#my hairs naturally red when it's not dyed purple because purple

[luna-loveboop]

I had a conversation with a friend about how much I hate redeads and he genuinely thought I was typoing redheads for ten whole minutes and it reminded me of that post of yours (that I can't find again) 😂

- hero-of-the-wolf

Oooo an excuse to learn how to do links on tumblr

Link to the post

^^Did that work? If it did I'll add it to the other posts

And lol??? I'm imagining you talking about hating redeads' terrible scream that paralyses you for a few seconds- and your friend just nodding along like yeah I hate it when redheads do that.

Language mix ups are cool and your conversation story made me smile, thank you for sharing to me :)) As a redhead I am happy to be confused with a redead in conversation XD

[schnaf]

good morning, sunshine ~

[burningdaybreak]

"BURN and CHILL" — The Duality of BAD DOGS

Hello everyone! First of all, I'm sorry for not posting a proper essay in the last two months; as I mentioned in my short post the other day, I lost motivation to write for a bit, then thought I should wait until Akito5 (or rather, Rekindle the flame) to post this... however, I think I won't add in Akito5 things after all except for some small things, and rather may write a proper essay about the event sometime soon. This essay had been pretty much done for a while now, but because of my small hiatus, it took me this long to post it. Sorry. (By the way, I fixed and finished this essay while taking breaks from tiering Akito5. I blame any mistakes on that.) Anyways... (Previous introduction) So, ever since I posted my last essay, my works have been getting quite a bit of attention, and I've gotten a lot of interactions and new followers, which makes me happy. I hope people have been enjoying what I write! The topic of this essay is Akito and Touya's duality and contrasts, both within themselves and with each other, which I believe is a pretty interesting topic. There's a lot to talk about here, so, let's get into it!

0. Introduction

Duality: the quality or state of having two different or opposite parts or elements.

When it comes to their characters, their designs, their personalities, and even individual stories, Akito and Touya are pretty much opposites; they contrast each other when it comes to all those aspects, and yet, they're completely inseparable. They are pretty much made to fit together, being two halves of the same whole. The contrasts and differences between each other — or in other words, the duality of their relationship, is basically what makes them perfect for each other, since what one lacks, the other makes up for, and with the other's help and support, they can push each other forward; this, in turn, makes them to be the best partner possible for the other, allowing each other to grow — together. And, through that, they become one, united through one of their common traits: their love for music, spawning a desire to sing with each other and nobody else, forever and ever; an inseparable couple with an unbreakable bond and a growing love for each other that won't be replaced by anybody else... Together, they become BAD DOGS! And so, in this essay, I will talk about their contrasts in a lot of parts of their characters: from the more mundane aspects, like school grades, to how they interact with others, and even their family backgrounds, among other things.

1. Character design

Starting from their very character designs, Akito and Touya are already opposites: their image colors, orange (#FF7721) and blue (#0077DD), are one of the primary complementary color pairs. Complimentary colors are combinations of cool and warm colors that, when placed together, they bring out the best in each other by making their complement more vibrant and noticeable. Even when it comes to their image colors, they're perfect for each other. The warm and cool aspects are also apparent in their designs, with their hair colors (Akito's orange and dyed-blonde hair V.S. Touya's dual-blue hair), both of their default outfits (Akito's outfit colors being predominantly warm colors, such as yellow, red, orange; while Touya's are predominantly cool colors, like purple and blue), and even their personalities, which I'll get into soon. Furthermore, we have BURN and CHILL, the words for Akito and Touya's World Link chapters' Top 100 ranking's titles, which makes their contrasts even more apparent and intentional. Speaking of their personalities, and their warm and cool natures, we also need to mention how Akito and Touya are themed after the sun and moon, respectively. Both of Touya's old and new default designs feature moon-related things, with both of them having "DerMond", which stands for The Moon in German; and his new design having "VERSTECKT MONAT" in the back.

Fun fact: "VERSTECKT MONAT" actually means Hidden Month, but it's likely they actually meant for it to say Hidden Moon, which would have had to be "VERSTECKT MOND"; this mistake possibly comes from the fact that the kanji for moon, 月, stands for both "month" and "moon".

On the other hand, Akito does not have direct associations with the sun in either of his designs like Touya does, but his new default design features the word "SCORCHING", which can be related to the sun. However, we can mention how Akito's last name, Shinonome (東雲), means "daybreak" or "sunrise", which does actually associate him with the sun in some form.

For other forms of sun & moon association in Akito and Touya, we have Akito's second event song, 月光 (Gekkou), translated to Moonlight, obviously being related to the moon; while ミライ (Mirai), Touya's second event song, features a sunrise in its song jacket, so it's related to the sun. Although Gekkou is not explicitly related nor referencing Touya (I talk about this song more in-depth in The Gay Akito Thesis™, if you'd like to learn more about it), I believe the fact that it can be related to Touya; symbolically, it fits Akito and Touya's relationship, and how Akito is chasing after Touya, to be on the same level as his partner, and how the moonlight (Touya) is guiding Akito and taking care of him, always watching over him and supporting him. On the other hand, Mirai (which means Future), a song representing Touya's journey with Vivid BAD SQUAD, and how has finally found a place that accepts him and that he feels comfortable in, a place where he can be himself — a place where they can laugh. Looking back fondly at everything they went through, grateful to everyone and wanting to keep all these memories close to him, and how he wants to keep walking alongside his friends, even in the future — therefore giving this name to the song. Once again, this song is not explicitly related to nor referencing Akito, but between the sunrise in the song jacket, and the lyrics referencing Touya's journey, which Akito is a very important part of, you could say this song can be related to Akito; he's the one that has always been with Touya, the one that showed Touya this new world, the one that brought back Touya's happiness and laughter, and the one that Touya wants to sing alongside with, forever and ever — in a way, Akito is Touya's future.

Another fun fact: Gekkou and Mirai are the only Vivid BAD SQUAD event songs where both Akito and Touya have Another Vocals at the same time, making this association with each other even further. RAD DOGS also has an Another Vocal for Akito and Touya, but it's a duet rather than solo alts, which is also a noteworthy fact because it's the only Akito + Touya duet Another Vocal.

Finally, even in their card sets, you can see how they're themed after each other's theme, with sunlight being a predominant theme in Same Dreams,Same Colors' cards, while moonlight is one of the main parts of Akito and Touya's cards in THE POWER OF UNITY's cards:

Final fun fact of this section: Speaking of Same Dreams,Same Colors, we can mention how Touya's card's costume is named Winter Camp Jacket, while Akito's is named Autumn Camp Jacket; this is a reference to their names as the kanji for "Tou" (冬) in Touya can also mean winter, and "Aki" is also the word for autumn or fall in Japanese. Coincidentally, Same Dreams,Same Colors was released on December 20, 2021, right before the Winter Solstice (December 21), which is when the fall season ends and the winter season begins, making it very fitting that both Touya and Akito were the main cards in the gacha banner.

Considering these two songs are the second event songs for each of them (that is, the second event song rotation), and they're themed after the other's theme in both songs and cards, along with both having Another Vocals in both songs, you could say they reference each other in these events, too.

2. Personality

When it comes to their actual personalities, they are also very like the sun and moon, with their characters even being themed after those: Akito is the sun, in the way he guides people — he fuels others' passions by the intensity of his own. Furthermore, he is the sun in the way that his fire often burns so bright and hot that it burns him along with it. He is very passionate and active and with a desire to shine the brightest, to be in the spotlight — the star of the show. Then, Touya is the moon, in the way that he's more gentle in his approach to things; mysterious at first glance, but often one of the brightest lights despite the darkness — with a soft, illuminating, and guiding presence — and who is somehow so perfectly positioned to match the sun. As an extra detail, the moon is allowed to shine thanks to the sun's light, which really fits Akito and Touya's relationship of Akito bringing back the light to Touya's life, allowing him to shine as his own person once more. And now, Akito is chasing after his partner's light — the moonlight, aiming to reach his level, to walk by his side and reach their dreams together. Even here, their relationship of giving and receiving is abundantly clear: Akito grants light and love to Touya, and to reciprocate, Touya wants Akito to rely on him too; to give back that light and love that was given to him. Chasing after each other, relying on each other, inspiring each other, guiding each other... this cycle of giving love and reciprocating that love is a core part of their relationship, and what makes them so inseparable.

However, when it comes to sun and moon, we should also talk about the usual sun / moon perception in fandoms, and how people interpret both Akito and Touya: In the traditional sense of the trope, "sun" characters are characters that are active, loud, cheerful, and often associated with dogs (more especifically golden retrievers); while, on the other hand, "moon" characters are characters that are viewed as cold, rude, harsh, and quiet, and associated with cats (normally black cats). From that description, I could say Akito is a bit like the moon in the way that he's more aloof, reserved, and "introverted", not bothering with matters that don't interest him and only really having a special spot for Touya (and only doing things if they somehow involve Touya), and being kind of rough and rude. Akito can also easily be associated with cats due to his double-faced personality, his fear of dogs, his reserved nature but affection for specific people, and his orange hair and green eyes, which is the most common pretty much default orange cat. Furthermore, Touya has been shown with a specific, stray orange cat a few times, which I believe is no coincidence...

Fun fact: 猫被り or nekokaburi, which means "wolf in sheep's clothing" or "feigned innocence", or directly translated as "donning a cat's mask", is an expression that Akito is officially referred by. In his paired Kizuna Rank title with Kohane, ハムハムと猫被り (Hamuhamu and Nekokaburi), hamuhamu is a word used to describe eating noises, and Kohane is also often associated with hamsters in the game, which this title definitely references, since hamu also means hamster. (Also hamsters make cute noises when they eat! Therefore, hamuhamu.) And so, one could think that nekokaburi isn't just a term to describe Akito's double-faced personality, but also to associate him with cats, due to the way some cats are that appear to be friendly, but can be aloof and temperamental, which really highlights the contrast between Akito's appearance and what he's truly like; giving this title a quite fitting double meaning — describing Kohane and Akito's personalities, but also associating both characters with those animals. However, this double meaning was sort of lost in the official English translation, as it was simply translated to "Hammie & Feigned Innocence"; although it's understandably difficult to translate it and keep the original meaning behind it.

Meanwhile, Touya is a bit like the sun in the way that he's bright and more "extroverted", curious to learn and try new things for the sake of experience, which you could associate with him being dog-like — a puppy-like innocence with a desire to interact with the new world around him, having been caged for many years. Furthermore, in the Project SEKAI×Sanrio Characters collab, Touya got a card with Pochacco the dog, and Akito himself compares Touya with Pochacco in his curiosity; not to mention the collab's 4koma featuring Touya with dog ears and a tail, which he is wagging out of excitement — he definitely seems like the kind of boy who needs a tail to wag. Touya is generally laid back, with a calm and quiet nature, but because of his inexperience, he has a tendency to wander into things for the sake of learning and experiencing new things. And so, he's more inclined to talking with people and helping others, which can lead one to believe Touya's similar to the sun. When it comes to the fandom and associating them with the sun and moon, people they often end up trying to shove them into the usual "boxes" of the common sun and moon tropes, often leading to mischaracterization, since they don't look at these characters any more deeply than a surface level read of them. As is usual for common sun characters, Akito is cheerful, loud, and active at a first glance, but there's more to him than that; furthermore, believing he's a "golden retriever-like" character just doesn't feel right. I'd say he's definitely very dog-like, despite his fear of dogs, but golden retrievers are more like dogs that are playful and friendly, which Akito really isn't; he's more of a dog in the sense that he's very loyal (to Touya), determined, and with a fiery and strong personality. He also lowkey likes getting praised by his partner. He's a lot like a dog... but I believe that, ultimately, he's not actually a dog — just that he acts like/wants to be like a dog. While Touya, as is usual for common moon characters, is quiet and with what can be interpreted as a scary and tough appearance, this is just the first impression of him as a person and not all there is to his true self. I could say he's a bit cat-like, but I believe the connection is weaker and most of the time comes from judging him on the surface (viewing him as a mysterious, quiet, withdrawn guy), and not taking into account his whole personality and development. However, the fact both of them can be associated with both dogs and cats is quite interesting and fun, and adds yet another contrast in themselves, and also between each other. A "cat that wants to be like a dog" (Akito) and a "dog that acts like a cat" (Touya) are simply perfect fits for them — very contradictory, which is a common theme in both of them. [Addition post-Rekindle the flame: in Kohane's 4✰ card's second side story, we have both Kohane and An commenting on how a cat really fits Akito, so we now have an explicit mention of Akito being like a cat... this is huge, really. Akito truly and intentionally is like a cat.]

Disregarding what animals they would theorically be, however, since it's not really important... thinking that Akito's the sun and Touya's the moon for the reasons I mentioned in the previous paragraphs isn't wrong, because they are the sun and moon, respectively; but if people believe there's nothing more to them than what is associated with the tropes, I think it shows a lack of understanding to the depth of their characters — it's a case of "judging books by their covers"; which is something Akito absolutely hates, by the way. Project Sekai's characters are characters that are in constant development, and they keep changing and growing as people as they explore the world around them and interact with their close ones and other people they meet. Growth is a very important theme among all the characters, so pushing them into singular boxes, or common tropes, or anything else, and not viewing any depth in them, is not really right. They are growing, they aren't simple people and there's more to them than meets the eye, so saying they are this or that will never be fully right. But in the end, when taking into account their whole characters and designs, Akito is the sun and Touya is the moon (as they are explicitly themed after these), but they have traits of the other even if they aren't themed after it — they kind of are "a sun that acts like the moon" and "a moon that acts like the sun", putting it simply. I think this makes them quite contrastful and very interesting characters; this depth leads to them being interpreted in many ways, and even if many of those interpretations aren't fully correct, it's interesting to see how people view these characters, and shows just how deep and complex they really are. They are a bit of everything, in my opinion, and I genuinely think they can't be boiled down to just one thing or another. The way I see it, they'd be more like a mix of a bunch of contradictory things... rather than fitting in just one, individual box.

Following up on the topic of the impression of their characters, Akito and Touya are also contrasting in the way they initially appear in the story, and how they subvert those expectations. When he first appears in Vivid BAD SQUAD's main story, Akito is shown acting surprisingly outward, friendly, relaxed, polite, and gentle, hiding his true nature... that is, showing a fake innocence (nekokaburi, which, as mentioned earlier, means "wolf in sheep's clothing" or "feigned innocence", and is a term that Akito has officially been referred by). In reality, Akito's a very serious guy, who doesn't mince his words, and acts mostly cold and rude to most people that aren't important to him (mainly his partner). He has a double-faced nature, so to say. This shows a duality within Akito himself, where he shows a good face to other people in order to keep a cordial relationship, and therefore avoid troublesome situations. This is pretty interesting as Akito is someone who really pushes himself to make up for what he lacks: he has no music experience, and in an attempt to reach the level of his teammates, he overworks himself; and in the same way, he makes up for his lack of interest in interacting with others by showing off a fake personality. There is more things Akito tries to make up for, such as attempting to seem tougher than he is and appearing stereotypically manly; however, that's a topic that will be brought up later. All of the aforementioned is so people won't judge him prematurely; Akito hates people that make fun of him and his skills, but most of all, of what's most important to him — that is, his dream. On the other hand, when Touya first appears, he's shown as a scarily quiet and reserved guy, who doesn't really talk nor show emotions. This directly contrasts Akito's (fake) outward and friendly personality, though it also contrasts Akito's true nature of not mincing his words and saying what he thinks. At first, Touya is a character who doesn't really express how he feels, whether on his face or verbally. After a childhood that was mainly spent dedicated to playing classical music, unable to ever satisfy his family's high expectations, Touya grew apart from his emotions and leading an unhappy life, until he finally grew tired of it and ran away. Meeting Akito was the beginning of getting back in touch with his emotions, being able to enjoy music once again by singing with him, and everyone's kindness and support showing him that he can now be his own person. Touya then slowly learns how to show his feelings, becoming a happier person than he was in the past thanks to his partner, his friends, and everyone else that supports him, showing his true nature as a boy with a curiosity to explore the world around him and learn new things about himself and everything that surrounds him, and with a desire to repay the kindness of everyone that has helped him become his own person. This shows a contrast within Touya himself, too, between his sad, past self, and his happy, current self. Comparing his current personality, such as in his recent focus event Let It Ring! Beautiful Sound!, and his personality back when he met Akito, as shown in the VIRTUAL SINGER World Link event At the Beginning of SEKAI With You, in Len's chapter, is like night and day; Touya is much happier and cheerful nowadays, all thanks to his partner.

For contrasts between each other, we have the fact that Akito is insecure about himself and masks his true self, both through a feigned innocence, and by making up for his weaknesses; while Touya is more genuine and simply showing himself as he is, now confident in his own person. We also have the fact that, despite their first impressions, with Akito being more friendly, and Touya being more cold, the tables are turned and Akito is actually the more introverted and reserved person, mainly keeping to himself and being mostly cold to others, while Touya is more extroverted and always down to interact with others. But that doesn't mean Akito's exclusively reserved, since he still very much has an active, passionate, and fiery personality; and Touya isn't simply outward and someone who talks with others easily, he's still quiet and calm. This shows how contrasting their own personalities are, too. As a funny mention, Akito does end up often doing things and interacting with people he normally wouldn't do so because of Touya, folding pretty easily when Touya asks him to do something by simply saying "Akito.", or doing things if they are even mildly related to his partner. His partner ends up being a source of motivation quite often.

🥞 So… I'm only helpin' you out here for Touya's sake, alright.

And we also have Touya often being kept in check by Akito, with the latter sort of overprotecting Touya and looking after him at all times. In the end, even in funny ways, they make up for each other's faults, and they help the other grow and improve and be better versions of themselves — that's what being partners is about, after all. Yet another interesting contrast to mention is how they approach problems: Touya has been shown to have a predisposition to run away from and avoid troublesome things that he doesn't know how to face. The main example of this is in Vivid BAD SQUAD's main story, where rather than telling Akito how he feels, Touya instead lied to him, which resulted in BAD DOGS' temporary break up. Touya believed that lying to his partner would be better than disappointing him, and so, he ran away from his feelings, and from Akito. Touya was afraid of facing his partner and telling him about those feelings he dislikes. He was scared that Akito wouldn't accept those feelings, that he would leave him; but he also thought Akito deserved a better partner than him, someone who wasn't so half-hearted. He kept running away from his feelings: not just from telling them to his partner, but also from how he really felt, since he did actually love music, and enjoyed singing with Akito, and wanted to chase his dream — their dream, together. But Akito's recklessness and refusal to give up on them allowed Akito and Touya to become partners once again. Akito accepts Touya no matter what, even though he never believed Touya was half-hearted and always believed in him; and he makes Touya voice how he really feels.

☕ Gh…! Isn’t it obvious that I want to…! I’ve felt that so many times! I wanted to chase that dream with you as far as I could…!

Despite that, Touya was still unsure about being partners with Akito, but Akito won't allow any other outcome; they both know how they feel, they both want to be together, and that's all that matters:

🥞 Oh, shut up already. Don’t go makin’ this complicated. I want to be with you, and you want to be with me as well. And after that, our dream will come true. … Isn’t that enough?

With his partner by his side, Touya will no longer run away from how he really feels, and keep singing with Akito, no matter what, for years to come.

Another example of Touya's predisposition to run away is back before meeting Akito, when he ran away from home because he couldn't handle the stress of living under the pressure of his family's expectations. However, the regrets of that choice haunted him for a long time, affecting him and his self-confidence, preventing him to be proud of himself and his works. Fortunately, he's now gotten to terms with it, and accepts both classical music and the fact that he ran away. This is something he can't change, but he now accepts it as part of himself: he may regret running away from classical music, but he realizes that, as long as he enjoyed that time, he shouldn't beat himself up over it, and instead use it as his weapon — his feelings and experiences will allow him to become a better version of himself, and create stuff he can be proud of.

"My past has become my strength."

Akito, on the other hand, faces things head on, and more often than not, in a reckless way; such as participating in the Crawl Green live, despite only having been singing for a year and definitely not having enough skill for it, because Shepard challenged him and he had a pride to uphold; or how years later he faced that same team challenged him to a duel and, despite winning, he immediately went running and didn't celebrate his victory because he can't be satisfied with his current skill level. He's a guy that does things on the spur of the moment: he follows his own code (or, in other words, his heart), and does what he truly wants — what he feels is right. Suddenly quitting soccer, and suddenly deciding to dedicate his whole life to singing... and also confronting people because he's not satisfied with how things went (confronting Touya in Vivid BAD SQUAD's main story), or approaching his friends because he feels something is wrong, like An in Someday, with Our Lyrics Joined Back-to-Back and Bout for Beside You, and Arata in THE POWER OF UNITY. Akito can feel when something's going wrong with others, and often confronts them to know what's up. However, that recklessness makes him charge ahead when he's not satisfied with nor believes in himself, and he ignores his own feelings and even his health because of it. Calm down, boy... Fortunately, with his partner and teammates by his side, Akito doesn't have to recklessly rush ahead; he now has friends with the same goal as him, and with them by his side, even when he feels lost and helpless, he can rely on them — they'll help him back up, and support him along the way. They are a team that walks together.

☕ So, in those times where you've hit a wall… rely on me more!

And yet, when it comes to facing other people, Touya is predisposed to help others and interacting with them; if someone needs help, he's likely to accept right away, because he enjoys experiencing new things and likes repaying favors. The main case of this would be Walk on and on, Touya's third focus event, where Touya decides to learn how to compose his own tracks, in order to be able to help his team in some way, and at the same time show his gratitude to them — especially his partner — and how much he appreciates them by pouring his feelings onto his music. Some other minor examples of this are Let's study hard !, where Touya was going to help Akito and An with their studies no matter what (since he's always worried about their grades and them studying properly), and even invited Rui to help tutor Tsukasa, Akito, and An along with him. Or in Take the Best Shot !, where Touya helps Kohane with the photography competition she's entering in order to win special chocolates for An... In short, Touya is a person who is inclined to help others, and likes to give back to everyone, grateful for everything they've done for him. Meanwhile, Akito is mainly wary when it comes to interacting with people that he isn't close to (which is... most people that aren't Touya), and he would rather avoid troublesome things that don't interest him. However, when he does something, he does give it his all — he doesn't like half-assing things. For example, in Rise as ONE! where, despite his fear of dogs, he trains very hard to do his best at the dog disc competition because he related to the bond the injured owner had with his dog Max, which really shows, uh... Akito's one-track mind when it comes to his partner and how passionate he is about him. As mentioned earlier, Akito often ends up doing things he normally wouldn't because of Touya or something related to him, either getting convinced by Touya and giving in pretty quickly, or because his one-way brain somehow relates something random to his partner. So, a guy who runs away, avoiding his problems; and another who recklessly rushes ahead, facing his problems head on... yet, at the same time, the former is always up to help others and engaging with other people, while the latter avoids interacting with troublesome things.

Finally, we can also mention their social skills — or in simpler terms, how they are "book smart vs street smart": Touya has a lot of knowledge, and is very smart and studious, but he has a total lack of experience in socialising due to his isolated childhood and barely interacting with other people, so he comes off a bit more clumsy and awkward in those settings. He's more experienced in studying rather than interacting with people; but at the same time, this lack of experience is what predisposes him to interact with others and learning more about them, always available to talk to anybody and help them, in order to experience new things. On the other hand, Akito is more versed in interacting with people, with a more regular upbringing — having had to live "by his own means" in the streets to gain experience and make a name for himself, interacting with and facing many kinds of people; that, along with his "customer service face" and general double-faced nature, allows him to socialize well with most people. However, when it comes to school studies... he's not very good! He doesn't really care about studying and is more about living his life to the full — which Touya isn't quite happy about... but then Akito will put in effort for once and make Touya smile brighter than ever and Akito becomes a blushing mess upon being complimented... they're so funny. With that difference in socialization, they make up for each other, with Akito doing "most of the talking", as Touya says; and they contrast each other, too, even when it comes to how they face studying, with Touya helping Akito... although not often by Akito's choice, as Touya takes studies very seriously and will get mad at Akito if he fails. And so, they are quite opposites when it comes to how they deal with problems, and how they face and interact with other people. They keep each other in check; when one runs, the other will catch up, and when one is held back, the other will push him ahead. Those differences in personality actually help them understand each other perfectly: they support each other, and help each other grow, and will always be there for the other... that's what being partners is all about, in the end.

3. Background

Even in their backgrounds, Akito and Touya contrast each other, having had pretty different experiences with both music and their relationships with their family: As we know, Akito fell in love with music and decided to dedicate his whole life to it despite having no skill or experience. But despite that, Akito is determined and passionate to accomplish his dreams, and works extremely hard to improve and reach his goals. Even when he's on the brink of giving up, Akito will keep pushing forward, no matter what, because he finally found something that he truly wants to do — something that finally makes him feel alive; and alongside his partner, he'll keep singing... forever. On the other hand, Touya has lived with music since he was young, being a born prodigy and with a lot of musical experience. Dedicating most of his time to playing music, though, for around ten years, he ended up growing tired of this lifestyle, isolated from a "regular" life and frustrated at his inability to ever reach his parents' expectations, and it led him to run away from music. However, despite thinking otherwise after running away from it, Touya still loved music; although he was afraid of disappointing his partner, just like he disappointed his family in the past, and thought Akito deserved a partner who wasn't as half-hearted as Touya believed he himself was, Akito makes him realize that he still loves music. Nobody who hated music would dedicate as much time and effort as Touya did during those two years where they sang together. Touya finally realizes he actually loves music, and, most of all, singing alongside his partner; although he regrets some choices he made in the past, he learns that he can use his past as his "weapon" — his experiences are unique to him, and so they will become his strength. With this, he'll improve both himself and his music, in order to achieve his dreams — the dreams he shares with Akito. Or, in other words, their dreams.

☕️ Let's go, Akito. Let's make our dreams come true.

When comparing their music backgrounds, a really interesting point of contrast is their innate talent for music, and their relationship with music. Although he was the one that is a born prodigy and extremely gifted with music, it was Touya that briefly came to hate music; and Akito, who didn't have an innate ability for it, was the one who was so dedicated to his love for it that it even ended up hurting him at times. They were both hurt by music, but in different ways: because of their talent, or lack thereof. And yet, they both love music so much they couldn't help but keep fighting to stay with it. They love music so much, they want to keep singing and making music for as long as they live — with the best partner they both could ask for by their side.

When it comes to their family background, and their relationships with their families, there's also many contrasts between Akito and Touya. Touya's family is more traditional and strict with how they raised and educated Touya, expecting him to continue the family tradition of becoming renowned classical musicians. He had a very isolated life: dedicating most of his time to this objective — an objective that he believed he could never reach due to the difference in skill level between him and his father. Exhausted and unsatisfied by this constrained lifestyle, he ended up running away from both classical music and that life. An important detail to mention is, although he wasn't happy with that life, and felt guilt and regret over running away from it for a long time, Touya does not hate either classical music or his father, which is something the fandom often misinterprets. Despite everything he went through, Touya doesn't reject either classical music, and still appreciates it, even if he doesn't have a desire to actively play it anymore. He is grateful for all the knowledge and experience it granted him, and appreciates his family regardless. Opposite to Touya, though, Akito's family raised him with more freedom — or rather, less strictly, and less worried about him. Unlike Touya's father, who was a big presence in Touya's life and education, Akito's father, Shinei, was quite absent, instead occupied by his job as an artist; so you could say the Shinonome family lacked a father figure. Furthermore, even when he was there, Shinei wasn't very good as a parent: when Akito's sister, Ena, expressed the wish to become an artist like their father, instead of encouraging and motivating her as a good parent would, he instead discouraged her in the worst way possible, effectively ruining her life. Although we later find out that it was because the life of an artist is very rough and Shinei didn't want his daughter to also experience those hardships, he really didn't express it well at all.

With a father that was mostly absent, and who barely carried his role as a father well, the Shinonome family did not really have a male role model that taught and guided the children of the family. So, despite being the younger brother, Akito pretty much took up the role of a "male role model" for his sister, supporting and looking after her as she lived a life with the regret of being unable to carry out her dream. This, in turn, led him to have a warped view on masculinity and gender roles, which will be elaborated on in the next section. Unlike Touya's family, where Harumichi (Touya's father) had high expectations for his children, and wanted Touya to continue the family tradition of becoming classical musicians just as his brothers previously did, Akito's family had a father that did not want his children to follow in his steps, and neither parent had particular expectations for their children and instead allowed them to do what they wanted. This leads to a curious contrast, where Touya mainly lived a strict and difficult life and, upon fleeing from it, became more free and able to do what he wanted, while Akito (and Ena) lived a very free life, where they were allowed to do what they wanted, with no expectations or rules for them, and yet chose to focus on a difficult goal for which they weren't experienced or talented for — Touya fled from a cage, and Akito and Ena chose to place themselves in one, in a metaphorical way. However, Akito instead found a male role model in a different person: Ken-san, the man that ignited a fire in him upon witnessing RAD WEEKEND, and also the one that motivated Akito to keep singing when he was on the brink of giving up, pushing him forward and giving him the advice to do what he loves, regardless of what others think. Akito truly respects and appreciates Ken-san's guidance, being extremely excited and immediately agreeing to being trained by him in BURN MY SOUL — there's no bigger honor for Akito than to be taught by the man that contributed so much to his life... Ken-san is, in a way, a second father to him.

In contrast to the comparison between Shinei and Harumichi and the education of their children and their expectations for them, Ken-san plays a positive role on Akito as a person, motivating him to follow his dream and guiding Akito forward, and allowing him to be true to himself, while Harumichi wasn't such a positive influence in Touya's life, where, rather than motivating Touya, he mainly pressured him to be a specific way and didn't give him room to grow. To finish off, Ken-san's positive influence can be broadly associated to Vivid Street and all the people living there: with a community that is united by music and the freedom to sing as you like, Akito, Touya, and everyone else are able to be free — be themselves, and have as much fun as possible, without worrying about labels or expectations. Vivid Street is pretty much like a big family, especially to An, and they accept and support anybody who wishes to express themselves through music. Although derailing a bit from the current topic, Vivid Street is interesting in the way that it can work as a queer community allegory: a community that allows the Vivid BAD SQUAD kids to be and find themselves and supporting them to show their true selves. Besides An, who lived there to begin with, the other Vivid BAD SQUAD kids all grew and figured out stuff about themselves singing in Vivid Street, away from their homes — from their previous lives, so to say; away from the regular life that wanted them to stick to rules and norms, labels, and usual expectations. As mentioned before, in Vivid Street, they can sing freely, having as much fun as they want, and without worrying about anything — they can just be themselves, and do what they truly want to do: sing along with their partners, and reach their dreams together. And nothing else matters! They're just them, regardless of what others think; and that's what's important, in the end.

4. Gender

(Disclaimer: This section may repeat things from the previous section; this is because I wrote this one first.) Following up on the queer topic, a very interesting yet possibly controversial topic is how both Akito and Touya view and interact with gender, whether directly or indirectly. Masculinity, gender roles, and conforming to those... it's quite interesting to think about. While I've already talked quite a bit about this topic in The Gay Akito Thesis™, my aim here is to compare Akito and Touya's characters. Also because I like talking about this topic. On the topic of Akito and gender, I talk about it more in-depth in The Gay Akito Thesis™, so I recommend checking that essay for a wider look at the topic, but the most essential part is that Akito's writing is very gendered; it is a very ingrained part of Akito's character, whether intentionally or not. The way he hides and even ignores his feelings and emotions and how he hates crying, viewing those as weaknesses and ashamed of showing any sign of being weak or uncool in front of others, are typical elements of traditional masculinity. He also often deals with his problems with anger, and sometimes aggressiveness, and showing frustration, which are more "socially acceptable" for men traditionally. He even used to exhibit behavior that can be interpreted as toxic masculinity in the past, saying things that can be seen as homophobic — which can be easily related to insecurity of his own sexuality and what others could think of it, since it comes off that way rather than actual bigoted behavior. (Fortunately, that kind of behavior hasn't popped up at all in a long time, proving he's not a bigot and was just insecure) Akito's very reserved when it comes to how he feels, and insecure about himself, viewing himself as "weak" and "not good enough", therefore actively trying to be masculine to make up for his faults and flaws. Even though I don't think anybody else would really mind his real self, Akito is not satisfied with himself, and others making fun of him and his goals got to him, so he ended up ingraining traditionally masculine traits onto himself to appear cool, strong, and manly to others. This overly masculine behavior can quite easily be associated with his sexuality and gender, more specifically to homosexuality and transexuality and insecurity of those, although those fall more into personal interpretation territory; however, I deeply believe these queer readings fit into Akito's character and story perfectly, and even enhance it (as I explain in The Gay Akito Thesis™). Akito actively tries to be masculine, to conform to "normal" masculinity, and hiding and avoiding his feelings and emotions to not be seen as weak by others. He's not satisfied with himself and how he thinks others view him, therefore he'll show himself as someone that can't be made fun of, someone that others will take seriously, and show everyone just how strong and determined he really is. He'll become someone that he himself can be satisfied with.

This is not to say that Akito isn't cool, strong, or manly, though, those are very much part of himself; but, deep down, Akito's an insecure person who doubts himself and his abilities, and his arc is all about getting to terms with how far he has come and getting in touch with his emotions and showing them to everyone to become a better version of himself, and accepting himself — learning that he's good enough and that there's no need to try so hard. He is fine just like he is, both how he feels inside and how he shows himself to others — they are all part of him, and he should be more confident in his abilities, and himself. On the other hand, Touya's gender is... a pretty debated topic in the fandom, so to say. Contrary to Akito, Touya does not really care about gender norms or roles, he's not particularly focused on how he shows himself to others nor if the stuff he does, such as wearing make up or carrying plushies around, are not "masculine". However, Touya himself is a masculine character. While Akito actively tries to be masculine, Touya has been raised in more traditional values, which leads him to be an inherently masculine character. The youngest son of the Aoyagi family... that's who Aoyagi Touya is, and that's a pretty important part of his character. The more conscious parts of his character, such as the expectations of carrying on the Aoyagi family tradition of becoming a classical musician just like his older brothers did; and the more unconscious parts, such as growing apart from his emotions and not showing them in the past, and expressing his frustration through anger rather than crying... these are all related to masculinity and traditional gender norms.

Fun fact: Touya is the only character who has not canonically cried at any time (as of writing this essay). In fact, his Live2D model is straight up not able to cry at all — he just can't cry (yet).

Touya being inherently masculine can be associated to the fact that he was raised in a family that was predominantly composed of men: his father, and his two older brothers. His mother takes on the more traditional role of a housewife, and therefore likely didn't have much of a role in Touya's education; it was mostly Touya's father who was in charge of teaching him, and so Touya ended up inheriting a lot of his father's values. But, Touya ends up running away from classical music, and by extension, that lifestyle. Meeting Akito was the first step — into a new life that he is happy, into a new world where he can find himself, away from that life that didn't allow him to be the happy little boy he was meant to be. By Akito's side, Touya slowly learns to be himself: figuring out what he's like, recovering the joy and happiness in his life, and bringing back the little boy in him that was never allowed out and is so curious to explore and interact with the world around him. And so, we go back to his gender: no longer held back by an unsatisfying life, Touya is now a guy who is very excited to learn new things and satiating his curiosity, and he's not held back by things being "not masculine" or "girly"; he has no problem trying out wearing make up, for example. In general, Touya seems like a character who does not really care about his gender, which often leads to the fandom to interpret him as girly and feminine, and even a woman — however, that's far from the truth. He's not afraid of trying out "feminine" things or having "cute" hobbies; he doesn't let how those things are viewed hinder him, and he simply doesn't care about how others view him. He just wants to be himself and enjoy his life. As it currently stands, he does not want to be a girl, and still views himself as a guy. He just doesn't really care about things like "gender" the same way Akito is. In the end, it's fine to headcanon or interpret characters any way you want, but I believe Touya's story and character mainly work because he's the son of the Aoyagi family, and as a boy, the expectations for him were higher; the guilt of going against the tradition, of disappointing his family, and most importantly, his father, have the weight on him that they do because he's a man, as (unfortunately) the society he lives in has higher expectations from men than women.

Running away from the traditional values of his family and the family tradition, and from society's expectations — with Touya slowly finding himself surrounded by a community of people that value him and allow him to be himself, not worried about the gender norms or his gender, along with the deep bond he has with his same-sex partner — really adds a very easy queer reading to his story and character. In short, Touya is confident in how he is, and comfortable in his current gender — he's just curious and excited to try new things, and not insecure about or held back by typical gender norms (like Akito is). He's totally fine and happy doing those things even as a man and that is, possibly, the epitome of masculinity. Akito and Touya both interact with their gender and identity in quite different ways, leading to more contrasts between their characters: Akito is a guy who actively tries to be masculine, while Touya is a guy who is inherently masculine. This likely comes, in part, from how they were raised: with Akito being raised with more liberty to do what he wanted, in a family that didn't look after him that much, and in a predominantly female family (his mother and sister), since his father was mostly absent due to work; while Touya was raised a lot more stictly by his father, and having a predominantly male family (father and brothers), with his mother not having much of a say on Touya's education and simply acting as a mother figure for him. This leads Akito to try very hard to be more masculine and take on a more typical male role when his unconfident and unsatisfied personality increase, with a harsh world that keeps trampling over him despite his sincere feelings. He doesn't want to be seen as weak or pathetic, therefore he'll show everyone just how strong and cool he is. Meanwhile, Touya is indifferent towards his masculinity and gender, wanting to explore the new world around him regardless of what others think. He's not worried at all about how others see him, he just wants to learn more about everything that he finds interesting. However, that doesn't mean he rejects his masculinity or gender — he's just not worried about it and very confident in how he is. This contrast, though, also leads to interesting situations between both of them, such as Akito, despite being more stubborn and embarrassed about his gender, he often sacrifices a little bit of embarrassment for Touya's sake when there's something his partner wants to do (for example, the photo print in Close game/OFFLINE where Akito and Touya had to pose cutely, but Akito sacrificing his dignity in order to win); or Touya, who's more carefree and doesn't worry about how others view him and gender (for example, him carrying around plushies he wins at crane games and Akito worried about how Touya will be seen as others (due to Akito's own insecurity), but Touya not really understanding what Akito's talking about, since he doesn't really care about those things).

In summary, the contrasts between Touya and Akito's genders and how they view it and interact with it are: Touya, although inherently masculine and raised more traditionally and strictly, does not really worry about how others view him and simply wants to enjoy himself, be himself, and explore the world around him, regardless of what others think — which, in a way, makes him truly masculine, as he's confident in how he really is. While Akito, raised more freely and allowed to do what he wants, really worries about how others view him and what they think of him — so he actively tries to conform to typical masculinity and gender roles, masking his insecurities, in an effort to not be mocked by others. This does not deny his manly self, though, and all the ways that Akito shows himself are a part of him — and it's part of his character development to come to terms with how he truly feels and accepting himself, as has happened more recently, with Akito being more confident and showing how he feels to others. Once again, they're pretty much opposites, but as two guys with a deep bond, who interact with and acknowledge each other's feelings, they support each other and grow as people — and as partners. These differences in how they view themselves, and each other, enhance their bond and make it stronger, as they can make up for what the other lacks. Despite the stereotype that men don't show how they feel (although their conflict during the main story is exactly due to their lack of communication), Akito and Touya are really in touch with their feelings, both their own and their partner's, and a big part of their arcs and their story together is about figuring out their feelings and finding themselves. While they don't explicitly show how they feel often, they don't have to — their relationship is so strong and deep, they don't need to put into words how they feel (though, deep down, they still would like to hear it...). And that, in a way, defies typical masculinity; their relationship itself goes against gender norms, and, for good reason, often leads it to be interpreted beyond a regular friendship... they truly love and care about each other. They're the best partner they could have, and the only one they ever want to be with.

5. Love

(Yet again, I am talking about love; sorry, I love this topic. As a disclaimer: it's quite similar to what I write about this topic in previous essays, so this section can be skipped if you're tired of the topic. However, I feel like it's something I must add, as it is relevant to the main point of the essay.) How Akito and Touya love, and also view love, also contrasts each other. I've brought up in various essays before, but a specific set of lines from Aun no Beats, a song that Akito and Touya cover, perfectly represents them:

🥞♪ Why do I want to be loved? ☕️♪ Why do I want to love?

Although it's not just this set of lines that represents them and their relationship, but the song in general (which I talk about in my previous essay, Aun no Beats & BAD DOGS' Relationship), these two lines exactly represent the very core of themselves and their relationship with love and, by extension, each other. Akito is a character driven by love. He only wants to do things he's truly passionate about, something that will make his heart beat — and when he truly cares about something, he will give it his all, putting all his effort and love into it. He is, then, a very loving character. Even if he's not "loved back", he doesn't back down or give up on doing what he loves; he listens to his heart, at all costs, doing what he wants to do, regardless of what others think. And yet, despite that burning passion and love, he wants that love to be reciprocated — he wants to be loved in the same way that he loves. Meanwhile, Touya is a character that grew up without love, estranged from his emotions and feelings. He led a life where the passion and love he held for music, for his family, for living slowly vanished, due to a lack of appreciation and freedom from the people around him. Actually, in a way, Touya was loved — but rather than as a person, it was for his talents and his potential. Therefore, Touya grew up without knowing what real love was like. However, meeting Akito, seeing his passion and love for music and for him, and Touya being appreciated for what he is, by both his partner and the new people he meets, allows Touya to find a place where he can be comfortable showing his emotions and feelings. So, Touya learns what love truly is like — and because of that, he wants to love, too; to give back to those that helped him break free from his past: Tsukasa (who Touya considers his savior) and Saki; and those that allowed him to be himself and appreciate and love him for what he is: Kohane, An, the town, his friends, and, most importantly, his partner, Akito. Akito and Touya, then, contrast in their relationship with love: Akito loves (music, the town and other people, etc.) while Touya is loved (by music, the town and other people, etc.); yet Akito wants to be loved, while Touya wants to love — or in other words, they want to receive and give back, respectively, from/to others and, most important, their partner. Their relationship with each other is, in short, one of mutual affection and love — of giving and receiving. Akito and Touya provide to the other what they want and need; they give and receive what they lack, while in turn receiving it from and giving it to their partner. While this point is about love, it also applies to many other things; they genuinely complete each other, making up for each other's shortcomings. They are truly perfect fits for each other, leading to an extremely strong and unbreakable relationship together.

I also wanted to take this chance to talk a bit about their relationship and its common interpretations. Although I've mentioned it many times before, their relationship is not inherently romantic. The concept of partners in Project Sekai is not a romantic partner, but rather, a companion or very close friend — that is, "aibou" (相棒, partner). The concept of aibou is pretty interesting because it is something very special: someone you're extremely close to, and the one and only person you want to be with. It's a very special bond that actually goes beyond a regular friendship — we see this in the way that An considers Haruka her best friend, which raises some brows considering how Kohane is so special and important to her, but this leads to the conclusion that an aibou simply transcends friendship. (Although, I genuinely believe Akito and Touya are not just partners, but also each other's best friends — there simply isn't anybody else they're closer to than each other! They truly mean everything to each other.) Even though it's not inherently romantic, Akito and Touya (and also An and Kohane)'s bond is so close and deep, it just feels like it is sometimes. I believe, rather than being merely platonic or merely romantic, it's more like the lines of the relationship is quite blurred, and this leads to being aibou. Putting it in a simple and funny (yet accurate) way, the concept aibou is not romantic at all, but they're just so gay and crazy about their partners that it becomes gay anyways. The bond between Akito and Touya is simply insane. Akito fell in love instantly with Touya; he knew from the first moment he saw him that he was the one — the one he wanted to partner up with.

🥞 (… I can't take my eyes off him.)

And upon singing with Akito, Touya also felt a special connection with him. Even though he wasn't aware of it at first, Touya, too, wanted to be with Akito, and forever be with him — and he would become aware of it later, and completely change him and his view of his partner. Akito fell first, and Touya fell harder, so to say. To put into perspective how insane their bond is: in Len's chapter from At the Beginning of SEKAI With You (the VIRTUAL SINGER World Link event), we find out that the Street Sekai versions of Rin and Len appeared because of Akito and Touya's bond as partners and how close they were to one another... Considering the only concrete lore across all depictions of the Kagamines is that they are reflections of one another and instrinsically linked, it really goes to show how close Akito and Touya were right from the start (or, perhaps, how close they were fated to become): they are pretty much meant to be with one another. (Disclaimer, just in case: This is in no way talking about anything romantic involving the Kagamines, and rather comparing Akito and Touya's platonic and partner bond with them.) To finish off, returning to talking about love and contrasts: Akito doesn't particularly love himself, not being confident in his skills and being insecure about being seen as weak and uncool; and yet, he pushes through and is confident on what he wants to achieve, always looking ahead and wanting to push past his limits. He, in a way, looks for this love for himself he lacks from others, wanting to be admired and loved. Similarly, Touya doesn't hold himself in high regard, with his past mistakes dragging him down and thinking he's not worthy of being Akito's partner; but, upon realizing his feelings and how he's loved and appreciated by Akito, he becomes confident on how he feels and what he wants to do — aiming to reach his dreams along with his partner. He knows he wants to be by Akito's side, for years to come, experiencing new things alongside him and giving back everything that Akito has given him. They're quite similar in this regard, in the way they're both unconfident on themselves, and yet, are confident on their goals and what they want to do. Eventually, though, they both improve on how they feel about themselves: with Akito learning to stop a bit and appreciate how far he has come — having become a source of inspiration for others because of how hard he was worked to reach where he is; and Touya accepting those regrets that hold him down, realizing that those are something he can't change and a part of himself — with his unique experiences giving him a special strength. In short, love is a very integral part of Akito and Touya, both in their own characters, and in their relationship. Despite their contrasting experiences, their individual love for music and for each other really shape them as people; their common feelings making their relationship very strong and inseparable — a relationship where they complete one another. Their deep and undying love for each other makes them, after all, the best partner they both could ask for.

6. Other noteworthy contrasts

Finally, we have a section about extra contrasts that didn't really fit into any other section:

To begin with, we can talk about Walk on and on, Touya's third focus event. In that event, Touya gives making his own music a try, and after learning how to create his own tracks through sampling, he shows his creation to the rest of Vivid BAD SQUAD; with this track, he wanted to convey his feelings of gratefulness to Akito and his teammates, for remaining by his side all this time, and for supporting him and allowing him to be himself. While he doesn’t think it’s that good, everyone else really likes it, with Akito praising his partner for his good work, and saying really wants to sing this song. Touya says he’s especially thankful to Akito; for finding him after he had left classical music, and telling him it’s okay to sing by his side.

☕ I realized how lucky I am to still be singing with my partner… I was able to make this song because I wanted to be at his side, as his partner, for years to come.

Thanks to Akito, he didn’t quit music, and is extremely grateful that he is able to keep singing next to his partner; he wants to continue being Akito’s partner forever; and that is why he was able to make this track.

☕ Akito, you’re the best partner I could ever ask for.

This event is really special as it shows how special the bond between Touya and Akito is, and just how inseparable they are. They're truly the best partner possible for each other.

Fun fact related to Utsuro wo Aogu (Walk on and on's commissioned song): in the Master chart, the Full Combo total note number is 1112; coincidentally, Akito and Touya's character IDs are 11 and 12, respectively. Furthermore, Akito's birthday is November 12, aka 11/12 (or, depending where you live, 12/11), so the song's total note count matches Akito and Touya's IDs, and also Akito's birthday. This is definitely very intentional, considering the plot of the event and the costumes (which I'll talk about next), so this song is pretty much like a song dedicated to Akito and Touya's bond, and also a song dedicated to Akito especifically. This is so sweet... (This is vaguely unrelated but adding this for adair. And because I really like this fact)

Now getting to the point: with Walk on and on came the From on a perch Gacha card set. The cards from this set have a lot of symbolism, and I do talk about them in various of my previous essays, especially when it comes to the freedom and captivity themes. But leaving aside the freedom and captivity themes, as I have a series of essay for those themes, their designs also hold quite a bit of symbolism.

The main design themes of the set are birdcages and crows, with the characters' outfits predominantly being black and white. Touya (and Kohane) wears mainly white, while Akito (and An) wears mainly (or only, in An's case) black, showing a mirror between the each partner pair's outfits. In addition, Kohane and An's cards feature white crows, while Touya's card features black crows (and Akito himself), dividing them into two pairs. A special detail about this card set's outfits, though, is something that can't be seen at first sight: they feature wings on their backs. More specifically, each of the Vivid BAD SQUAD members has one wing on their backs, although Akito and An's wings can only be seen vaguely in Touya's card and her own card, respectively; but considering the context, it can be assumed they both have a wing that matches and mirrors their own partner's, making a pair of wings when they're together — becoming one.

(Touya's outfit, Melody Walker. The first picture is the default look, while the second picture is his Master Rank 1 (MR1) variant.) Furthermore, if you look at Touya's costume MR1 variant, it features Akito's image color (orange) where the default outfit's blue is, and the black and white elements of the shirt itself are mirrored. Moreover, the wing on the back is the exact same color as the default outfit's, but mirrored. The other Master Rank variants don't match the wing's color or even form a pair with it, so this really suggests Touya and Akito are meant to match, showing how they contrast each other. (This is also the case with Kohane's outfit and her MR1 variant, and Kohane and An's colors and the wings, but theirs are white rather than gray.) Also, these designs may be based on the concept of Jian (鹣), also known as birds that fly wing to wing or lovebirds (比翼鳥), are mythical birds that possess only one eye and one wing. They are often used as a metaphor to refer to a beloved couple in Chinese culture and tradition. These creatures are born imperfect, and they need to lean against each other and act as one in order to be able to fly. Their mutual dependence is eternal, lasting through death and rebirth. They are believed to be symbols of the complementary relationship between yin and yang. To finish off, crows are also a curious choice because crows are animals that mate for life — and in the story, Touya said to Akito he wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Akito for the rest of his life, which is where the crows are landing on, in Touya's card — Akito and Touya's shoulders, where their wings would be. They're truly meant to be together forever... (credits to adair for telling me about the jian birds stuff. this is kinda crazy really)

Now for more minor contrasts, we have Find A Way Out's card set, Break the Chain Gacha. In this card set, the characters wear black rider/biker costumes, and then blue or red layers; Akito (and Kohane) wear red, while Touya (and An and Luka) wear blue under their biker jackets. This makes the partners contrast with each other, with Akito and Kohane wearing the warmer color, and similar to their image colors being warm colors (orange and pink); and Touya and An wearing a cool color, which is also their image colors (dark blue and teal, respectively). Although the main reason they're wearing these colors is for the heart theme in the event and song (made even more clear with the Kashika 2DMV and how the characters are arranged like an anatomical heart) — with the characters being the veins and arteries of the heart, and all together keeping the heart that is Vivid BAD SQUAD beating, — I believe the color contrasts between the partners is completely intentional.

As a fun fact, Find A Way Out released on December 11, 2022; that is, 12/11 (or 11/12, depending where you live). As mentioned earlier, Akito and Touya's character IDs are 11 and 12, respectively, and they're both (along with Luka) the 4✰ cards in the card set. This one may be a coincidence, but it was pretty funny to notice this. Also, again, Akito's birthday is November 12, aka 11/12 (or 12/11), so it's like his birthday date but reversed. It's pretty curious that Akito's birthday is Akito and Touya's character IDs put together, isn't it? This one has to have been 100% on purpose, really.

For a final cards contrast: recently the third anniversary event happened, and Touya got a new limited 4✰ card with it. What's interesting about this card is that it contrasts Akito's previous anniversary 4✰ card in various ways, such as how the cards are black and white, which are opposite colors; furthermore, the second anniversary's card set is after black lilies, while Touya's card especifically is themed after white lillies; this feels like an intentional choice because the cards in the fourth anniversary card set all have different flowers, yet they chose to do lillies again for Touya's card. Something noteworthy to mention is how, in his card, Touya's bringing a lily to his mouth; while Akito, in his card, has a white petal in his mouth. What truly stands out about Touya's flower is that, in his card, there's many lilies, but three of them have colored stamens: teal, pink, and orange, which is safe to say represent Vivid BAD SQUAD's members. The teal and pink ones are on the sides of the cards, while the orange-colored stamens flower... is the one on his mouth. I feel like I don't have to say much more about this, really. It's definitely a very intentional choice. So wonderful.

Another fun contrast to talk about is Akito and Touya's moe aspects — that is, cute stuff in their otherwise not-cute characters. For example, despite Akito always trying to look so tough and cool, he likes pancakes and cheesecakes, sweet food that you wouldn't expect from such a guy. Furthermore, he's scared of dogs and not many people really know about this (pretty much just his family and Touya); and he also blushes pretty easily at Touya or when it involves him, such as getting teased for something Touya said, or when getting praised by him. Then we have Touya, who looks so cool,mysterious, and aloof, yet in reality he smiles easily at Akito (nowadays), and is actually a very curious and clumsy boy, who likes playing crane games and giving plushies to his close ones and trying out new things even though he may be terrible at them, like being confident to play a ball throw game then failing spectacularly or climbing a tree despite being afraid of heights and having to be helped down by his partner. Despite both looking or acting so tough and cool, they have stuff about them that are unexpected or even cute about them, which contrasts their own personalities and often leads to fun situations and scenes.

7. Conclusion

In short, Akito and Touya mirror each other in so many ways; they're extremely contrastful. They're genuinely pretty much made for each other, meant to be with one another: their different backgrounds and personalities make them fit each other perfectly, because they have what the other lacks, making up for the other's flaws; and, with that, they can push each other forward, and support each other fully, being fully in sync — and become one in the process. They allow each other to grow, drawing the best out of each other, and their contrasts is what makes them the perfect partner for the other. They're, in the end, the best partner both of them could ask for.

🥞 (Reaching the top through clashing with your partner, isn't your privilege alone!) ☕️ (We both looked to each other—we looked at what we didn't have, and ran upward.) ☕️ (So that we can keep being partners who deserve one another!)

8. Afterword

And that's all for the essay! This one took a little while, but I finally finished it... I tried to be more confident in my writing, and also summarize stories less (I summarized stuff a lot in my past essays), and I think it turned out overall solid (although I believe it still has some flaws). This essay was sort of a group effort thing, where my friends helped me throughout by contributing to it and checking over my progress, so I'm very grateful for everyone's help! Thank you so much!! There isn't much more to say now. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the essay! I put a lot of effort into it, and I'm quite proud of it. I will try to write something for Akito's birthday next month... exciting stuff. See ya!

[rhiaarrow]

Today I'm upcycling an old ramble from my notes!

Obviously it's all personal interpretation so feel free to chime in your own takes or correct me if you think I'm really far off with some egg 🙃

So without further ado, here are my personal headcanons of what each egg wears to sleep!

CHAYANNE -

Chayanne just sleeps in a t-shirt of any color and any color of sleep shorts, his ass does not care about pyjama colors just as long as they're comfortable.

He normally knocks out as soon as his head hits the pillow anyway so he couldn't care less what he's wearing and would happily sleep in his regular clothes some days.

Sometimes Phil will braid the top section of Chayanne's hair too after he braids Tallulah's, just to keep it out of his face while he sleeps.

But it's a loose short braid and with the length of Chayanne's hair not all of it can actually make it into the braid so the bottom section always hangs loose regardless of the braid or not.

DAPPER -

Dapper wears a fancy black silk buttoned pyjama shirt with red decals and details but it's always paired with hideously patterned pyjama pants.

They could have anything on them! Cartoon zoo animals, Rainbow zigzags, Multicolor polka dots, Cartoon food items, Tie dyed, Animal print, Fruit print, Old grandma couch print, 80s arcade carpet print, they could just have faces all over them! Literally ANYTHING as long as it doesn't match the pyjama top (because it drives his Dad absolutely crazy and he loves it).

He also wears a pair of thick plain fluffy socks over his feet at night, since demons naturally run cold to deal with the heat of their home, which unfortunately means Dapper having a Demon as his parent (as well as Em and Pomme) gets cold feet during the night if they don't wear fluffy socks.

She also sleeps with her hair tied up in a loose protective bun on top of their head to keep most of it out of his mouth and eyes while he sleeps.

LEONARDA -

Leo sleeps in cartoon patterned pyjamas but not matching sets, ohhhh no, this girl wears pieces from 2 completely separate sets which do not match at all.

For example she might wear bright blue and red spiderman pyjama bottoms paired with a pale purple pyjama shirt with a giant cartoon panda in the middle or a pair of rainbow striped MLP pyjama bottoms with a pyjama shirt covered in hundreds of close up Walter dog faces.

When she sleeps Leo leaves her hair loose to go absolutely everywhere and does not brush it before bed even though her hair gets tangled easily.

Which unfortunately means her Pa Foolich has to help her brush out the hundreds of knots every single morning but Leo absolutely refuses to sleep with it tied up no matter how much he tries to convince her it'd be a good idea.

She also insists on wearing socks to bed every single night but immediately kicks them off as soon as she actually falls asleep which Foolish finds hilarious.

RAMÓN -

Ramón sleeps in a plain tank top and he used to just sleep in a pair of plain sweatpants like his Dad but nowadays he sleeps in a pair of blue pac man patterned pyjama bottoms that he absolutely totally 100% did not steal from Pac's washing line outside his house.

The drawstrings are always tied to keep them up, since they're not kid sized, and he's clearly taken a pair of shears to the bottom but not re-hemmed them so there's loose threads everywhere (neither Fit or Pac makes a comment on it though, because as long as Ramón's happy they're happy so Pac just secretly sews up the hems and makes adjustments to the waistband while Ramon's with Fit and says nothing).

Ramón's hair is short enough that it doesn't make a difference how he wears it at night, it might stick up a bit in the morning from where he was laying on it but he wears the meathead all day so it doesn't matter and hell, Ramón would happily sleep in his meathead too if Fit would let him.

And obviously the moustache stays on while he's asleep, duh.

TALLULAH -

Tallulah wears a pair of black flannel pyjama pants and a short sleeved purple nightgown, which looks more like an oversized t-shirt but it has scallop hemmed edges that indicate that it is actually supposed to be down to her knees.

The purple nightgown has black and darker purple polka dots all over it and the hemming is done in black thread with a large cartoon skull decal on the center (that she doesn't really like because it looks too cartoonish).

Before she sleeps she brushes her hair and bangs and Phil braids it for her, into a neat and very tight French braid (or two braids depending on what he feels like) to keep it from going crazy while she sleeps.

And obviously when she goes to sleep her hearing aids are removed and put in a little box that she keeps on the windowsill above their big family bed so she can easily reach them in the morning.

RICHARLYSON -

Richarlyson sleeps in only a pair of sleep shorts, a variety of colors depending which house he sleeps in, right now it's been either red for Pai Cellbit, green for Pai Mike or black for Tio Bad since they're the only houses he's actually slept at so far (but he has blue shorts prepared for when they stay over at Pai Pac's and pink for staying with Mae Bagi).

He takes off the football shirt to sleep and no matter how many times her parents ask them to put on a pyjama shirt she doesn't, Richas just sleeps half naked because he can.

He also has a silk hair bonnet that he really should wear to bed every night but he doesn't like it, well no, they like it slightly better now that Pac sewed the outside to be mushroom patterned like her regular hat but he still doesn't wear it every single night no matter how many times her parents ask him to.

Obviously when he sleeps they have to remove his prosthetic leg so he sleeps with only a protective compression sleeve over their stump (like Pai Pac) and her leg just lies beside her bed, he has a prosthetic stand he's supposed to use for it, but again he doesn't do it every night regardless of her parents reminding him.

POMME -

Pomme wears one of the pretty matching pyjama sets, the ones with a cute graphic on the shirt and then that design is patterned smaller all over the bottoms.

She sleeps in a long sleeved pyjama shirt with red sleeves and a white chest with a green apple decal in the middle, paired with green pyjama trousers (the same shade as the decal) with red apples (the same as her sleeves) and white polka dots patterned on them.

Pomme also wears a pair of thick knitted socks every night because her feet get cold, these aren't intentionally matching her pyjamas but since it was Etoiles that knitted them back when he was the 'wool warrior' after losing to the code, they're all either one of the French flag colors or green so they match unless she wears the blue ones.

Her hair is neatly brushed by one of her parents and in a loose braid (or braids) that inevitably falls out overnight, but she won't sleep if it's tied too tight and she doesn't like having her hair tickling her while she tries to get to sleep, she honestly doesn't care what state it's in when she wakes up she can cover some of it with her beret anyway.

EMPANADA -

Empanada sleeps in a long sleeved ankle length nightgown with frilly edges and bow details, the full works.

The nightgown is a brown and pink tartan with white lace frills around the edges of the nightgown and down the seams and it's got little pink bows where they're necessary.

She also wears thick socks with grippy silicone bottoms while getting ready for bed so her feet don't get dirty or cold, but she doesn't wear them in bed, she takes them off and leaves them beside her bed so she can put them back on when she wakes up.

To actually sleep in she wears non grippy fluffy socks which she keeps in her bedside table drawer and they all have cute little kitty patterns on them since Bagi bought them in bulk when she learnt Em got cold feet during the night.

She sleeps with her hair left loose on the pillows but unlike Leo it doesn't go crazy overnight since Empanada is the kind of little girl who brushes her hair 100 times by herself before bed and brushes it another 100 times when she hears Bagi wake up in the room above hers so that it's always neat by the time her Mamae comes to get her in the morning.

SUNNY -

In the early days Tubbo didn't have kids pyjamas and he was too proud to ask another parent for a spare set so Sunny slept in one of Tubbo's shirts like a nightgown, unfortunately for Tubbo, she still does it now even after he's bought them pyjama sets in every color under the sun.

So every night Sunny sleeps in a stolen shirt of Tubbo's that comes down to her knees and the neck hangs off her shoulders a little, with a pair of pyjama pants and a plain vest top underneath.

Obviously she changes the color of the pants every single night in no particular rotation to wear all the fancy pyjama sets her Pa bought her to try and stop her stealing his shirts (it didn't work).

They also sleep with a orange and yellow striped silk bonnet on every single night to protect their hair so that she always looks good in the mornings even before her Pa does her hair for the day.

She obviously takes off her sunglasses to sleep but she replaces them with an orange sleep mask with 'SUNNY' bedazzled on the front in blue diamantes because if she doesn't wear the sleep mask then everything is way too bright when they're trying to sleep since they wear sunglasses all day.

PEPITO -

Pepito sleeps in a crew necked red and white striped onesie with grippy feet covers so Pepito doesn't fall over.

Pepito's hair is usually fine when Pepito sleeps but Pepito occasionally gets crazy bed head, but all Pepito does on those mornings is brush it out as much as Pepito can and put on a bandana or a beanie along with Pepito's glasses and gasmask so Pepito can try to make it look like a purposeful style choice (it works about 30% of the time).

CHUNSIK -

Chunsik always sleeps in an animal onesie, his Dad originally dressed him in a crocodile one but then his Mom bought him a shark one and they fight over which one he wears each night.

Chunsik doesn't care though, he's just happy to have two onesies now, and both of them have sharp teeth on the hood and a tail on the butt and he just thinks that's awesome!

His hair gets a little messed up from sleeping in the hoods but it doesn't get tangled easily so it's easy to brush it out in the morning before he puts on his hat.

[romantichoneypie]

Headcanons for Lilith!

Author's notes:Just making headcanons for one of my favorite girls from nightmare mode, both sfw and nsfw!

Historic moment: She was born in the Victorian era, when she hears a great growth of vampires, and in the midst of this context she was born.

Family:

Sister: She is Anazareth's half-sister, Anazareth being the eldest sister while she is slightly younger,Anazareth is close to Lilith and the two became friends quickly, in addition to always getting along.

Mother: Lilith's mother was a witch and creator of curses and potions related to a vampire In the year 1790, she was one of the few witches who survived To the Salem witch trials Because of her husband, She had had a relationship before with a normal human and had a daughter who was Anazareth, she loved her husband but he died for ensuring her and their daughter's safety, and then had Lilith from a relationship with a vampire.

Father: Lilith's father was a vampire who lived at the same time as her mother,He was a thirsty vampire who ended up dying, his attacks were famous and many people were converted to vampirism because of him, he did not kill, he fed and turned his prey into vampires,In addition, she was successful with women, there is no doubt that Lilith may have many half-siblings. (if you look closely, Lilith is similar to yog and only the two have fangs and Lilith's token doesn't say anything if she's also a vampire)

Appearance:

About 234 years.

Lilith has dark brown hair with purple tips, they are not dyed but natural the slightly purple ends of the hair.

She wears the blindfold because she has visual impairment underneath, she was not born with this disability, she ended up being attacked by hunters and well they ended up throwing a kind of poison on her while she hunted, her face had scars but they were healed over time without leaving marks, but the young vampire lost her sight.

She uses the blindfold to compensate for her lost vision, this increases her other senses and in addition makes her see both through the blindfold and through the tattoos.

Even after years she still loves Victorian fashion for her it was the best thing she had at that time,because the sanitary conditions were terrible, many people died due to the terrible living conditions, the children, many do not exceed 5 years old.

Their favorite colors are the darkest ones, such as black, dark blue, dark green, purple, burgundy and red.

She loves gothic fashion and especially black color such as flats, black boots and dresses and dark jewelry.

She loves piercings, like the ones she has in her ear and maybe she has a bat between her breasts, with open wings and a moon.

She loves her earrings but sometimes forgets why she takes them off to sleep, they are a little heavier than normal, I think maybe she has a perforation in her navel like a small crystal.

Her veins are marked on her skin, in a dark blue tone because her blood is a dark tone almost black.

Sometimes she makes light cuts on her hand because it is necessary to use in some potions but she does not usually use hers because she is a vampire.

Her body is definitely cold, and for her it doesn't make the slightest difference, she doesn't feel cold or hot.

Her fangs show up in her smile when she talks or laughs, she doesn't like it very much but it's still cute.

Relationship:

Lilith is the affectionate type but in a more reserved way, she likes soft touches and kisses on the neck

She daily enjoys drinking her partner's blood as the meal of the day, although she does not consume other people's blood

She likes to teach her things like making potions, and especially when you help her do those things.

She doesn't consume many things like food, even though flesh and blood from animals, even so she keeps sweets and other things in the fridge for when you're there with her.

She is definitely attracted even by the smell of your blood, and that's why she loves to bite your skin.

She likes to walk with you holding your hand and showing you your favorite places in the city, such as a remote park with no one to watch the stars

She's definitely kind to you, but during sex, not exactly.

While you're both having sex, she loves to really mark you as hers, filling her body with hickeys and bite marks, her body is slightly sore the next day.

She really needs to control herself when she's with you so she doesn't bite you and transform you at that moment.

I think she really couldn't live without you after years of relationship, at some point she would turn you into a vampire, either because she doesn't want you to die or because you have some disease.

She's kind to you but only to you, and when you first met you were surprised why she wasn't as rude as the others

Her favorite body part is her thighs and neck

She loves to suck you, in every way

She enjoys having sex during your period, the taste of her blood is perfect and she feels happy to satisfy you and also to relieve your pain.

She likes to wake you up in the middle of the night with kisses on the neck and massaging your breasts

She is jealous but not exactly because of you but if someone flirts with you she would get very angry with the person and ask Anazareth to put a curse on the person

She doesn't really like affection in public

She can use potions to increase your horniness level

Kink:

She loves back scratches

Bites and marks will always be on your body in the morning after you sleep together

She is slightly dominant and loves accessories such as ropes and also collars

She loves to pour scented candles down her body to give it a slight feeling of warmth

You will like to overstimulate you

She prefers to give than receive pleasure, she loves to be between your thighs and also when she is up your face and you suck her

She loves aftercare for you

What does she like?:

She definitely loves reading books about macabre tales and horror stories

She likes to do piercings because she likes the slight sensation of pain at the moment and also finds it beautiful

She loves dresses and dressing as she did in the Victorian era

She loves affection especially kisses on the forehead

She loves to eat animal flesh

She likes cats and has one that sometimes enters her apartment with anazareth but he is free to come and go and only spends the nights

I think she would also like tarot a lot,and when he was bored he would read whatever the tarot cards said

She loves to sleep with you wrapping her arms around your waist and leaning her head on your shoulder

Definitely likes it when you say you like her real eyes because it was an insecurity.

She loves what sweet you are with her and worried

She loves that you want to learn how to make magic and potions

I think she likes history in general

[ell-arts]

Here's a little something I've wanted to do for a while! This was made mostly out of curiosity, as a way to speculate on what colour genetics could've influenced the look of characters we've heard of but were never shown (Elli's dad, Bet and Stratos's sister, why Spheria is not yellow like Sunny, etc)

Some of these look pretty empty, so I will revisit this in the future to add more members to each family tree. These trees are also sprinkled with some oc's and my own headcanons.

Here are a few notes/reasonings/headcanons I have for each family:

Spheros:

My headcanon for the Spheros siblings' father is that his name is Exo Spheros, and his colours were quite dark. Both Exo and Rotunda came from families that were very mixed, and as a result, their children came in a variety of colours. Exo's side tends to have darker colours, while Rotunda's side has lighter colours.

Exo has bright red eyes, while Rotunda has green eyes. The clash of these colours caused a range of muted browns and reds in their children's eyes.

Rotunda's hair was white in the show, most likely from old age, therefore I made it so that her natural hair colour is the same as her daughter's hair colour, in order for it to make a bit more sense as to how her granddaughter (Elliptica) ended up with pink hair.

Partial Albinism is a dormant and recessive gene that runs in Rotunda's side of the family. It's a mutation where only the skin of the individual is affected: their skin lacks pigment and turns out white, while their hair and eye colour retain pigment and inherit a mix of their parents' colours. This mutation has been dormant throughout Rotunda's family line, until it showed its face in Betrayus' colours. Since Rotunda's side of the family has lighter colours, the overall lack of pigmentation has a link with this gene.

My headcanon name for Stratos and Betrayus' sister is Radia Spheros. Along with Betrayus, she has very little resemblance to either parent, precisely because of their mixed heritage. There is a little bit of dark red on Exo's side of the family, and this combined with Rotunda's lighter colours made Radia come out as a muted pink. Radia is the oldest, followed by Stratos and then Betrayus.

Unironically, all the Spheros' siblings have hair that is styled in a similar way to their father's.

Headcanon name for Elli's father is Ellipton (Ellip for short). Unlike Radia's side of the family, Ellip's family had a long line of consistent purples and blues, so these genes are stronger. Therefore, Elli looks a lot more like her father than her mother, and this is also why Elli was named after him.

Pac:

Headcanon that the reason why Spheria is not yellow like Sunny is because Spheria and Sunny are only half-sisters.

Sunny's father had an affair with a red woman before he married Sunny's mother, thus Spheria was born a little bit before Sunny. The affair was a point of conflict between Sunny's parents for a while, but eventually things settled down when Sunny was born.

Unfortunately, at some point Spheria's mother passed away and she was placed in her father's care, effectively making Spheria part of Sunny's side of the family. This is also why Spheria still has an accent; she grew up in a different state far away before she moved in with her father and his family.

Despite not having the same mother, Sunny and Spheria still grew up together and came to see each other as full sisters instead of half.

Zac's side of the family are pure yellows, while Sunny's side of the family have a tiny bit of mixing in their earlier ancestry, but the yellow genes are still strong enough for Sunny to have all of the powers and qualities that comes with being a Yellow One.

Cylindria:

The pink highlights in Cyli's hair are 100% natural and not dyed. This is thanks to a common gene that runs in her family, in which streaks of colours are present in their hair. It mostly comes from Starchild's side of the family, as seen in Granny's case. Elliptica has this gene too, inherited from her father's side of the family.

We never saw Moondog's real eye colours because he wears shades/custom glasses, so I gave him light purple eyes.

Moondog's side of the family is also a little bit more mixed, compared to Starchild's family who has been more consistently pink. Therefore Cyli inherited her black hair from her father and her pink skin, eyes, and hair streak gene from her mother.

Headcanon that Granny's real name is Windsong, and "Granny" is just a nickname that she's more fond of.

Additional headcanon that Granny became the first person in the family to think that their naming traditions have gotten a little silly, and so she strongly advocated for giving her granddaughter a "normal" name as opposed to a hippie name, which is how they ended up with Cylindria (her parents wanted to name her Moonchild instead. Cyli was eternally grateful that Granny stepped in to suggest a different name lol).

Spiral:

We literally know nothing about what Spiral's family looks like, other than a vague hint in one of the Chrsitmas episodes. So for now both his parents are red.

Though I am playing with the idea of giving Spiral a step-father, so that might be added in the future.

General Pacworlder colour genetics:

The more a certain colour is present in a family line, the stronger that colour gene is. For example, if the father's line is pure red, and he has offspring with a blue mother with a mixed lineage, then their children have a 75% higher chance of being red rather than blue or mixed.

Overall, mixed families usually produce offspring with stronger genes because of their diverse genetics. The only downside to this is that their mono-colour genes are weakened. The more a particular colour is present in a family-line, the more likely that offspring may get weaker genes in other areas outside of colour because of the lack of diverse breeding. This is seen in old medieval times when royal families married their cousins in order to keep the bloodline "pure" but it resulted in poor health among the descendants. Aside from this example, it is still entirely possible to have a healthy, pure colour bloodline without inbreeding, because Pacworlders with all kinds of colours are broadly populated across the planet.

More to be added in the future :)

[everythingblackblack]

I headcanon that Kaito has brown hair like Chikage's and Aoko's but he dyes his hair black/wears a kind of wig to look more like his father with a different hair style, I know it could be the lighting but it's driving me insane how Kid sometimes has black hair. I deeply sympathise with people who mistook his many shades of blue for purple, on the topic of eyes Chikage likes to dye her hair fun colours and wear coloured contacts so she always looks different (headcanon again - it just fits with her criminal history and free spirit lifestyle), I can't decide if I prefer her with brown, green or purple eyes.

On a similar not ho do you feel about Akako having hair such a night-black it's almost purple as opposed to her ombre of crimson and scarlet she had originally in the anime to match her red eyes? I think manga Hakuba was blonde with pale blue eyes, then anime Hakuba had light brown/dirty blonde hair and red eyes and then golden blonde (almost yellow) hair and brown eyes - what appearance of his is your favourite?

Also I headcanon that Midoriko has British heritage and that's partly why she's extra excited to befriend Hakuba (Gosho doesn't understand recessive genes, red and purple eyes could by due to albinism but blue eyes? No), it would fit the theme more if she had green eyes and Aoko's blue eyes were a mutation/skipped a generation and so happened to fit her birthstone but blue eyes would make more sense genetically (maybe she can have turquoise eyes, a blue-green colour).

THIS WAS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I WAS VERY EXCITED TO ANSWER.

One thing I really liked about 1412 was Kaito's hair color change, how he decided to dye it black every time he disguises himself as KID. I think this is a great move because Toichi had black hair and can trick Snake better this way!

GOD, do you know what Kaito's hair looked like in episode 76? If you don't remember, please check out this screenshot.

Okay, I know that his hair is actually spiked, but I really like to think that it actually looks like that and he only combs it in spikes because that's how Aoko combs her hair.

BUT I LIKE TO FANTASIZE ABOUT HIS HAIR BEING LIKE THIS, WAVY. Can you imagine if he dyed it red? Well, this is very off topic, but I like to fantasize that when Kaito stops being a CHILD he dyes his hair to close cycles.

Note: I actually have an argument in my head to justify why Kaito should grow his curly hair, dye it red and dress like a biker while traveling the world.

I stop being a normal person when we talk about Kaito's hair, here, I have this appreciation post and a video of simply, Kaito's hair.

In fact, in some movies his hair as KID looks black and in 1412 he actually changes it to black. I've also seen episodes of Detco where he has it black, friend, don't worry, you're not crazy I believe you. In fact, I really love Kaito's curly black hair from movie 3.

Back to the topic of his eyes, I actually watched Magic Kaito 1412 first before Detco, so I was always confused as to why people said Kaito's eyes were purple… Then I understood! In Detco sometimes his eye color looked different.

I'm all for saying his eyes are blue or purple, or even the idea that they're actually purple and he just wears contact lenses.

Personally, I really like (TOO MUCH) the headcanon that Chikage is French, according to Google, in France the majority of women have brown hair and some are natural blondes. I like to think her original hair color was actually blonde or red… I’m going to adopt your headcanon! Because Chikage could definitely dye her hair and wear contact lenses!

Personally, I'm leaning towards the fact that she's originally a redhead with green eyes, but it would also be cool if she had purple eyes to pass down to Kaito.

For a long time I thought Chikage's eyes were yellow, lmao, you could say she wears contact lenses. Let's take all the colors! She could change her outfit every week! I mean, she's also a master of disguise, I don't doubt she has wigs a long list of contact lenses available.

I think red eyes and dark hair make Akako look super pretty! But I'll always prefer her as a redhead, however, I have a headcanon here that might interest you.

My headcanon is that Akako has dark hair (like in 1412) and blue eyes without magic, and it's thanks to her powers that her eyes and hair turn red (it could be canon, but without confirmation from gosho I won't say anything).

There's an image that came out a few months ago where Akako actually has brown hair and blue eyes, there's also Hakuba with blonde hair and blue eyes. (I couldn't find the image).

I wonder what gosho has with brown hair and blue eyes, there's more variety than just that. Anyway, I can say that I like Saguru's almost yellow blonde hair color in 1412 with his brown eye color. But I don't reject the other variables, the red eye color makes me think of vampires. It would be interesting if Hakuba was one, in fact, it's funny but a while ago I came across an anime about vampire detectives.

I really love the idea of ​​Midoriko having British heritage! Also the headcanon that Aoko's eyes aren't blue but aquamarine, but turquoise would look beautiful too. I'm going to adopt your headcanon.

[sugudoe]

Hello!! I've recently found your blog and I absolutely adore your writing and even have notifications on, hehe 🫶🏻 I'd like to request a match up, but of course only if you have the time to do it!

I'm 22 years old and I use she/her pronouns. I speak two languages (German+English), I have blond, medium length hair (it's dyed, my natural hair color is brown) which is wavy but I straighten it because I think it looks better. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I dye some colorful strands into it! (Like pink, or red, or purple.) I'm average in height, although on the higher side of the spectrum by being 5'7. I'm chubby, which I'm a insecure about, but I don't let that hold me back from dressing how I want, at least on most days. I usually wear baggy or loose clothes but on special occasions I wear form fitting clothes as well. I wear glasses, they're transparent and pink, and I absolutely love to do my make up! I'm very creative when it comes to it and it's often that I wear a lot of colors on my face, but not that it's too overbearing.

My personality type is ENFP 2w3 and I tend to get along with everyone, but more so with ambivert people since I sometimes have phases where I'm more introverted. I like people who are different from me since I like hearing a different perspective on things, so people who are too close to me in terms of personality are a no go. I also like mature people, so unnecessary fights or arguments can easily be avoided. I talk a lot and I joke around a lot too, so people tend to call me a social butterfly which I agree with. I need my downtime too, so it isn't too uncommon to find me sitting alone in my room, listening to music and playing video games at the end of the day.

I do have a few mental struggles and I do have a chronic illness as well (I don't wanna outright say what I have, but I have incredibly bad stomach aches from time to time, so bad that I even had to have a surgery because of it when I was 17.) All that is too say is that I can be a bit complicated at times, but I try my best to better myself.

My hobbies include: mainly playing video games (like stardew valley, animal crossing, generally more relaxing games), doing my make up, baking (when I'm stressed which is too often), and going out with my friends! I love running errands with my friends and spending time with them that way! I'm open to a lot of new things but I get extremely frustrated when I'm not immediately good at something, lol.

I'd like to be matched up with someone my age or older than me since that's my preference if that is alright! I hope this wasn't too much information 😭 I appreciate you and your work and thank you for taking your time to do these match ups!! 🩷

a/n: hiiiiiii, thank you for sending this, specially the many informations and the preference for your age or older. i had others in mind for you, being geto and hiromi. still, i think toji could do just fine with you, yay!

⁀➷ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. . . ﹫ 𝘵𝘰𝘫𝘪 ៹ ༉‧₊🫕

toji, in all his powerful presence, goes inside a room with a permanent scowl on his face. you, sparkly white eyeshadow with smoke eyeliner, pink glasses and equally pink highlights, comes behind. bubbly and threatening aura mixing together to create something no one else would have thought, yet, anyone can see the care you both have for the other.

can’t you see? if you look closely to toji, there is glitter sprinkled on his cheekbones and nose button, as well as a blue strand of his hair. but mostly, he might have show to everyone a threatening face, but when he stares at you, there is a smile present on his lips and a shine in his eyes.

it’s something that had been lost for a long time, some could say.

your dressed to the extreme for this boring party shiu is throwing, black silk dress conturing your waist and hips, at first you might have had some doubts about it, still you didn’t changed it — never one to back down.

that’s one of the many things that made toji attracted to you, your insecurities does not define you. thank god for that, he thinks while admiring you doing your eyes. so pretty and so his, he might just not go the party and have you all to himself.

“you look pretty.” he compliments while trying to knit his tie. you finish the final touches before moving his way, pressing a peck to his lips and doing it for him. “thank you, doll.”

“anything for you.” raising on your feet, you kiss him again, with your hands you caress his face, moving away you see the shine in it, thanks to your dirty fingers and laugh. “you have glitter in you, let me grab the oil to remove.”

“nah, no need, let’s match.” he is so sexy, that you might have arrived late to the party.

toji is a simple guy, his clothes are either black or grey and sometimes a dark blue might be presented in his drawer. that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like colors, if anyone where to ask him what’s his favorite, he would find you and pick the most vibrant one you are wearing. you’re his favorite everything, okay? in the presence of your room, if you ask, he will say is the color of your lips.

while first meeting, toji was instantly attracted to you, but he thought you would never give him a chance. that was, of course, until you let it slip how you are more inclined to romantic partners different than you, and hey! toji has the social life of a fucking worm with amnesia and you are a social butterfly, what could be more different than that?

a lot. a fucking lot!

he knew he had you right there, and you had been aware as well, so the dating started right away. toji and you don’t fight, he might not seem mature but he is strategic and pays attention to everything, so if something bothers you, he knows right away and change whatever it is quickly. you didn’t liked him gambling and he stopped before you could get even more annoyed.

your disagreements never reach the fighting stage if it comes from his side, but if comes from yours, you are more than happy to hear what is his complain and make it work. cheers to being non-toxic!

toji is very worrying of you. he likes to come home and see you happy, doing a random makeup or playing video games. he will sit on the bed while talking to you about both of your days, happy that you are recharging and having a you time. still, he goes extremely quiet and full on boyfriend mood when he comes home and you are baking. your pastries are divine, but something is wrong!

you will soon find yourself relaxing in a bathtub, using him as a personal pillow, caressing your back while letting you vent. if it is your medical condition, he will encourage you to go to a doctor, just for a checkup at least, if is mental, he will also beg for you to go to a professional, and also ends the night spoiling you by buying your favorite food. the next day he won’t work, instead toji rather be with you, learning how to play your games and having you doing his makeup.

─┈ ⭑ ° ⋆ FUN FACTS 𓂃ᰔ

🫕 ┊ dating toji means that you can wear whatever high heels, you’re still short to him.

🫕 ┊ toji is your biggest supporter, even if words of affirmation is not his thing, toji still helps you overcome this distress of not being good at everything at first. he basically points to himself as an example of hard work pays well!

🫕 ┊ toji has a different humor than most people, still, he laughs at your jokes and does the same with you. obviously, all in the presence of your house.

🫕 ┊ toji is a different man inside and outside your home, he loves you in all his forms, and everyone can see that!

🫕 ┊ his love language is acts of service and quality time.

[inhurtandincomfort]

Meet the cast! (aka my OCs!)

Finally time to introduce my OCs! I'm sure I'll be making more in the future and will keep this updated. You will notice I have a lot more to say about my fantasy OCs - this is because I've been working on their universe for some years now and though I'm very indecisive and there's a lot of changes, a lot of back-and-forth, it is much easier for me to develop these ones I'm familiar with. The Vampire OCs were created like a week ago - they're still very early in development! We will surely be learning about them together :) I hope you enjoy them regardless! Please feel free to ask questions, I love my OCs more than life itself

MY FANTASY WORLD

Eldwin Wishtmane (he/they)

(Neka)

Age: 22-24. An illegal sorcerer free from the governments grasp and a "warlock" - someone who has conspired with demons - Eldwin fled home at a young age and was captured and sold to the Black Syndicate, the most powerful criminal organization in the country. Naturally he has many enemies, from the court of law to the dregs of the underworld; an Unmarked mage is a rare and valuable thing, and a warlock is a sinner who threw away their humanity the moment they made a pact. 

He is 5'4 with a slender build, a little underweight due to high stress and poor eating habits and a youthful face with soft features. He has pale silver eyes and short-to-mid length black hair that develops streaks of white. He has a tattoo-like sigil on the back of his right hand which is the mark of his demon pact with a scar running through it, a brand on the right side of his neck that is a mark of the Syndicates ownership, and a crudely carved scar below his left collarbone. He favours formal clothing in dark colours and hates showing much skin. He wears gloves to hide the sigil. 

He is very stoic and reserved, unwilling to get close to people or show any vulnerability. He develops some very unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Destrian Advyre (any pronouns)

(picrew)

Age: 22-24.  Half wood-elf, half Dragonkin, an ancient race descended from the Goddess of Dragons. Both elves and dragonkin possess keener senses than humans.. Destrian is the deputy leader of the Supernatural Detective Agency, or the SDA, a private mercenary agency that deals with anything from private investigations, fighting monsters and retrieving rare items from dungeons. 

5'6 with a lithe build. Has brown hair with a russet undertone xe wears in a braid that falls almost to his knees, and golden brown eyes. He has gold-coloured horns and smattering of golden spots rather like scales across his arms, shoulders and neck. The gold on her face is facepaint worn for ceremonies. She typically wears sturdy but comfortable clothes in brown and purple tones, but loves dressing up for occasions in elegant clothes in rich colours, namely reds, golds and purples. 

She is a kind and gentle soul, seemingly carefree but harbors growing feelings of guilt and inferiority inside. She always puts everyone else before herself, and buries her own feelings deep in order to not cause trouble for others.

Ancassius Lailicci (he/him)

(picrew)

Age: 24-26. He is part-selkie - his maternal grandmother was selkie and the children and grandchildren were blessed with exceptional swimming and diving ability, can hold their breath for about 30 minutes, and can tolerate cold better than most humans. Despite that his favourite countries to visit are warm ones, and he never spends a winter in Aenora if he can help it - he refuses to be seen without his tan. He doesn't like to spend too long in one place anyway; his heart longs for the sea and he's never happier than when he's on his own ship surrounded by a loyal crew and sailing the ocean making new discoveries and riches. 

He is about 6'3 with a strong, board build with hazel eyes and dyed-red hair that he keeps long, either loose or in a low ponytail. (His natural hair colour is brown). Curiously, he also appears to have slightly webbed fingers. He is rather vain and takes great pride in his appearance. He tends to wear open shirts and grand jackets with equally grand hats and favours gold jewellery - lots of jewellery.

He is boisterous and passionate, and tends to make friends wherever he goes. He claims to be a pirate and while he does sometimes plunder some wealthy merchant ships, most of his time is spent travelling the world looking for treasure and smuggling illicit goods - maybe attack a slaver ship or two. But just because he's not overly violent doesn't mean he isn't to be respected - he went from a deckhand to the feared pirate queen Shao Yijun to a Captain in his own right. He can be just as ruthless as his mentor when necessary. 

Seasaìdh [sheh-see] (She/her)

(neka)

[WIP]

Age: 30 by the time she meets Ancassius. A Selkie. An adventurous young woman, she met a human man on the shore and he stole her skin and made her to marry him. He was kind at first, but then he turned cruel and forced her into slavery. She longs for the sea, but without her skin, she cannot go home, and she has no idea if she'll ever find it.

She is 5'2, with green-grey eyes and long black hair that reaches her thighs. She will not let her past control her, and remains a cheerful and optimistic person. She is very gentle and nurturing, and also very strong-willed, refusing to let herself be taken advantage of again. After being freed by Ancassius' and his crew, she joins up with them, her thirst for adventure and desire to see the world never fading. But she still waits for the day she finds her skin, and can return home.

Alistair Farewell (he/him)

(picrew)

Age: 50s-60s. The patriarch of the Farewell family and Head of the Black Syndicate. He will do whatever it takes to protect his family and his city. He is well-respected by city residents for his fairness and charity, but he is calculating and is not above cruelty if he has reason. He's lonely after the premature death of his wife, spending most of his time out of public eye.

He is about 5'10" with a heavy set build, deep blue eyes and strong features with greying brown hair kept neatly combed back. He's never seen in casual wear, always opting for a full suit or tux everywhere, excluding the privacy of his own room.

Clyde Farewell (he/him)

(picrew)

Age: 35. The heir to the Farewell name and the Underboss of the Black Syndicate. A man used to getting what he wants. He alone made the decision to purchase Eldwin, and considers him his greatest prize. He is very possessive and dislikes when his father takes an interest in Eldwin, but cannot speak against the man who's word is law... and who controls his inheritance. He is a volatile and arrogant man, but knows how to turn on the charm when he needs to. He expects to take over the Black Syndicate someday, though Alistair believes he is unfit for the job.

He enjoys exerting his power over others and will find any excuse to punish Eldwin. It is his abject cruelty that leads Alistair to consider him unsuitable to take over.

He is 6'1 with a very similar appearance to his father, though slimmer with younger, softer features.

Nels Barbary aka The Handler (he/they)

(picrew)

Age: 41. Clyde's right-hand and most trusted confidant. The man in charge of training Eldwin, he is a firm believer in cruel punishment and is harsh in his teachings. He's not someone who tortures for pleasure, however; He only inflicts suffering in the name of training, punishment, or as part of the job. He doesn't delight in it, but he won't lament over it either. He does like the feeling of control that comes with it.

6'3 with a large, muscular build, brown eyes and rather unkempt blond hair. Being the muscle of the Syndicate, he can get away with looking a bit unkempt. He has a large scar on his face, and on his neck like someone once tried to slit his throat.

MODERN VAMPIRES

Liana Coleman (she/her)

(picrew)

Age: 27.  A struggling freelance artist. It's a cold winter night when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Faced with either freezing to death in her car or potentially freezing to death on the road trying to find someone who can help, she makes the trek and ends up at an old manor house...

She is 5'7 with a rather average build and black hair that falls to her shoulders in springy coils. She wears casual, comfortable clothing and favours a more neutral palette.

She has a curious nature and a habit of getting involved in business she shouldn't - but she does have everyones best interests at heart. She's friendly if a little awkward and clumsy, and keeps an active social life.

Adelia Morgan (she/her)

(picrew)

Age: 210.  She lives in an old mansion with other vampires, lead by the Elder. When a shivering human woman arrives at her door one stormy night, Adelia has a decision to make. She was turned into a vampire in 1844 at the age of 30. She was an aspiring writer and had a husband and three children. When she was turned she murdered her family in uncontrollable bloodlust and facing persecution, fled to her vampire clan where she lives to this day.

5'9 and slim with dark hair in tight curls around shoulder length. Her brown skin holds a vaguely unhealthy complexion, her eyes are a deep red and she has dainty looking fangs. She typically wears glamorous floor-length gowns in deep colours, usually black or red, and is also fond of jewellery. Except silver. 

A once loving woman, over the years her heart hardened, haunted by the guilt of what she did to her previous family and trapped under the thumb of her master, the Elder who turned her. 

[sleepdeprivedsprout]

@parker-vaporwave-alt @drxgonspine @vexter-the-comedian @schnozzlebozzle @helluvaboss98 @aroacerick

Soft Aria is done!! (…shittily, bc I’m too lazy to edit highlights rn. This is also somewhat simplified)

“I can promise you my love, it’s gonna be okay…”

(calls literally almost everyone “my love” in a platonic way)

random facts

~ She’s the youngest of all the different versions; she’s 15

~ anxiety anxiety anxiety anxiETY ANXIETY ANX

~ half demon half angel thing. She got the more angelic side.

~ unlike canon Aria, her hair is dyed. Normal Aria’s is naturally purple on the ends. Soft Aria’s was dyed by her older brother, Kalem.

~ Aria’s blindfold is due to a punishment. Her parents were… Not the best, to put it simply, so she went blind because of a gun wound. It’s still unknown how she’s alive.

~ Half deaf without the blindfold; 90% deaf with it since it covers her ears

~ If she wasn’t blind, her eyes would actually be a light pink sorta colour instead of red

~ Ironically, she’s afraid of heights. It takes her about 30 minutes on average to gather the courage to jump down to earth from Heaven

~ GUARDIAN ANGEL!!!! she’s technically Soft Pico’s guardian angel but she INSISTS on protecting Benjamin as well (this is genuinely the only pico x bf thing I ship I love soft bf x soft pico fodnfksmd)

~ her wings are soft. Very, very soft. Blankets. She has repeatedly used them to calm down Benjamin if Pico’s not around to help during one of his breakdowns

~ she’s working out the human legal system so she can figure out how to sue Benjamin’s parents for abuse

~ if you can’t tell already, she VERY MUCH SO pities Benjamin he needs hugs and she is there when Pico isn’t

~ …anyway. I’ll shut up now

wait no I won’t

[averys-happy-space]

was doodling the cinema trio and realised some design parallels & contrasts between all of them and thought id put it into a post because why not

design-wise fang and maisie are actually really really similar, ive always thought this but i didnt realise just how similar they are until i started listing all of it to someone i was talking to on discord

both wear sleeveless tops

both wear loose/puffy high rise pants, both of which are also cuffed at the bottom

both wear gloves

both have the popcorn logo somewhere on their design

both wear sneakers (whereas buster wears boots)

could argue both have unnatural/dyed hair colours, though i googled it and apparently it is possible for dark skinned people to be naturally blonde but its just v rare... rare enough that i reckon this point still stands

both have golds + reds as their accent colours - buster sorta has this but its much less obvious/striking compared to the other two

this makes it sound like buster is the odd one out which he v much is at least design wise. but he has some similarities with the others too:

all 3 wear something around their foreheads (bandana, sun visor, headband)

all 3 wear blue pants of varying shades

maisie and buster both have a tool (fire extinguisher / film projector) where fang does not

fang and buster both have something slung over one shoulder (suspender, film loop). theyre on opposite shoulders too (something something one completes the other)

and then there's the differences / contrasts:

this one blew my mind when i realised it but fang is mostly primary colours (red yellow blue) whereas buster is mostly secondary colours (orange purple green). feel like this point isn't that strong though if you consider that buster also has black & grey + blue jeans too, and fang's hair is arguably more purple than dark blue. but i still thought it was interesting enough to mention anyway. also, maisie is a mix of both palettes (red yellow blue / purple black + her skintone is an orangey brown).

fang's hair is made of sharp edges, while maisie's is categorically rounded, and buster is somewhere in the middle where he shares fang's sharp edged bangs but his hair curls around the back, making it more rounded like maisie's

they all have different eyebrow shapes (triangle, rectangle, oval). could probably make an argument for this being reflective of their personalities with fang having the most sharp edges (most aggressive, reckless, confident); maisie being sharp in the sense of being very perceptive, responsive, quick witted but still less intense than fang; and buster being the softest, most shy, most protective

their personality is reflected in their playstyles too which are all starkly different - fang is aggro, maisie is control, buster is defensive. also means their trio can be a well rounded team in 3v3s too (which they were until maisie and fang got nerfed lol)

lots of cool design choices. knowing the release order was fang -> buster -> maisie can also help explain why buster is so distinct from the other two as well i think. because stuff like the popcorn logo seems like a strange thing to leave out of his design until you realise oh, the designers probably weren't thinking of having that be the logo of the theatre the trio work at until maisie came along and they realised it'd make a good logo/emblem.

there is also something to be said about fang and maisie being so similar because at first glance you'd think they're complete opposites - one is reckless and carefree, the other is literally a safety coordinator. that's definitely the impression you'd get from watching the animations from maisie's release as well. but maisie's bio admits that she lowkey enjoys dangerous situations and i think deep down she is actually very similar to fang in that they're both thrill seekers. she's still far better at keeping a level head when things go wrong than he is though

buster and fang being opposites is also really cute, at least to me. opposites attract and all that. i also think buster's actually a lot smarter than the maisie release animation gives him credit for, especially considering he was able to customise a film projector from the theatre for his own personal use. writing this now though i think one thing they do have in common is they're both pussies lol. as much as i hate the willow release art where fang is in shelly's arms, i do like the idea of him being a total wimp, just because it directly contrasts against all his other personality traits. buster is also clearly easily spooked if you look at his release animations in the ghost station. but he still saves gus in that one animation and i think thats indicative of his bravery - he'll always do the right thing even if it scares the shit out of him. fang, uh... probably not as reliable for that lol

[myimmortaltribute]

EpIsOdE 1 SeAsOn 1

AN: HIII OMG THIS IS MY FORST TIM WRITING A FANFICTION But I always get compliments from my frienz so I thought why the hellz not! Im gonna publish my bookz on Tumbler! Anywayz. Its based on a RP i started in elementary school with two EX best friends but were not frienz anymore cuz there bitchez so now im writing the story my way. ENJOY

Hi My name is Raven Morticia Lilith Blackrose, But every1 simply calls me Raven. I have long hair the color of a starless night with red streaks in it that reaches all the way to my butt (not dyed there natural, I was born like this) and bright purple eyes because I suffer from a rare genetic condition called Alexadria Genesis (AN:look it up its a real thing). I have pale skin that looks like porceline so I never wear any fundation or concealer and I only wear black eyeliner, black eyeshadow, mascara and black lipstick. What u should kknow about me is that I'm not like other girls, and dats not just cause I'm goth (I wear all black and hate preps) but also bcause ever since I was born I have always been obsessed with dark'ness and blood & death… Idk why. Oh well.

I was in math class (ugh. ikr). however math class is the class where I can be on my phone the most (which I do anyway in every class bc I'm naturally good at every subject and the teachers never call on me bc they know I already know everything). Anyway. Every teacher just lets me be on my phone during every class because I'm naturally smart like that, all but fucking math teacher Miss Poppy, which I know is just bitter and hates me because she's preppy & has a personal vendeta against goth chicks like me. First of all, shes a christian (duh) and plus she dresses in beiges and pastels (gross) & always gives me dress code violations because I dress in all black (but the principal never punishes me bc she's on my side).

I was textin on my phon when he came into the room: Damon Athame, the hottest goth boy in school. He's super tall like 6'6 and super athletic even though he never plays sports or do gym class (he prefers to sit on the bleachers and write poetry. He's that deep & mysteryous). Anyways he walks in and sits right in front of me, ignoring me… I dont even care tho bc I'm just too in love & I know he probably ignored me because he was thinking about darkness & stuff like that like I usually do to. I was having a conversation with Trixie & Katya, my besties, when the teacher had the NERVE to tell me to shut up! I scoffed and grunted but had to obey ans shut up.

Bitch teacher: RAVEN MORTICIA LILITH BLACKROSE! SHUT UP OR ILL SEND U TO THE PRINCIPAL!

Me: Ugh. Whatever (rolls eyes).

Just when I was going back to doing my oen thing, something out of nightmares happened… there was a huge booming sound and evertone turned to eachother and started asking each other what the hell was going on. Suddenly, the walls started trembling and Damon stood up and turned towards the door with a resolute gaze in his beautiful dark red eyes (which contrasted his whiteish silver hair and his pale skin beautifully.). The teacher yelled at everyone to stay quiet and sit down but it obviously didnt work. At thet point the nightmare intensified: a huge crack opened on the floor and the walls started shaking and cracking even more. Obviously, unlike the rest of my female classmates I didnt scream like a pussy or ran away. Instead i stood still and looked down into the huge crack in the floor, instead of debris and pieces of the building &stuff, on the bottom of it there was a river of lava and flames and thousands of monsters that were trying to climb the walls to get to us. All i could do is freeze, and thats what I would have done if I hadnt felt a hand grab my hand and drag me out of the classroom. I turned towards my savior and I was so surprised when I saw that the person who just saved me was Damon!

Damin: Come on! Run faster! Damnit! Me: This is the fastest i can run!!!

Some rocks started to fell from the ceiling but Damon avoided them while he ran protecting me and making me avoid them at the same time.

Damon: Stairs!! Quick!!

We went down the stairs and got out of the school, then we seeked refuge in the gym together with four more guys: Cory: Damon's best friend. Cory is a bit of a preppy guy and a jock but he's not an asshole and he's funny and hot. He's as tall as Damon and has brown hair and red eyes. Peter and his brother Adam: theyre kinda like twins but Adam is younger so they look identical with blonde hair and blue eyes and Peter is a bit taller than Adam. (Theyre preps and absolutely insufferable.) Sally: a rich, spoiled, snobby preppy bitch who always bullied me…well…she TRIED. (I would never let her put me down.) She had blonde hair and blue eyes (of course… honestly I hoped she had been eaten by the monsters.)

Anyway, we barricated ourselves in the gym after Cory and Damon had blocked the door with some equipment and all the objects they could find. Of course Sally, Peter and Adam did fucking nothing and left all the work to Cory and Damon so I tried to help because I wasn't scared abt breaking a nail or something.

Me: Hey, can I help?

Damon: Get out of the way! I have no time for you now!

I was SHOCKED by his tone of voice. I never heard him scream like that. Okay yea i get it, we were in the middle of the apocalypse but I literally didn't do anything wrong!!!

Me: FINE!

I ran away into the locker rooms to be alone. (like, I was devastated. my crush just yelled at me can u blame me?) Of course I didn't just sulk around cause I'm not a pussy. I looked around into the room to see if there was something I could use as a weapon in case the monsters got inside the gym. Just as I was thinking about that, one of those ugly fuckers found his way inside and got right in front of me. It was hideous, a mix between a man, a bat, a spider and who knows what the fuck else. I got a metal crowbar from the floor and defended myself, hitting it repeatedly. Right when it was about to kill me, it was hit by a bullet coming out of nowhere! It fell to the ground, with acid-like greenish blood oozing out of the bullet wound in his head. I turned around and saw him, Damon, with a silver gun in his hand, still smoking. He saved me again. I scoffed but was grateful.

Damon: Sorry about before… Me: It's ok. Thanks again. Damon: Well… It's my job after all. Me: What do you mean?

Before he could answer the voice of a woman echoed through the whole gym.

Principle: Guys!!! Are you all ok??? Come out!!!

We got out and met the principal, she was dressed completely in black as usual (she's a goth too) with her usual gothik style. She was different from the tyipical principals of other schools. While I wondered how she got in despite the door being blocked, she raised her hands towards the sky and started chanting a mysterious spell in latin. When she was done, all was back to normal as if time had turned back in time: the walls were fixed and there was no sign of monsters anywhere and nobody seemed to remember anything abt what had happened. I was speechless. I was quiet for a while then I started bombarding her with a bunch of questions. (like, I was shocked.)

Me: What does this mean??? What happened??? Am I dreaming??? Principal, r you a witch???

The principle and corey laughed, while Sally, Peyer and adam had an annoyed expression on there faces and began making fun of me (typical. I obviously ignored them.) Damon stayed quiet.

Principal: Come in my office, Raven… There are many things you need to knoe…

[yourimaginationrealm]

Prologue - Fate Zero/Stay Night x You

The beginning - Part two

Part 1

During the War, you had rarely contact to your step father. Once, you entered the church of Fuyuki to meet a friend of Tokiomi: Kirei Kotomine. Rin disliked him from beginning because he was emotionless and she can not trust this man. You somehow found him entertaining to tease. So you sneak towards his favorite room in the church to the wine cellar. Unfortunately,  you would not find him there. As you peek through the door slit, you saw blond hair lying on the couch while he spun a wine glass in his fingers. He hummed entertained when you noticed golden accessories on him. ‚Woah‘ You thought.’ He must be rich.’

„Did you enough googling or did you forgot your manners?“ His voice hollered through the room as you jumped and fell to your knees. He raises from the couch to look at you on the floor. 

„A brat? What do you want , child?“ You somehow found him memorizing. He is definitly not from Japan. The blonde hair were natural not dyed and hanged loosely around his face. But more captivating were his eyes. Red orbs like blood or ruby bored into your C/E.  His pupil resemblds a crescent.

„Woah, You are pretty.“ 

He blinked as he started to laugh with arrogance.

„ I know, child. That’s the reason why you just could not look away?!“

„No, I thought I meet Kirei…“ And wondered who you may be…“  You looked around in the room.

„You can call me Archer for now…“ You shrieked as you heard this. 

„Archer?! Like from the Holy Grail War?!“ You stepped closer to him. „You must be a servant and a hero from ancient times. Wow! Tell me about you.“ In an instand, you beamed thousand questions at him and sat like nothing is unusual next to him on the couch.

„Who allowed you little rat to sit next to myself?“

You blinked and jumped down the couch as you ask. 

„ Am I allowed to sit next to you and listen to your glorious stories…“ He raised an eyebrow. 

„Do you think be-„

„…Beautiful man!“

„Well, sat down…“ You did as he said and smiled at him. 

„A long time ago, I ruled…“ You interrupted him instantly. „Don’t tell me …. Don’t tell me! I wanna guess what kind of hero you are…. Just say what you did without hinting away who you are!“ 

His eyebrows twitched in annoyance as you screamed at him. A normal mongrel would be stabbed already to interrupt the King of Heroes from speaking. 

He coughed and looked at you sternly while you feel his strong gaze on you. 

You shift in you seats as you put your hands on you knee when you apologize. 

„Sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt your speaking…“

I forgive you because you so eager to listen  to my story from ancient times.“ He started to explain how the city looked like, he ruled and that a river was close by. You nodded to any information you could gather to find out who he could be. It was already a wonderful experience so sit with a hero and held a conversation with. He continued how he met someone equal his strength when you begin to giggle.

„… we fought three days… uh? What is so funny.“

„Hehe, no just…. Hehe I just like your story, Mister.“

His eyes blinked a few times and noticed how much fun you have. He smiles to himself. 

„You are an interesting human child!“ Suddenly, he opened a gold portal and a glass within a purple liquid falls to his palm. „Before, I continue any listener shouldn’t stay without a delightful drink!“ You blinked several times with a slight open mouth. The magic was so pretty and interesting. Then, you eyes wandered to his wine glass. „Archer, I think I am not allowed to drink alcohol…“ He chuckles.

„That is not wine… Back then, we were not so strict about the alcohol consume yet I know that a child like you shouldn’t drink it. It is a special juice from the past.“ You hands reached towards the glass while you stretched your body towards him. He held it a bit higher with squinted eyes.

„Can I have the special, pleaase?!“  You sent him you biggest and cutest eyes while he sighed. „I definitely need you to teach more manners but alright.“ 

„I thought you give it to me nonetheless.“

„And? You still can be more respectful and ask for it.“ His hands lowered to give the drink in your hands. You hold it carefully while saying loudly.

„Thank you very much, Archer!“

That is better!“ You take a sip while the sweet liquid makes contact with your tongue. You eyes shine while you wanted to tell him how delicious his drink is. You meet his gaze while he smirked knowingly. 

„I know, child. I loved it as a kid also.“

„Archer, did you meet a special woman?“ He laughed loudly as he told you, he met many women in his life. You snorted. „No, I mean the one?“ He just shrugged. „The one?“ You sighed annoyed which he rises one of his eyebrows.

„The one who sweeps you off your feet? The enchanting one? The one who let your  heart beat uncontrollable fast?“ Okay, the first two phrases came from a Taylor Swift Song. It was a special phase.

„You mean a witch? Nah, more like this one goddess can be called like one…“ Gilgamesh seemed not to get what you mean while you start to groan. „Nooo….“ Suddenly, the door opened and revealed Kotomine Kirei. „You… and you! Tokomi is already searching for you! Stay here, I call him!“ „Aww…!“ You hopped from the couch while resting the glass, he gave you, on the table with you head hang low. You pursed your lips because you know you had to leave the place immediately. Gilgamesh chuckled as he saw your triste facade. „How wholesome you liked my company.“

You nodded. „Yeah, the most other people are boring.“ „Tell me ,child….“ You watched him curiously. „What is your name.“ You excitedly told him your name.

„F/N. Tokiomi F/N:“ You caught him off guard as his piercing eyes checked you from head to toe. „You are not resemble him much, huh?“

„No… He adopted me…“ „So…“ He tried to change the topic. „Do you have a hint who I am?“  You giggled as he raised his eyebrows.

„Of, course!“ Surprised and excited he slams his palm on the table. „How enjoyable, Spill it.“

You put your pointing finger to your lips. „No, you know it is better to stay with you undercover name in this war!“ „Do you think it would make a difference?“

„No.“ You say again. He laughs. „F/N!!“ You mother calls out loudly above the cellar. „Yeaaah, comin’!“  Before you run off you turn around. „It was fun with you archer! Thank you for telling me the stories and the drink! ….“ He rose his wine glass with closed eyes and took a sip before you continue…

„… And also: I really think so too that goddess Ishtar in your epic was a ruthless witch!“ He almost spitted his wine out as you dusted off. He smirked evilly. „What a shame I haven’t been summoned ten years later….“

You still remembered when Tokiomi taught you the last time the magic spell of his family and you had problems controlling it. Yet, little Rin was above your level. Your frustration and the building up tears in your eyes didn’t help you to concentrate on the magic spell. The crystal broke and Tokiomi sighs loudly. „We better take a break here…“ Disappointed, he watched his true daughter Rin mastering the spell with ease. Of course, she was getting rain of compliments. You sighed to yourself as you stepped outside without their noticing. In the floor, you couldn’t contain the tears anymore. They run down your cheeks as you breathed harshly through your mouth. No matter how hard you learned or tried, you could not grasp the magic range like Rin has. Your shoulders shook as you wandered down to your room. Once, you halt and lay your forehead on the cold wall. You punched the hard wall ‚cause of your frustration and cried harder than before. 

„I wonder…. What had made you so upset.“ A familiar confident voice spoke to you calmly. You turned your head to the right as you saw a person leaning against the wall which you weeped. He was wearing a gigantic golden armor and his blonde hair stood to the air different like last time hanging around his face. 

„…Gil-…“ You stopped that his true name shouldn’t left your lips. „Archer…?“  His head turned towards you with an annoyed expression, his eyes squinted as if you are joking and his golden earrings jingled by his movements.

„Are you literally questioning my presence? I thought better of you! A slight change shouldn’t confuse you.“

His words hurt you more and much more tears falling down your cheeks. The blonde hero rolled his eyes. You started to hiccup as his patience is getting lower until he raised his voice. „Stop this wailing, immediately !“ Your lips are pressed together while you you hold your tears and hiccups back. Wet eyes and red cheeks were a funny sight as  the man in front of you watched you sternly. „Great and before you die because you don’t breathe, tell me why you cry like a siren.“ 

You fingers grasped your clothing tightly as you watched the ground fiercely but talked in a whisper.

„Louder!“

„Yes! I - I fail to use magic of Tohsaka or should be already advanced but the younger daughter, my sister is already better than me. I - I try and try but my father is already disappointed of my failure. I feel unable to fulfill his standards. I am just bad and stupid….“ You just spilled anything what was bubbling inside you. You thought, he laughs or is getting more annoyed about your complains as he listened cautiously. His eyes bored into your head as he stood in silence and waited for more to come. 

„Is that all?“ You nodded. „Are you just giving up because you tried a few times and failed? You never can be skillful in something when you just surrender that easily. If all humans act like this, this world has become a rotten place….“ He sighs loudly as you felt more worse than before. „So am I a rotten child?“ He blinked as his mouth corners twitch upwards. „Depends on what you do now?“ You just couldn’t take our eyes of him as he started to smirk while he had an idea. Normally, he would not waste his time with a tiny tot yet he is bored massively with his boring master so he can play a little, right? 

__________________________________

Part one

[kinshenewa]

Sun skipped merrily through the halls, humming an upbeat tune as he snacked on a honeydew. Just biting the whole fruit like it was an apple. He licked his lips, his dextrous tongue cleaning off his sharp teeth.

His eyes alit on the cute little human he likes so much, and he stops cold as he sees her.

"Oh no! Are you sick?! Are you dying?! WIll this be the last time we ever see each other?!" He exclaimed, falling to his knees before latching his arms around her waist.

She startled, her now BLONDE hair bouncing when she jumped. "Holy shit, Sun, you startled me." She said, looking down at him as he let out a sad wail.

"You have so much to live for! How could the universe be so cruel?!" He wailed, burying his face in her belly.

"What? Bro, I'm not dying." She said, looking at him confused as he gently patted his head. Curiously, she felt the frills that adorned his head, which flopped like seaweed and felt kind of like gummy bears.

"But-but-but your hair. Y-y-your hair is changing colors, that means you are dying, isn't it? You are at the end of your days?" He sniffled, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. His frills drooped as his arms tightened around her waist, and she looked at him bewildered.

"No? Like, bro, I just dyed my hair. How do neither you nor your brother know that humans can dye their hair?" She replied, and Sun blinked.

"What. You can.... You can just change the color of your hair like that? But, but why?" He asked.

She chuckled, patting the top of his head as she replied, "Because I want purple hair. And my natural coloring is brown. Humans can't have wacky coloring for hair, save for silver or maybe gold."

Sun blinked, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "Humans can't have colorful hair?" He asked.

"The natural colors are brown, black, blonde, red, and silver, if I remember right." She listed on her fingers.

"Not blue?" Sun asked, eyes wide.

She chuckled, shaking her head as she replied, "Not blue."

Sun's jaw dropped, and he stood up, letting go of her as he said, "I need to tell Moon! Bye!" He turned and ran off, waving.

She waved back with a smile, rolling her eyes.

Sun barged into the living room of his shared space with his brother, who was on his favorite recliner.

"Brother! I bring news! Humans change their hair color with chemicals! Blue is not a natural hair color!" Sun exclaimed, Moon putting his tablet down with wide eyes.

"It isn't???" Moon gasped.

"Our lives are a lie!" Sun exclaimed dramatically, flopping onto the couch as the back of his right hand was pressed to his forehead, and he closed his eyes.

"What else about humans are we wrong about?" Moon said softly, eyes wide as he questioned his life choices.

"Who knows!" Sun exclaimed, draped dramatically across the couch.

[moonsanoverthinker]

Thanks for the response to my jewelry hc ask! I love all the subtle allegiances being showcased. For another. Hair dye headcanons please? I've got a couple but they tend to verge into au territory

This is one I’ve not thought too much about, so expect some rambles (I say that like it’s not a reoccurring theme) And I enjoy making head cannon stuff so feel free to suggest others!

Again all of these are based off vibes with zero evidence!

Jon- 100% dyed his hair in uni at least once, it wasn’t a good dye job but it was fine…(sections of the back weren’t dyed at all) This purely comes from the fan chosen canon of the Mechs being Jon’s uni band (one of my favourite AO3 tags) Also under that same uni shitty hair dye jobI just imagine him with like sections in different colours but not because it’s intentional, like there’s a part that’s red and another that’s blue and some of it’s black which he claims is intentional but it’s clearly not.

Martin- Likes the thought of dying his hair but doesn’t like the change of committing to it. Actually no he did dye it once but it was barely any different so no one notice, plus it was semi-permanent hair dye so it washed out after two weeks. The others did manage to convince him to use those spray hair colour things during Halloween so he got to enjoy the colours without the commitment.

Sasha- I’ve got two main ideas for Sasha so bear with me folks. Idea one is that she has the remnants of a hair colour still showing through despite dying over it multiple times, like how red somehow shows through in certain lights. Idea two is that she dyes the ends of her hair fun colours and claims it’s still professional looking because it’s not her whole head. Also side note, the NotSasha had the same hair dye colour as original Sasha but the shades never seem to match, they’re always off somehow.

Tim- I’ve split this into different versions of him because reasons. Series 1 would dye his hair all the time, whatever colour he fancied at the time he’d do it, Sasha also encouraged him and would sometimes help him and he didn’t care if it looked ‘unprofessional’ because of the colour. Series 2 would dye his hair occasionally but not as much so the colours usually faded before he changed them, NotSasha would encourage him but there wasn’t the enthusiasm anymore and she stopped helping him but he didn’t know why. Series 3 still has the last hair colour from series 2 but it’s faded and mostly grown out until he just decided to dye over it all in a more ‘natural’ colour because he didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

Basira- Again two thoughts so bear with. Thought one is she split dyed her hair at least once, possibly the whole of one side and then the whole of the other side. But thought two is she split dyed it but only did the ends, so it was like a half and half dip dyed ends vibe, that she lets fade but the faded colours are a vibe and just look really nice, sometimes she has the bright colours but it varies.

Melanie- Whole head dyed one colour, and it’s definitely not a natural colour. She’s used to freelance work so she’s not always needed it to be ‘professional’ looking in terms of colours so she kept it the same colour when she started working at the institute. Elias told her to change it but she refused and told him to fuck off, then proceeded to dye it an even brighter colour.

Georgie- She again dyed her hair once or twice in uni (better dye job than Jon’s) then she just dyed it more natural colour then left it for a while, but she did dye the underneath section of her hair a colour so it wasn’t noticeable from certain angles unless she put her hair up or had it sitting a certain way.

Daisy- Okay so I’ve got a thought for this so again bear with. So Daisy has dip dyed hair, but it’s like a dark reddy purple kind of vibe, and when the hunt starts to be more present it’s pretty vibrant / obviously dyed but when she goes through her trying to fight it stage it fades over time and then when she feeds into it again the colour comes back (I don’t know how this would work but let’s not think too hard about that)

Elias- I don’t know why but all I can think of is this man with a single section like strip that he’s dyed white himself. Also 1. Would he get grey hairs because of the whole technically being really old thing? And 2. Does he dye over them…

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Writeblr Interview

Thanks for the tag @theink-stainedfolk

Short stories, novels or poems?

Short stories all the way!

What genre do you prefer reading?

Sci-Fi, fantasy, and horror. What I write, basically :')

What genre do you prefer writing?

See above, though I am way fonder of writing horror than reading it. I am also somehow even more allergic to romance as a writer, however.

Are you a planner or a write-as-i-go kind of person?

Write as I go, because I find planning makes me bored of a story.

What music do you listen to while writing the story?

I love musicals and/or vocaloid! I tend to loop a single song for one shorter story, or a playlist for longer ones.

Fav books/movies

I've always had a soft spot for the Alex Verus series, as well as Spinning Silver and the Chanur Saga by CJ Cherryh.

Any Current WIPs?

I am very firmly not thinking about anything except my novel (but cultist WIP my beloved :'))

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

Definitely my debate fit. It's the only thing I wear regularly, and it's a ruffled top, knee length skirt, and boot heels. I love it so much hehe

Create a character description of yourself

Hmm... Time to switch to an indented paragraph :)

She was a young woman, tall and willowy, with hair dyed purple-red. Her left hand bore a recovering burn scar, unobscured by the mass of rings she wore. She had glasses perched on the tip of the nose, one lens thicker than the other, and a lopsided smile to match. When she spoke, her words tumbled out of her mouth like they were racing one another, and she listened like a hawk, head cocked to a side.

In case you haven't noticed, I spend far too much time observing myself.

Do you like incorporating people you actually know into your writing?

Not at all haha. Too many people I know read my writing, and I'm not risking any of them recognising themselves.

Are you kill-happy with the characters?

Yes and no? All people die, and when one's writing spans as great a time as mine does, it's only natural for everyone to die. But I don't do it onscreen that often.

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Water, cos I'm a hydro-homie :D

Slow or Fast writer?

I have no idea what fast is considered, but I write anywhere from 500-5k words a day.

Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

Real life. I see something interesting and onto the paper it goes, along with far too much dramatisation.

If you were put into a fantasy world, what would you be?

If you dumped me in a fantasy world, I'd probably gravitate towards being a villain, or at least the protag's rival. More often than not I can't stand the heroes of the books I read, and I honestly tend to root for the villains in any book I read. That's probably why I almost always write villain protags haha

Most fave book cliche?

I'm rather fond of twist villains. I don't know why, it's just so fun to watch them drop the mask, especially if done well.

Least fave book cliche?

Not a cliche per se, but "We had to lie to you to protect you". If someone did that to me, I would never forgive them. Especially when the person in question is lying about their identity. I hate that trope so much I wrote Heroes as a complaint against it. I fully support Mara's wrongs and if I had been in her place I would have tried to poison the cake too.

Fave scenes to write?

Gore!!!!! Blood!!! Torture!!!!

Most productive time of day for writing?

While on the go, I guess. Walking is my personal fav, though it's pretty unsafe.

Reason for writing?

Because the stupid thoughts in my head keep bugging me >:(

Tagging @oliolioxenfreewrites, @katenewmanwrites, @gioiaalbanoart, @inseasofgreen and open tag!