people are, it can be scary how quickly people turn aggressive or vicious, but knowing that it’s basically the fringe of sex work makes it completely unimaginable at how distressing and taxing sex work can be. It’s giving “Show and Tell” by Melanie Martinez vibes. It really can be easy though to just step away from things if they don’t mesh and I don’t understand why people don’t do it if it’s not harmful to others or themselves. Maybe it’s because they created the soft fluffy boyfriend image in their head and don’t want to let it go which I can totally understand, but like how the one anon on here said, Jack is a manipulator and extremely dangerous. As someone who deals with REAL ghosts, I know how dangerous they can be since they are still people after all. If they were bad alive, then they’re still bad when dead (unless they actually put in the work to change, but lies are still a thing.) So with Jack not only having normal ghosty qualities but some other powers that are very questionable to him being a ghost and maybe something more, putting a halo on his head might not be the best move here. Sure, we can put on our rose glasses here for fun, but for those who take it more seriously and don’t truly see any issues with his grooming behaviors, I’d be more concerned for the individual based off my own personal experiences of when I acted that way as a teen. I put myself in dangerous situations because of mindsets like that and I’m afraid of others acting the same way with REAL people. Ironically, it’s because I repressed my sexuality and kinks for the longest that it came out in some damaging ways, just as you’ve mentioned. So that’s why I’m thankful that your blog exists because it delves into sex and kink positivity, sex education, and healthy views of a variety of kinks. (Like the fuck-or-die kink with Joesph. I didn’t know the want of urgency in sex had an official kink name, but did it open new doors for me? Hell yeah it did! Lol) Even the normal headcannons you do for characters portray healthy versions of even the most filthiest of kinks and what a person should look for when establishing a healthy relationship with their kinks. Compared to how many sites portray unrealistic views of sex (*coughmainstreampornCOUGH*), it’s nice to have someone who is more reliable source to discuss about sex and kinks. Now if Jack wasn’t such a manipulative, dangerous guy and had a more healthy relationship with himself and others, I’d totally go for IRL. Oh, and of course it’d be nice if he was alive too lol. But as of now, I’m just going to continue indulging in such a toxic relationship through the game and fics. In any case, I’m glad you liked my rambling on what I think certain aspects would be played out with Jack sexually! I always love reading your headcanons and the responses you give to other people’s takes so seeing how you saw mine was pretty awesome! Lol but I can DEFINITELY see Jack acting like that being a sadist. It’s like he wants his sunshine to feel just as desperate and needy for him as he does for you. Almost like it’s subconscious payback for how PAINFUL it was to wait for his sunshine to FINALLY give into him sexually, how frustrated and uncomfortable he was hearing his sunshine shower without him in there, seeing their lips wrap around the fork of the pancakes he worked so hard on for them instead of around his throbbing cock. His sunshine should be moaning in delight from how his cum tastes inside their mouth, not from the blueberries bursting on their tongue. It’s almost like there’s a part of him crying out for a reward like how he’s always cried out for love and affection not only from us internally, but from his time as Joesph too.

Jack is loved by all, so why isn’t his sunshine giving into his loving efforts? Sure, he’s more than willing to make sure they’re healthy and happy expecting nothing in return, but doesn’t his sunshine just how CRAZY it drives him to know your beautiful body is right there for him to touch and hold, but can’t? How much it physically ACHES not only his body, but his heart as well? So all in all, seeing them physically uncomfortable with a desperate need for them is just a taste what he’s gone through, but he’s not cruel so he’ll only give a sliver of his burden. No, he’s a clean man now and giving them more would be something Joesph would do, but not him. But again, he wouldn’t actively think like this the entire time since he doesn’t focus on his needs and ambitions during sex, he only focuses on his sunshine first, he can come afterwards. (That can be a pun I think lol). I’m sorry with how long these are! I usually don’t type this much but I think my brain is thankful I’m finally setting them loose instead of holding back like I usually do. I promise that they’ll be a lot shorter in the future! Anyway, DRINK WATER!"

Yeah, content creation in general is rough, but as soon as you get into sex territory it becomes even worse. So like my heart goes out to 18+ content creators having to deal with entitled fans. I've had my fair share of them, and they're really tough to handle mentally. It wears you down and makes you feel like your content isn't good enough, like your art isn't worth making. Don't get me wrong, I love doing sex work and I wouldn't give it up for anything, but it's not easy. And people will treat you terribly because they don't see you as a real person.

I'm glad that my blog can be a little safe haven for people to indulge their kinks and not worry about judgement! I just want people to be safe and happy and engage in their sexual desires in a healthy way!

Also yeah, like I know I tend to lean more into the sweet himbo Joseph idea because of how he came across in the interview, but like I'm 100% aware that probably won't be what he's like in canon. And I won't be upset if/when he's not how I imagine him. But people can't seem to do that with Jack, which is ridiculous since we know more about him in canon than Joseph anyway.

But yes!!! Exactly, that's how I imagine his sadism!!! He almost uses it as a test of his Sunshine's devotion. As a way to see how dedicated they are to him, how much pain they're willing to endure for him. Because he's endured so much pain for them and he wants to see it reciprocated! That's also why he's into edging most likely, he's been essentially getting edged for so long that he needs to edge his Sunshine until they're begging for it, until they're half mad with desire. Until they understand what he's been through for them.

[catsauceeartofficial]

Hey there! First off, gotta say that I’m a big fan of your Tim The Dragon Tamer AU! I love the world building and am especially fond of the dragon entries that Tim makes while he goes about exploring. Imagine after the reveal, Bruce and the Batfam finding the notes and being more than a little worried at how close Tim gets to HIGHLY DANGEROUS DRAGONS, TIMMY. I imagine they almost lock Tim in the manor when they find out what their baby bird has been doing behind the scenes 😂 (and even then, he’ll probably just get Redbird to break him out) .

Anyway, I’m real excited for the next chapter and all the other word building fics that you might have in store in the future. And your art is fantastic! I hardly see any writers make their own art for their fics and you’re doing phenomenal work for both! I’d also like to ask, since Tim needs armour for his Dragon Thief outfit but probably can’t tell anybody (let alone the people that make the gear for his night job and his fam) to help him make some, what are your thoughts on Blacksmith!Tim? I read a fic previously on something similar to Blacksmith!Tim that was set in modern DC universe and I think it would be a fun thing to explore in your universe. Like the Batfam seeing the burns on his arms and hands and being all ‘What happened?! Did your dragon do that?!’ And Tim being Tim ‘lol nope that was from me making the costume :)’ . And then Tim being bothered by his siblings to make and help repair their costumes bc ‘Timmyyyy you do detailed work so well! Plus we pissed off the last blacksmith and they refused to help on any armour work for at least the next week, thanks bestie 😊.’

So yeah, I’d love to hear more on your headcannons for the AU (and the blacksmith stuff *wink*) if you’d like to share them!

Sorry it's taken me a while to get to your ask! Your question required some thought to it that I would like to answer properly 😳

Thank you so much for your love of this fantasy fanfiction! The batfam definitely question Tim's history with dangerous dragon run-ins, but that just encourages half of them to do it too.

The reason I have art for the fic is that most of the stories, ideas and thoughts I have of the world all stem from visual images. It plays out in my head like an animation, and I take aspects of what I found appealing about the plot, vision and aesthetic in my head and try my best to translate to words. It's also the reason I wanted a beta reader for this fic, since words are incredibly hard to translate from an image in mind.

I've actually read the Blacksmith!Tim fic! It was an incredible take on Tim and I just like the idea of Tim having a wide variety of skill. He's what I would call Jack of all trades, master of none. His skills are borne out of either interest, or a need for it in obscure times. So he gets into blacksmithing so no one questions his need for a big ass saddle.

He does get burns and cuts, but he usually explains it away, or wears long sleeves. The others sometimes ask for him to help him tinker, but they actually mainly go to Duke. Duke's just glad to have another person to blather blacksmithing jargon to someone.

One headcannon I have in mind regarding Blacksmith!Tim is that his first saddle was so badly crafted, it loosened mid-flight and cause Tim to fall off the back of Redbird. They ended up crashing into a tree canopy