#it is a lot different from the first version

[sunshinemakesmesleepy]

I’m not the same person I was four years ago. Not even by a long shot. The jump from 17 to 21 was huge. Not even from a stand point of life experience or emotional intelligence, but before I got to college, i was always on guard. I never felt safe, and I never really was safe. I was sick and I was paranoid, I was easily started and angry and emotional but also incredibly repressed. I was a shell of who I was and yet some how that shell managed to craft meaningful and life saving friendships and connections that got me out of the death trap of a house I grew up in, and out of the clutches of two incredibly toxic and flawed parents who maybe once wanted the best for me, but quickly realized that they weren’t willing to put in the effort to help me achieve that. And so up until I escaped, I wasn’t me. I was whoever I needed to be to survive. I look back at pictures and old journals and even art, and I don’t recognize myself. I see glimpses but it’s all incredibly ingenuine. And yet people learned to love that version of me, outside of my house hold, and so in a way that version became real, to an extent. But it wasn’t vulnerable. Even if it was honest at times. It was shallow and impenetrable and ever changing. It wasn’t me. It was a tool I used to keep me, the real me, safe. And I learned to live like that. To even enjoy it in the moments that could be afforded

After my brief stint in college, after dropping out and cutting my remaining bio parent off, after leaving and starting over and rebuilding myself from scratch, I look like an evolution of a version of my younger self I had to leave behind in the name or survival. I show my new friends and my new community pictures of how I was back then, as a teenager, at 17, and they don’t recognize me. They’re horrified. They say I look sick and sad and miserable. They can’t find the light in my eyes. They ask why my smile never shows my teeth. I say I was never happy enough to get there genuinely. And I never got the hang of trying to fake it. I tell stories of who I was and what I did and they furrow their brows because it goes against everything they see in me now. The bright smiles, the flash of teeth, the bleach blonde hair, thick and curly round my head like a halo. They look at my heat straightened dark hair, carelessly cut into a blunt bob, patchy on the sides from a once unknown disease, and frown. I ask if they think they could have loved me back then, and they say of course. But I was easier to love in some ways, as a soft spoken terrified teenager, uncomplicated and unexceptional. Now I am a full person, with complexity and insight, and so it feels like if they could love me like this, as flawed and honest, of course they could love the palatable simple quiet version of me that once was.

But to walk back into the embrace of people who’ve only loved you as you stand behind a mask. Who say through the cracks of your armor much less than what you they thought. Who don’t know the depth of your genuine happiness and joy, your real smile, the way you talk for hours without fear. To do that feels more so like the potential for rejection, that the preference of a fake mask versus the real thing, might just be the thing that destroys you. And when you’ve walked the line of life an death too many times to count, that’s saying a lot.

But then my sister, seeing me in person for the first time in years tells me that I look healthy. Radiant. Like the sun. My brother too. My old friends, mothers and fathers who took me in as their own. Over and over again, they say: you look bright you seem happy I am so glad you are not suffering as you once were let me get to know you now; and while I am afraid of their rejection, their distaste in my future honesty, I am even more so enamored with their compassion and their kindness and desire to get to know me now as I am.

I came back different, but I didn’t come back wrong. I am not who I once was but that is okay. My soul at its core has not changed and those who know that hold me close and tell me they love me as I am, no matter what version no matter what time, no matter who I will be or who I have been, they will still love me because I am still myself. Even if I am different, even if part of it is nothing more than a lie, that lie is still a part of me and so it still means something. Even if it’s false. Fabricated. A means to an end. Protection from outside forces.

Let me get to know you now. I promise I will love you despite anything.

And against my better judgement I agree. And I never regret it

"You don't know me. I'm not the same person anymore."

"That's okay. I'll get to know you again."

[writingwisterias]

how would the different eras Leon be if, when meeting for the first time, the reader already has a child (newborn/very very young) from a past relationship? how would he act and adapt to the situation??

I love this idea!! 💓 I need more Dilf Leon....

Warnings: None

Afab!Fem!Reader

RE2:

Whenever he likes it or not kids absolutely love him

Its only natural that your child and him just click together creating almost a best friend relationship instead of a parental one

Leon doesn't really feel like he can fill this gap for them at this age, there's lots that he has to learn still etc

However, his main focus is on you and ensuring that you feel supported when you might not

If down the line your child starts to refer to him as their day etc he won't deny it instead step up and wear it with honor

In terms of a newborn both of you are out of your depth but he will help you both learn together.

Also a huge help postpartum, after all raccoon City left him with trouble sleeping so he'll do any of the night feeds if he can or stay up with you during them

RE4R:

Much like Re2 he isn't going to push for your child or accept him into that role he will just wait for it to happen

He's not around a lot so when he is, you best bet he's spoiling that child as much as he can

Theyll come to him for snacks or to stay up late and watch movies. Always opting to cuddle into him and share a blanket

You can sometimes feel replaced with the excitement of him being there but Leon will always ensure that you feel included

Always doing bedtime as a family instead of 1-1 moment with him

Light sleeper so he doesn't mind helping you through the sleep regression moments

Actually loves being woken up in the morning by them

If he gets referred to as a dad he will falter slightly not really sure if he's ready with the implications however reassurance from you that he's not over stepping then he will automatically join in

Infinite Darkness:

It would like an older version of Re2, he's the fun guy that occasionally hangs out with you

Its when it starts to get serious or he sees you struggling that it's almost auto drive in filling the role that you need him to

He'll never overstep, chosing to run off what you want for your family

The only times he does overstep is when you push him away, not wanting to burden him with the responsibility of a child that isn't his

Instead he'll bounce back at you treating you with things that you need

If you slip up and refer to him as the baby's dad or someone else does he won't let it affect him. Maybe at first he'll get frigid and freak out but when he settles more he's almost natural and feels honored to receive the title

Damnation:

The grumpier one out of all of them, not really believing he's father material at first

Will hold the child and other things if you need a minute but he's relying on you to guide him

He gives me the vibes that he doesn't really do a lot with the child at first just acknowledging it briefly

But then he becomes the favorite

The child is always clinging to him, running on stumpy legs to greet him at the door

Always opting for him to cuddle before bed

Its smaller things like this that melts his heart, his home screen is a photo of all three of you

He's taking you all out on smaller dates

Tries to stop his bad habits

The title he gains is never confirmed it just happens. Not one really mentions it, it's almost like it was meant to be

RE6:

Immediately bonds with the kid. There's no awkward moments or anything he's straight into the role

If it's a newborn he's comforting then to sleep enough that's it's difficult without him, toddlers always want him to read a story

Gets him thinking about how he wanted to have this role with sherry and is almost happy he gets to try again

There's no bad blood with the fact it isn't his,.he just accepts and works with you to ensure he's not crossing a line with the baby daddy

Will wake up to do night feeds etc you don't need to worry about it

Takes on larger responsibilities that you need him to whislt you are still recovering and trying to find a new footing in your role

Loves hearing you refer to him as the dad

Vendetta:

Starts of avoiding the kid, he's not in the right frame of mind for a relationship with them. He doesn't care that you have one he's just reluctant much like Damnation

And then he gets used to it, becomes protective over this small little bubble of joy he has

It starts of simple then it grows more when he moves in

If the child has a nightmare and comes into your room they aren't going to your side of the bed it's his

It makes him falter because he's become this staple of safety in the childs life.

You'll wake up to them snuggle into his chest laying on his outstretched arm

Death Island:

He's like a gift from God

You met him when you were really struggling and he just fit perfectly

He's the fun dad, all the kids love him and all the mum's are jealous that you have him

Constantly treating the both of you and making memories/adventures

Wears the child on his shoulders, BABY CARRIER TOO LIKE 🤤

He doesn't care, it's a chance for him to have what he's always wanted and he'll make sure he keeps it

[project-sekai-facts]

What grinds my gears is what when people say that the reason Kana5 is bad due to it trying to make Mafumon sympathetic.

A couple have even gone as far as saying that Kana5 is as bad as Toya5 for the same reason and I-

Look. I deeply understand the idea of abusers being more complicated than simply “evil trash” is hard to comprehend. And I may sound insensitive but,

They need to grow up. They should not let their biases cloud their judgement and assume something is bad just because a piece of media has something they personally don’t like

the difference between harumichi and mafuyumum is their awareness.

harumichi - fully aware of what he is doing, fully aware his son is his own person and does not stop him despite heavy disapproval

mafumum - completely oblivious to what she is doing to mafuyu, projecting an idealised version of mafuyu onto her (and possibly an idealised version of herself)

harumichi working toya to the bone is him applying how he learnt to toya. the intent was not to physically/emotionally harm toya but that is what ended up happening (physical exhaustion is to be expected, he should not have forced toya to keep working but he deals with the same so he probably doesn't think it's a big deal). that said, he is fully aware of the fact he is taking away from toya's childhood, and admits this in concerto that toya's life was not "normal".

mafumum is entirely unaware of her abuse to mafuyu. this is repeatedly made clear in events post sayonara persona. mafudad relays to her what mafuyu tells him and she's incredibly distressed to learn that she'd been hurting mafuyu and she doesn't know what she did wrong. she can be manipulative, but she's not aware that she's being malicious, she thinks she's genuinely doing what's best for her child who she loves. there's also some context clues such as her young age compared to other parents, the fact she doesn't have a job and the fact she's at a lower social standing to her husband that suggest she may also be projecting the life she didn't get onto mafuyu.

harumichi being given the attempted sympathetic backstory doesn't work. he is neglectful towards his son, but is slowly easing out of these ways a little bit. toya has already begun to make ammends without the need for making harumichi sympathetic. he's a bad parent who did a bad thing knowingly.

with mafumum it is justified. in her first appearance, we see her from the biased viewpoint of kanade, who sees her as a cold and neglectful parent towards mafuyu. however from mafuyu's pov, she is a loving mother who is misguided in how she shows this love. this is what unreliable notes is about. mafumum is a bad parent who did a bad thing unknowingly. she is sympathetic because she is a troubled mother coming to terms with the fact she ruined her child's life.

both characters are loved by their children by virtue of them being their parents. the story is going to convey that no matter how bad they are as people. yes, forgiving abusers in fiction is overdone and to some degree unrealistic, however we do not yet know if that is where the story will go. all we know is that there will be a reconciliation. but even if mafumum specifically gets forgiven, it would not be unjustified. i feel like the first impression we get of mafumum from Kanade POV left a strong impact on a lot of people that they can't let go of. the whole point of the current arc is to let that go. the game builds her up as this malicious antagonistic force so that it can deconstruct that when we get to see her from an unbiased POV. she's not a villain like many people make her out to be, she's a human who made a mistake. a very bad and very big mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. she is a loving mother who fucked up really badly because she was too obsessed over perfection to actually see her daughter for who she is.

if the writers try and make us forgive harumichi though fuck them he fucking sucks. like i feel like toya will because he's like that yknow but i don't think the audience should feel sympathetic towards him.

[copticcowgirl]

Thesis-style bind: Roosting Ecology of Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat and Southeastern Myotis in the Coastal Plain of Georgia

I wanted to do something special for my husband's birthday this year, so I spent the last month working on binding his 2011 Ph.D. dissertation.

Using DAS’s YouTube and Patreon videos, I vowed to attempt everything in his “Thesis Binding with Supported French Groove” YouTube video, and wow. I learned so much!

I’ve been bookbinding for a little over a year now, so I felt pretty confident I could pull off this bind.

There were many firsts: Split boards (I LOVE this!), Oxford hollow (I STRUGGLED with the head/tail turn-ins), quarter binding, actual bookcloth (why does it attract so much glue?!), heat quill pen by hand, French/Harrison groove, and a slipcase.

For the slipcase, I used the Hollander's book “Introduction to Bookbinding and Custom Cases,” and I highly recommend it for anyone new or even a year+ into binding.

And if you’re looking to really improve as a binder and don’t have access to in-person classes, DAS’s Patreon is THE BEST at any tier level. He recently has been uploading slow versions of his videos, with everything done in real time, and following along has made a massive difference in my binds.

It feels like I’m attending a workshop, except that I can rewind. Which I do. A LOT.

If you've made it this far, you know what's next. Bind details below and BTS (incl my 😵‍💫 face) below!

🔹bind style: quarter cloth bind, rounded & backed, sewn endpapers, split boards, Oxford hollow, French/Harrison groove 🔹endpapers: Jemma Lewis marbled papers 🔹fabric: Verona bookcloth, sapphire, from Hollanders 🔹edge decoration: diluted Liquitex acrylic ink in gold, applied in multiple layers for subtle shine 🔹endbands: 3 color bead on front, DIY rectangular leather lace core, Japanese silk thread 🔹slipcase: bookboard (.090), chipboard (.030), Jemma Lewis marbled papers, cream-colored cardstock for interior color, Verona sapphire bookcloth, Jade PVA “thick” used to glue pieces together, heat foil quill with gold foil for title.

[dragonfreckles]

Adding on to this with some of my favorites!!

Winged Canvas (love love LOVE these guys! they have tons of tutorials and streams for just about anything regarding 2D art and animation)

chupuko (live2D animation tutorials! goes over the whole process from drawing the model to setting it up in vtube studio. her tutorials were what inspired and taught me to make my own vtube model)

Blender Guru (goes over the basics of 3D modeling program Blender, his donut tutorials are kinda considered the classic starting point for beginners)

And some programs:

ibisPaint X (free, lots of tools available including one for comic paneling. can get it on your phone)

Aseprite ($20, for pixel art, you can find it on Steam)

Live2D Cubism (free but also has a paid version with some extra features. used for animation and rigging, and usually the go-to for rigging vtube models but can be used for other animation too. i'd recommend just getting the free version, it has everything you need and the paid version is pretty pricey)

FlipaClip (free animation app, you can get it on your phone)

Procreate Dreams ($20. procreate's animation app, but i wouldn't recommend it as of now since it's still pretty shoddy and missing a lot of core features. i'll put it in here regardless since it's the one i have experience in)

ToonSquid ($10. for animation as well. haven't tried this one yet but i've heard it's pretty good! i've been considering getting it to replace Dreams actually just haven't decided yet)

Shotcut (free, video editing)

Audacity (free, audio editing)

OBS Studio (free live streaming/recording software)

OpenUtau (free vocaloid alternative. an updated version the original UTAU, you don't need to change your locale for this version and it's compatible with all UTAUloids. shareware so anyone can create a voicebank for the program, the main downside is that there's no one place to find a voicebank so you gotta hunt for em a little, but here's Kasane Teto and Adachi Rei - ignore the "download faster" thing to the left of the screen for Rei, it's not necessary to download the file and idk why it's there either. and you only need one of the voicebank downloads from each of em it depends on which language/voicebank type you wanna use so it's probably best to look into that a little bit first)

RPG Maker (pricey, but a solid game development engine. it has a ton of different iterations so i'd recommend doing lots of research before settling on anything, but it's a good tool if you're interested in game design. there are also a lot of plugins made by community members that can really enhance your game, my favorite plugin dev is Caethyril! They have a bunch of free plugins for both MV and MZ - and here's their tweaks for MZ as well!)

Ren'Py (free visual novel maker)

Twine (free choose-your-own-adventure maker that you can use on your browser, just be careful about clearing cookies cause it'll clear your Twine stuff as well. there is also a downloadable version though)

Unity (free 3D game development software)

Unreal (another free 3D game development software)

cheer, resources be upon ye!

Can't afford art school?

After seeing post like this 👇

And this gem 👇

As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.

Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.

📺Here is my list:

Proko (Free)

Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard)

Aaron Rutten (free)

BoroCG (free)

Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)

Jesus Conde (free)

Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)

Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price)

SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)

Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)

The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney)

Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)

Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.

📚Here is my list:

The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.

"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.

"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.

"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.

"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.

"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.

"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.

"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.

"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.

Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.

As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are more expensive.

For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.

💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.

Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates)

Procreate ( pay once for $9.99)

Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, ect Free)

PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)

Krita (Free)

mypaint (free)

FireAlpaca (free)

Libresprite (free, for pixel art)

Those are the ones I can recall.

So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.

I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.

Hope this was helpful and have a great day.

[ivoryratdoggerythethird]

i could've gone my whole life without learning about hector as more than the boyfriend-killer because what do you mean. what do you mean he was favored by apollo. what.

apollo who is the god of prophecy? apollo whose prophetic powers were a of gift of cassandra? fucking cassandra of troy, the mad oracle, sister to hector? cassandra who rejected him?

cassandra who was then cursed to never be believed about her visions. cassandra who saw her kingdom fall and her brothers die and her own murder play out. cassandra whose eyes were blessed and doomed but whose voice was denied. by apollo.

apollo who was supposed to help hector triumph. apollo who would rather let the seer be harked as hysterical and mad than compromise his ego. apollo who let even his champion be deaf to the prophecies of their loss. of his own death.

hector who was graced by apollo. hector, brother of all-seeing cassandra. hector who was denied the warnings of their fates by the god who was meant to guide him. hector, who his patron deity would rather let die and be disgraced and have his corpse paraded around his horrified, beloved city and leave his wife a widow and his son vulnerable to his own murder and his loving king-father left to beg the killer of his son for a cold dead body.

hector who was blessed by apollo to die a gruesome death before his doomed city because apollo would rather punish his sister than keep him alive. cassandra knew, cassandra tried to tell him, to tell anyone. apollo wouldn't allow it.

the hubris and wrath of a god always triumphs over their own favor. aphrodiate would rather her beloved son be miserable than concede to a mortal woman, zephyr would rather kill the mortal he loves than suffer the jealousy and shame of watching him with another god.

apollo who guides the arrow of paris to avenge hector but what does that matter? for years he kept their sister's words of warning and desperate pleas from reaching their ears, visions that might have saved him, warned him. but of course, the lives of a city full of mortals is worth nothing against a sliver of a god's pride. what the hell.

[a-queenoffairys]

Code Lyoko Chronicles 2.0

The Code Lyoko Chronicles are a series of 4 sequel books originally released in Italian in around 2010. Set a short while after the season 4 finale, parts of book 1 recap a story similar to the TV series but with a number of small changes (there's no RTTP for example) while the gang uncover some new secrets in the Hermitage that set them on the path to finding Aelita's mother, Anthea. But XANA survived and is coming back for revenge, and the gang's investigation into the secret history of Franz Hopper, Project Carthage and the Supercomputer puts the men in black on their trail as well, not to mention the shady Green Phoenix organisation who funded Hopper's work.

The books were published in a number of languages, but not in English - so that's where the fans come in. As one of the first translation projects we did for CodeLyoko.fr, finishing in 2014, the original completed English release was pretty rough. 10 years later, armed with more translation sources, better resources and many years of translation experience, I decided to take another crack at it. And after many months of hard work and procrastination, I've produced a version 2.0 that I'm pretty happy with.

Links and notes on the various changes under the cut!

New translations!

My co-translator Kelsey and I didn't have a lot of serious translation experience when we picked up where Rhys Davies left off in his English translation project, and we were definitely prone to making mistakes. And it didn't help that for books 3 and 4, a few things got lost somewhere in the process of the text being translated from Italian > Spanish > French > English. I revised our original translation and this time I referenced multiple sources to try and make sure I got the interpretation right. It won't be perfect, but it's definitely better than our original attempt!

The second half of book 2 was based on the official French version, which I discovered was slightly condensed and abridged to lower the page count. The new English translation expands the text to restore the parts that were omitted. I also changed the title from The Nameless City to The City with No Name - there was never an official English translation, but I did find a marketing document with the titles listed in English, and that was the only one that differed.

Here's a page comparison with a few changes, mostly minor, but one big change to the context of Odd and Ulrich's conversation. With my apologies to Kiwi for the original mistranslation.

New formatting!

I got better at formatting Word docs and realised I should have the text alignment set to justify. The books look a lot neater now!

Accessibility!

I added alt text descriptions to all the images, and the PDFs all have a proper table of contents now so you don't have to scroll to the end of the book to find the navigation.

(Note I don't have a lot of experience with detailed image descriptions and I haven't done much testing with a screen reader - feedback is welcome from people who know more about it!)

New scans!

The centre of each book has several colour pages with images and text to supplement the story, and some of the original scans were quite small or had part of the image disappearing into the spine of the book. And the only way to fix it seemed to be to obtain physical copies of the books (probably in Spanish), pull the pages out and scan them flat. So I did. And I think they look great. (Black lines added to hide spoilers.)

My original intention was to upload these to CodeLyoko.fr, but I haven't been able to do that yet, so for now they'll just be available on Google Drive. This translation wouldn't have been possible if not for the other people on the fanslation team - not just my fellow translators, but also all the people who worked on scanning, formatting and editing. Special thanks also to Rhys Davies for kicking off the English translation. You can read more about the Chronicles and the fanslation project here on the website. (Yes I still need to revise the translation of those pages too. Someday.)

So yeah, it's taken a while, but I'm glad I can finally put out a better version of these books for people to discover. Enjoy!

Version 2.0 PDFs here! (Google Drive) ePub versions coming soon.

[lurkingshan]

I think the het couple in Heesu is fine (though I much preferred how the manhwa dealt with Heesu's feelings of isolation and the issue of being gay in a world where most are not without having a het couple). Honestly my biggest issue with them is how much time their sideplots take up when we could be spending that time developing Seungwon and Heesu's relationship. I just don't feel like for them being the main couple, they've really gotten the development and time spent together that they deserve. Again I could be biased since I'm coming from the perspective of having read the source material, which the show has deviated from at almost every step. But I just find it really hard to care about Jiyu's singing or Chanyoung's tennis issues. Especially when it feels like Heesu and Seungwon don't really have the same level of care put into their stories outside the other characters. Like I much would've preferred the time spent with Chanyoung's tennis issues to be spent seeing more about Seungwon and his Moms. Or just Seungwon and Heesu getting to be together. I feel like since the show invented the Jiyu/Chanyoung relationship and gave them much bigger roles than they had in the source material, they overcompensated in giving them all this sideplot that wasn't really necessary to the show and adds almost nothing of substance to it, while then cutting out or cutting short a lot of important developments between Seungwon and Heesu.

Hey anon. I'll be honest, I disagree with just about everything you've said here. I know it can be hard to be objective when you're coming in with a preconceived idea of what a story will be--whether that's due to an attachment to the source material or to BL genre conventions--and to get something completely different. But as a longtime kdrama viewer and someone who is decidedly not attached to the manhwa, I recognized what this show was doing from the start and I think it's done it all quite brilliantly. FWIW, I think this show is an example of a fantastic adaptation that adds a lot of depth and nuance to fairly simple source material, and I much prefer this version of the story.

Chanyoung and Jiyu get to be real and whole people in this story, not just props to serve the main ship. One of my longstanding issues with BL (and many het romcoms) is the way the other characters are often only there in service of the romance. They don't care about anything but pushing the main ship toward each other, and they are usually used just as comic relief or as the stand in for the viewers. That trope has its place, but I always like it when every character in a story is an actual person with motivations and conflicts of their own. Heesu has achieved that beautifully. Jiyu is one of my favorite characters this year, and that's not something you often get to say about women in BL. The friendship between Chanyoung and Heesu is such an important part of the story, and I also love that the show is unpacking the ways in which Heesu, and many forlorn piners before him, can lose sight of the good relationships they already have in their pursuit of the thing they think they want. Everything that happens with Chanyoung and Jiyu's romance supports the main narrative of Heesu's growth, he and Seungwon's relationship development, and the themes about how queerness makes things different for them. It's exactly what a good side couple is supposed to do in a story.

I also super disagree with the notion that Heesu and Seungwon are underdeveloped or haven't had enough screen time. First of all, when you consider that Heesu is almost triple the length of the average KBL, Heesu and Seungwon are getting more screen time than most KBL couples do, even if they are not the focus of literally every scene. They've been getting closer every episode and we've spent quite a lot of time with them separately and together. They are both working through their hang ups and fears, and the story is taking its time to let that play out organically rather than forcing it to go fast for the sake of delivering more romance tropes (another thing I often dislike in the genre). This is crucial not only so their development feels real and believable, but also because the queer couple having more obstacles to get on the same page is a huge part of the point. We have had the pleasure of watching Heesu slowly fall for Seungwon without even realizing it was happening, and now arrive at awareness but still have mess to wade through because Seungwon has been too afraid to tell the truth. It has been a fantastic love story from where I'm sitting, and I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

It has made me sad and pretty frustrated to see the vitriol many BL watchers have aimed at this show. If we want queer stories to reach more people, we can't reject anything that deviates even slightly from the BL formula. It's remarkable that Heesu in Class 2 exists, that it was given proper funding to develop a whole ass queer kdrama with great writing and acting and strong themes and great production values, and that it has executed its story at such a high quality level. I hope those of us who appreciate it for what it is are enough to counteract the hate being directed its way, because it would be a shame if it becomes the only show of its kind thanks to the backlash.

[mystycalypso]

Now since he is autistic in this au too. I am very curious what his hyperfixations/special interest are. Like for Venomous it is definitely octopuses i think. Lazer tho, that has me curious, and does he do any stims? I am so curious and would like to see how happy and unmasked he gets, please do so whenever you can.

He, like his son, is VERY interested in heroism. When he first met Dr. Greyman he practically threw the poor alien around while shaking his hand. This has also led him to collect pow cards, as a way to keep up with various heroes big and small.

Asking him about an obscure phase in a heros life, or their arch nemesis will quickly get him to infodump about their backstory, various costumes, etc

As an adult, he's become a lot more- relaxed on keeping perfectly up to date with everything. Though not to say he doesn't keep an ear out for changes in the hero-sphere. And he still collects pow cards too, often reminding K.O. that every hero is someone's hero. After all, even level zeros have to do something to get a card.

He's also used this to help make himself more interested in his job. Learning how to do different fighting styles and techniques beyond his usual brawler moves, not only helping him stay well-off in battle but allowing him to help other heroes train properly.

Typically when he's unmasked, he has a very neutral face, only really looking visibly extra ot excited when he's talking about his hyperfixations. Meaning he's usually pretty excited at the dojo, before flopping face first onto the couch as soon as he gets home.

He's always had a good collection of stims, some more situational than others

He'll pick at and mess with his gloves whenever, but especially when he's nervous. Enjoys rolling the stick of his suckers as a little fidget, especially between his tooth gap. He likes feeling his hair move and will randomly flip his bangs around just to do so in what Silverspark used to call his "Model moments", and finally whenever checking out of a conversation, either physically because it ended, or emotionally, or just because he finds it too awkward, he'll start backing away, click his tongue (thing the noise he makes to foxtail in Let's get shadowy as they leave) and give a two-fingered salute, usually half raised, but closer to his actual forehead depending on the situation.

And don't worry, Taser has some as well!

Aside from a more angsty version of Laser's model moments that he mainly does when he's bored/annoyed with someone, he likes poking and prodding at his spikes for tiny controlled pains, finding the sensation nice, especially with the cold metal of them, and when he's stressed, angry or anxious, he'll rub or touch or just generally mess with his cuffs.

Also, this isn't a stim, but he is the type to pick his nose and flick the result at you if he's really tired of you, then laugh as you freak out in disgust.

[storkmuffin]

hii! ive been following your account for like 4 months now. just when you started the deep dive into ateez! love how the journey has been going…idk why, but i knew you were gonna be a hotteok. 😅

anyways, i like to break into the psyche of people i stan. mingi, who is my ult bias. i have a hunch he was bullied growing up, and/or spent a lot of time alone (saw a tweet saying that he moved a lot when he was younger) and that’s why he, at first glance and interactions, has that “tough guy” persona. also why he acts the way he is, unapologetically himself. idk. that’s my opinion on him at least. plus i also think he is neurodivergent.

I had this chat with a mutual where I summed up my present situation:

SOB

Mingi thoughts under the cut

What you've said seems to be the summary of how Mingi ults view his pre-debut self - the fanon (respectfully) is that he was bullied, lonesome, and as a consequences, developed a tough shell and a blunt, possibly defensive, manner and he might also be ND /Autistic/ ADHD. I've seen implications that he may also have been less privileged than the others in the group, especially compared to Yunho.

I have seen enough about Mingi to know where people who say this are coming from. These discussions about Mingi have been going on since 2018 so I am not ever really going to be fully caught up. I just acknowledge that these views exist.

From someone coming into the fandom during 2024, though? It's a little different. This doesn't invalidate what you know and have concluded from your analysis. I just take him as he seems to want to present himself right now. I feel that this is more respectful. He's 25-going-on-26. He's grown. He's an international star, and his band is extremely successful. I wouldn't want to be forever seen as the awkward pained child I used to be, and I kind of want to extend the same courtesy to Mingi, who fully presents himself as a grown up artist.

Mingi seems to me to be in possession of what I consider (as a not-artist white collar person) an artistic temperament - moody and often indifferent to others' feelings or social niceties because he's kind of arrogant. I think all artists have to be arrogant - you have to be convinced that this thing you made or do is worth other people's attention. He's very focused on what he considers the 'real' part of the work he does (music, rap, dance, putting on a great show, keeping up with the industry, acquiring producing skills) and as a consequence is either bored or irritated by the other requirements of Idoldom that some of his colleagues actually really like (fanservice, tending the parasocial garden). When you look at his actions with this lens, he's not so much 'being himself' in some unconsidered, helpless way when he acts weird or 'outside the Idol norm.' I often see it as his signalling that he thinks all this other shit is really, really stupid, but it's demanded of him in the contract so he makes the minimum concession, and deliberately flouts and subverts the requirements whenever he can.

We're all just making things up here, right? We acknowledge this, correct? Personally - I'm just much more entertained by Mingi the deliberately subversive Idol who has a macho compete-and-protect friendship with his equally unhingedly competitive best friend, than a lot of the other versions of him I've seen floating around.

[ribbon-sweet]

i'd love to see the creation process for the vehe#melody live2d edits you did,,, they look really cool ❤️

I WAS WONDERING IF ID GET QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS!!! also ty anon love you congrats on being the first question asker🫶🫶

alas i am stupid and split them up between?? different projects?? so i tried to put together my rui live2d model process (not full because once again i am stupid) but anyway here is my main process

1.) i’d actually recommend starting with editing 3d models!! because trust me you will use them for LITERALLY EVERYTHING. as you can see here for the actual stage outfit it’s me just copypasting stuff from the 3d model and filling it in. if you are ambitious you can draw it but im boring but editing the 3d model to fit the appearance first is a great idea it makes things so much easier also theyre so much easier to edit than 2d?? just do it it saves you so much work

2.) don’t know how to explain this in a more pleasant way. frankenstein shit together. rui is made up of a billion pieces, some from him and some not. first off: hair is made from like 12 people. hate this guy. if i can remember its from reki’s 2d model, rui’s bloomfes hair, rui’s 2d model, and some other bullshit i cant remember. on the stage outfit model i did draw in some of the hair? although i forgot that this is the version of the model before i added the extra layer so it will likely change a lot but same idea just put stuff together!! for ruis casual/work uniform i just combined a lot of elements from different stuff, if you’re planning to start a model’s outfit from scratch the swimming and sports festival outfits are good templates i think

3.) just kinda customize/stylize it to your liking! it depends on how realistic you want your models to be, personally i take a lot of inspo from ffairylou so i change eyes and add little blush marks and whatever

that’s pretty much it! im notsuper great at explaining and i can provide more info if anyones interested but TADA🎊🎊🎊 live2d for other units coming soon i promise.

ALSO WHILE YOURE HERE. ask questions. heart emoji. please. this could be you i am answering. my brain is so full. please let me release my shuffle au from my brain chamber

[lenzoli]

as someone who also does translyrics sometimes (occasionally, on a very amateurish level) yeah i share the sentiment. i noticed this most on their english translation of yuusha. it definitely takes a lot of effort to match the vowels exactly, and i can applaud that, but it just feels wrong. these structures weren't really made for english, so if you haven't listened to the japanese version, the way the lyrics are structured just feels off for english? like, just look:

Many days tinted in fairy tale scenes Have arrived at the end, proof we have seen I cut out and choose from a trip so long A little passage I review Tale of what's taken place right on this field Shadows of manifested pain and woe There was a hero who took out all foes A little-journey memory with you

now i'm not gonna lie, they did a pretty good job matching the word stress and the strong beats. sometimes the beat lands in an unideal spot, but that happens all the time in translyrics. but there's already a sense of unease i'm getting from the way they wrote the lines here. in the 3rd and 4th lines, "passage" gets two predicates, one before and one after (either that, or the 3rd line just doesn't have an object, which isn't right for "cut out"). the 5th line has a lot of padding, and the 7th line has this weird tone clash between the informal "took out" and the dramatic "foes". it's worth sacrificing a bit of vowel matching to allow for a more flexible use of language and bring out the best words you can

another important thing here (which yumi has mentioned) is the rhyme scheme. a lot of japanese songs simply don't have standard rhyme schemes because:

1) they use a 5-vowel system, unlike english's "5-vowel system" which actually has 20 vowel sounds (it gets to a point where there are some jp songs which abuse this fact by making lyrics that repeat the exact same vowel patterns over long periods. it's crazy)

2) they use a syllabary instead of an alphabet so every single utterance ends with a vowel (with the exception of n, but consonants are a lot less important than vowels in rhyming anyway)

3) their language is head-final, which puts the basic structure at the end, and since there are often grammatical rules for what sounds come at the end based on tense and stuff, a lot of sentences with similar structures and contexts end up rhyming anyway

so a lot of rhyme schemes in japanese music are pretty much just emergent and coincidental, and the one for yuusha's first verse ends up being AABCADDC. they replicate this in the english version, but since english has so many more vowels it feels shaky and structurally unsound. it would've been best to modify the vowels to have a more standard rhyme scheme (as well as internal rhyme schemes if possible) that flows well with the music, rather than try to stick to japanese's more liberal scheme that really only works for a specific kind of language that english is not. as yumi said, this mostly works for the ppl who have already listened to the jp version and are looking for a similar experience, even if it comes at the expense of the irregularities that this brings

(an example of this kind of switching up prosodic patterns comes in the form of the alexandrine, which has multiple versions across different languages from the original french alexandrine. french prosodic stress always comes at the end of a sentence, so french alexandrines (at least, the classic ones) only put stress at the end. in english, prosodic stress can be pretty much anywhere, so english alexandrines are pretty much just iambic hexameter. spanish alexandrines have 7 syllables per part instead of 6, with the stress at the penultimate syllable, because a lot of spanish words have penultimate stresses. there are more in the link)

tl;dr the way japanese lyrical writing works doesn't work that well for english lyrical writing (and more generally translating lyrics comes with structure clashes), so switching it up is often the best choice for translyricization

i just learned about the official english version of Racing into the Night and i am so fucking baffled, i've never seen anyone do anything like this, what the FUCK

[apple-onigiri]

Headcanon :D

In the scenario of post-canon human Loop joins the party (and presumably looks basically like Siffrin) I think they'd start out being super obsessive around trying to be who they used to be, before everything, or at the very least be more like siffrin but...

They're just not.

They're a lot more feminine, they have different nervous ticks now, they have different hobbies, they talk differently, the dress differently, and they learn to be okay with that. Eventually, they start going by another name. They start to love themself in the process, too.

yeah!!!!! yeah.....

i think that, while it might be a bit scary to them, confronting how much their experiences pushed them to change and how disquieting not being a siffrin might be at first (and yeah, they'd try to act the way he does at first as you said), they'd eventually find much solace in being so different without being completely separate

a lot of loop's anger in two hats seems to stem from the fact they feel like they got sidelined and replaced by another version of them that, while seemingly identical to them from back then, inexplicably managed to break free unlike them. there's this insecurity in being the "worse siffrin" and i think it'd be really freeing for them to realize it doesn't quite matter what this siffrin is like, especially once they figure out no one expects or wants them to go back to playing that role

gahhh i loooove them picking a new name post-canon, and in general affirming their own identity separate from siffrin and the loops both. this is exactly why i made my own human loop somewhat similar to siffrin but very clearly different in mostly ways you'd have to consciously pick, like the cloak being turned into an asymmetrical capelet, the pins being put in different spots or not wearing the eyepatch and the like. they might grow out their hair long enough to weave it into a braid eventually, i like hc'ing they did that when they were younger

(also, aside from that identity-affirming stuff, it's clear the fckin panicked and "this "loop" was the first thing they could think of so there's that lmao let them change it)

thank you for the ask!!! i really enjoyed it ╰(*°▽°*)╯

[tumbleofdorks]

Thank you so much for your addition about afrocentric fashion on my post about jake sisko!!!

I see all the people in my notes these last few days who are excited to learn this or to see it get more widely known, and it's such a joy.

I also learned awesome stuff from your explanation and I'm really glad i did, so i know more about afrocentric futuristic fashion, and have a further appreciation for ds9 too.

Thank you for making the post in the first place that got me talking about it! I'm really amazed and happy to see how many people took interest. I figured it would be a pretty niche little group that would fit in that venn diagram but I'm so glad I was wrong.

In the 90's, when I was a kid, there was still a pretty strong presence of afrocentric visuals in media due to cultural pushes for diversity. I remember learning about kwaanza (on a surface level at the time) from a kids' book in the library, and seeing those afrocentric styles in PBS shows. I was just totally fascinated by it, I thought it was so different and pretty. I did more research and learned more about the history of it in my college years. The civil rights movement had so much nuance within it, and there were lots of cultural changes because of it, outside of just the obvious legal ones. It's such a fascinating part of American history and it goes so deep, I can lose myself for hours in a research rabbithole.

It wasn't until picking up DS9 recently that I realized I don't really see much of that afrocentric aesthetic anymore, irl or in media, which feels like a real shame. The closest was probably in the Black Panther movies, but that was a specifically African style, and the American afrocentric movement was so unique. A culture and style all its own as they combined elements of everything, to create a new version of what was stolen from them. I'd love to see it again, and I love seeing it in a depiction of the future. It's beautiful and inspiring, and I love how unique Jake and Benjamin's clothes are. They make me happy to see.

Sorry, you got me monologuing again.

[violetjedisylveon]

Grinning Shadow AU Fluffy Headcanon:

In this version of the 'Journey to the West', everyone believed that Macaque died and Wukong wanted to revive him, but Wukong accepts that Macaque is dead... (But the truth is Macaque was brainwashed!)

People have made many adaptions and reboot of Wukong's story, and in some of them Macaque is alive or gets revived, with Wukong and Macaque being BFFs...

There's even a story of Macaque being with Wukong, on the Journey to the West...

Some Wukong Fans theorize that Macaque is alive in canon, but he's the Jade Emperor's Prisoner... (They're not wrong!)

Despite everyone believing that Macaque is dead, many Wukong Fans love Macaque...

Macaque is touched by this... when people learn that Macaque is alive... the world goes insane, but in a fun way! 💖

oh that's fun!

In the original/oldest versions of Jttw, Macaque is said to have died in the havoc in heaven and the journey is also one of Wukong's grief as well as enlightenment.

But like with the real Jttw, people started writing what amounts to fanfic of it very soon after, and so later author's changed some things and played around with their relationship and Macaque's ultimate fate.

In modern times, people generally believe that Macaque died in that battle, but theorists, scholars and historians have their speculations of his true fate, since the ending that storyline in the book is odd and vague.

Macaque is a very popular character, he basically functions as second main character in the the first 7 or so chapters until he dies cause he's with Wukong from minute one. It tells of how bother were formed, how they met, the hijinks they got up together. In the book Macaque is constantly warning Wukong of his hubris, but he's the one who pays the ultimate price for it.

Modern adaptations and reimaginings play around a lot with his character, in the book he's the humbler, less brash and more satisfied with his current power level, so it's a fun dynamic to play with as someone who always wants more, and someone who's satisfied but still supportive of the other. Some have their relationship break off before the heaven attack and Macaque lives!

They also play around with their relationship to the point where some adaptations have a similar effect or read on their relationship as Granada Holmes does for Sherlock and Watson. My friend described it(Holmes and Watson) as something that if you're straight or homophobic, you won't pick up on, but if you're gay then you absolutely pick up on it, sort of a if you know you know kind of thing happens with them.

But other adaptions are just all but explicitly saying they're gay because there is a subtext in this version of the book in their interaction with each other.

Some scholars of Jttw do theorize that the real Six Eared Macaque is actually alive somewhere, probably the celestial realm, but there's no way to get proof of that cause Jade Emperor doesn't want people to know about his monkey, it's better if he's believed dead.

Either way Macaque lives on in the hearts and minds of mortals, it's a bittersweet thing for Wukong, he gets to see all these different versions of him have the same ending no matter what, and sometimes he sees better ones, stories where Macaque never dies. Those ones he holds onto tight.

Sometimes he wishes the og Jttw had been able to be more explicit with his relationship to Macaque, then he could have his daughters in the story as his daughters. It would have been painful to see them die again in every adaptation, but there could also have been stories of what never was, a happy tale for his family.

Jttw does have an equivalent to them, a pair of unnamed monkey demon cubs who have an oddly detailed death for being random unnamed characters. Scholars speculate about who they really are and the ones that are speculating "mates" as Wukong and Macaque's relationship speculate the monkey cubs either literally or symbolically represent children Wukong lost. They are painfully close to the truth.

Macaque is definitely surprised by how much people like him and just how popular he is, it's flattering after so long of such negative experiences to be perceived so positively.

People loose their minds finding out he was alive, and gay with Wukong, this whole time, so many scholars are finally vindicated.

This was a fun bit of fluff, especially since I am working on chapter 2 and oh boy I am setting Wukong up to get his heart absolutely destroyed, he's so happy and excited at the thought of getting to have his mate back, it's gonna be devastating.

I love it.

Thanks for asking!

Grinning Shadow AU Masterpost

[emeraldthelynx]

I've actually been thinking about this for a while since I saw this post. So, I have some ideas on how it would work.

The first episode has to be Suguroku getting the Puzzle from Atem's tomb. I know that this flashback takes place way later in the manga, but it has to be at the start in order to string the 'Shadow Games' and the 'Duel Monsters' parts of the series. The tomb would also need pictures of the monsters, as another connection. The first episode could be a longer Special, and continues with Yugi solving the Puzzle. Kaiba would have to be in the background of the classroom scenes. There long enough to know he's important, but not presented as the rival just yet.

I would think the plot beats would be something like, Gramps Mutou finds Puzzle, Yugi completes it, some sort of indication by somebody like an Item Bearer or even an odd conversation between Dark Magician and Kuriboh, but some party sensing that the Millennium Puzzle has finally been completed for the first time in 3000 years. During Season 0/early manga things, Duel Monsters could be hinted at in the background, with things like maybe a televised match of Kaiba becoming the National champion or Gramps Mutou playing a friendly, normal round of it against Yugi. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Gramps had Dark Magician in his deck, so there could be scenes where the Puzzle gleams in response to Dark Magician being played, which can help connect the ancient Egyptian Puzzle guy with a trading card.

Speaking of the Egyptian Puzzle guy, the encounter with Shadi is absolutely necessary to tie all the randomness together. Shadi has to be the first to indicate that Yami Yugi isn't just Yugi's other self, but maybe something more. More behind-the-scenes stuff needs to happen to. Things like Mokuba finding out that Yugi beat Kaiba, Pegasus watching the Death-T match, maybe even just somebody annoying like Haga in the audience at some point giving commentary. And concerning the Monster World game, the version of Zork in that game needs to be hinted at being something bigger. (Also... anime-Zorc's design needs to go, forever thank you.)

Once Duelist Kingdom is finally hit, things can proceed more closely to the original, but there needs to be little things that connect to the eventual Memory World arc, because that whole arc was never really expected I don't think.

A whole separate tangent would be about the filler seasons and maybe even Yu-gi-oh! R. Those things cannot be squashed in with the main storyline, and they absolutely need to be refined so they don't feel like every Yugioh fanfiction on FF.net. A good option would be films or OVAs. Since the Kaiba backstory can be covered with Season 0 stuff, we don't need the backstory filler. A term I like using for this stuff is 'another time, another place.' It's like the Pokemon movies being somewhere in canon, but not really part of the story. If they were to work at all, they would need to be put in the 'another time, another place' state. But just think about how much more interesting things would be if it was that way! A lot of complaints about the filler arcs is that they're too long. By having a series of OVAs or a couple of movies, all the good stuff can get condensed into a much, much shorter timeline.

I know that it would probably be animated by Gallop, but I would really, really like to see a different studio work on it. Toei would be fine by me, although I'm biased, and Bones would be amazing. (Again, biased.)

Those are just a few thoughts though.

When people are like “There should be a Yugioh reboot that fully adapts the story including the early manga” I’m like are you sure? You know that Yugioh’s story structure is batshit, right? You want a season full of random unrelated death games followed by an abrupt veer into exclusively card games for 20 volumes followed by an abrupt veer into ancient Egyptian political intrigue, which itself does a complete 180 on all of its own themes 35 chapters in? I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch it, but, uh,