#in the end i had to use the wiki page to know what colors it was woops

[hopefull-mindset]

Design Analysis: Kouyou Ozaki

Have you ever wondered why everyone has assumed Kouyou to be a courtesan or brothel owner when there has been no specification in the main series?

First, there is the fact she refers to herself using “wacchi” (わっち), a pronoun that had been used by Geisha and Oiran alike in the Edo Period. Second is that, while she doesn’t have as many layers or hair ornaments, her large Obi is still tied at the front, and wears a Uchikake over her kimono. An Uchikake by itself is not an indicator, but I would think she has it to accentuate what she’s meant to resemble.

An Oiran is a general term for a high-ranking courtesan who has taken up some traditional arts and refined in their entertainment skills, putting them above the common prostitute. The term “Oiran” (花魁) means “flower leader”. It was said to be used by Kamuro and Shinzo to refer to the older courtesans and eventually became their title. It is theorized to come from the phrase "oira no tokoro no nēsan" (おいらの所の姉さん), but there is no exact and official origin of why they’re referred to as such.

They are exclusive because of their price ranges and the highest ranking had a degree of choice in who they had in their company. They get confused with Geisha often because of their similar skill sets and when you don’t know what you’re looking for visually, but in addition, this is mostly the fault of the Occupation of Japan with many coupling both of them into what they’d call “Geesha Girls” and mistaking Geishas for prostitutes. Many even called themselves a Geisha to bring in business, but Geisha’s legally couldn’t promote sex (that didn’t stop them though sometimes if they needed the cash). They are not distinctive only because one of them can practice sex work and the other cannot. Besides my previous comments on accessories, layering, and their distinctive Obi, Oirans have more extravagant coloring and designs on their clothing.

Not to be confused with the Tayū, whom Oiran had taken after in their clothing. Tayū are not as relevant in pop culture, so do not worry about trying to tell the difference in fictional media because they’re 100% going to be an Oiran unless specified. If you would like to learn more about Tayū and not look at confusing wiki pages, I recommend reading these: Karyukai Workers and Roles, The Look of Oiran Versus Tayuu, and this nice video about a modern day Tayū.

While Shinzo are the new debuting girls late into their training, a stage before that is the Kamuro. Kamuro are young girls sold by their parents to either pay off debts or have fewer mouths to feed, and some were even born into it. On the surface, the deal of their daughter becoming someone so luxurious was desirable and made it easier for them to give her away, but not all of them got that life and had to fight for that position. Kamuro were put under the care of senior courtesans who would teach them the skills they’d need while Kamuro did their chores for them. Kamuro were also considered a social marker of how rich the courtesan was to be able to provide for these girls, but they were limited to only caring for two. It was an exploitative and abusive industry that groomed them into this life. These girls can’t leave because they’re stuck to a never-ending contract that they need to pay off in their work because of the costs of their living, so competition for the top spot wasn’t only for the idealized life promised, but to get a higher paying customer to pay off their contract to escape.

Kouyou’s backstory is heart-wrenching in this context. We don’t have details of how she ended up there or the rest of what happened, but you can’t deny the resemblance between the life of a young girl in the red light district trying to escape her conditions with a man who has promised her freedom and Kouyou wanting to live in the light outside of the Port Mafia’s unlivable darkness with someone who wanted to show her that. Along the same lines, Kyouka can be seen as a Kamuro that Kouyou has taken under her wing and wanted to leave herself. Granted, using sexual favors is manipulation 101 and she could’ve learned this anywhere, but it would make sense if she had learned this from Kouyou as a courtesan. Kamuro weren’t ignorant of what their “Older Sisters” did.

There are many differences between the life of these girls and the bloody one Kouyou had lived in the Port Mafia, and it’s not as if I’m implying she had lived the life they did as we don’t know much, but the similarities can’t be just coincidence. As for “brothel owner”, the Yakuza unsurprisingly stick their nose into the sex work business, so it wouldn’t be too hard to assume Kouyou was looking over these things.

Side comment: “Ane-san” is old-fashioned, so the only time you’ll see it be used instead of just “Ane” or “Onee-san” is in a historical context, or with the Yakuza to refer to the upper echelon female members.

(I refuse to use something not from mayoi, bones art… is ugly)

Kouyou’s crimson hair comes from her name “紅葉”, which can be translated to “Red (Autumn) Leaf”, or roughly “Crimson Blade”. It’s referred to as crimson in the light novels, but we all want to call it deep pink. Either way, both colors are deep-seated in love and she wears it all over. Her uchikake starts light at the top and deepens the lush cherry blossom pink into a bloody red where it drags at the floor with trailing bellflowers (or some type of thin petaled bellflower). Her inner kimono is pure black, except at her shoulder where only a piece of pink is left, and at the bottom are prominent red spider lilies. Their color is emphasized with a transitioning dark shade of purple.

Red spider lilies are infamous because of their connotation with death, but there’s more to it. They’re considered “hell flowers” and could lead the dead to reincarnation. Used in funerals, legends say that seeing someone you will never meet again will have these flowers bloom in your path. They’re flowers that bloom in autumn and the meanings they have are: painful memories, abandonment, passion, independence, giving up, longing, and “never to meet again”.

Kouyou is a mournful soul whose past has never left her, especially in the face of confronting Kyouka’s choice. For these flowers to appear in the inner darkness of her design is significant to how deeply his death had affected her, but also the abandonment of what she regards as her “born nature”. That man had wanted to show her light but had only contributed to the growing darkness that she wasn’t allowed to escape. She had died that day with him, and could only keep walking in the flower field of death she had created. It’s only the piece of light on her shoulder that is left of her past self.

Now, the bellflowers on her uchikake can mean: Loyalty, gratitude, faithful, unchanging, honesty, and discipline.

If the Port Mafia had once been a place of terror and misery, then Mori had changed that for her and made the Port Mafia her home. She is forever grateful for what he has done to make this life livable again and dawns this flower gracefully with light colors. She chooses to wear these light colors over her kimono because even if she resents the hypocrisy of the people who can live in the light without criticism, she still wants some semblance of that dream after her soul has been blackened to that gain. Harukawa, when designing these characters, keeps in mind what organization and type of person they are when color coding them. It’s also with the understanding of what shades will appear darker and lighter in the manga style. Harukawa says that she made sure to give Kouyou light colors and kept her eye from being dark to signify that she’s a good person.

In the manga, her outfit is slightly different from the anime’s design. Her uchikake is paler and does not have any flowers on it, and the flowers on her kimono are much more... vague, so if there are better candidates than my guesses, then be my guest and throw me a bone. From the silhouettes, I will assume that the largest visible flower is a water lily and/or lotus and the flowers growing on the branches are sakura blossoms and/or plum blossoms. It’s fitting considering she is introduced with sakura blossoms falling around her, but they could be plum blossoms too as “花魁” can refer to them in some cases.

Water lilies and Lotus flowers are very recognizable, and I’m sure most of you have seen them around. Their meaning of “purity of heart” comes from how wild water lilies will usually be white. Similarly, lotus flowers are seen as pure because they can bloom in mud without staining themselves. Other meanings water lilies are given are: Rebirth, trust, faith, and kindness. With lotus flowers, they are: Rebirth (again), “to change someone’s mind”, “eases suffering (of the heart)”, and resilience.

Ignoring the meaning of faith and trust since we had already gone over it with the bellflowers, both possible flowers emphasize her good nature and the renewal of life that Mori had blessed her with. Mori had eased the mindless suffering caused by the old boss and changed her mind about what the Port Mafia was to her. She pushed through the muddy waters of the old boss’s darkness and stood her place well in her strength.

Sakura blossoms and plum blossoms introduce two different meanings in their symbolic usage. Plum blossoms bloom in the winter cold in the signal of spring coming, showing the prosperity of life in the hardest of conditions, while sakura blossoms remind us of life’s impermanence and that its beauty can only last for so long. Plum blossoms also can mean: elegance, nobleness, patience, loyalty, hope, and renewal. If these are Sakura blossoms, then they can mean: renewal (again), violence, and hope (again).

In the context of these flowers appearing on her kimono, they mean something different than the renewal of a new era Mori had brought. The remark at the beginning of chapter 17 gives us a personal meaning for Kouyou to what sakura flowers are to her. They are the blooming hope of a girl’s wishes, but they eventually have to drop not long after growing up and facing their reality. Remaining a bud is impossible, so Kouyou, in defiance of this eventual fate of this girl, sees slashing the girl’s heart to be more merciful than the long, doomed drop they all have to face. Kouyou is a bloomed Sakura flower who has already dropped, and her change had started there, not when she bloomed. Even if a part of her had died, she still clings with no real hope.

This is the only image we have of her kimono without anything covering it. This is right at the end of the Guild Arc where they are celebrating their accomplishment. Kouyou sheds her outer bright colors because there is no room for that in this setting and trusts Chuuya and Mori enough to shed any pretenses. They’ve all dressed casually, so she would too. The leaves are meant to be red maple leaves that also show up in the flashback of Kouyou of you look carefully. As I’ve said before, these have to do with her name. The vague firework-like design that shows up are either enlarged spider lilies or chrysanthemum flowers. Assuming these are the white kind, they mean: truth, loyal love, admiration, and sincere heart. However, the yellow kind can mean “slighted love”.

She is sincere inside and out, even if some of that sincerity isn't as pretty as what it looks like from a distance. “A flower that blooms in the dark can only survive within the dark” is a sentiment she lives by after all. If it is a yellow chrysanthemum, then its meaning is what you’d expect from her lonely heart.

Bonus round

Welcome if you have read this far, this is where I stray from her main outfit and talk about outfits that only appear once. This first kimono is what she wore when staying put in the Armed Detective Agency’s capture so that Kyouka would be able to live out a dream she can’t bring herself to live out. The white kimono is covered with columbine flowers. They can mean: risk-taking, good fortune, faith, folly, hope, and specifically for white columbines, “I’m concerned for this person”. Negative/inverse meanings include: The emblem of deceived lovers, ingratitude, and faithlessness.

What this means in Kouyou’s overall situation shouldn’t be too mind-boggling. She is in this room for Kyouka’s sake and is fairly concerned about how this plan of many risks will play out, but has faith in Dazai’s abilities. She is her most stripped version of herself and works with good intentions with Dazai under this idea, so she only wears light. Kouyou though is only left to her thoughts, her own past in that room. She is glad for Kyouka, but it only leaves fear that Atsushi won't be able to live up to something he promised so she ensures that he is committed to helping her into the light and strong in a way that man wasn't able to be. 

The second one is from the chapter art with Kouyou and Mori leading Soukoku away from each other. It’s an outfit that reflects her mindset during her time with the old boss, an inverted palette from what she’s currently wearing. She hasn’t fully embraced her environment yet. Unfortunately, almost all of the flowers and plants are a bit too vague for me to point out. There is only one flower I think I recognize on her right sleeve that looks like a bird, and it is called an Egret Orchid. The only meaning of significance here is: “I think of you even in my dreams.” Some sources will say, “My thoughts will follow you into your dreams”, but I think this made more sense in this context.

This sentiment is regarding that man who had told her such an innocent lie. She not only hid her sorrowful, pure yet broken heart inside the guise of flowering darkness but weaponized this sorrow in her violence and climbed the ranks of the Port Mafia. He is a source of regret, hate, and sadness. He is her only semblance of what hope and love could resemble, and it has become a corrupted and negative thing to her in his death. Pure darkness is the only thing can trust for people like her… but she still ponders what that life will be. His influence had never left her, whether it was for better or worse. 

—

Alright um

I don’t typically do analysis like this as I don’t find clothing all that interesting to look into, but there is merit to thinking about what a character is wearing even on a surface level. It can be a show of their social rank, their job, their interests, their personalties, their culture, etc. but there isn’t always a deeper meaning to their clothing on a theming sense and I can’t find it in me to usually be interested in doing it myself. In most media, the clothing only indicates the era the characters are from and how marketable they can be.

Luckily, BSD is one of those stories that do put heavy consideration on what the characters are wearing and how their clothing changes overtime for some. Obvious examples include Harukawa’s color pallet consideration to indicate what type of person they are and what organization they are from, Dazai’s clothing swap when he leaves the Port Mafia, Chuuya’s many outfits as show of his growth in belonging to the Port Mafia, the coat passed down from Mori to Dazai to Akutagawa, and the Yin-Yang coloring of Atsushi and Akutagawa that stays consistent even in Beast where they swap.

When doing clothing analysis you’re almost expected to overanalyze and stray into your own interpretations of what certain things mean, when sometimes there isn’t any intended meaning. None of that is a bad thing though! You don’t have to rely on an author or artistic word to analyze a thing, but I tend to have a hard time with just making claims like that. So I picked this concept for Kouyou because I have my own ideas for the thought process behind her design that felt right and find it intriguing enough to share. I had actually asked a friend if I could take her from their hands since they had been planning to do their own clothing analysis, but got stuck. So thank you for letting me steal it!

I’m not a historian or whatever, but I do like sharing what I do know about certain topics! Unexpectedly, this took more out of me than I thought. I’ve written more in a shorter time, but I got stuck with having to write about one certain topic than the character entirely. I will probably never do something like this again, at least not with flower meanings. Who knew how much work it was to actually explain what they mean in context in such a big bunch?

The day I finish that Odasaku analysis is when I’ll read The Golden Demon.

[horsechestnut]

Batfamily Chronological Reading List

Here it is, a massive list of Batfamily comics all sorted by issue release date so you can read them in the order they were originally intended to be read in, or easily reference back to what happened when. Do you want to know what Dick was up to during A Death in the Family? Need to know if Cass was around yet when Steph had her baby for your fan fic? Just a completion-ist with too much time on your hands like me? Then this is the list for you!

About six months ago I was trying to read my way through some old comics and getting insanely frustrated trying to figure out the order they went in. There are lots of reading lists online, but none of them gave me what I truly wanted: the order of individual issues rather than comic runs or collections. I also couldn't find any that featured all of the Batkids. So I took all of the reading lists I was using, found the On-Sale-Date for each of the issues mentioned, found a few other lists to fill in some gaps, and complied them into chronological order.

This list features what I consider to be the main 8 Batfamily members: Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, and Duke Thomas. It is by no means every appearance of these characters, but it is hopefully all of the important ones and then some. By no means do I suggest reading all of these (unless you're slightly insane like me), it's more of a reference guide than a read list.

Some Disclaimers:

This is still a work in progress. You'll notice that the first third of the list is much more detailed than the more recent entries. That's because I haven't read them yet. As of now I've only reached Batgirl 2000 #15, but will continue updating as I go through (I'm hoping to finish sometime within the next 12 months).

This is not a Batman list. I have included some issues about Bruce that I feel are important to the overall story, but if I were to include all of his important issues it would make the list unusable. You should still be able to follow his character arcs through his role in the comics listed here.

I needed to cut off somewhere, so anything released after December 31, 2023 was not included. I may go back and change this later, but not any time soon.

I do not want to discredit any of the Batfamily members not included here (ie Kate, Helena, Jean Paul). They are all important to Bruce and Gotham in their own way, but again I needed to cut it off somewhere or I never would have found an end.

For any edits you wish to suggest, please do so through this form. Any suggestions given not through this form will not be considered, and as it says in the form, I also will not consider any that don't have an explanation.

Finally I need to say thank you and give credit to the people who's reading lists I used to create this:

cazzam - New and Improved Cassandra Cain Reading Guide

Comic Book Herald - I used both their Complete Robin and Complete Batgirl Read Order Lists.

The Comic Book Treasury - I used both their Robin Reading Order and their Duke Thomas Reading Order

Comic Book Wire - The Signal Reading Order

Daily Jason Todd - Jason Todd's Reading List

Stephanie Brown Wiki Chronology Page

The Unoffical Guide to the DC Universe was also an incredible help with sorting out timelines, and all of my On-Sale-Date information comes from Grand Comics Database (GCD).

I hope you guys enjoy and find this useful! I'm happy to answer any questions, and if something isn't clear feel free to let me know!

[persianflaw]

Hi! What do you mean when you say assyrian? Like what is your cultural heritage like? What facets of historical assyria do you currently imbibe/try to emulate? I'm a bit of a history nerd and saw your rice post, so i thought i'd try and get some first person perspectives on this for a pet project of mine. (Anoning coz my main is a hornyblog)

hi, anon! assyrians are not just a historical empire- we are a contemporary ethnic group!

the assyrians are indigenous to the mesopotamian area, and are descended from the original assyrians with whom you are likely more familiar. however, the the assyrian genocide or sayfo that began in 1915 (connected to the armenian genocide + the greek genocide) caused many people to flee to other countries, including my mom's family, so there are more assyrians in the diaspora than in the "homeland" these days.

you may also see us referred to as syriac (with a C, not syrian), which some people prefer because it is a clearer differentiation between ancient assyrians and modern assyrians/syriacs. there are a few other terms like nestorian, aramean, chaldean, but not all of those are in common use these days either and mostly have specific use cases when it comes to language or religion (ex. nestorian mostly refers to members of the assyrian church of the east, but in some older texts it's used to describe assyrians regardless of specific church affiliation). generally people just identify as assyrian.

we did descend from ancient assyrians, and modern assyrian languages (suret) did come from old aramaic, but for me that connection has a pretty negligible connection to modern life, aside from occasionally pointing at assyrian statues in museums and saying "lol look it's us" to my brother. not sure if that's the case for other assyrians, but it isn't something i've seen personally.

if you've got an interest in history, however, you may enjoy our flag!

i swear i'm not mad that i spent ten minutes writing out my own description only to find that the ACF already had this nice helpful diagram my only addition is that the gold part of the symbol in the center represents the sun and the four-pointed star represents land, with the light blue representing tranquility. also that i could have SWORN there was something representing martyrs but apparently not lol. the one assyrian cultural artefact that doesn't reference martyrs i guess.

you can also find variants of this flag with the ashur emblem either outlined in gold or colored in with gold and blue, but afaik there's not a significant symbolic difference there

this flag was designed by george bit atanus as part of a competition started by the assyrian universal alliance in 1968, and adopted some time in the early 70s. i should note that the presence of ashur and shamash on this flag are more of a tribute to ancient assyrians as part of our history as opposed to a current religious reference, as assyrians are overwhelmingly christian.

i ended up writing a lot more for this than i thought i would and now i don't know how to end this post lol. uhh take this screenshot from the "assyrian people" wiki page that always makes me laugh a little bit

like yes we have been persecuted enough for it to be a whole section on our wiki page ✨ #flex #winning

[thebelugawhalefriend]

Hii! Love your writing. Do you do any sub character content? If so could you do Sub Muzan x Fem or GN reader?

Hihi!! I'm very excited to have a first request! I actually had to go back and watch the fourth season and read his wiki page because WOW this is gonna be a DOOZY to write! I mean this is a man who has every demon praying for mercy at any cost. But, I love a good challenge, so let's get into it!

Merciful - Sub!Muzan x Demon!Fem!Reader

CW: DEMON SLAYER SPOILERS, NSFW, Gore, Death

Note: I have really only watched the anime, so anything from the manga will stump me here ^^

It was 150 years ago when you first met him.

"You BASTARD! Let him go!"

Human and feeble. So weak and small to even your own kind. A towering man stood above you with pure spite behind his green eyes. Muscular with sleek black hair tied tightly behind him. In his hands he held your little brother, ready to slit his throat with a sickle.

"What, him? I caught this boy trying to swipe from my shop! If I had half a mind, I would slice him into tiny pieces."

You were but 18, shivering and scared. Your own blade looked pointless compared to his- only being a mere dagger. And yet, you clung to it tight. This rusted piece of junk was your only chance of your brother's survival.

"I said let him go! Not just for his sake, but yours!"

"And what are YOU going to-"

With the quickness of an eagle, the blade in your hand was digging into his shoulder. You clung to this man as if you depended on him not to fall. It's then you plunge into his back. Again. Again. And again.

"Sister, stop! Stop!"

Your brother was trying to flail from the man's arms- trying to free himself from his grip. It was, however, of no use. Even with a crazed woman stabbing into his body, his sickle made quickwork of the boy's neck.

SWING!

Thud...

"BROTHER!!"

And from there, those moments were a blur. Faint images came back to remind you of your crimes. The shop owner's once proud physique now a pulverized, sad corpse. Bystanders horrified by the situation now also blood on your hands and bodies on the road. Even nearby pets ended up slaughtered by your palms. But... You wanted more. Even if you were still human, this man deserved the most painful death and afterlife you could imagine. Taking his sickle, you carved his chest wide open and ripped out his heart.

"Now wait, young one. Wouldn't you want eating him to matter more?"

Now this man... He gave off a completely different feel than the man who'd killed your brother. Despite a similar look, he held ruby red eyes that peered right through you. You pause for a moment with the heart in hand.

"And just who are you?"

"Such raw emotion and strength... And yet still so weak. You couldn't even save your brother, and here you are, eating a man's heart just for your body to waste it."

"You don't know me! I'll-"

With a finger to your mouth, your body freezes.

"Hush. I'm here to help, just for a small price. I can tell you'll be of great use..."

---

"Lord Muzan~"

You call from one of the halls, flashing this man a daring look. From the moment he met you, you would never let this man have the respect he's earned. Even the Kizuki tremble in fear just uttering the wrong word to him, and yet for you? He would tolerate just enough teasing to let you have fun.

"Now of all times, ____? Can't you see I'm busy?"

His tone is cold, but your glare is chilling.

"Ten months, Muzan. You've left me wasting away for ten months! I understand tending to your other wives and taking care of those demon slayers, but ten months?"

His silence speaks volumes... But you? You've never realized the pure fear that comes with messing with Muzan. He's never put you in your place, and maybe... Maybe a twisted part of him likes that. You remind him of the authority he only had when he was human. No one could command or demand anything. Except... You.

"Come with me, Muzan... Please, just spend one night with me..."

Those (color) eyes you give him... His glare simmers down into a rare soft gaze, backing away from his desk to approach you.

"You're the most fortunate woman alive, ___. Any other would fall to their knees if they spoke to me that way."

"That sounds like a yes to me."

---

For every rough move Muzan would make, you were twice as bad. The poor lord of demons was pinned by the hands while you rode his cock for everything it was worth. Your fangs were oh so close to his neck, and yet Muzan was only encouraging that you bite him. Just one move and he could pulverize you. End your life over your own rush for power. And yet, you were headstrong and uncaring. His breathing was quivering and shaky, eyes of blood red looking up to yours with a submissive lust.

"Like that, dear- Fuck! Like that!"

You could barely focus on his blissfully soft voice. The most powerful man to exist and yet he's under you... Your fangs sink right into his neck yet stay absolutely careful not to drop an ounce of blood. After all, wasting anything precious of his was a death sentence. When his hands shift under yours, you let them go to see what he does.

"Don't be shy now... I know you want more..."

His voice is so quiet and soothing that your focus slips for just a moment, just enough time for him to grip your sides and push you down on him. Keeping you absolutely still. Is this a trick? Some sort of act? You sit up for a moment to look down, seeing him with a playful smile.

"Muzan... Are you sure you want to toy with me?"

One of his hands slip down to tease you as his member sits inside. Pulsing and needing more despite his cool demeanor.

"I want to see that fire I know you have. I let you take over too easily this time... Prove you're worthy to actually let me finish inside of you, ___."

Before the blink of an eye, your claws are quick to dig into his own sides in an attempt to keep going. And yet, one of his hands keeps you still.

"I know you have it in you. I can see that frustration in your eyes, dear."

Oh, you have a plan alright. While your hands worked to mess with his body and neck, your legs were building up strength to keep things going. Just a little longer... One of your claws lunges for his neck, Muzan quick to catch it with the hand that was teasing you.

"Too eas-"

While he was only slightly distracted by your lunge, the sheer force of your legs resumed the session despite Muzan's grip. The free hand practically pouncing to hold his chest down while your speed threatened to break the bed. Once playful eyes now looked to you in awe as he twitched and let out just the tiniest of pathetic whimpers.

"Don't you toy with me, Muzan. I know you like this too much to stop me!"

He really couldn't hold back. Just mere seconds pass before ropes of his semen come through and fill your insides. Yet, your body is absolutely sure not to let a single drop seep from your womb. You can't go wasting even his cum, now can you? Shocked red eyes look up to you, now with a renewed sense of pride.

"Y-you're so damn lucky I'm merciful towards you..."

[katyspersonal]

Hello Katya, do you have any ideas about Simple Gratia?

....

Yes, my girl!! I have some observations AND ideas! I remember that back when I checked, a fan Wiki incorrectly said that she is wearing Yharnam Hunter set. I do not know whether they've fixed that since then or not, but I know it confused a few artists. Gratia, in reality, is wearing an Old Hunter set but slightly altered:

(Close images of her model are from this ( x ) page, datamined by AstralLace!) This is what an Old Hunter set looks like, for a reminder:

Gratia is an Old Hunter: the type that started under Gehrman like Maria, Vitus, Henryk, Djura, Bestial Hunter, all that. I think that she knew all these characters and more, and with Maria she was a lot like an older sister that Maria never had! But I think she would be genuinely annoyed by Djura's complex inventions and at times not be able to hide her disdain, right in the middle of Djura ranting about them! That'd spark stupid, petty arguments about what kind of weapon is "better" which their friends laugh at in the corner like hyenas until Gehrman or Maria separate them XD

In comparison with the generic set, she is missing the long flowing cape, as well as the glove on her left hand. Her weapon, a chunk of metal, also goes in the left hand. I think she is missing the glove to have a stronger grip on the metal, so it would not slip away! I wondered what her right hand weapon would be before, but I think she doesn't need one in the end! I imagine her staggering the beast with her Iron Fist and then TEARING THEIR HEAD OFF WITH HER FREE HAND DFJHFSHSD .....but, you know, a hammer or a mace would also be nice yeah sure

In Bloodborne setting, red hair is also highlighted as a trait of Cainhurst nobles, that isn't really seen in any other NPC. Edgar may be also a ginger but much brighter kind, certainly not a REDhead!

This makes me think: what if Gratia's red hair is not just a random design choice, but a hint? And even if it isn't, it can still be used for a headcanon! Cainhurst nobles descend from Pthumeru Ihyll and have some Pthumerian heritage (just in case here ( x ) is the post with evidences of it) 🤔 At the same time, Pthumerians have gigantic variants, that seem to be more slow and dim than 'regular' ones. And interestingly, Gratia is abnormally big AND stated to have some intellectual drawbacks:

So, she has 1) otherwise Cainhurst-exclusive hair color 2) a size abnormally large for a human and 3) correlation between inability to use guns and being 'dim'! This gave me a headcanon that she was born in the Cainhurst walls, but shown Pthumerian genes that were "undesired" in the eyes of snobbish nobles and thus, abandoned at birth. She never knew of her origins, but was adopted by a kind man! Yeah, in this context, Maria and Gratia feeling family-like bond almost from the start in kind of fateful!

^ I often draw her with the same body pattern that shows on the skin of Snatchers, and that is exactly what kind of descendant she is!

I also always liked the idea that Gratia, Simon and Yamamura were the 'detective friends' up to uncover the Healing Church's secrets! Later, I decided the Yahar'gul Hunter we find in the prison under Grand Cathedral should also be a part of the squad! I did not know that Simon interestingly had Fist of Gratia as a part of his equipment back then and only judged from their location, but that made me feel validated with that headcanon! xD

Gratia is, of course, more of a 'power' of the team! She might be not very smart, but she has her heart in a good place and can understand the concept of shady bad business that should be stopped. She is easy to deceive in terms of pranks and other remotely innocent things, but when someone lying to her or trying to use her is malicious she will sense it. Pair that with her being very brave and blunt, and you really don't want to mess with her! The girl could grab Laurence and slam him against the wall accusing him of being "full of shit" if he attempted to deceive her, ffs! And not even his friends would defend him because it IS his fault for playing with this tigress x)

Needless to mention that she is protective over her friends! Not a kind of a protective friend that will mindlessly jump into fighting the other guy, but someone that will walk in and give them a fair warning to get lost first. She has threatening aura and usually just that is enough to scare away a person that means no good to someone she cares about. But, when she is powerless to do anything against some prick in power or likewise, she will express her frustration by breaking a property on her way out xd

Also she gives me this vibe:

Thank you for an ask! :D She has a very vivid and fleshed out image in my mind! Funny enough, this makes describing her harder because she feels so self-explanatory for me!

[127lovegalaxyperson]

I AM STARTING AN WELCOME HOME THEORIES (YAY)

due to my hand cannot draw bc too painful, so I start some theories

well.........since I cannot get into the welcome home page(idk why),I got to the welcome home wiki and check sth

(I like MUSIC AND ARTS,so it might be related to them)

the reason why I do this is because of these

Warning:mostly about the relationship between Eddie and Frank but THIS IS JUST A THEORY OF MINE

IN ARTS

the welcome home character's favourite colours

Wally-red

Sally-orange

FRANK-YELLOW(I cannot find the colour )

Poppy-green

Howdy-teal(I cannot find the colour )

Barney-blue

EDDIE-PURPLE

Julie-pink

(I capitalize Eddie and Frank bc my theories related to them)

I suppose everyone (artists)may be familiar with this

This is a color wheel

if you guys notice Frank's and Eddie's fav colors

they are the opposite side of the wheel

this is called an opposite color (ig,my art teacher taught me but I forgot the name) ,meaning that they aren't meant to be tgt

For example:red is opposite to green and blue is opposite to orange(you can see it on the wheel)

so I have been thinking........Frank and Eddie aren't meant to be tgt but they do love each other (the giveaway is that Clown uses "Esperar pra Ver" by Evinha to describe the relationship between Frank and Eddie and in that time,LGBT was forbidden so they separated them in the workshops ,but Clown sometimes shows their relationship outside of the Welcome home page)

and if you look up the personalities of these two favourite colours:

Yellow was meant a joyful,*kind* and had a funny sense personalities

Purple was meant royalty, full of passion and imagination, great in art(creative),*but the personality is quite sensitive so it's quite hard to know their true personalities.*

the personalities in these colors that they liked were meant to be each other.

Eddie is a helpful, kind person (in yellow)and he is great in arts and crafts(this is in purple which some of them represented his personalities )

Frank always frowns but if someone becomes his frds(like Julie ),He showed them a warm,KIND and quite JOYFUL(in yellow) personalities(and you can say he HAS a funny sense for A PAIR OF SOCKS), just like the description in purple as well(meaning that he is quite sensitive to show his true personalities to anyone but his friends)

They packed up each other's missing personalities (For examples:Frank's sensitive personalities (no offense)matches the purple personalities which was the only thing Eddie didn't have,Eddie's ultimate kindness (I know Frank might have but not as much as eddie)matches the yellow personalities which Frank MIGHT not have that much)THEY ARE LITERALLY LIKE A PUZZLE WHICH IS A PERFECT FOT FOR EACH OTHER

Eddie and Frank cannot not be tgt in the Welcome Home cartoons (just like the opposites of yellow and purple) but they would always love each other as in a relationship(fixed each other's missing colour personalities ) and this might be a unfinished love story due to the cartoons actually showed their love for each other(not that obvious )but we all know that something might happened to Eddie in the next update,just continued to be the opposite sides for each other like yellow and purple.(Frank actually sang a song which is a metaphor of him being alone in the end,meaning that Eddie won't be with him anymore)

In music

I IMMEDIATELY PUT ALL MY LOVE ON THEM ONCE I KNEW THEY COULD PLAY DIFFERENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS INSTEAD OF JUST RANDOMLY SAY THEY PLAYED PIANO,VIOLIN OR STH.

what the Welcome Home character's played

Wally-mostly none but he will play the drums just for fun

Sally-singer and a concert conductor

Frank-Bassoon

Poppy-vibraphone

Howdy-triangle

Barney-trumpet and trombone

Eddie-violin

Julie-saxophone

these aren't actually a great group of musical instruments when it comes to group tgt as an orchestra (tbh,I would wonder how Sally will do and conduct music with these instruments, I tried but failed) .For an example, in Eddie and Frank,they won't be a great duet between those two instruments (they might but when I tried to find ONLY those two tgt,I only found a few)

At first I didn't pay much attention of these,but I might have watched too much Game Theory during these time which made me think of sth--does this actually meant about their friendship at the end.(Eddie was underrated and ignored,almost being controlled by home if it wasn't for Frank's help while Barney bullies some of the cast in welcome home,Frank began to sent help by sending videos for us to know about what happened in it,Wally is already being controlled and maybe something will happened to Julie due to the next update was related to her) their relationship almost like the instruments they played now-- some of them were not always matched or played well tgt.Their great relationships they had is beginning to corrupted due to Wally was in 'the control of Home'(I thought about that),making me feel like they are not the same as the original ones in their cartoons

'BUT HEY!THAT'S JUST A THEORY! '

-Game Theory

who knows what might happened in welcome home in the future,this is just a theory of me,a person who only watches the homepage by watching others watching it,theorize it.But through the Welcome Home Wiki,I would never actually made these in the first place.By knowing what happened and the fun facts in it,not all of the people will actually ended up searching clues in the wiki lol

[regencyama]

The 4 Realities of Writing for a Historical Fandom

The example I use for this is Bridgerton but it's applicable for any fandom where the canon era is in the past.

When you write canon-era fic for a historical fandom, there are 4 things to keep in mind:

The Canon

Actual History

Your Plot

Readers' Expectations

The Canon

Unless you're going against canon, the way the original media depicts the era it's set in is your best guide to writing for that era (and the easiest to research). Bridgerton's laudable racial integration and inaccurate but still beautiful dresses have little to do with actual Regency Era England, but for the most part, the show is correct about the ton and its social mores.

***

Actual History

Knowing what actually happened in the original media's canon era gives you a deeper understanding of that era and helps you write a better fic. I was fortunate to have gone through a Regency Era phase long before Bridgerton started, so I already had resource books about the era at hand. (I highly recommend What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox-Hunting to Whist -- the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England by Daniel Pool and An Elegant Madness: High Society in Regency England by Venetia Murray, both available at Amazon.)

Wikipedia is also invaluable, especially if you're on a tight budget -- start with the name of the era you're researching and have fun falling down the rabbit hole. Bookmark any pages that are appropriate and you'll end up with your own personalized wiki.

***

Your Plot

Most of the time, your story's plot will be the deciding factor in what you chose to include or ignore, but sometimes changing the plot even slightly in favor of historical accuracy can improve it. Your leads aren't married yet but need to have a private conversation? Put a chaperone in the room, thus forcing your leads to either say what need to say in an oblique way or find another creative solution to their sudden lack of privacy.

***

Readers' Expectations

There are times when you may need to sacrifice accuracy in order to make your story more appealing or better understood. One example of this comes from Bridgerton itself. Before Queen Victoria wore a white gown in her 1840 wedding, white wedding gowns were not the norm. Daphne's 1813 wedding gown in S1 could have been one of several other colors but because modern audiences expect to see a Western bride in white, that's the color the costume designer gave her.

***

Ideally, all four would work together but in many cases, that simply cannot happen, so you must decide which of the four you're going to sacrifice, and that decision will likely be made several times over the course of writing your fic.

Most of all, have fun. If something simply isn't working for you, change it. Knowing the history, the canon, and the expectations gives you options, it's up to you to decide what works best.

[rileyslibrary]

M’AM. M’AM,

How do you write Ghost so amazingly? How can you capture that science of his, that scent, that aura— Im very intrigued!

Please teach me your ways!

How would you describe Simon? Which taste, which color, which smell, which time of the day, and, if an scenery, which?

Do you feel you know any fictional character besides him, that inspired you to write him the way you do?

Or, which is your method that works so well?

Im just mesmerized by the way you do it, and oh! I need to learn and understand if I see something this good!

Hey, anon? What is that orange comma doing in your ask?

Anyway. What I do is pretty simple, to be honest: I eat, digest, and poop.

Hear me out.

I eat the source material both for the OG Ghost plus the comics and the reboot. I don’t write based on them, but I use them to study his character. Most of the time, I read the Wiki pages, watch some cutscenes or let the entire campaign play in the background to “cleanse my palate”.

I digest them with whatever feelings, imagines, or scenarios I have in mind or requests that might inspire me. If I can’t relate to a request or a scenario and can’t picture Ghost in it, I won’t do it.

And then, though it might sound vile and off-putting, I poop the stories, meaning I use whatever build-up emotion or inspiration I have in mind and put it into something tangible.

As for another fictional character that could have inspired me to write him, the answer is no. I feel it’s a betrayal towards the reader and a great injustice for the character to do such a thing. If, for whatever reason, I see that I drift away from Ghost’s personality, I stop writing, sleep on it and possibly revisit it the next day. Or I go through the wiki and cutscenes again. Though the wiki isn’t official, it helps by relating to the character faster than watching/playing the games. As in “ah, I remember this happened, he must have felt like this” or justify a reaction based on the evidence seen in front of me.

And I know what you might say. “If you were so stuck on the source material, what the fuck is Ghost doing searching for a missing cat or attending a career fair at a school?” The key here is imagination. How would a character like Ghost approach such a scenario if he had no choice but to do that? Fiction allows you to bend some rules and reach beyond the source material to ask the “what if” question. You can play with canon, fool around with it, poke it with a stick, as long as you know what happened in canon. And, don’t think you can fool the readers. They can tell if you abuse that freedom, and they end up with a character that doesn’t feel like him.

So there you go; that’s the gist of it. I think that’s the first time I wrote about how I do things, and I don’t know if that’s exactly what you were asking me for, but I hope I helped!

[wavytam]

Nami, Sanji and the Sky - Part 1

For a while now, I noticed a strange symbolism that both Nami and Sanji share throughout the story of One Piece, and since the manga is coming to an end, I feel like this symbolism is becoming more evident and could eventually have an important role for the conclusion of the story.

Rather than a theory, this post is more of an analysis (and compilation) of the connection both Nami and Sanji share with the element Sky.

I will be writing two more posts: one listing every content I found about sky (specially the ones connected to Sanji and Nami) while reading the manga, I will also include some video analysis/theories I found talking about that as well (those theories will be properly linked); and the other will be my conclusion as to what all of that information could mean.

For now, I do have a feeling about what it is, but I decided to read the manga from the beginning first to see what else I could find before making up my mind.

So:

In Part 1: I will bring up every symbolism evident in Nami's and Sanji's storylines, what the Sky itself symbolises to the Universe of One Piece and what it could mean to Nami and Sanji.

In Part 2: I will make a compilation of every manga panel that talks about the Sky (it will be edited as I read through the manga).

Part 3 (last part) will be my theory on what the Sky Symbolism could imply to Nami's and Sanji's storylines and the end of One Piece - this part will take a while to be finished, as I plan to read the entire manga first.

WARNING: Although I intend to write about the characters individualy, I will make romantic connections between them as well. So you have been warned it will contain SaNami.

So let's get started.

So the first thing that is interesting to note (and everyone already knows) is that every important character in One Piece, especilally the Straw Hats, are linked to multiple symbols at the same time; be it through their names, the Devil Fruit they ate, their roles in the crew, or even the numbers assingned to them, Oda made sure that a lot of his characters had a rich background, and that is one of the reasons that we love them so much.

There is even a One Peace Wiki page that registers every symbolisms Oda created and talked about in his SBSs. And we do know that there are even more hidden symbols he leaves around the manga and color spreads and doesn't talk about or avoids to answer when questioned.

For the sake of keeping this part short, I will use three of the Straw Hats as examples (besides Sanji and Nami).

Luffy:

Monkey (SBS) and Tiger (colorspreads)

Red (SBS)

Numbers 1 and 5 (Go) 6 (Mu) (SBS)

Sun (God Nika) (Manga and colorspreads)

Crown (Pirate King)

Sunflower (SBS)

Meat (manga, SBS)

Zoro:

Tiger and Shark (SBS)

Green (SBS)

Swords/Steel (SBS)

Hell (King of Hell)

Number 2 (SBS)

Beast (manga)

Demon (manga)

Onigiri (SBS and manga)

Earth (his mother's name means Earth SBS)

Robin:

Flower - Hana Hana no Mi (manga)

Purple (SBS)

Demon (manga)

Number 7 (Na), 8 (Ha), 2 (Ni), 6 (Ro) (SBS)

Crane, Falcon (SBS)

There is, of course, many other elements related to each of these three characters alone, but let's keep it short.

This means that Oda does give a lot of attention to those details, and it might not be far-fetched to analyse the symbols he linked to both Nami and Sanji in the manga, colorspreads and SBSs, with more depth.

Now, as a shipper, I am biased to say that this could imply a romantic connection, but even if it doesn't, I feel like there is something between these two that are worth giving a look, both for them individualy and together.

So let's see the symbols Oda assigned them in SBSs, Color Spreads, and Manga (that we know of):

Nami:

Numbers 7 (Na) 3 (Mi)

Oranges (manga and SBS)

Crown (colorspreads)

Weather and Climate (manga colorspread)

Cat (SBS)

Lightning (SBS and manga)

Zeus/Clouds (manga)

Waves and sea (her name means waves)

Mermaid (past with fishmen pirates and her mysterious connection to Otohime) (manga and SBS)

Sunflower (manga)

Lions (manga and colorspread)

Money and Treasures (manga and SBS)

Sweden (SBS)

Sanji:

Numbers 5 (Ko) 9 (ku) 3 (San) 2 (Ji) (SBS)

Three o'clock (his name) (manga and colorspread)

Duck and Bighorn Sheep (SBS)

Cigarrette (manga and SBS)

Mermaid (lighter and hyper fixation with mermaids) (manga and colorspread)

Blue (SBS)

Sky (his move Sky Walk and his mother's name literally meaning Sky) (manga)

Fish and seafood (SBS)

Sea (All Blue) (Manga)

(Stealth) Black (Leg) (manga)

Fire (manga)

Demons (Ifit/Diable) (manga)

Spirals and Devil Fruits (manga and SBS)

Science and Technology (manga and SBS)

France (SBS)

Spirals (manga)

I think we can already see how many of the elements of the list they do share in common. In this post, however, let's focus on the sky elements.

Lightning

Zeus/Clouds

Weather and Climate

Sky

Down below, there are image examples in the manga and colorspreads.

So, why is it that I am focusing on that? I mean, why do I think it's worth pointing this out?

Because throughout the manga, Oda has made it clear how important the Sky is, along with three other symbols: Earth, Sea, and now the Sun.

I think you know where I am going at.

So, it's a known fact that Oda used the name of three Greek/Roman Gods (who also happen to be the name of planets) to name the Ancient Weapons.

And it has already been brought up that weirdly, Luffy's three strongest nakamas (after himself) are connected to each of these symbols.

Pluton-> Pluto (Roman name)-> Hades (Greek name)-> God of the Underworld (Hell)-> Underworld->Earth-> Zoro: King of Hell, son of the Earth (Tera) - Zoro is also connected to Wano, where Pluton is located

Poseidon-> Neptune (Roman name)-> Poseidon: God of the Seas-> Sea-> Jimbei: First son of the Sea - Jimbei is from Fishmen Island where Poseidon is located.

Uranus-> Father Sky, the personification of the Heavens (before Zeus took over)-> Sky-> Sora Vinsmoke and Sora, Warrior of the Sea -> Sanji

(Weirdly, besides Black Leg and Mr. Prince, Sanji doesn't have any other alias, much less one connected to the Sky... yet?)

(Also, since Jimbei and Zoro came from the places where the Ancient Weapons are Hidden... could it be that the Kingdom of Germa once ruled over the place where Uranus is hidden? Maybe they also had a previous connection to the Ancient Kingdom? Hmmm, theory for another post)

BUT it's important to coment that we were only able to make these connections NOW, after 26 years, because only now Oda has revealed: Zoro's mother's name, Sanji's mother's name, the name of the last Ancient Weapon, and that Jimbei (Knight of the Sea) would be part of the crew.

So why only now?

To me, it's because One Piece is coming to an end, and these elements will play a pivotal role in the Great War to come.

Following that idea, in my opinion, this also means that the connection Sanji and Nami share with the Sky is not only important to their storylines but also to the conclusion of One Piece.

And, because Oda is finally revealing more about the Void Century and the main character's backstories, only now are we able to connect the previously missing dots.

So what about Nami?

Now, if Sanji alone had a parallel to the god of Heavens, the post would end here haha but weirdly Nami also is deeply connected to it, just as much as Sanji, maybe even more than him, actually. However, we still don't know much about her... yet, so we only have small crumbs to make this relation.

First, Nami's past is still a mistery to this day. Even after 26 years of One Piece, the only thing we do know about her is that Nami and Nojiko were found in a village called Oykot.

And I have this feeling that it's because Nami's past will be a huge spoiler to the end of One Piece and is directly connected to the Void Century. I will not get into much detail as to why here because I do plan to make a post focusing only on Nami and the weird hints Oda left about her in the manga and colorspreads.

So back to her connection with the Sky.

Before, Nami's connection was related to the weather and the seas (weirdly, Sanji also has a big connection to the Seas) but, recently she acquired Zeus and, if we look back to her story throughout the manga, we can see that there were also hints of her connection with the sky through her abnormal knowledge and love for navigation (they were just a little bit hidden).

As we know, Zeus is also the God of the Sky and Lightning and... wait, what is his Roman name again? Jupiter (hold that thought)

Another interesting connection Nami has with the Sky is where she was sent by Kuma to train: a sky island named Wetheria, where wizards studied the science of weather. Isn't it weird that it's a Sky Island that has one of the most advanced knowledge in weather whilst Nami has always had this pull to learn about it ever since she was a child?

And let's not mention how in the Skypea arc, Nami was the only "disciple" to almost follow Enel to the moon (of course, she was only trying to survive and not be killed by him, but the fact that Oda chose Nami to be in that situation might be an indicative of something).

Now that we saw how the Sky is connected to Sanji and Nami individualy, let's bring up some interesting moments in the manga where the Sun/Sea/Earth/Sky symbolism appears, besides the Ancient Weapons.

There is one that caught my attention the most (although the Sea does not make part of it):

Big Mom.

More specifically, the three weapons of her own choice and creation. Who are they?

Well, we have:

Prometheus (Sun/Fire)

Napoleon (Hat/Sword)

To me, they are worth taking a look since it's very strange that Oda keeps on bringing up these same symbols again and again.

Zeus (Cloud/Lightining)

Now, I know that many might not agree with me in this, but, in my opinion, those weapons are again a direct parallel to some of the Straw Hats, but not in the way you think.

So...

Prometheus (Sun/Fire)-> Luffy (Sun God Nika)

Napoleon (Hat/Sword)-> Zoro (Swordsman)

Zeus (Cloud/Lightining)->???

You might ask: Why did I put the question marks for Zeus and not just write Sanji's name? I think that, by now, you can guess why...

My first choice would have been Sanji because, since they are seen as weapons, the only one left to symbolise Zeus would be him - and I do think they fit in many levels (the reason being what I already listed above)... but not all. Why?

Because Zeus is also connected to Nami. And that's where my confusion started, and I didn't really know who to assign Zeus to.

It gets even more suspicious if you notice that Nami got Zeus first during the Whole Cake Arc, where we also learn Sanji's mother's name, creating another big connection between him and the Sky.

And there is, of course, the servant moment (LMAO)

Which kinda implies that Sanji is also a servant for Nami, like Zeus...? Lol

Anyway, because of the Nami/Zeus interactions in Whole Cake and Nami's conection to weather and thunder clouds, we can imply that Nami would be a much better candidate to the Sky symbolism in relation to Big Mom's trio weapons and, maybe, to what it could imply to the end of One Piece.

Until Wano.

That's where I got even more confused???

You see, to everyone who read/watched Wano knows there were moments dedicated to the development of Nami and Zeus's relationship.

Zeus abandoned her because of how scared he was of Big Mom, but then he (kinda) overcame his fear and chose to be with Nami. That's another parallel he has with Nami since, in Oniagshima's arc, Nami also overcame her fears, and even at the threat of death, acknowledged that Luffy would be the Pirate King.

To me, the message Oda wanted to give was how sometimes we must overcome our fears to stand for what is right and for what we believe in, no matter the odds.

So, Nami->Zeus, right?

Well, kinda. Because in this same arc, Big Mom (with Prometheus' suggestion) had the great idea of creating a substitute for Zeus.

And, alas, we have Hera, whose name is based on ZEUS'S WIFE?

The interesting thing here is that it was Prometheus who asked for a girlfriend, but then Big Mom (and Oda) decided to give a name that connected her and Zeus romantically?? Lol

So now, we have a female cloud, and she has the same powers as Zeus, so... does it mean Hera symbolizes Nami? The thing here is, Hera's design has a... very weird resemblance... to Sanji (?????)

(I know I'm reaching, but hear me out...)

First, if we look at the manga, she has the right eye covered by a mass of clouds that resemble hair, and she also has some swirls in her "hair" to resemble curls. Until here, it could just be a coincidence... but then we find out she is also blonde?? What??

And it gets me thinking about the entire Prometheus/Zeus/Hera dynamic as well.

In short: Prometheus doesn't like Zeus. Zeus betrays Big Mom. Prometheus wants a girlfriend, so he incentives Big Mom to get rid of Zeus permanently so she can create a girlfriend for him. Big Mom creates a substitute for Zeus, named Hera (who is the wife of Zeus in Greek mythology, but has NO RELATION to the Sky besides being married to the God of the Sky himself). Diferent from her God counterpart, Hera does not have any romantic interest.

Could this be some type of foreshadowing? If it is, of what?

Maybe Sanji or Nami will leave/betray the crew (it's funny because, in a way, both of them already did)?

Why did Big Mom decide to create those weapons exactly? And what is the point of this entire stoyline anyway?

Those are just some questions that got me thinking, but the important thing to take away from this is that now, we have four weapons, while two of them have the exact same function, although one was cast aside... so:

Prometheus (Sun/Fire)-> Luffy (Sun God Nika)

Napoleon (Hat/Sword)-> Zoro (Swordsman)

Zeus (Cloud/Lightining)-> Nami (?)

Hera (Cloud/Lightning)-> Sanji (?)

Now, even if we take away the romantic connotations in the Hera/Zeus dynamic (only because of their names, and it doesn't really mean that much), it doesn't take away the fact that Oda created two weapons with the same function.

-

Another group connected with the Sky (and that could relate to Sanji) in the World of One Piece are the Gorosei.

A lot of people already noticed the weird similarity that the Swordsman and the Blond Goroseis have with the Wings of the King of the Pirates and that it could imply that, in the near future, Zoro and Sanji, would face them.

The funny thing, however, is that, when we finally found out the name of the first Gorosei (Saturn), a lot of people theorized that the Blond Gorosei could be Venus (because he looked like Sanji's relative and Sanji is a very... loving individual) and the Swordsman could be Mars (because he is always carrying swords).

And those were on point theories, in my opinion (I also believed that was the case), but Oda had other plans.

Shortly after, he revealed their names and... the Swordsman Gorosei is the one actually connected with Venus. And he is responsible for Finances (??)

However, these reveals still create interesting connections with both Sanji and Zoro, since Venus there is a theory that Venus stole the Gold from Wano (link to the theory) which is where is supposedly from and the Blond Gorosei, Sheperd, controls agriculture (food).

But what I want to highlight here is the planet that represents Sheperd: Jupiter.

As I mentioned before, Jupiter is the Roman counterpart of Zeus. So if he really ends up being Sanji's rival... he will have another connection with the Sky.

Now, after all of these interesting hints, what could they mean?

I honestly am not sure yet (lol)and that is one of the reasons I decided to first read the entire manga and write 2 more parts for this Analysis so I can have more data and a better understanding of the meaning of the Sky for One Piece as a whole.

So in part 2, I will collect every single moment related to Sanji/Nami/Sky I find in the manga.

Once it's done, in part 3 I will be writing my conclusion and theory about what it could mean to the One Piece storyline.

Phew! That's it for now! It got longer than I expected! I'd love to know your opinions on the matter, and if you ever find something interesting relating to the Sky in One Piece, feel free to contact me!

[a-dumbass-jester]

Witch’s heart x The Magnus archives au!!!

Claire - Vast

Ashe - Spiral

Wilardo - End/Hunt

Sirius - Eye

Noel - Flesh

Charlotte - Slaughter

Zizel - Stranger

Lime - Desolation

Rouge - Web

!!Also quick disclaimer it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been into wh so some things might be incorrect!!

First off idk if this is just wh but with the entities of if it’s entirely tma’s world. It’s probably going to be the first tho

Also all the demons are human(or at least used to be)

Also for non tma meowtuals here is a chart of the entities and here is a video essays for them(it’s unfinished, there’s still two entities to cover) i also linked the wiki pages for the entities mentioned, if anyone is interested (I’d recommend listening to the actual thing but if you don’t wanna watch 200 episodes to understand this, here you go)

- Vast!claire was actually the second to last one I came up with. If Wilardo’s still immortal/ 500 years old she realizes that in a few hundred years no one will remember her and that she doesn’t matter in the big picture. And while initially it scares her later she instead finds comfort in it. She becomes a lot like Simon. Becoming a very “live in the moment” kind of person. “I don’t matter in the long run why not have some fun”. I can also she her having fun with the falling thing. There’s a hc I remember seeing for the vast avatars (specifically Simon) where their eyes changed depending on the sky. Claire already has blue eyes, just add clouds or stars!!

- Spiral!Ashe because they have a lot if similar themes. Spiraling mental health, hallucinations, fake friends, manipulation. I can see him trying to bring his family back and accidentally sacrificing himself to it instead. Also it’s avatars are typically very tall and thin(and colorful). I also like the idea of Ashe being a surreally tall, thin and colorful hallucinatory headache. The spiral has a fake place called “Sannikov Land” and I can imagine him saying he’s from there

- End/Hunt!Wilardo. Idk witch one to pick so I’ll explore both. The end is mainly if he’s still immortal. If he is, he finds comfort in it and that the end will take all eventually. It might be centuries but it will take him and he will finally get to rest. I also rlly like him with the ends powers. Like the dreams of peoples deaths, THE ROOTS (That show how people DIE!!!)

For the hunt, it’s mainly if gramps is alive (and their both mortal) mainly because I’m assigning them to Julia and Trevor. At some point them meet probably dealing with the end or another entity and end up sticking with each other in a similar was Julia and Trevor did (idk how they met I just assume that’s what happened), and both of them end up becoming part of the hunt

- Eye!Sirius, idk how he got marked but I assume maybe messing with Dorothy’s stuff or a leitner. I think the wanting to know, see and understand thing fits with Sirius very well. I can see him using it to call bs on some stuff Ashe says. Like going back to “Sannikov Land”, Ashe says he’s from there and Sirius is like “no your not. That’s not a real place.”

- Flesh!Noel is the last and most difficult one I came up with. It’s also a bit weak but it fits the best. Originally I chose it because of the flesh monster he becomes. But the rest of it kinda fits as well. The flesh is strongly associated with dysphoria, and even if you don’t hc him as trans that would still be a lot of dysphoria he would of had as a kid. I also rlly like Noel having a more animalistic fear. He became an avatar when he was cursed in cannon

- Slaughter!Charlotte. It seems a bit easy giving the war criminal the war and (sudden) violence one but anyway. She’s probably still (mostly) human. just a bit more (openly) violent, and quick to do so. The slaughter is also strongly associated with music, specifically air(?) instruments so I like to picture her walking onto a battlefield (especially no man’s land) in an actual war/military uniform playing the flute or something.

- Stranger!Zizel. This one was kinda a bias because the stranger’s my favorite(and I love Zizel) but I also LOVE uncanny valley doll Zizel. Idk if she was ever human because the stranger seems to prefer manifestations over human avatars. And either would work so idk. I feel like it adds to the lack of identity tbh. But anyways uncanny valley doll Zizel <3<3

- Desolation!Lime. This one was probably one of, it not the easiest to assign. From the fire themes, to the destruction of others and their lives. I can see her with a similar role to Jude Perry. She encounters the cult of the lightless flame sometime in her 20s (specifically 25 because that’s when she becomes a demon in cannon) and falling in love with their beliefs. I can see Lime following Jude’s story in general. She joins the lightless flame in the 80s/90s and after becoming an avatar she becomes made of wax. I like to imagine her and Sirius as that one scene where Jude and Jon meet. They make a deal where Lime would tell Sirius (pre eye) something important but they have to shake hands, lime, made of wax, burns his hand.

I can also see Matty being part of the lightless flame. Like the burning down Ashes house and destroying his life is something they would do

- Web!Rouge. I feel like control theming fits well with Rouge. If anyone were to create structured plans on how things could go I feel like I would be her. The web also has stong themes of addiction, puppets, and that your actions aren’t rlly yours, which I can see fitting. I also rlly like a spider like Rouge. Like her with multiple spider like eyes and arms. The web is also called “the mother of puppets” which I can see fitting her. I also sometimes see people draw her with a web on her jacket so

Other side stuff (world building kinda)

I’m rlly glad I assigned Web and Desolation to Rouge and Lime because their known to not get along. They constantly clash because of the Web’s intricate plans and the Desolation’s destructive chaos

I feel like do to how close Noel is with Rouge, he was also marked by the web. Not a very strong mark but still a mark.

Dorothy plays a similar role to Gertrude because she deserves to be an absolute badass. She’s spent a good majority of her life fighting the entities, stoping rituals, etc.

Fiona and Sirius’s parents were still accused of being “witchs” and burned but this time the main motivator was that Nicholas would accuse people of serving an entity

Speaking of Fiona Elford I’m giving her Fiona Law’s role because they share a name

(Also I would link Fiona Law’s wiki page but she doesn’t have one apparently)

Fiona would pass out when she got scared which helped her survive against the entities. She would be unconscious so they couldn’t feed off of her fear, and left her alone

Giving more to the role Gramps is going to play, Trevor is a vampire hunter, so Gramps would probably take that role, and and fell victim to the hunt first and later finds Wilardo.

That’s basically it!!

I don’t have much for plot. It’s jut wh characters in tma so I assume it’s like just that plot

Wait actually they still meet in the mansion but it’s connected to the entities

There’s no murder or timelines but it was genuinely the rain!

The entities mess with them for a bit and are let out a bit later either before the change or as it’s happening

The five of them wonder a apocalyptic world where the entities have taken over (and maybe meet the “demons” again)

That’s genuinely it!!! If anyone has any ideas, please say something, I’d love to talk more about this

Thank you for reading!!

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

In response to my BBCF Lobby Sprite Edits, @cavewulf added the following;

Did you know the lobby sprites design first appeared in a game called magical beat, which had a collab with blazblue

I actually did not know about that! Though, inspired by your comment, I decided to do some digging. The trailer I found (posted by Arcade Belgium) even teases at the BlazBlue cameos, giving us a brief glance at Carl and Nirvana while previewing the game's Character Select menu, and showing silhouettes of Ragna and Noel toward the end of the video!

Magical Beat was released for the Playstation Vita in 2014, published by Arc System Works, just like BlazBlue. I did notice it as an option on the ArcSys games poll that ended just recently!

Magical Beat was (or is, I guess, one could still play it, though it's certainly faded from the public eye) a combination drop-down puzzle game and rhythm game. A fun thing I noticed was that levels in Magical Beat are comprised of ten stages, just like the Arcade modes in some of the BB games (though I think it was eight in Chronophantasma?)

The world of the game does seem to have some kind of story, taking place after the extinction of humanity. The three human-looking characters that seem to be the face of the game are actually "humanoid cyborgs" from some great war in the past... a character archetype that ArcSys seems to really enjoy using.

In addition to the game's original soundtrack, courtesy of Kikuo-san, the game featured 20 songs from the BlazBlue series, and 15 from XBlaze! The songs were released as DLC in sets of six (on average) that would also unlock an associated cameo character to play as!

The game also featured a small selection of music from the Guilty Gear series, but no Guilty Gear characters were featured.

Another interesting note; while I was working on this post, I noticed the Makoto sprite from Magical Beat looks a lot different than the sprite I used for my edits. Here's a comparison;

Magical Beat Makoto --

Makoto available on the Librarium Wiki, used for my edits --

Note how much more red the Makoto sprite here is! The difference in eye color! The Magical Beat Makoto also features slightly more detail, with a hair shine at the back of her head that our Makoto lacks. What's up with that??? I'm aware that the CF sprites have multiple alternative color palettes people can use, but it seems strange that out of all the sprites uploaded to the wiki, only Makoto's page lacks her original palette.

I decided to boot up my copy of Central Fiction to see figure out whether or not this was her default palette, but I had trouble getting online- I have CF on the Switch, so I have to deal with Nintendo's finickiness.

I reached out to Carl @goofballproximitysurveyor for some help, and it provided the following screenshot of Makoto's CF sprite --

Which is the same as her Magical Beat sprite! Aside from the fact that she's still missing her hair highlight thing. I wonder why that was changed. I haven't noticed it with any of the other CF sprites.

Welp. Moving on from that mystery.

I never did play Magical Beat myself. This was supposed to be a Magical Beat post, though, before I got sidetracked. If any of you did play the game and have memories of it, please share them!

[prism-empurress]

I have 8 monster high dolls, most of them are gifts, a couple of these I was really itching for. It all started with Twyla. then my dad said she needed a sister, so he got Toralei for me. then the others came! July was a fun month for me last year. So now I have what I jokingly call a cult.

They're ontop of what I call my treasure shelf, and every so often, I pick them up, admire their details...and put them back.

first up is Abbey Bominable, who I got at a christmas party at my mental health group! I was SO. STOKED. When I pulled off the wrapping paper and saw her. I took her out right away and got some pics with her. I love her snowy/winter theme, her fangs, her COLOR SCHEME, and the iridescence on her split pants. I'm not fully caught up on anybody's LORE, but I imagine that even though she's tall, she's very polite...and makes snowcones for everyone. She often...falls down when I bump my desk though. Next, I have Lagoona Blue. I love the pink and blue on her, I think she looks really nice with pink. I'm a huge lover of the water element, so one day I asked if I could get her. Well, some weeks later, I got a delivery...and there she was! I love her freckles, her scales, her fins, HER SHOES... she did need some conditioning though LOL but she's good now. I imagine she has the homestuck fishy typing quirk, to be honest, like, she types with glubs. But she is FIERCE and she knows it!

Next is the iconic and ever popular Draculaura, her charms have not failed on me. Stunning, iconic, just about everybody knows her, even if they don't know monster high. Even though there's a core refresh, I'm not going to get a double. Her stockings and hells, OH MY GOD, and she has fangs as well! I love her bat earrings, her split hair colors, and her accessories are really humorous. Very good company, but she hisses when exposed to direct sunlight. You wanna know how she applies her sunscreen? She squirts it into a painting pan, gets a roller, and just gets it completely saturated before she saturates herself in the concoction. Next is Toralei. My dad picked really good, getting her for me. Unfortunately, her wiki page states her being a bully, but I said I'd teach her to be nice, lol. She comes with beautiful accessories, including a mic stand, she has an actual tail that I use to keep her hair staying put, and i LOVE her clothing. She really is a rockstar. Uhmmm apparently she's getting a redemption arc in g3?? I hope she's able to use her current assets and doesn't get toned down as the g3 series progresses.

Next is Clawdeen, and I got her out of her packaging when I was in a discord call; I stated that I was doing surgery. Unfortunately she did have to get her hair cut, the ends were all matted, I'm not sure what caused that. But she still has her curls! I tried to paint her nails at some point...and they look okay. She's definitely the fierce one of the group, with a zero tolerance policy for bullying or harassment. If you start something, she will be on your tail to make you own up to it and apologize. Gorgeous, I love her outfit and accessories, she even has FRECKLES which I squealed over. She's also a member of the Fang Gang.

Next is the eclectic and elecrifying Frankie! They're definitely my favorite of the boo crew? Ghoul squad?? please correct me. I love how energetic and yearning they are. They were also a surprise gift for me. I love their decorated metal leg, their earrings, their HAIR IS SO ICONIC! And I love that they're canonically nonbinary/go by they/them. They're weird...just like me! And I bet they're constantly thinking outside of the box...of which they'd respond with "what box?". Of course I had to get their girlfriend next! Cleo De Nile. A bit snooty, but I guess it comes with being absolutely spoiled. Fabulous without a doubt...and she has shades, just like Frankie does! I love that one leg is different than the other, I'm unsure if that's her skin, or bandages. Fabulous, and will help you be fabulous as well. She'll teach you how to strut, too. Last up is absolutely my favorite, Twyla. Twyla...just needed to be in my life. I had to have her. She's purple, and autistic, just like I am! Her hair needed some touching up when I first got her, but now she's all good. She's the sweetest little thing, and I think she has my favorite design. Her design elements show "I'm a shadow monster". She also has eyes that glow in the dark! I tried painting her nails too...green to stand her out a bit more. She's just...adorable! I love her so much.

[adapokib]

posting instead of doing work.

this is a genshin oc rahh

Her name is Itri, meaning 'star' in Tamazight (one of the indigenous languages of north Africa)

I play genshin, and one thing I love most is over detailed characters. That's one thing genshin has. (Maybe not on the surface, but I am a huge fan of Ashikai's in-depth analysis videos on genshin characters and lore on YouTube and she explains every innerworkings of little bits and pieces and it just FUELS my brain)

Since the Fontaine archon quests have ended and we are coming close to the release of Natlan, the city of fire and war. I had a few theories on what the characters would be like, so I turned them into original characters!

This character here, Itri, is actually the 3rd oc I've made during this brain rot however she's the only one I have a digital drawing of. I will be drawing my other characters in the future!!

This sketch will also be colored and rendered hopefully. (I just don't know what type of shoes to give her I'm sobbing. I hate designing shoes)

I want to start by explaining the species of these ocs.

At the end of the Fontaine archon quest when talking to Neuvelette, the hydro dragon sovereign, he tells us that Natlan is also known for being the nation of dragons. these dragons are not like himself, but they have been intergraded into society for generations and live amongst the humans.

I feel like I can say with some certainty that they will look similar to Bailu or Dan-Hung in his dragon form (I've never played it), with the horns and tails/ draconic features slapped onto human bodies.

at this point I already had a million ideas on what to do for ocs. So I did some digging. The genshin fandom wiki page for 'Natlan' says it "seems to be inspired by the Pre-Columbian civilizations of Latin America as well as West African cultures." also the name 'Natlan' is possibly takes from the word 'Aztlan' the "legendary homeland of the Aztecz", or translated to "place near where there is abundance [of] Na" in Nahuatl.

I wont go into Itri's character too much now, because I feel like the other 2 give so much needed context.

so in my next post about these characters it will feature probably either Akicita or Itzel!

thank you for readingg

[fandomfriend]

please help me find a story

so I've been looking for a specific creepypasta for years now. Like, going on 7 or so years now? I remember a lot of details I swear were part of the story, but its been long enough that I suggest taking the details with a grain of salt. It's possible I may be mixing up certain things.

I found it on a creepy pasta wiki of some kind. The site had a kinda grey and red color scheme. It also had a creepy pasta of the month section? Or maybe an author of the month? I found it in a section like that, and I think I remember the authors name being umbrello? Though that may be unrelated.

The story was really really long. Like, it would take several minutes to scroll through a whole page, and it was multiple pages long. I think it was about 17 pages long?

The story was set in a mall before Christmas time. It mentioned that in one wall of the mall was this mural of an old man that was noted as being really creepy. The MC was a guy who worked in the mall, and the store he worked in was near a candle shop? Because it was near Christmas there were a lot of elf on the shelf dolls around the store.

The horror part happens when the guy gets dragged into a game with some kind of evil entity haunting the mural, I think. The entity would send out monsters in the store that would hunt this guy and the customers, especially his friends I think? If the monsters successfully stole someone from the store and dragged them into the mural, the entity won that round. The guy could only fight them off using things he found in the store, anything he took from outside would disappear.

The elf on the shelf dolls were also kinda haunted in some way? They acted as the referees of each round. They would wipe the customers memories after each round, and get rid of any evidence of the monster attacks. I think they also punished any cheating somehow?

The guy spent the first few rounds struggling to figure out the rules and fight the creatures. But I do think he won once or twice? He did end up losing too many times eventually, and the old man mural entity was going to keep his the people it stole forever.

But the guy made a deal or something and was able to get into the entities world to fight it himself, and if I remember right he beat it? My memory is pretty fuzzy on that part.

If I recall correctly, he mentioned a lot through flashbacks and stuff that his mom was a writer of some kind when he was a kid. He mentioned that her story had a character who fought monsters too. And during the final fight (I think), he finally remembered how the character in his moms stories beat the monsters. It had something to do with peppermint I think? Which was obviously everywhere because it was almost Christmas.

I think the story ended with mentioning the old man was gone from the mural, and it generally had a happy or positive feeling ending? I remember that as being part of why it stuck with me, I think.

Ive looked for every combination of Christmas, creepypasta, old man mural story, any key words I could think of. I even tried the wayback machine once, just in case I was right about the author name and they just deleted the story or something.

Its been driving me nuts that I can't find this story and I don't know anyone else who can confirm it's existence. If anyone else on here has read it and knows what I'm talking about, please tell me, or share a link. I want to know I didn't just dream up a huge story as a middleschooler somehow.

[bread-squid-uwu]

are you the one who keeps adding "love interest" into the dante/travis wiki pages and changing characters skin complexion description pages to say they're darker than they canonically are?

if so, i've reviewed these edits, and some text added contains misinformation, poor wording, and strong bias against katelyn/travlyn and that's the reason why some edits have been reverted and/or adjusted. i apologize if that caused any personal harm to you (/calm /trying not to sound aggressive here)

I'm not, however I have fixed Aphmaus from saying she was "lightly tanned" because that is blatantly not true. She is a darker tone.

I don't put my opinions into the wiki, thats not the place for writing with a bias. Which is something that happens there a lot, for example unwarranted character negativity and ship negativity such as Travlyn and also Travis or Aaron. though I don't edit Aarons wiki, only Dante and Travis.

I don't agree with putting personal thought into places for direct canon. Its unhelpful, and annoying that people take the wikis and use them for that. Although I dislike Travlyn myself, its beyond dumb to force that into places for strict canon.

However I do think its important to write in her mistreatment of him and their scene in season two, and how it was connected to Travis no longer flirting - and Katelyn going forward to control her anger. Which was a section I added a long time ago, though not using any harsh language or opinionated language. I believe that section has been changed from my original wording, which isn't ideal at all.

I rewrote the WAF area to fix it into saying possession instead of "split personality" which was absolutely necessary, and added the mobility aid parts. The entire reason that I started editing it was because the wiki had referred to Michael taking control over him as some "split personality disorder" which was disgustingly wrong.

I also added the smaller parts about Travis not actually being as innocent during high school, and Dante knowing him since middle school. All canon information and things shown on screen. I don't know if these parts are still there.

My last edits were absolute months ago, before this blog was created. I made posts back before my original blog was terminated explaining these changes and such, and my apologies for no longer having access to those posts.

I also added to his appearance description, because it had completely left out the color of his pants and shoes, which was honestly just a personal bother because I have some visual struggles and believe that any and all descriptions should include the most basic information they can.

Again, my last edits were at the very very beginning of this year, and this is genuinely on me for not keeping up with the wikis. They're an odd place that receives many weird or unwanted changes, such as Zanes name being changed or people putting two characters as love interests who weren't.

I'm simply upset at losing so much work because I'm not able to fix it until I get a new laptop or my pain flare up ends and I can use my hands for longer than half an hour. MyStreet is very important to me, it's my primary special interest. Travis and Dante are also very important to me, I'm not very sure why. I was only expressing this sort of frustration because it was overwhelming to me finding my work gone, I'm autistic and struggle greatly with being mentally well off after finding out things I do are ultimately going to disappear in the end.

EDIT: My original wording is gone, the wiki now says the word "abuse" when talking about Travlyn and Season 2, this was not my work. So I was right when saying it's been changed from what was originally written. However the part during the "Personality" section talking about the same thing, has not been changed from my original edits. For some weird reason, his shoe color was also removed?

[cleocatrablossy]

So I went to the warriors wiki to try and find out what color collar Ebonyclaw has. And despite it not being the best source and this seemingly having been fixed since, I found something interesting:

Pages 27 and 28 seems to be her first appearance EVER

And I know it’s listed as a mistake but I will take whatever chance I get to make a projection headcanon about one of my favorite characters

So just, for a moment- hear me out:

Enby Ebonyclaw that uses all pronouns.

For fucks sake, her being a daylight Warrior could even fit into this with self image issues trying to be tougher and all to try and seem less like a she-cat but still having to go back on that at the end of the day around family because twolegs can’t understand cats they can’t tell them and it’s an allegory for being closeted. And then when SkyClan leaves he’s been a day-light warrior for so long she’s found a way to be comfortable in their life in the twoleg place and essentially ‘come out’ to the neighboring cats and maybe a few corrections to two-legs misgendering via batting at hands(as with some mangas it appears that some cats who live around people in warriors can understand people so not impossible). So he feels comfortable staying behind and is out at home and still promises to stay close to their friends who helped them even after they had to separate.

Also, the collar is absolutely an allegory for self image issues and finding a way to fix them. Ebonyclaw probably had to take out the moss at home and once SkyClan leaves probably still wears stuff around the collar at home and it’s sorta like transitioning.