#just the thought of her being in that old style of art and like how ppl would interpret her character and stuff is rlly fun to think abt

[factual-fantasy]

30 Asks! Thank you!! :)) 🪥

Realistically? I cant think of a good reason why Jax would jump in fear at the sight of corn. Like it was going to bite him or something. Gooseworx said its because it reminds him of the farm but later said she may have lied.

Personally I think he was given a fear of corn just because it would be funny. 😅

As for my AU, he wont jump in fear of corn like he does in canon. But I'm thinking when he was a kid he ate a bunch of corn and then got really sick. Or maybe he choked on corn really bad one time. After that he cant stand the smell or taste of it because it makes him so queasy and uncomfortable.

He likely hasn't told anyone about it out of embarrassment. But he could have told Caine that he really hates corn and to keep it away from him AND keep it a secret. Which Caine would oblige without much question.

XD Thank you!

I can hardly remember them 😔💔 I think I remember them being cool tho.

I can kind'a see it in the boots and hat! :0 Though I cant see him throwing himself at giant monsters without flinching <XD

So far its been fun! :)

Thank you, 😭🫶I was prepping to be raked over the coals for speaking poorly of Jax.💔

@starloveshamburgers

I'm not sure how to make one really <:( a sona can look wildly different from person to person..

Also, I have no intentions to watch Rescue Bots for several reasons.. But mostly its because its supposed to be attached to Prime. Which is a bad thing because it breaks established prime lore pretty badly and that would really bother me throughout the whole show 😔💔

What is going on in this show man 💀

@linkinaboxx

Thank you! I have the spectator mode in my back pocket if things get overwhelming <XDD

Looking the song up, that is the most living looking zombie I have ever seen XDD But can see your point!

Noted :0📝 Thank you!

Thank you! :DD Same to you if you're participating! :))

Thank you so much! :D So far so good!

Yeah, it would be really sad if he did :( Thankfully in my AU he will not :)

@crossover-enthusiast

XDD No worries! Thank you!! :))

As for Bonny, I had this idea that no one in the circus really knows how to deal with her. She's only 8 years old.. how can they possibly make her understand the gravity of the situation she's in? Would they want her to understand?

For now, Caine takes care of her as best he can. Dr.Football and Bubble follow her everywhere, and tend to her every need. I considered Caine making an entire fake town for Bonny to live in but I don't know if Kinger and Queenie would tell him that's a bad idea or not.. Beyond that I haven't brainstormed a whole lot :(

@pundertalefan (Referencing this post)

AWWJFNDFDFN THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! :DDD

(Link in ask)

I've had that video in my watch list for ages. This ask finally gave me the push to sit down and watch it. Very heart breaking 😢💔

I thought it was cool! I was surprised to see such a style change XD

@theglassflower

AAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD💞💞💞

Also, Starscream actually has that cheek scar in canon! :0 He got it from battling Arcee one time.

In my AU he could have still gotten it fighting Arcee, even though he didn't kill Cliff. Also I just exaggerated the scar and made it go all the way down his face so it would look cooler 😎

I'm thinking in my AU, Caine wouldn't want to upset or stress out the humans with that kind of adventure. But if Jax and the others were getting bored and specifically requested that adventure, Caine would make it.

It would be a little tamed down and would not include the tiny swarm of souls in hell.

As for me? I've been hangin on. My condition has been kicking my butt these past few days but Art Fight has been a nice distraction.👍 Thank you for checking in 🫶

:((((( frfr

@minnesotamedic186

I'm as ready as I'll ever be! :D

Oh yeah absolutely, the circus is a nicer place but their real world is still as cruel as ever.

I don't like him as a bot just because I don't like the entire game of SOTM because of how it changes the FNAF timeline.

HOWEVER.. I like him enough as a character that I've added him to my silly sister location AU. 👍

I honestly have no idea what happened to their bodies. I'm curious about which path Gooseworx chose 👀

@fandomgurl1987

XD Thank you!! :))

Yeah I thought he was really funny for only having two half lines. XDD

@nolitogfoling

Hello! :D

@beryl-shade

They sure can! :)

[dcxdpdabbles]

Danny Fenton is Chip Skylark

Normally, I don't like doing multiple crossovers. I prefer to stick to just DC and DP. That being said, I have always loved the HC that Danny Fenton grows up to be Chip Skylark because it is the same creator and art style, so this is going to be an exception.

Bruce never understood the way people became obsessed with celebrities. He never experienced the whole "crush on the celebrity" or the urge to follow whatever scandal a celebrity was involved in (as long as no crime was committed).

If he liked an actor, it was because their moves and TV shows were good. Their acting had a range of roles that were well done. If he followed a singer or a band, it was because their music was something he enjoyed listening to. If he had a favorite sports player, they were terrific athletes who won competitions.

It was never because he thought them attractive or that he was burning with the need to know who they were dating. He didn't need to see every detail of their lives because he honestly didn't care if this singer was seen buying donuts on a random Saturday with an unknown man or if an athlete was seen buying from a discount bin.

It always made him uncomfortable how fans thought they had a right to a celebrities time. Running up and demanding autographs, taking videos or photos without consent and the worst of all, sending death threats to anyone they believe was stealing thier celebrity away.

He often heard people say that famous people knew what happened when you became famous, but that just sounded like an excuse not to treat another human being like a human being—at least to him.

The whole "they belong to the public now" was just....ugh.

Alfred was the same way. He got excited to meet someone famous from the theater but wasn't one to watch talk shows and sandals. Wasn't one to pin posters to walls or get offended when someone famous acted like a normal person.

Then Dick came to live at the manor, and although it confused him, Bruce let Dick get excited over a celebrity singer. Bought all the posters, signed CDs, met and greets, front row seats, and backstage passes if it made Dick happy.

Jason was the same with Broadway stars, gasping and babbling whenever someone he adored appeared on TV. Tim nearly fainted when he met that one famous skateboarder, framing the used napkin he had the man sign.

Steph adored that one Boxer, constantly babbling fun facts about the man that had nothing to do with boxing. Why would Bruce care what elementary school he went to? But he listened anyway.

Cass had dancers she went star-eyed for. There was that phase where she styled her hair the same way as her idol from Paris Oprea Ballet despite the fact that the style was only during nonperforming hours. Bruce had to special order the endorsed hair bands with a blue star of said Dancer.

Duke had an actor whom he never missed a single moive or show for. Even if the TV show she stared in flop from the terrible writing, the boy forced himself to sit through every minute if only because she appeared. He had a collection of DVDs long before moving in with Bruce and when Bruce took him to a special release night of her latest work, Duke had actually bursted into tears when they played her thank you for watching viedo before the movie started.

Really. Caring so much about people they didn't even know made no sense. He would understand if it was a fictional character, like the Grey Ghost because the character is and was just what that particular media presented. But real people? It was a real head-scratcher.

He assumed Damian would be the same as him. After all, Bruce knew his father, and his father's father had the same view of celebrities.

He was wrong.

"It's Chip Skylar!" His son screams at the top of his lungs when Danny's picture appears on the screen. His old college friend had contacted him asking if it was possible to have some special protection at his next concert.

Apparently, at the last one, he was kidnapped by some crazy fan and held hostage with a kid she babysat.

Seeing as Bruce and Danny often collaborated on tech for Batman (Before Danny got his big singing break, he was one of Gotham U's top engineering majors), Bruce saw no reason not to step in and offer help, especially if it turned out his kidnapping was due to magic, like Danny suspected.

He may not run around as Phantom anymore, but Danny had seen his fair share of magic users and magical creatures. That was the only explanation for how a tree had just appeared in the middle of the road and caused him to crash right in front of her house. She wasn't the cause of the magic, that much he was able to figure out when she chained him up, but it made Danny uneasy.

He was worried that the magic users would try again, and much like Superman, he had little to no defense against it.

"We're going to guard Chip Skylar!? " Damian hyperventilates, practically vibrating in his seat from excitement. "I get to meet Chip Skylar!?"

"You're a fan of his?" Bruce asks, slightly surprised, only to notice the same excitement on his children's faces.

"Ugh, duh. He's only like one of the most talented artists ever!" Steph gasped, pressing her hands over her mouth. "He once stopped to let a black cat, and every animal shelter in the state had their black cats adopted within a week!"

"I started flossing more regularly because of his Shinny Teeth song," Duke admits. "I couldn't get enough of that commercial."

Dick pulled out his phone, tapping rapidly. "I got to tell Wally. He will be so jealous I get to guard Chip Skylark!"

Bruce stared at all of them, wondering how even Jason and Cass seemed to be losing their minds over the same guy he once caught trying to drink three gallons of milk because, and he quotes, "It makes my bones go brrrrrrr"

"Danny is an amazing singer but-"

"Danny?" Tim snaps his eyes towards Bruce so fast, it took every ounce of his training not to flinch."How do you know Chip Skylark's birth name? Only the most dedicated fans know his non-stage name."

Bruce shrugs. "You all know how I feel about famous people. I'm not that dedicated of a fan but I happen to be friends with Danny. I can ask him to met you if you want-"

"YOU PERSONALLY KNOW CHIP SKYLARK, AND YOU DARED TO GIFT ME ART SUPPLIES FOR MY BIRTHDAY!? FATHER HOW COULD YOU!" Damian screeched, slamming his hands on the conference table as his siblings broke into an uproar.

Bruce honestly can never understand this.

[melonsharks]

MORE TRANSFEM DIPPER!!! SHE IS MY LIFEBLOOD 😭😭😭😭😭

(ur art style is so nice btw)

dipper pines and the art of repression

notes below the cut for funsies haha.

its kind of interesting to me to watch gravity falls with the lens of transfem dipper because when you watch it like that, its like. shes trying SO hard to push it down. it kind of reads like shes trying to convince not just everybody else, but HERSELF that shes a boy. like the idea that anybody could even think shes a girl is terrifying to her (this kid really does read as trans in any direction LMFAO i love dipper) but like. why transfem? right… full hc territory here, please be nice to me.

-she doesn’t like her deadname (its traditionally a masculine name, as far as i know 😭) so she goes by the nickname that as given to her because of her birthmark…

-she gets made fun of OFTEN for not being manly enough even throughout the show and so she associates femininity with Bad Thing To Be. so she CANT be a girl because being a girl would be a BAD THING FOR HER TO BE. shes 12 years old yk so like. this deep, deeeep repression sets in.

and so:

-she overcompensates. shes not just going to be manly, but shes going to be SO manly that nobody is going to make fun of her for it again. sometimes to the point where she feels like she cant even really be herself.

i feel like she doesn’t even really realize it in canon,,, its probably post-canon. but the realization would hit her SO hard. like a truck. and it would be so scary at first but then its not, then she feels Right and it feels GOOD and shes so happy and her family would love her and accept her so much and whatever WHATEVERRRR.

anyways, i was just rewatching gf and this was really making the rounds in my head the more i watched, because its kind of how i experienced being trans myself (and im transmasc so LOL) like. just repressing the thing i thought was bad and overcompensating like crazy, until i realized… that its not a bad thing to be. other people making you feel bad about it doesnt MEAN its bad. and then that realization that your identity not being what you thought it was doesn’t mean you change as a person. you’ve always just been you. but it feels better. it feels real.

[ethtyn]

LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG 🚦

taglist:

@ashiyn @single-malt-scotch @goodtimeswithetho @pebbltree @crabbunch @catmaidetho @amethyst-allium @stitchthesewords

sooooo ermm i guess i get to talk about this piece now YIPPEE

i am one of those people who's constantly trying to figure out what their own art style looks like LMFAO. i take frequent breaks from art due to mental health shit so it feels like every time i come back i'm trying to find my footing again.

that being said, i had a lot of caffeine yesterday and started this on a whim and it ended up being something i'm incredibly proud of. i think it helps that i've been redrawing old emotes for a friend's twitch channel, so figuring out which brushes i like right now was really helpful, and i ended up using my personal emote palette like...a lot. that pink in Etho's eye, the purple used for shading, most of the browns are all used in my own emotes. it's wild how much having colours already picked out streamlines things!

Etho is the one i started with, of course, and ended up being one that i went back to re-draw after i'd done...three? or four? more, because the sizing wasn't right and i wasn't happy with the posing. i still wish i could have conveyed him dipping his chin into his coat fluff a little better, but oh well. i thought of the little detail of him looking at Martyn's drawing at the last second (#ethtyn4life) and it made me laugh so i did it. points to you if you caught that!

Joel was the second - life!Joel has always been fey in my head, especially after that season when he just went batshit insane the second he turned red. can't explain it, that's just how it be. i tried to give him an air of subtle menace about him but i think he just looks sleepy 💀 i'd like to do these as individual, larger pieces at some point, so maybe i can work on that more then.

Grian was the third - he reminds me of a Lost Boy here and that wasn't intentional but the Lost Boys always kind of freaked me out and life!Grian's kinda freaky so i think it fits. his little smirk is so creepy and i love him.

i don't remember who i did next after this so we'll just go in order pfft

Bdubs is SO CUTE look at him. one of the few where i couldn't make a menacing expression work, and honestly with how good his profile turned out i barely mind. i did that side profile with no reference, y'all, idk what kind of crack i was on last night. what the hell. this was about the point where i started wanting to do little lore doodles for everybody so i added the clock face - i think it clashes with the red background but what can you do.

CLEOOOOOO CLEO CLEO. i LOVED drawing them, i think their design is one of my favourites of the bunch. her hair has always been snakes in my head and AGAIN i drew those with no reference, can you fucking believe that. i loved the little detail of some of the snakes poking at the people next to her, they're so cute hehe. also Cleo has freckles now, i'm so sorry but i don't make the rules. someone complimented the teeth in the reblogs and THANK YOU!! they're not quite anatomically correct but fuck it we ball and they look cool as hell anyway.

Martyn is so smug, i love him. points if you caught that he's looking at Cleo bc Double Life, i wanted to do something a lil different with him than just another straight up symmetry tool drawing and i think it fits. he is so eye-searing tho sir please tone it down.

Lizzie is fey just like her husband, and also she is smol. i don't think it's conveyed as well as i'd like here but i also didn't want her to look like a straight-up child so i did what i could. she is So Scary with those vacant blue eyes oh my god. and drawing her hair was sooooo fun i love long hair ahh

with Gem i basically smoothed out a rough design sketch i posted awhile back and i'm so proud of the little head cock she's got going on, she looks so cool. also her hair?? idk how i did that. i love her swoopy bangs so much.

Pearl is moth. Pearl will always be Moth. so she got lil antennae and big buggy eyes. drawing that hood was so satisfying, i used to try and draw Raven Teen Titans in high school and could never get the hood to look right so seeing this one come out perfectly was sooooo good. and of course had to include a teensy moon.

that's all i've got, i think - i feel myself crashing LMFAO. maybe at some point i'll come back and say more but here's this for now!

[asnowperson]

Takemiya Keiko interview about Kazeki OVA (1987)

Here's another short interview from platypus's stack of old magazines with cool interviews: Takemiya Keiko talks about Kaze to Ki no Uta Sanctus: Sei Naru Kana in the 1987 December issue of Puff.

Translation is under the cut, and please let me know if you spot my mistakes.

Kaze to Ki no Uta – OVA is finally on sale!

Takemiya Keiko Interview

“It will not ruin your image of the work, so please watch it!”

Let us first hear your thoughts on finishing this project.

Mr. Yoshikazu was sitting at the director’s chair. That alone assured me that everything would go smoothly, and I left everything to him. He read the manga thoroughly and gave the work his own interpretation. I had nothing to worry about. I didn’t have to ask him not to do a certain part in a certain way, or to avoid including too many “risqué” scenes. I can feel that he gave the work the treatment it deserves. Even the animation style was not too flashy and anime-like. The movements were more orthodox. Everything worked out perfectly, so I have nothing to say.

The background art was amazing. Did you ask them to draw them that way?

Both Mr. Yoshikazu and I thought that she’d be a  good fit, and suggested having the same person who was the art director for “Natsu e no Tobira”, but we couldn’t get a hold of her. We found out the reason later: The producer thought she was too slow, and we should give up on working with her (laughs). But when we said that she was the only person who could draw the backgrounds, she was hired to work in the project. However, she was too late to turn in the drafts. We really were in a tight spot. She might have been slow, but she really is an artist. When she can’t draw something, she just can’t. She gave it her all… Even though it was something that’d only be on screen for two seconds… If we couldn’t ask them to do something, I said I should go ahead and do it myself.

So, I gather that you drew some key animation yourself. Are manga and anime too different to draw for?

Both mediums are used basically to capture “movement,” so I think they are the same. You go with the flow, trying to capture “movement”… You think about how original you can express it. That’s a really fun undertaking. For example, even if it’s just a scene of a character turning to look back, if you strive to give it a little touch, you can really bring out an erotic feeling. That’s the stuff I’m talking about. If I had a lot of money, I would dabble more in in-between animation. I now understand why Otomo Katsuhiro-san was so obsessed with it (laughs).

I’ve seen the OVA. It felt like reading one of your works.

Do you think so? I didn’t ask him to do it, but to keep close to the atmosphere of the original work, Mr. Yoshikazu outlined the key points. He put the same things as my drawings in those scenes. But if you looked closely, you could tell that they were different. When I saw the whole thing, I thought “wow, it’s the same!” However, upon closer inspection, I found out that such scenes did not exist in the original. I even thought maybe something was wrong with me. The same also goes for the lines. “Did he ever say that? He might have said that…” But when I re-read, I see that no such line was uttered. I had so many moments like that.

What was the fans’ reaction to this OVA adaptation?

When I said it was happening, I received an equal amount of positive and negative reactions. Well, that’s only to be expected. So, like I thought, only when I said that Mr. Yoshikazu was the one directing it, I saw the real opposition. The animation director was decided on, but the VAs weren’t cast yet. When news of the production got out, I received letters saying “it’s too late, I give up!” (laughs) They said stuff like, “Here we are, so against this idea, but you still say that you’ll do it! I don’t care anymore!” I can say that there are people who definitely won’t watch it. It makes me happy to see the work being loved that much, but when people are that obsessed with it… It’s kind of scary. I sometimes go as far not seeing it as something I myself created. But well, there are still a lot of people who say “I might cry and whine, but I’ll still watch it.”

Can we have Ms.Takemiya, the creator herself, do some advertisement for the OVA?

The OVA didn’t embarrass me, so I’ll keep promoting it. I don’t think it’ll ruin your image of the work. But I know that there are people who are too nitpicky and say stuff like the lines of a character’s profile is kind of off and they hate it, or that their legs are too thin  or that their feet look weird (laughs). In that sense, we paid extra attention to the movement itself and tried to animate the characters in a natural manner. “The Poem of the Wind and the Trees” makes you think of subtle movements, right? We can’t have them move too briskly, and even the fight scene is nothing too serious. Because Mr. Yoshikazu didn’t want to create too vivid of a scene. Rather, he didn’t want it to stink of “masculinity” that much. And people who’ve only seen the character designs might think that they look nothing like the manga, but when they are in motion, they do look like their manga counterparts. As for the voice of the characters, I don’t know the actress of Gilbert, but we have Nobita-kun for Serge (laughs)! People who are into anime will recognize her voice, so they might be a little bit of put off by that, but she doesn’t sound like Nobita-kun here. Not at all! The more you listen to her acting, the more you enjoy it! There are parts that reflect Serge’s character, so I’m really content with the result.

Can we consider this as “episode 1” of a series? Do you have plans for a continuation?

If this OVA sells, it might happen. If this one gets a positive reaction, I think we can make another one. The producer said that’s what he thought would happen. If you ask Mr. Yoshikazu, he says it’ll be at least 6 episodes long, but I doubt that. I can’t bring myself to believe that we can make that many episodes. Anyway, to think that we won’t be working with the staff who brought it to life with such resemblance feels so sad. But I also think that if we ask them to do it again, they’ll simply run away (laughs). We’ve already done Yoshikazu-san’s favorite part right off the bat, so what remains is the hard part. He says he can’t decipher a character like Augu (laughs). Maybe another director might do better.

And what about the future of the story in manga?

There’s the stuff about marriage and children problems, how to reach enlightenment, and everything in-between until Serge’s death. But even if I drew that, that would have no meaning for people who are only here for what Gilbert and Serge had (laughs). I don’t have any plans to draw any continuation for the moment, but one day, if I ever get the chance… If the are conditions right, I think I’d like to draw it.

Can we have your final message for Puff readers?

Watch the OVA. Please do it. I believe that if you watch it once, all of your worries will be washed away.

[0pancake-mix0]

I just recently remembered that one of my first posts to get any attention was made on Jan, 1. So it’s kinda poetic to re-draw it to see what changed in a year.

Art style analysis is below the cut

God I love her

I have mixed feelings, for one looking at it I’ve definitely improved my anatomy, shading, and colour theory, the technical skills are definitely better.

For example if you look at the neck of the old one it doesn’t connect well at all and is entirely covered in shadows as I didn’t understand the anatomy there. The facial features also feel off to me now, however I believe that’s an art style difference and how my headcannon for Yosano has changed.

My art style definitely changed as well, the lines are more sharp and high contrast and the colours are less saturated, the silhouette is also a lot more high energy despite using the same reference.

When I first did this is didn’t realize my art style was different at all, I just wanted to see the technical improvement, so it was a bit of a shock actually 😂

But I’ve definitely lost some coherence and I think the new one is too busy, a problem I have a lot. I think I either need to dial it back or lean into it more, overall I feel pretty equally about the two of them and I think I want to start figuring out what I lost in my old art style. However I’m very happy with the progress in my technique even if I’m not too happy with my art style change.

I can see how in the first one I referenced a lot of BlueBiscuits and LavenderTowne as well as Hollow Knight, all those inspirations remain with the new one except I really began to replicate the feeling of 90s photos with the high contrast and bright highlights.

I have very fond feeling towards the 2024 drawing as it was my first drawing that I made that was entirely my own style, rather then just imitating the artists that I liked. Having is simultaneously being my most popular drawing at the time was my first taste that people wanted to see what made my art unique rather then how close I could get to others, and that realization helped my art fa more then anything else could have. The same applies to all of you who are worried about how your art style is progressing, or are get popular by imitating popularity.

Feel free to tell me which one you like more! I definitely made some changes that I’m proud of and some I consider bad habits and I’d like you see your thoughts <3

If anyone even sat through this, I’m surprised I even stayed still long enough to type all this.

[aventurineswife]

Hey! I was wondering if I could request Aventurine, Ratio and maybe Jiaoqiu with an S/O who has a little sister (like, let's say 7 years old) and just them interacting with her and being adorable?

In the Smallest Moments, We Find Our Light

Tags: Aventurine, Ratio, Jiaoqiu, Fluff, Healing, Friendship, Family Bonds, Humor, Lighthearted, Emotional Moments, Healing Journey, Caring, Mentor Figures.

Aventurine had never been particularly good with children. His life had been one of strategy, manipulation, and high-stakes gambles—none of which were qualities a child could appreciate. But when he found himself in the presence of his partner's little sister, a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He wasn't sure why, but there was something about the way she looked at him with wide, curious eyes that made him feel both disarmed and strangely protective.

"Can you teach me how to play cards?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve.

Aventurine chuckled, a sound that was both amused and warm. "Cards, huh?" he mused, flicking his earring absentmindedly. "Well, my dear, you're in luck. I am a master of games."

He motioned to a table, where he set up a small deck of cards. As he dealt the cards with an almost theatrical flair, the little girl watched in awe. "Now, here's the first rule," Aventurine began, his tone shifting from lighthearted to serious. "Life is a gamble, and every decision is a risk. But not all risks are worth taking."

The little girl blinked, processing his words with a furrowed brow. "So... you don't always win?"

He gave her a sly smile. "No, not always. But it's how you play the game that counts."

She thought about it for a moment, then grinned. "I think I'll win this time," she declared confidently, her small fingers holding up a card.

Aventurine's smile softened as he glanced at her. There was something about her optimism—her ability to approach the game with such pure determination—that reminded him of a time before he'd learned to guard his heart. He caught himself, quickly masking the thought with another playful comment.

"Careful, young one," he warned, "I'm a formidable opponent."

The game continued, but Aventurine found himself genuinely enjoying it—not because he was winning, but because for the first time in a long while, he wasn't calculating every move. Instead, he was simply… enjoying the moment.

Ratio had always considered himself a man of intellect, a man above the trivialities of childish things. His life was filled with books, studies, and research, and he never entertained the thought of interacting with children. But when his partner's little sister bounced into the room, a gleam of curiosity in her eyes, something strange stirred in him.

"Dr. Ratio!" she called, her small hands tugging at the sleeve of his vest. "Can you tell me a story?"

He looked at her, mildly annoyed by the interruption, yet his tone softened slightly. "A story?" he repeated. "What, precisely, is it that you wish to hear? A tale of wisdom? A recount of one of my brilliant discoveries?"

"Noooo!" she giggled, shaking her head. "I want a funny one!"

Ratio blinked, momentarily thrown off by her sheer innocence. His gaze shifted as he considered her request. "Funny...?" he muttered under his breath. "You wish for me to be 'funny'?"

"Yes! Please!"

For a moment, he stood there, his hands at his sides, pondering. Finally, after a dramatic pause, he sighed, relenting. "Very well. But understand this: humor is a delicate art, and my style may not be to your taste."

He cleared his throat and began, albeit in a scholarly manner, "Once, there was a very wise owl who—"

She interrupted with a delighted giggle. "Owl? Like your shoulders?" she pointed to his shoulder pieces shaped like owls.

Ratio's lips quirked up slightly. "Ah, yes, exactly. This owl was... let’s say, much like myself—blessed with an intellectual superiority far beyond that of any common bird." He paused dramatically. "However, one day, it made the mistake of—"

"Made a mistake?! A smart owl?!" she gasped, eyes wide with disbelief.

Ratio paused, realizing he had lost her attention. But when he looked down at her face, so innocent and full of wonder, he couldn't help but feel a small chuckle escape him.

He continued the story, weaving in absurdities and gentle humor, and as the little girl laughed uncontrollably at the owl's misadventures, Ratio found himself more relaxed than he'd ever been in her presence. Maybe, just maybe, there was something to this whole "funny" thing after all.

Jiaoqiu had always been a figure of quiet strength, an observer in the background, finding solace in the rhythm of his healing work. However, today, he found himself in a moment of unusual vulnerability as his partner's little sister gently tugged at his sleeve, her voice ringing with innocence.

"Jiaoqiu, can you help me?" Her small voice was filled with curiosity.

Jiaoqiu, who was blind, couldn't see her, but he could feel the gentle tug, and he could sense the slight excitement in her voice. He was used to navigating the world without sight, relying instead on sound, touch, and the subtle energies around him.

"Of course, my dear," he said softly, his voice calm and warm, though his thoughts always lingered on the futility of it all—the constant struggle between healing and death. Still, he couldn't turn away from someone in need, especially not a child. "What do you need help with?"

She placed something small and delicate into his hands, and he carefully cradled it. It was a flower, its petals soft and fragile, but its form was still unfamiliar to him without sight. His fingers traced its outline with practiced precision, and he could sense its delicate beauty despite not being able to see it.

"I think it needs medicine so it can be happy again," she said, her tone full of hope and innocence.

Jiaoqiu smiled gently, though the weight of his own internal struggles hung heavy on his heart. He knew all too well the fleeting nature of life. As his fingers moved over the flower, he focused on its pulse, the slight vibrations of energy it gave off. His expertise in alchemy and food-based medicine had honed his ability to sense the health of an object, living or otherwise, through touch.

"Sometimes, little one," he began softly, "healing is not about what we can see. It's about feeling what is needed, understanding what the heart of the matter truly is."

His hands moved to his pouch, where he kept various healing herbs and potions. He could sense the small vials through the slight metallic sounds of their contents shifting within, and he selected the one that he knew would provide the right remedy for the flower.

He poured a few drops of the potion onto the flower, his movements careful and precise. "Like this," he continued, as he gently cradled the flower in his hands, "healing isn't about making everything perfect. It's about giving something the chance to thrive, even if it's just for a while."

He handed the flower back to her, the slight tremor of her small hands against his own providing a sense of reassurance. "There. Now you must be patient. You must nurture it with care, just like you would any living thing."

The little girl hugged the flower close to her chest. "Thank you, Jiaoqiu! You're the best healer!"

Jiaoqiu's heart fluttered with a mix of tenderness and sorrow. In his mind, he knew that the flower, like the many souls he had tended to, might one day fade away. But for now, in this moment, he had done something good. Perhaps that was enough.

He listened to her soft footsteps as she skipped away, and for a brief moment, he allowed himself to let go of the burden that always weighed so heavily on his heart. The world might be full of pain, loss, and uncertainty, but moments like this—moments of connection—were what kept him moving forward.

Jiaoqiu smiled softly, feeling the cool breeze on his face and the warmth of the little girl’s gratitude filling the empty space inside of him. Healing, after all, wasn’t just about mending the body—it was about healing the heart, and sometimes, that was enough.

[starredblood]

NOWHERE GIRL

PART TWO

kang sae-byeok x fem!reader

synopsis: time is ticking but sae-byeok seems to grow more irritated by your existence meanwhile you come face to face with the secret you’ve been holding onto.

wc. 1.9k

warnings: hints of homophobia | authors note: thanks for the love on part one! enjoy part two and let me know if you want to be added onto my taglist.

(nowhere girl masterlist)

You decided to get ready early in the morning to stay in your school campus for the entire day just to avoid staying at Ji-yeong and Sae-byeok’s apartment. Your new plan was just to stay here to sleep so wouldn’t bother them as much. Especially, Sae-byeok.

Because there was only so much you could pack in your duffle bag, you only brought your laptop, portfolio tote and your small portable supply container.

Before you head out, you go on your phone to find your new route to school for the week. And because you were concentrating, you failed to hear someone come out their room and walk towards you.

“Hey.” Sae-byeok hisses.

You shot your head up wondering why she’s up so early. Sae-byeok must also start her days early seeing as she has on her utility jacket, a pair of baggy jeans, and her unruly hair was more styled. The apartment was dimly lit so you can’t make out her expression, but you can only assume she isn’t happy about something you did.

“Why did you give Cheol your crayons?”

You blink. “You mean oil pastels?”

“Yes.” she grimaces. “I don’t know you so I don’t want you to be giving him things. Especially not without my permission.”

“They’re my old sets so I thought it would be better to give it to him than to throw them away.”

“We don’t need your charity case. Don’t give him any more of your shit.”

A frown starts to form on your lips. It’s bad enough you can’t go home anymore, now you have to deal with this.

You can feel your blood begin to boil watching Sae-byeok head to the front door, so you follow her out.

“They’re just oil pastels I don’t see why this has to be such a big deal?” you say to her, your voice louder now that you’re out of the apartment. Sae-byeok isn’t moved by your words. “Your brother looked so happy when I told him he could keep them—I wasn’t planning on giving him anything more.”

The morning breeze hits your red cheeks, cooling them. You following her like a baby duckling was not how you wanted to start your morning when you had a long day ahead.

Once you’re both out on the streets, Sae-byeok stops walking and spins around to face you. She took one step closer and you take a step back.

“Good.” Sae-byeok says.

“Good?”

Sae-byeok doesn’t like naive people. She doesn’t know you but from what she could guess: you’re just a spoiled daughter who threw a tantrum and ran away to prove a point. Once it all blows over, you have a support system to bounce back on. You can go back to focusing solely on your studies and later make a name for yourself—everything she can’t do no matter how many hours in the days she works or how many people she pickpockets.

“Yes. Good.” she repeats mockingly. “I don’t want him to get too attached to you being here—he’s a sensitive kid. So, just keep to yourself and focus on how you’re going to find a new place to stay in less than a week. Got it?”

You didn’t think the words of someone you met three days ago would affect you so much. But here you are, frozen in place, ashamed of yourself. However, in the back of your mind, you couldn’t help but think about the shift in accents when she spoke.

⊹ ✿・・───・・✦・・───・・✿

You were the first person in the art studio—about an hour or so early. With all your deadlines quickly approaching you saw the silver lining in arriving to your university early because you can catch up with all your work. Right now you were working on an art piece due next week, not realizing that class was soon starting and your friends began arriving.

“Hey.” one of them greets you.

You look down from your piece and smile at, Park Yoon. She was the first person you contacted when you got kicked out of your parent’s house, you lived in her dormitory for only a week before you got caught. Although you wouldn’t consider Yoon a close friend seeing as she has a huge friend group, she was a reliant one.

“How are you, um, holding up?” she asks quietly to not catch the attention of the other students who began arriving.

“Not bad. I’m staying at an old school friends apartment for the time being.” you tell her, wiping your hands with a moist cloth.

Yoon nods looking at the ground in contemplation. “How long?”

“A week—well technically until Friday so five days.”

Something about her behavior seems off to you. Usually, she is pretty chipper ready to talk someone’s ears off. But today she is quieter, talking in less verbiage. Yoon shoots a glance around the classroom, surveying the vicinity to make sure no one is watching.

“There were rumors flying around about the real reason you ran away.”

You snort and fall back down on your seat to meet her at eye level. “Rumors? Aren’t we too old to be starting rumors?”

Yoon frowns and scoots a little back. “You know what it is…right?”

You stare at the floor, expressionless.

“They aren’t true, right?” Yoon asks cautiously. You threw her a look and the girl’s lips part to gasp or say something—you aren’t sure but it wasn’t a good reaction. Your heart rate begins to increase as you turn to face your canvas.

It’s all over now, you think. If Yoon has figured it out so will the rest of your peers and your social life is beyond the grave now.

Not even a minute later, Yoon stands up and sits on the other side of the room when she saw her friends enter. You start to become paranoid, wondering if she’ll immediately begin to gossip.

Throughout the duration of class you couldn’t help but get lost in your thoughts. The anticipation of everyone finding out about you was swallowing you whole. You are starting to wish that time moves slower so you wouldn’t have to leave class.

It didn’t help that Yoon and her friends kept stealing looks at your direction. You tried to avoid making eye contact but you would find that hard to do.

Rubbing the sweat from your palms, you pick up your brush and use this rush of panic as a way to speed up the process of your art work.

“Don’t forget about the deadline coming up!” your professor says five octaves higher while the class starts packing their things. “The students with the top three highest grades will get their work displayed at Hangaram Art Museum for the entirety of the summer!”

Your professors words were in the back of your mind as you frantically tried to pack your things to avoid Yoon and her group. It wasn’t until you heard a ‘Psst’ coming behind you that you snap out of your trance.

“Hey,” whispers a peer of yours. You never spoken to him, but the toothy inviting grin he is sending you is enough for you to know that he isn’t harmful. “I just wanted to tell you not to let those girls get into your head. I know how you feel—if you know what I mean.”

You send him a quizzical look. “Thanks?” So, they did gossip and everyone in this class knows. You might just throw up.

“Just keep your chin up and don’t let them see you in a moment of weakness and you’ll be alright.” he sends you a thumbs up as he walks away. You force a smile that goes away in a blink of an eye and sink into your seat.

What have you done? Why did you trust Yoon so much? You feel like such an idiot.

⊹ ✿・・───・・✦・・───・・✿

It was almost nearing midnight, Ji-yeong and Sae-byeok were in the living room. After a long day of working, Sae-byeok was trying to rest before doing it all over again tomorrow by watching mindless television until her roommate disrupts her to start pacing back and forth in front of her. Sae-byeok knew what she was getting worked up about. Ji-yeong clearly began to notice your lack of presence today.

“Where could she be this late? I’m sure libraries are closed by now…” she trails off, rubbing her chin in deep thought.

Sae-byeok’s mind goes back to earlier this morning. Your brief exchanges could’ve caused her to avoid coming to the apartment but your duffle bag is still here. You’d have to come back eventually.

“Sae-byeok, what did you do?”

Sae-byeok’s eyebrows knit in confusion. “Me?”

“I saw that look you just did. You look guilty. What did you do?”

“Nothing.” she responds coolly.

Ji-yeong purposely blocks the television screen and crosses her arms. “I’m not moving until you tell me the truth.”

“I don’t remember it was early in the morning.”

“Is it because she gave Cheol her crayons?”

Sae-byeok narrows her eyes. “How did you—?”

“He wouldn’t stop talking to me about it when I picked him up from school.” Ji-yeong rolls her eyes. “So, it is because of that? You got mad at her because of crayons, Sae-byeok, really?”

“It’s not just about the crayons.” she snips, sitting up straight from the couch. “Do you even know her personally? When was the last time you two actually talked before this?”

Ji-yeong doesn’t say anything.

“Thought so.” she scoffs. “I don’t trust her. Especially since you don’t want to tell me why she ran away in the first place.”

Ji-yeong purses her lips to digest her words. She shuffles to let Sae-byeok watch television again and sank next to her in the couch.

“I think she’s nice.” she grumbles like a child. Sae-byeok sends her a glare.

“You think, you don’t know.”

Ji-yeong shrugs. “I have no reason to think she’s a bad person.”

“People can change overnight. I’ve seen it happen and I’ve seen the consequences of being too trusting.”

Ji-yeon goes silent again. “No. This is something different—“

“Well, if you can just tell me why she’s even here in the first place then maybe I—“

“I can’t.”

“Then I don’t see the point in discussing this.” Sae-byeok sighs. She gets up from the comfort of the couch and stretches before grabbing her coat by the front door.

“Where are you going?” Ji-yeong frowns.

“To clear my head. I won’t be long.”

Ji-yeong doesn’t push any further, knowing this is something Sae-byeok occasionally does when her thoughts start to become too much. Maybe Ji-yeong went a little too far trying to defend your character because Sae-byeok rarely ever backs down from an argument so she really tested her limits.

Of course with Sae-byeok’s luck, she stumbles upon you sitting on the staircase, doodling something on your sketchbook underneath the fluorescent lights of the building.

Sae-byeok stares at your back trying to figure out if she should sneak back inside or talk to you. Maybe this is her chance to figure out what you’re really up to and prove Ji-yeong wrong.

“Why aren’t you inside?” she asks you after hesitating. You don’t response, you just throw her a glance before going back to drawing. Sae-byeok feels like this is some sort of payback for earlier.

Sae-byeok thought she was good at reading people’s body language and automatically pinpoint who they are and what their intentions are. It was something she had to learn to do in order to survive. But you are becoming an outlier.

“Ji-yeong is worried.”

“Well, just tell her I’m here.” you speak up. “I’ll be inside later. I just want to stop by a convenience store to get something to eat.”

“We have food inside.”

You turn to make eye contact with her again. For a brief moment, no words were spoken even as tension was rising.

“You got mad at me over oil pastels. Why would I go around touching your food?” you ask softly.

And for the first time, Sae-byeok is taken aback by you. There is another evanescent period of silence.

“Fine.” she says and starts walking down the staircase and further away from the building only to turn around to call out your name. You poke your head out from your sketchbook, raising an eyebrow at her. “Are you coming or what?”

You survey her figure blankly. With every interaction you have with Sae-byeok, she just keeps confusing you further. It feels like you are playing mental game of chess with her and you aren’t sure how to feel about that. You’re already overwhelmed with what happened today at school, you shouldn’t add someone like Sae-byeok to the mix.

Sae-byeok dug her hands deep inside the pockets of her jacket and taps her foot on the pavement, waiting for you impatiently. You sigh in defeat and close your sketchbook.

Just five more days and this’ll all just be a blurry memory, you think to yourself.

🏷️: @monroesturnns

[fatkish]

hashiras x child reader 12 year old girl who is a soldier with impressive combat skills, she knows a lot about firearms, she is a good strategist, for hand-to-hand combat, and she has too much strength for a 12 year old girl, her personality is somewhat proud and arrogant and enthusiastic like gabi braun from snk You may have met her during a mission in a military camp preparing and training. I really can't think of any other way they could have met her.

(I hope you don’t mind, I saw that you had sent @petitelepus the same request so I wanted to change it up just a little bit to it’s not exactly the same. Instead of being like Gabi Braun, I’m going to make her similar to Killua Zoldyck from HxH)

Hashiras x Child Soldier Reader

Your family has long since known about the existence of demons. One of your ancestors had learned about breathing styles and was previously a shinobi. After facing against demons and accessing their strength and abilities, he realized that humans needed lots of training in order to fight demons and survive . As soon as he had children he began training each to resist extreme pain by torture of all sorts, training them to be resistant to poison, he taught them how to kill. Generations went by and steadily, your family became increasingly stronger.

From the moment you were born, you were trained. You’re parents would often capture weaker demons and bring them back for you and your siblings to fight. Each child fought alone against a demon. Often times your parents would target demons that used poisons and particularly troubling blood demon arts. As you grew older, the demons you fought would be stronger and stronger. When you were nine, your parents managed to capture a lower moon and they made you face it. It took you hours but eventually you fought and killed it. After that, your parents captured 20 demons and locked them up, starving them before sending you in against them.

Your family’s main house is located on an island off of Japan. Your family makes sure that they are well hidden from demons so that Muzan doesn’t find them. Your family takes on assassinations, escorting people, espionage, etc. and receives money from it. Your family often steals the swords of fallen demon slayers and brings them back to your family’s blacksmith to reforge. When you were 12 you left your family and Kagaya’s crows caught sight of you and lead him to you. You had never been treated lovingly or kindly, and you were stunned by how kind Kagaya was.

Kagaya understood that your lifestyle didn’t give you the ability to understand morals and ethics. He saw how skilled you were and decided to ask you to join the corps. You felt so at peace with him and told him everything you’ve been through. Despite knowing that you’ve killed people, he happily welcomed you into the corps. He made you a Hashira and introduced you to the others. The other Hashira were skeptical about you at first. But as they got to know you better they realized that you weren’t such a bad person and that you were a victim of your family. Their thoughts on you are as follows:

Sanemi Shinazugawa:

If I ever see that kid’s parents I’m going run my fist right through their faces. Who the hell puts their kids through torture and forces them to fight demons? The kid is pretty strong and has decent talent, I won’t lie, but that’s no excuse for what those bastards put their kids through. (He deeply respects you and often checks in on you to see how you’re doing but he never admits that he does it out of concern, he’s always got some kind of excuse)

Kyojuro Rengoku:

I’ll admit, while I’m not thrilled about the fact that the kid has killed people, I cannot blame them for not understanding how precious life is when they were never taught it. However, I am proud that they have chosen to leave their past behind and fight to protect lives instead of taking them. They are very strong and it disgusts me what their parents put them through but nevertheless, I am happy to take them under my wing and teach them.

Obanai Iguro:

Despite our similarities we are incredibly different. Both of our families have too much blood on their hands but unlike me, the kid doesn’t believe that they are tainted by their blood. While it sickens me that they can kill people so easily, I do understand that they can’t be blamed for taking life when they were never truly taught right from wrong. The kid’s morals are severely skewed but they are trying to change which is what matters.

Tengen Uzui:

The kid and I often talk about life experiences and how different things are now that we’re both not living under our family’s thumbs. We both went through similar training as children and while they might not have had to kill their siblings, they did lose some to the training the went through. My wives love the kid and often dote on them. Whenever the kid doesn’t understand something they often come to me to explain things, and of course, as the god of festivals, I’ve taken them to plenty of festivals and showed them how to enjoy them.

Giyuu Tomioka:

They talk to me which is nice. They enjoy sparring with me and we often have tea and sit in silence together which is also nice. I didn’t know how to feel about the kid at first, but after talking to them and spending time with them, I learned that they aren’t a bad person. They’re strong and they want to use that strength to protect people instead of harming them. I enjoy their company.

Muichiro Tokito:

Oh, them? Why does it matter that they’re close to my age? They do make for a decent sparring partner though. I can’t remember but something tells me that they did bad things in their past. Whatever, I can’t remember so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Shinobu Kocho:

They kind of remind me of Kanao in a way. While it is a shame that they were raised the way they were, there isn’t anything that can be done about the past. Although it is concerning how often they come to me covered in wounds from battle that they didn’t notice. Sometimes I wonder if they truly didn’t notice their many wounds or if they just put up with the wounds until they became too numerous and troublesome. I often have to scold them for their reckless disregard for their health, but otherwise they’re a good kid.

Mitsuri Kanroji:

It just breaks my heart to hear what all they suffered through. I can’t imagine a parent doing such things to their own children. I have made it my personal goal to make sure that they know what it is to love and be loved. They’re so cute I often forget how strong they are. They’re so sweet to me and they don’t even think it’s weird how much I eat or how strong I am.

Gyomei Himejima:

It truly saddens me to know that they have taken the lives of their fellow humans. Even though they were taught to kill and nothing else, they still wish to do good with what they know. I pray the gods have mercy on this child’s soul when they die, though they have slain others, they did not know any better. Despite their wrong doings, they are actively trying to repent for their deeds by doing good which is admirable. They often come to me to seek guidance in regards to the moral and ethical dilemmas they face. I will do my utmost best to guide them.

[really-burnt-toast]

Uhhhh designs!

Ok so, I thought of this totally cool and innovative thing of giving them each an individual aesthetic LOL - I did stay extremely close to the game designs tho

P03 is the most modern looking- based very loosely on y2k aesthetic, but I mainly just wanted a modern style whilst keeping "old tech" accents if that makes any sense. I am playing with the idea of giving P03 a thick tv screen face (think old tvs) instead of a thin screen face he has in game... tho it'll be top heavy sooo idk. I grew up with one of those TVs (and old tech in general), so Im a little biased aesthetic wise. Yeah, yeah, it works with futuristic tech but LISTEN, old x new is cooler.

Magnificus is just based on fantasy aesthetics - he's a wizard in a wizard tower, he didn't change much, let's be frfr. Think for him having a fantasy medieval aesthetic.

Grimora was based on Victorian mourning dresses but with a more casual everyday wear twist. Big sleeves added because fun. I wanted her to look motherly and huggable. Also, she's half skeleton now.

Leshy deserves to be set on fire because I can't draw him for shit even though I love him. Gave him a camera bag because if he's gonna be chasing beasts around to capture them or just move around in general (since he's a beast himself) I thought he probably wouldn't like his camera being even more cracked than it already is. I debated putting him in a tunic, but I'm not convinced on it as it would make him seem more "human" than beast - and I wanted to keep him looking as animalistic as I could. He was based on other arts I've seen, and the only difference I added was the branches being more antler, like how I did with COTL Leshy. His arms are covered in those tree mushrooms, but I got frustrated, so I just smached those on him without putting in effort.

Listen, drawing Leshy, no matter WHICH Leshy - it frustrates me.

[familyagrestefanblog]

Sorry for making yet another post about it, but I just REALLY love that they included the mystery of whether Aglae is Cerise or not, right in episode 1. With it being the same voice actress in French, but that in itself isn't a give away because Kagami, for example, shares the same voice actress, too.

But what I TRULY love about this is that it finally gives us a narrative justification for suddenly hiding away Cerise's face even though we've seen her since season 1. That has bothered me the entire time, but now with Aglae (even if she's not Cerise) I can work with this again. Cause another thing this mystery now does well is taking advantage of the new art style.

Yes, we know what Cerise looked like in the OLD art style, but we can't 100% say what her face looks like NOW, especially in the 10.000 disguises she has.

The biggest clue we have by now is that she still has the same short brown hair we saw her have at the end of season 5, which I always took as confirmation that thats how she truly looks like, since we saw her put contact lenses on her brown eyes (which you can't do when you're already wearing contact lenses), and especially because the short brown hair was the only time her hair color actually matched her eye brows.

Especially the eye brows were alongside her long (claw-like) nails the thing I thought they would now use as consistent hints for her being disguised, but I'm honestly not sure anymore since we already saw up-close in episode 2 that Cerise doesn't have her claw nails anymore in the new model (which is a shame cause I loved that detail)

BUT THEN we can kinda gather what clothes Cerise wears as her "real self", and they do go well with Aglae's style and especially the purple and dark color scheme.

Which is yet another thing with two possible explanations: Aglae IS Cerise and this was an easy enough disguise to catch in episode 1, or Aglae is NOT Cerise and her inclusion is meant to tell us design and voice wise to not go with the easiest assumptions. Both are equally valid ways for the show to take this.

I just REALLY love this right now, okay? I missed having this much fun with one of the show's mysteries.

[localvillagecryptid]

AU where at some point in canon, it's revealed that the System is, in fact, a person. Not just any person: a Green JJ fangirl. And not just in a "has or had a physical body" way, but like someone who died and BECAME the system or part of it. Like a weird post-death recruitment into the cosmic illuminati. Shen yuan and Shang qinghua have in fact been arguing with a sapient former human who does, in fact, have the option to be less of a dick but is actively choosing to be this way for Plot Reasons (aka shipping content + she gets a raise for each successful story made).

This is revealed when she slips up in some of her messages to them and breaks character a few times. When she tells shen yuan to "just fuck him already, dammit," accompanied by a handful of other swears, shen yuan is horrified to realize he recognizes her writing style. The system used to be another PIDW regular that cucumber did NOT get along with, because unlike his "totally legit and fair" criticism, miss danmei fan complained primarily that the story would be better if binghe (and basically the entire cast) were gay (amongst other things). Shen yuan simply HAD to take up arms against such a RIDICULOUS notion, not knowing that miss green jj had clocked him AND airplane from miles away and had sniffed out the fact that aside from PIDW being meant as a cash grab, airplane was also just a total coward who wasn't brave enough to make it a danmei the way that he'd initially intended. He was originally going to post it on the danmei site, but chickened out and made it straight instead. Hence, we got PIDW. Anyway, she and cucumber had historic arguments in the comments section, though she wasn't as prolific as shen yuan, because unlike him, she was actually employed. Also, because she knew how to work smarter, not harder, and instead was busy making gay fan art and fics of PIDW instead of just whining in the comments all day. In fact, she only ever came back now and then to get updates on the characters to supplement her fan content.

Shen yuan then realizes that the entirety of svsss is Her Fault (it isn't; half of it was a prison of shen yuan's own making), which then brings him to, "wait. Did you CHOOSE to put me here, you demon???" Because yes, he died, but he didn't ask to get isekai'd! As it turns out, she volunteered for the position of svsss system (her god complex simply couldn't resist), but shen yuan dying was just a lucky boon. When she realized he was cucumber, she thought, "well since you love binghe so much, here! GO AHEAD AND MARRY HIM" and here we are.

This leads to several fights in which sy and airplane BOTH look like they're going crazy bc they're talking to air. The "air" is, meanwhile, docking points for public image loss + "being mean to her", and dropping them in situations as punishment. There's an entire week in which shen yuan is getting hit with back-to-back wife plots because he said her old HuaMing Twitter fan art was trash, and that there was no way Hualing or Liu Mingyan were lesbians. Perhaps when they call a truce, she admits that there's a lot more that can be seen behind the scenes, such as affection meters, stats, etc etc that are invisible to sy and sqh.

However, she refuses to be helpful and divulge the information, because "it would compromise integrity/authenticity of players' actions" etc. She laughs every time shen yuan frets that luo binghe hates him, knowing damn well the affection meter has broken past the full bar. She's completely lying every time she tells them that x action will cause them to lose so many points that they'd die (because the point system is up to her, but the stakes being so high helps her own performance rating). The only actions that could do so are A) averting the abyss event, and B) telling people about the system/transmigration. Everything else is up for grabs. In fact, there could even be loopholes to those; but I like to think that since she held such a grudge against shen yuan from their internet beef, she threw all her plans out the window for a fix-it story once she saw his soul on the market.

When binghe is stuck wandering mega hell, system is playing Mario Kart and looking up which universe she wants to work on next.

[bewitched-hours]

Elo!

do yu do platonic ships? If yu do can yu do bluudud X fem! reader(Survivor) who is 11 y.o. and sometimes suggle up and fall asleep on bluudud arms.

Yu can also do slight angst like the spectre forbids their love or smt but they dgaf, as love is more powerful-

anyway make sure to get some rest and stay hapi

-Kiclown Anony

I do and that's absolutely adorable! It's a nice change of pace to just focus on the children for a bit and have something cute to read about!

As requested, She/Her for the reader!

What's more disturbing?

Another child being thrown into this endless game of life and death or them being thrown to the survivors?

Either way, you seemed almost oblivious to the chaos.

They almost thought you were also somehow convinced this was just a game of tag like C00lkidd but you quickly showed that you knew.

The other survivors were greatly disturbed of course. You were only 11 years old and not showing even a hint of a reaction to the constant deaths around you.

But similar to the kids in the killer's cabin, you were created by someone for reasons yet unknown.

And for whatever reason, your ability to feel fear was just completely gone... Why did the Spectre choose you to be a survivor??

Regardless, you had to be protected, even against your own will at times.

It was stressful when you were up against C00lkidd, Bluudud or Pr3typriincess. Since for some fucking reason you always insisted on distracting them and playing games, giving the other survivors heart attacks as they try to get ahold of your sugar-induced little body.

Speaking of, where did you always get do much candy from?!

Overall, you were a nightmare in such rounds but it was especially bad with Bluudud because you apparently found the colours on his lollipop cool.

Tbf, rainbows have always been interesting to kids since the beginning of time so you couldn't entirely be faulted to flocking to him to easily.

But surprisingly, he went easy on you. The other survivors took note how Bluudud seemed to save you for last but that was probably because you were pretty much ego-boost incarnate. Always praising everyone around you...

And although the survivors are split on it, they agreed to include you more in future strategies where you could distract the kids with your speed almost outmatching theirs.

C00lkidd loved having a playmate who can keep up with him, Pr3typriincess could at least style you up and leave you last to parade her 'art' around and Bluudud got a free ego-boost. Win/Win in a way-

At first BD wanted to keep you at an arms length, thinking you were annoying.

Now? He just sighs and let's you ramble on. It's kinda nice to have a fan on the opposing side, in a weird way.

Sometimes he'd have to shut you up though which he found a few headpats were enough to put a pause on your constant praise for a bit until he has to tell you to continue.

It was... Somewhat cute- if you look past him still being a killer.

Sometimes he even wanted to spare you, inviting you back to the killer's cabin to hang out more and although you'd happily agree, the Spectre couldn't have any long-lasting happiness in its realm!

No, it made sure Bluudud knew what it thought but did he care?

Of-fucking-course not. To him, the Spectre was just like an annoying parent so of course it'll be ignored while he happily let's you ramble on and secretly hopes you try to find the killer's cabin in search of him.

And it's not like you didn't try. You tried everytime after rounds.

Unfortunately, the other survivors always made sure to keep you within vision because some of them were parents and your mere presence makes them all feel responsible. Like they have to take care of a child all together to make sure you don't do anything stupid...

Like trying to find your killer buddy...

So sorry for how it turned out, I didn't really have many ideas for this but it was such a cute request!

Anything you'd like to request/ask? Check out my pinned post first and I'll be happy to write up whatever you want!

[d-lanx]

Ok here's a little thing i thought would fun for any artists to show off their progress at learning art (plus I'm nosey🤭).

Show off the oldest drawings you did (or the oldest that you can still find), the first things you were confident enough to upload online, and your most recent drawings and talk about them and show off how much you've progressed :)

Probably gonna end up missing some people, but I'm tagging a bunch of cool artists I follow/am mutuals with and am nosey to see how they started out, but no pressure :)

@fantasticalleigh, @thlayli-ra, @heelhausen, @stupidmarkzone, @2ndcitynightmare, @punk-o-ween, @normallypassingby, @tvheit, @seasonal-depression-of-punk

And if you wanna have a look at my old stuff, I've got it below =)

Oldest Drawings I Can Find

Of course, the first is an OC. Never did anything with her tho. Notice the lack of forehead and elbows, the arms that barely reach the hips, how indishtinguishable each part of the body is from one another. They're a perfectly smooth pole. and of course those wings. This is the first thing in my first proper sketchbook when I decided I was gonna start taking art more seriously. This would have been when i started secondary in 2014 at 11 years old. And I can't find anything from before that, since I never kept anything in a proper book/folder.

Second image is another of the first drawings in the book. It was my first closeup of a face, and also my first time drawing anime. I know I'm not the only artist who was desperate to learn to draw an anime-style as a kid. I remember doing this while on holiday, trying to follow an online tutorial, taking about 4 hours to get the outcome I did, and getting so frustrated that I couldn't get it to look right, that I was almost brought to tears. I'm pretty sure this was one of those "I'm never drawing again! >:(" moments, lol. Looking back, it was a pretty good first attempt. But I guess I was always a bit of a perfectionist, lol. Funnily enough, while I carried the anime eyes forward in my art style for years, to this day, I still can't draw a proper full anime style character.

First Drawings I Uploaded Online

I put these on insta to show my mates from school. The first picture was an attempt at a close up face with the new brush markers i'd got for christmas. This was 2017 just before i turned 14. Pretty sure I copied the design from an art tutorial book, that was supposed to be hyper-realistic (another christmas present). But I just couldn't bring that to life so just did what I could. Also, first time I used a signature. My signature's very different nowadays cos it's based on my tumblr username and not me actual name. But yeah. I was tryna get more professional I guess.

Second pic is the first full body piece I uploaded a few days later. Again, used the drawing books trying to learn how to draw flowy clothes. Think it was a book about drawing anime clothes that I used for this (another christmas present). By this point, each body part could move seperately and had joints. Also note the anime eyes, cos my simpler-but-still-anime-inspired eyes were something I stuck with a long ass time. This was the style I drew most often, and could usually do without having references (but obviously for this drawing specifically, I had the reference for the clothes). Had a lot of trouble with perspective, so all my characters faced forward, and later they would always face a 3/4 angle. And they could never lean or reach forwards cos I just couldn't get that to look right.

Most Recent Pieces

The most most recent is on the left, being my most recent closeup of a face. Still has a cartoonish edge with the lineart but much more realistic. And I'm fucking with this semi-realistic look atm. Tbh I dunno if i'd have the patience for the tiny details in hyperrealism. Also, fun story, in 2021 when I was doing my a-levels, I did an art piece that we were free to do in any style we wanted, and my teacher saw mine and was like “I wish you’d done it as realism instead of a cartoon style :(“ but it was actually my best attempt at realism and she hadn’t even realised. So I dunno, maybe I’m not cut out for realism 😂😂 I like my style rn tho so who cares

Then I got my most recent drawing of a (almost) full body. I got joints and decent hands and proportions and more body details.

Also this last year is the first time I've really got into digital. I always used to just do pen and paper. I even got a cheap drawing tablet, but couldn't get used to drawing on one surface and the image being up on a seperate screen. So I could never get the lines right. I did draw on my old ipad for a while which was easier, but the stylus was one of those with the thick rubber ball on the end, rather than a fine nib. Again, I had trouble cos I couldn't tell where it would register the contact with the screen and draw the line, which made it hard to do details. I got a new ipad a little while back that supports apple pencil, so I got one for it. And it's so much easier now that I've got a fine nib and can see where I'm drawing. I'm in love with drawing digital atm.

But yeah. That's how i've drawn over the years. Mental to see how much my style has changed and improved :) makes me feel better when I get frustrated with a drawnig and think I'm shit. Cos I know I'm getting better with each new drawing, even if it's only baby steps.

First: Now:

[cottonundiestf]

Plain Jane (Attribute Theft, BE, Altification)

She hated that her parents named her Jane. They didn't know they were signing her up for torture. They didn't know Jane Gray would grown into an exceptionally plain young woman, turning the name she grew up with since childhood into the perfect insult. Plain Jane. Even her nickname couldn't be unique.

The eighteen-year-old finished the gauntlet of social torment that was high school and she didn't see how college was going to be any better. With her dishwater brown hair, stick-like figure, lower-middle class upbringing, and total lack of style, Jane was overlooked at best and teased at worst.

There was a big senior bonfire at the beach for graduates to celebrate their last summer before going off to college and jobs, and for some reason, Jane let her friend Danielle drag her out for one last hurrah.

When she got to the beach, everyone was having fun and barely noticed her arrival. She went to find Dani, but before she could, her eye was drawn to a gold necklace nestled in the cool sand. It had three gold moon charms of different phases, each seemingly missing a stone that should be set in it.

Jane considered looking for the owner of the necklace, but everyone was too busy to give her the time of day anyway, right? Screw it, she deserved one nice thing tonight.

She fastened the necklace around her neck as Dani, one of her only friends at school, found her. She handed Jane a drink so they could reflect on graduation and look ahead to college, an experience Jane still wasn't optimistic about.

"You're being too hard on yourself, Jane. Besides, college is going to be the perfect time to reinvent yourself."

Everyone always said that. But that was easy for Dani to say; she never had a problem standing out. She grew out of a goth look and attitude over the years, but that just left her as some kind of alt rock goddess, with her dyed hair and a collection of tattoos Jane's parents never would have signed off on at such a young age. Even her style was full of bold blacks and vibrant neons that Jane just could never pull off.

Jane wished she could be half as exciting as Dani while Dani seemed drawn to stare at her friend's new accessory. "Woah, that's a really cool necklace. Is it... um... new?"

Dani looked dizzy, her eyes starting to glaze over. "Dani? Dan—woah." The sudden wave of dizziness passed on to Jane, but it wasn't the only thing.

She felt the ripple of goosebumps across her skin as art pieces etched themselves in ink, each tattoo flooding her head with memories of tattoo parlors and songs that inspired them. It wasn't the kind of music Jane listened to, except... well, it was, right? Her and Dani traded songs and bands, sneaking out to underground concerts throughout high school. Dani was even the one to dye Jane's hair a vibrant blue before graduation.

When the sudden wave of memories and pleasure associated with her tattoos subsided, Jane finally looked herself over, realizing she didn't imagine the change. She started to say something to Dani before looking her over again.

She had fewer tattoos and piercings; if Jane had to guess, she had lost about as many tattoos as Jane gained. What's more, her blue hair was now black with a few blue streaks. She was still gorgeous though, which was why Jane was dating her.

Wait. What?

Jane was always your typical straight girl, but that's not what her memories were telling her, and it certainly wasn't what her body thought. All those nights sneaking out weren't just to go to parties. Dani and Jane had their queer awakenings around the same time, and who better to explore that with then your punk rock bestie?

Dani finally came to, seemingly unaware of what changed or the features Jane... well, stole. Unintentionally, but that was absolutely what happened. "Want to get out of here and...?" Dani just grinned.

Jane felt the sudden warmth in her cheeks and... other places. "Yeah, let's—wait. Er, sorry, but not just yet. I... want to go around and talk to a few people first?"

Dani stared at her girlfriend blankly. "...You do?"

Jane laughed weakly, coming up with a lame excuse of wanting to end things on good terms before leaving her hometown in the Fall. Dani accepted the excuse with a kiss and left Jane alone to inspect her necklace.

As expected, this had to be involved somehow. The crescent moon charm had a new sapphire set in it, leaving her with two gemless moons. Assuming she knew what that meant now...

Jane wandered the periphery of the party, looking girls from her graduating class over. She felt a little guilty for what she took from Dani, but she didn't have the same apprehensions about the girls who spent the years ignoring her.

Eventually, she spotted Lily. Everyone knew she was a social butterfly and a huge flirt, and she had the look to back it up. She had the hips, she had the ass, and as every guy on the beach could tell you, she had a perfect pair of breasts. She even had a pretty face to match, proving fate played favorites.

But fate wasn't in charge tonight. "Hey Lily! Good luck next year. Got any plans?"

The redhead looked away from the two guys chatting her up, confused by the introvert's sudden friendliness. "Hey. Um, Jane, right? Thanks! I've got a job lined up, so... er... sorry, that's just a really nice... necklace?"

No one around them seemed to notice, but Lily and Jane were falling into the same daze she put Dani under before as their realities swapped a few key details around.

There was a sudden spark in Jane's heart. Something feisty. She was always an awkward, quiet kid, but that was all over. She was the one who made herself the life of the party wherever she went. She could feel it on her tongue; flirtation was like a second language Jane was fluent in.

Jane's beanpole figure filled out, her hips flaring to accommodate a new bubble butt. Her flat chest swelled, not quite to the perfectly shaped DDs Lily has... had, but to a size where she could feel them weighing on her chest. Lily was never actively antagonistic to Jane, so she was willing to leave her some gentle curves and some perky A cups.

But she did take all she could from that stunning face. Soft freckles, high cheek bones, full lips, and some fuck-me eyes that could make a man unload his wallet.

Which was what made Jane realize what else she took: the new job Lily had lined up. Jane's awkward, unimpressive body was now made to dance and show off, and that meant she was excited for the chance to strip her way through college for some spending money. She even stole Lily's stage name, Lulu. (It wasn't Lily at her most creative, but now it wasn't Lily's at all, so that was fine.)

Lily finally came to, finishing her inspection of the new ruby in Jane's half-moon charm. Her face was so bland now, like a stock character made to fill in the background of a video game. When Jane smiled and excused herself, Lily looked around, unsure of what to do now. The poor thing would acclimate to her new social anxiety in time, and in time, Jane would adjust to the guys who kept offering her drinks.

With one charm left, Jane had an idea of who she'd use it on, but the night was young. She spent some time dancing and teasing guys from her class, reveling in the attention she lacked in her old life. This was almost perfect.

But perfection was Melody Morgan.

"Jane? No fucking way. That can't be Plain Jane."

Interrupting Jane's dancing, a blonde in a teeny bikini glared at her. Melody was your classic rich bitch, with the best toys, the most popular boyfriend, and a pair of fake tits bought by daddy as a graduation gift to add on to her natural beauty. All those blessings and she still chose to spend the last four years tormenting Jane.

The guy Jane was dancing with, Melody's boyfriend, Tristan, looked at her in confusion. "Plain Jane? Are you feeling okay, babe?"

"Hush!" She pulled her fingers across her lips like a zipper, and Tristan's voice cut out like he was muted. "I don't know what kind of trick this is, but... HEY! You took my necklace!"

Jane blinked, realizing what had happened. The charm necklace was Melody's. And with it, there came the realization that Melody's nice things weren't blessings; they were magic.

The realization dawned on her: what if this wasn't the first time Melody used magic to steal the luster from other girls?

"You little twerp. I'm going to turn you into the toad you are, then I'll take my... my neck..."

Melody was so arrogant, she didn't realize she was staring into the charms, falling under the power of a very pissed off Jane.

There was an element of intent with stealing from people, Jane realized. She wanted half of what made Dani so bold. She wanted most of Lily's beauty and allure.

But she wanted everything from Melody. The bitch didn't deserve any of it.

She didn't focus on herself because she wanted to watch Melody. She watched her thighs thin out and her curves flatten. The luster of her blonde hair went dull. The tact Jane used with Lily was gone as every bit of tit the bitch had, real or synthetic, dissolved until Melody's chest was as flat as the rest of her.

Looks weren't all Melody didn't deserve. Memories started vanishing, from her honors classes to her active dating history to the witchy rituals her aunt taught her when she came of age. She looked around at the beach as all the faces became strangers to the witch who was once the most popular girl in her class.

Eventually, the plain, uneducated, outsider came to her senses, looking around only to realize everyone on the beach was acting like she didn't exist. The only person who seemed amused by her was an absolute goddess rocking tattoos and long, shiny blue hair.

The guy behind the bluette bombshell had his hands all over her, disregarding the stick-figure girl. "Who's this, babe?"

The blue-haired witch grinned wickedly, filled with the elitist attitude she stole from a top mean girl. She'd stolen her rival's body, mind, and boyfriend. Dani wasn't a stickler for monogamy, and really, didn't she deserve a boyfriend and a girlfriend?

But that wasn't the only thing she took from her former bully. "I don't know, Tristan. Hey bitch, what's your name?"

It took the mundane young woman a second to even remember. "Oh, um. Jane Morgan?"

That made Jane, now Melody laugh. "Oh, Plain Jane! I knew her once, but she just sort of fell off the face of the Earth. Glad to see you've been up to nothing interesting, but this is actually a closed party."

Melody Gray fiddled with her necklace, the full moon charm now adorned with a brilliant diamond to complete her set. It sat above an almost cartoonishly large chest. Maybe she went a bit overboard, but daddy promised her a boob job, and Melody loved when every guy and girl on the beach couldn't help but stare.

The queen bee of the beach sighed, officially done with Jane. She wasn't a bully anymore; she wasn't anything. She was insignificant, and that was enough for Melody. "Run off and do... well, who cares, right?"

Jane ran off with tears in her eyes, grappling with a sense of loss she couldn't quite explain as she ran off to her unremarkable life. Melody, meanwhile, reveled in her boyfriend groping her as her new memories as the popular it girl and richest witch in town replaced a much less interesting life she was happy to leave behind.

(Thank you to my Sugar Patrons for helping me with another fun poll of suggestions! There was a tie, so that means you get attribute theft AND altification! The model used goes by Riae! Find ways to support me as a Sugar Patron on my Discord!)

[jules-ln]

Viktor and Jinx as Zaun, Jayce as Piltover, Arcane's use of art movements as a storytelling device

I am once again writing about Arcane because I am mentally ill and I also love Art history

So anyway I've already talk about Viktor being Art nouveau And how Art nouveau's history was similar to Viktor's story, and I wanted to talk about Jayce being Art Deco, because of his fashion choices in the last episode are pretty much art deco

But then I thought, what if it isn't just about Viktor and Jayce, but it's about Zaun and Piltover in general, and how the relationship between these two cities reflects in these two characters

And somehow I ended up writing this because FUCK

Look, I even got subtitles and everything

But anyway, I won't put citations on this because I'm not that crazy so this isn't a serious academic essay, and as anything else you read on the internet, take the parts about Art history with a grain of salt and you should read more about it (yess, this my elaborated plan to get people into Art history)

Jinx and Viktor as the personification of Zaun

Zaun actually has more of a punk on top rather than just art nouveau, a lot of people seem to think it's steampunk, but honestly, I think that's the result of putting punk and art nouveau together rather than it being pure steampunk

The thing that made me connect the characters as the embodiment of the cities was the fact that I've noticed that Zaun actually has a lot of art nouveau elements; is just that this art nouveau elements seem to be old and broken (I would show you but Tumblr's dumb image limit won't let me)

Now, I've actually talked about the story of art nouveau on another post but to make a brief summary, art nouveau started as a way to give common people art, to redistribute it rather than it just being something for rich people, it failed. But the important part is that art nouveau originally was a leftist art movement, like punk. Punk was a response to the social and economic crisis at the time of its origin; but where Art nouveau was a solution (solution that didn't work, mind you) punk was more of a response (again, don't quote me on that lmao)

Similar to this we can see, how both Viktor and Jinx then embody different responses to the same thing. Viktor is proposing a solution for the problems of Zaun (solution that didn't work) meanwhile Jinx is a reaction to everything that has happened to Zaun, she isn't a problem, she's a consequence

But not only are they the responses to Zaun, they ARE different parts of Zaun

We can see this with Jinx in the relationship she has with Vander, Silco and Ekko.

Both Vander and Silco nurture her and Zaun, and she wouldn't be what she is without both of them

That's why neither Silco nor Ekko could leave her. Silco couldn't give her away because that would be equivalent to him giving away Zaun, and Ekko couldn't give up on her because that would be like giving up on Zaun

Meanwhile with Viktor the influence of his style predominantly being art nouveau reflects in the background at different parts of the city,

And most noticeable is that when Zaun is in a better place, the elements of art nouveau are more prominent, like in episode 7 where punk takes a back seat to the art nouveau. It seems that generally art nouveau signifies a better Zaun, or the potential of it being better

We also see a lot of elements of art nouveau in Viktor's commune, and I know that the commune is interpreted as a negative thing. But look at it this way, what Viktor is doing, is probably doing more good than whatever the hell Caitlyn had going on during the first act (no hate to Cait btw)

Like, I know there are Caitlyn fans out there that defend her decisions of using the gray to attack the Chem barons, but in reality doing that wouldn't solve anything, just create a power vacuum that later could be filled by someone worse (like Renata Glasc) without solving the addiction to Shimmer (again, No hate to Cait). But what Viktor is doing, offering a safe space to recovering addicts and sick people, is actually solving the shimmer problem by eliminating the demand of it; and it's making Zaun better

(I also want to point out that the decision of framing Viktor's commune as a mind controlling cult is very politically charged, because even if it's not perfect; think about it; they're framing a commune in which money probably isn't used at all, and that accepts both recovering addicts and sick people freely and without judgment as something negative)

Add the fact that Viktor is one of the few characters that didn't talk negatively about Jinx (If I remember correctly); neither when he is disarming her bomb nor when he's in the commune talking directly to her; this could be interpreted as Viktor always seeing the potential within the Zaun of now

Adding to that, I want to make the point that Viktor and Jinx probably would be friends if they got to know each other. And I think this headcanon is so popular because they both are expressions of Zaun, of course they're going to be similar and get along

Art deco

Now, I'm not an expert in art deco (I've always been more interested in art nouveau and impressionism). But I know some things about it

Basically Art Deco comes from from the words art décoratif; and it was an art movement that emphasized the utility of art; it had different influences like Mayan art, Egyptian art, Art Nouveau, Rococo etc etc

Some of its characteristics are: straight lines, geometric patterns; a lot of gold, lots of triangles, more is more ideology and ornaments

But the important thing is that Art deco is supposed to be a very superficial art, merely decorative (hence the name); that signifies wealth. It also became strongly associated with machinery and progress. I would argue that in recent years there has been a new connotation of corruption and darkness to it thanks to media like Bioshock

It's definitely a perfect art movement for Piltover; to show the shallowness and money the city has. But the show not only attaches this art movement to the city, it also gives it different characters

Mel and Art Deco

This is the part where my ramblings got out of control because at first I was going to just point out how Jayce has an art movement too; then I realized that Viktor also uses clothes with an art deco pattern in them: (red lines to make the pattern more clear)

But that's weird; why does Viktor uses art deco here when later his main style is art nouveau? Then I realized, it's not just about Viktor and Jayce. But as Zaun and Piltover in general

And I realized that because of a character that also uses a lot of art deco without being from Piltover herself

Mel

Mel during the series uses different clothes, but most of them have in common the geometric pattern of art deco

But she isn't from Piltover; she isn't part of the city in the same way Jayce is. While she has a very big connection to it; the simple fact is that Mel's story is about finding herself; and she can't do it while in Piltover. In Piltover she's only doing what she's always done, searching for her mother's approval

Then why is she associated with art deco?

But I noticed, she isn't. Not completely

Let's look at what Mel actually does instead of what she's wearing

Here we can see one of Mel's paintings

Let's not look at what it is, (it's Noxus) let's look at how Mel painted it; it's has more emphasis on colors and ambient, the form is not very defined; it plays with the light, it almost gives you an impression of Noxus

Yes, Mel is an impressionist painter (think Claude Monet (Vincet van Gogh is post impressionsism btw))

And I think this is important for her character because at the end of the season, she goes back to Noxus looking for who she really is; who she is beyond her mother's influence and beyond Piltover. And guess what

If you hate abstract art blame it on Impressionsism. It came to be around the same time of the invention of photography. Photography filled the role painting had of representing reality, and it did it better, faster, and cheaper. So painting had to change to be more abstract instead of simply aiming to represent reality and all of that started (at least within the context of Europe at that time) with impressionsism

What I'm trying to say it's that impressionism was painting as a medium trying to redefine itself again, it was trying to find its own identity apart from photography. Just like Mel is trying to define herself

Now, if Mel is impressionism; it stand to reason that she's using Art deco, not because she's representative of the city, but simply as a way of showing how she adapted to the city, how it influenced her and helped her grow as a person

I was thinking about that before she debuted as a champion, but I think her voice lines kind of confirmed it

So, hers and Viktor's use of art deco signifies how important Piltover is for them; and if you look at it in a certain way, it's could also be a connection to Jayce

Jayce as Art deco

Now, before anything, I want to analyze Jayce's first design, when he's young

Here it is (and Viktor's, for reasons)

And you know, the first thing it jumped out to me while analyzing it, is that there isn't a lot of art deco elements; more than that, it's too simple for art deco, and he looks almost childish; like if you told me the guy was 18 here. I would believe it

But it also applies with Viktor, the clothes make him look so young and are too simple for art deco

So let's see how both of them look after the timejump

Now, Jayce here has his white blazer (is that the right word?) but again, where are my patterns? My ornaments? My geometric shapes and straight lines? There are some on the blazer; not enough that I would call it art deco

But take it off and boom

It's almost the same as his academy uniform, just change some things and colors here and there, but other than that, it's the same

Compared it with how different Viktor looks

Now, I know the first thing that stands out with Viktor is his change in health, but let's look beyond that, his clothes are completely different

Sure, he still uses elements that are reminiscent of his academy uniform, but that definitely isn't his uniform. The shape is different, the pattern is different, even the colors are a bit different. Viktor changed, but Jayce didn't?

That's because Viktor grew up, Jayce stayed the same, just add some things on top

Jayce's character design in season 1 reflects his mental state, he stayed innocent, naive

Now, why does all of these matters? Because it wasn't until I was looking at Jayce's design in season 2 that I noticed he's Art deco;

The straight lines, the geometric patterns, the ornaments. But he only won the art deco elements after he learned about Zaun, after he had to go through what Viktor had gone through. Before that he wasn't ready yet

Now, I think it's important to say that I'm interpreting Jayce as not only related to Piltover, but as the representation of the best of Piltover itself; he's the best side of Piltover in the same way that Viktor is the potential for a better Zaun

A tale of two cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and I'm a nerd

Now, I think that even after the whole magic plot, Arcane is still fundamentally a story about two cities, and that same relationship it's reflected on its characters; more than that. The dumb ending where Zaun and Piltover forget their differences and work together; I think it was the plan all along and as proof of that, I present to you Viktor and Jayce's relationship

I've seen a lot of people say that the dynamic between Piltover and Zaun reflects itself in the dynamic between Vi and Jinx, and honestly; that doesn't makes sense to me

Because, I understand Jinx being Zaun, I've already said it myself; but Vi isn't Piltover, and the relationship Vi has with Jinx isn't even remotely similar to the relationship Piltover has with Zaun (If you want to make the case, I would say it would be more accurate to say that Jinx is Zaun and Cait is Piltover, and Vi is the person trapped between the two, unable to choose)

But if look elsewhere, you know who would be a perfect comparison for Piltover and Zaun? Jayce and Viktor, and you might say "well, Jayce and Viktor's relationship isn't at all like Piltover and Zaun's relationship either"

That's because, like I've already said, Jayce is the better version of Piltover, and Viktor is the potential yet to realize in Zaun. So basically if Caitlyn and Jinx's relationship is meant to reflect the problems the two cities have in the present. Jayce and Viktor's relationship gives the solution, which is "put aside your differences and work together as equals"

And you can see that as well in their design

Side to side, these two designs exemplify the fundamental differences between Art Nouveau and Art Deco

Art Nouveau looks flowy, soft, feminine, floral patterns, asymmetry. Art Deco is expensive, machinery, modern, sharp angles, symmetry and straight lines, but that's not all

I've already said that Jayce design changed at the end of the season because Jayce finally matured, he's ready to be the best of Piltover, now he has earned the art Deco. But what do my eyes see here?

A flowy soft pattern on Jayce? A Floral pattern even? That's art nouveau right there

And then you look at Viktor's final form (in this picture is easier to see) and What's that on his chest? Symmetry? Straight lines? Machinery? That's art deco

So are you telling me that Jayce will always have some Viktor in him, while Viktor will always have some Jayce in him?

Are you telling me that the best of Piltover will always have some Zaun in it? While the potential of Zaun will always involve Piltover?

And you might think that is a bit of a stretch, but it makes sense with the ending Arcane has

Think about it; the show says that the best solution for the two cities is for them to put aside their differences and work together as equals; and I can't help but think that's what Jayce and Viktor are already doing

Jayce doesn't care that Viktor is from Zaun, and Viktor trust Jayce even with him being from Piltover; and it's only working together that they can reach their true potential. As in every time-line in which they aren't together, they never invent Hextech

The ending of arcane

Tbh, I'm not saying that the ending of the Piltover and Zaun conflict was good even if it was planned all along; but I also think a lot of people expected a leftist masterpiece, like the moment the most revolutionary character is also a mob boss and the main villain of season 1, you can totally tell that it wasn't going to another disco elysium (funnily enough disco elysium also has the mob boss being the union leader lmao)

I'm just analyzing the things I found, and while some might seem like a reach, I'm a 100% death of the author guy and I believe in making my own meaning

And I want to say this is the first time I've seen art history used in this way for visual storytelling. They could've very well just use generic steampunk visuals; but they decided to do something meaningful. Just for that alone I consider Arcane a masterpiece of animation