#plus it’s like specific to this version of them

[seventeenlovesthree]

Madoka Magica Ship Analysis - KyouSaya

Based on these two polls [X] [X], I will write an analysis that'll also include how I feel about the ship (similarly to my Digimon shipping game analysis posts).

Disclaimer: I won't claim this to be a conclusive/definitive analysis of all of the ship's aspects. I have watched the original 12-episode-series and movies (including Rebellion), the Magia Record anime and I've read several manga series (the Original, The Different Story, Wraith Arc, Rebellion Story, Oriko Magica, Another Story, Mitakihara Anti-Materials). But I'm aware that I haven't seen/read all of what's out there and am also not thoroughly familiar with the games. Plus, oftentimes, ship dynamics vary depending on which series/timeline you are looking at. I'm fairly certain that thousands of words must have been written about this ship already, better and more elaborate than I probably ever could - so this is going to be my personal take on it.

(Disclaimer 2.0: I may have been a little critical of them by the end of it all, but I tried my best to phrase it all in diplomatic ways! I have no intention of discrediting the ship or anyone who enjoys it, but wanted to put my own perception, interpretation and preference into words.)

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

As one of the - if not the second - most prominent combinations in the entirety of the PMMM franchise, both in terms of canon and promotional/merchandise material, KyouSaya is a ship that should be familiar to the viewer. In the "main storyline", Sayaka Miki and Kyouko Sakura are basically set up as parallels, contrasts, opposing forces that are "actually more similar than they are/at least one of them is capable of admitting (at first)"... As with the majority of PMMM ships, there is a tragic sense of "missed opportunities", "we were so close/almost there" or "wrong place at the wrong time" when it comes to their compatibility - and, just like with HomuMado, it really depends on what "versions" of them you are referring to when estimating whether or not they make a good pair. But, once more, let's start at the beginning:

When they first meet in the main storyline, they immediately clash due to their opposing values, intentions and general approaches of being Magical Girls: Sayaka treats her duty with a sense of moral superiority, she sees herself as a soldier of justice who fights to save others and defeat Witches for the sake of doing "the right/good thing". Kyouko on the other hand appears to fight with selfish ignorance, carelessly stating that she doesn't mind causing human victims by letting familiars grow if it means defeating more Witches and gathering enough Grief Seeds to sustain herself. As she and her approach are being ridiculed by Kyouko, Sayaka's initial response is wrath, hatred - and so, their first encounter ends in a fight, with either of them being perfectly ready to kill the other...

The most tragic aspect of them meeting at this specific moment in time - and also in several other timelines as well - is the fact that their attitudes were shaped by their individual relationships and experiences with Mami AND their respective (outcomes of their) wishes. Sayaka - who had never witnessed Mami's own insecurities and feelings of loneliness - puts Mami on a pedestal of being the perfect Magical Girl. And, even if she was warned by her not to make a wish with the wrong intentions on behalf of someone else, Sayaka's intention is to be a worthy successor to the idealized version of Mami in her head, being "perfect" in her place. Kyouko, as we learn in The Different Story, used to be Mami's disciple, enthusiastic, willing to learn, believing in doing the right thing for the sake of others. But as she had to realize that her wish on behalf of her father (= wishing for people to listen to his preaching properly) turned out to be the downfall of her entire family, she decided to put up a front. Not only did she push her closest friend Mami away - whom she felt was only looking down on her as a weakling -, she also began to fight with reckless abandon and a mask of harshness, only for herself, never to let anyone get close again.

It's this version of Kyouko who sees her "former self" in Sayaka - watching her make the same mistake she used to make, believing in the idealized righteousness of being a Magical Girl, fighting for "good" like the hero in a fairy tale. However, this version of Kyouko - who grew hardened, bitter and ruthless by her experiences and who cannot stand seeing Sayaka like this - isn't capable of reaching through to Sayaka. Because her approach, as much as she may be able to understand her, isn't heard by this version of Sayaka. Whether it's Kyouko's (cruel) teasing or her actually opening up to her, offering her an "apple of wisdom" - Sayaka is bound to reject her, clinging to her unreachable ideal, which is slowly but steadily crumbling;

Because upon learning about what it means to be a Magical Girl, Sayaka continues to fall down the path of despair, losing faith in the world being worth saving; not only does she start to fight with reckless abandon herself (just like Kyouko did), she feels like a "zombie", an "idiot" who made her wish for the wrong, selfish reasons (= subconsciously wanting the appreciation and love from the person she liked in exchange for healing him). And now she doesn't even deem herself worthy of love anymore. Pushing away everyone herself now with hurtful words (just like Kyouko did), even her best friend Madoka, it's Kyouko who ends up as the one who keeps her company during her last moments of "being human". Kyouko, who, deep down inside, must have felt a sense of kinship, who related to Sayaka in ways she couldn't fully explain or convey properly at this point in time... Who ends up wishing to find a way to bring Sayaka back from her Witch state and restore her own faith in fairy tales, hoping to see good overcome evil one last time. In the end, all she can do is sacrifice herself - to make sure that neither Sayaka nor herself, who both isolated themselves from everyone they loved, would have to die all alone.

... And thus, it isn't really surprising that the version Sayaka who gained awareness of all of this - we shall call her LawOfCycles!Sayaka - feels a certain attraction towards Kyouko. Maybe even a sense of guilt - for not having listened to and actually having seen her, for having pushed her away and for not realizing how much they had in common. In Rebellion Story, the version of Kyouko we see had never encountered the Witch system and thus never went through the events described above with Sayaka - because this version of Kyouko came from the Wraith!universe created by Madokami. However, this Kyouko stated that she had been on the brink of "becoming friends with Sayaka" before she was "taken away" - and thus, LawOfCycles!Sayaka, who may or may not have been partly/fully aware of her mission and her previous "selves" for most of Rebellion, actually becomes close friends with WraithArc!Kyouko within Homura's idealized world inside of her Soul Gem.

Of course they are still clashing due to their opposing values in various aspects of life - but they do so in a playful, teasing and, most importantly, peaceful way. In an ideal world they are on good terms with, go to school, even live together, where blue and red aren't working against but with each other as the complementary colours they are. Really, nobody could have blamed Sayaka for wanting to maintain a universe like this, continuing to live her best life (after getting over Kyousuke and wishing him and Hitomi well), even though she knew she HAD TO fulfill her mission to rescue Homura. And so, one cannot help but feel like her confession towards Kyouko, saying she had "only one regret" to have "left her behind", does have a romantic subtext attached to it... Especially considering how devastated Kyouko appears at the idea of having to part ways again. With Homucifer then creating a new universe, serving as a fake happy place for everyone involved, she at least granted them another short period of bliss...

Long story short - just like the majority of the PMMM ships, KyouSaya are doomed by the narrative - and usually not meant to be happy together as their own selves in the same universe, it seems.

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

Without going all out on the subtext symbolism of Sayaka's arc, one REALLY cannot help but feel like it was always meant to be a metaphor for her overcoming her comp-het phase: Main story!Sayaka was failing due to committing to her (subtextual heteronormative) ideals (= clinging onto her wish to impress Kyousuke) and she could only overcome her doom as LawOfCycles!Sayaka, who gained awareness and worked hard to develop a bond with someone - a girl - she used to reject (= Kyouko).

However, as outlined above - this also means that Sayaka will not be compatible with Kyouko unless she gains the awareness of LawOfCycles!Sayaka. And that's where I, personally, have always had my issues with the ship from a romantic angle. Despite them fulfilling the typical blue/red ship tropes at first glance, consisting of two opposing forces (Sayaka's commitment to correctness vs. Kyouko's more easygoing attitude) who complement each other once they work together... Their underlying similarities would make it easy for them to relate to one another if they stopped hiding them from one another (Sayaka also having a side that would like to slack off more vs. Kyouko also having a very loyal, protective side).

There is a sense of competitive pride going on between them that, in my opinion, may make it difficult for them to allow romantic feelings to grow. Through the course of the main story, it becomes obvious that Kyouko develops a strong fondness and affection towards Sayaka in the end - but has issues putting those feelings into words in a non!Tsundere way, so Sayaka's can accept them. Whereas LawOfCycles!Sayaka, who witnessed all the effort Kyouko put into saving her, also grew more fond of Kyouko... But, as mentioned above, there also seems to be a lingering sense of guilt within her, so it's not entirely clear if she's aware of her true intentions yet again. These girls were heavily traumatized by what happened to them, both hardened by the experience - and weren't able to ever fully reconcile with each other in their own timelines. Sometimes they didn't get to know or even meet each other properly. And now, LawOfCycles!Sayaka can only reconcile with WraithArc!Kyouko in a playful, affectionate manner. NOW that she has seen it all.

Without elaborating on this much further, it's not even a question that all of the girls (no exceptions!!!) would need copious amounts of therapy - and the chance to actually become adults - to make healthy relationships work. A Sayaka who, even without the influence of being God's agent, gains an understanding of Kyouko's personality, might actually be able to put her pride aside and let her in. The same goes for Kyouko, who also has to drop the mask of ignorance and pride in order not to just casually joke and tease whenever Sayaka is in the same room - and instead, actually learn to be open, vulnerable and honest with Sayaka. As traumatized 14-year-olds, they may be too aggressive, too competitive to allow genuine romance to bloom, as they're not able to grasp and cater to the needs of the other. For instance, Sayaka couldn't reciprocate Kyouko's love language before (giving/accepting gifts, such as advice or, more importantly, food) and vice versa (acts of service in regards to fighting and protecting heroically). And thus, they may end up, even unintentionally, hurting each other instead.

My personal verdict is that they'd have an easier time opening up to other members of the Holy Quintet because of their personality structures. As complementary as they are, as much as opposites attract and as much as they genuinely value each other deep down inside - they may certainly give each other short-term comfort and have lots of fun, but are probably TOO similar to work out in the long run.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

I didn't intend to sound too "negatively" about KyouSaya as a whole, since I can absolutely see and understand the romantic appeal many, many people see in this ship. Personally, the red/blue ships (as well as the "enemies/rivals to lovers" trope in general) are rarely my favourites in a series, there have to be specific circumstances for me to enjoy them - which is perfectly fine, since everyone has their preferences! With everything I have outlined above, I was never too fond of Sayaka and Kyouko as a romantic couple. Instead, I always enjoyed them most as each other's wing-women; bantering and teasing each other endlessly as acquaintances who would slowly but steadily become good, close friends, supporting and having each other's backs.

[i-will-die-on-this-20]

I have a hot take on why C3 was really mid for a lot of people. I've been in lurk only mode for many years but I feel the need to break my silence, because time and time again I see the actual CR cast being criticized as people rather than anyone taking a step back and trying to figure out why the narrative doesn't work. I am here to tell the world that there's a very simple reason why the narrative doesn't work and it's kind of nobody's fault. Sometimes these things happen with DnD games, because the players don't know what kind of story they're getting into ahead of time.

First of all I would like to point out that the OGL scandal probably did sour this campaign for the CR crew, so there's a possibility that their hearts weren't in it. They have long standing contracts with DnD Beyond and Wizards of the Coast that they cannot back out of without legal repercussion. Though we have no confirmation on this, it's highly probable that CR was one of the companies who were forced to sign the original NDA before being informed of the attempted changes to the OGL, and they were absolutely one of the companies that were going to be majorly screwed by those changes. Endangering the livelihoods of everyone who works for their company would put a damper on anyone's mood. That plus the fact that they're releasing their own TTRPG means they were likely rushing to finish the campaign so they could break away from DnD entirely to attempt to preserve the livelihoods of them and all of their employees. Basically what I'm saying is that campaign 3 was rushed as FUCK and that's why the pacing felt awful the entire time.

Now on to my main point. There's a very simple reason that C3 just doesn't hit the same, and it has to do with the type of story being told, and the characters that were included in the narrative. C3 is not your typical heroes journey, or even your typical DnD style heroes journey. The C3 narrative is more akin to the hobbit's journey to throw the one ring into the lava.

C3 is about a group of people who are absolutely unqualified to do a task being saddled with that task. It's not a story of highs and lows and heroism, it's a story of stakes that get slowly higher and more immense until the climax where the deed is done and the world is inherently different for it. Ideally in this type of story, the characters are inherently different by the end, too, but this doesn't really happen in C3. The reason, I think, is because this type of narrative works best when the characters are very innocent and naive at the start of the story.

I could go into specifics, but I've already rambled too much. Basically what I'm saying is that the characters in C3 are the antithesis of what the C3 narrative needed to be compelling. The characters were damaged when they started, and they were still damaged by the end. This type of narrative is designed to explore the ways in which insurmountable responsibility damages and irrevocably changes people, and Bells Hells was already incredibly damaged from the onset. Honestly, the character who was most suited to be part of this narrative was Dorian, and he wasn't present for most of it. This makes it hard to connect with, and makes the whole thing feel a little stagnant and awkward.

Personally, once I realized why it didn't feel great I was able to accept it for what it was and enjoy it anyways, but I also couldn't blame anyone for wanting to skip it. My suggestion would be to watch the abridged version, because there were some really good bits at the end. Also, the end of the campaign had major effects on Exandria as a whole, so you might want to at least watch the 2 finale episodes, just to be in the loop as to what the world will be like going forward.

so i'm kinda wondering whether to give up on c3... i'm at episode 79, and i'm not Not Enjoying it but i am still not hooked, and it's a huge timesuck for something kinda mid. thoughts? especially from those who have finished? does anyone have strong positive feelings they would like to share?

[twicearoundthebend]

their ship name is fucking peanutbub??? I can’t that’s so cute I’m obsessed

the duo of all time ever❤️💛❤️

[volivolition]

dude the TOP song you posted (truce) fucking kills me and the way you described the animatic is??? so good???? I'd bawl actually /pos

I need to know if there's any other TOP songs you relate to the furies/any DE character really, or any slower songs even if they aren't by TOP

OH AGREED ABSOLUTELY!! TRUCE MY BELOVED... and THANK YOU!! we are imagining animatics and crying together! /pos :'] <3

ooh!! well, i havent listened to a lot of TOP in a while, so i don't have many recommendations there unfortunately :'] but for other slow, soft songs, let's see... i'll put them under a cut with all my explanations, but ☀️ "See The Day" by The Altogether (Volition song!), 🍃 "Rounds" by The Oh Hellos (Shivers song!), 🦋 "Would You Be So Kind" by dodie (general skills song, Suggestion primarily!) are the best contenders!

Pretty sure you've seen it already, but from a different ask, i recommend "Almost (Sweet Music)" by Hozier! (and "Like Real People Do" if you want to cry and yearn with me, though my DE ideas for it are very loose hkjhg) these are slow ones i like hkjhg <3

"Goodbye" by The Altogether is a Harry and Dora song :0

"Soldier, Poet, King" by The Oh Hellos is one i specifically relate to Volition (my beloved protector/motivator/crownhead blorbo! [picks him up and wiggles him!!!]), but i would make one of those animation memes for it with every skill slotted into a "soldier" "poet" or "king" position.

☀️ "See the Day" is both another The Altogether song and another Volition song! a real "the worst is over. we made it through. we're going to survive this. it might not get easier yet, but we'll come out the other side and we'll be alive" song. it makes me cry hkjgh

🍃 "Rounds" by The Oh Hellos is a soft Shivers song, though the lyrics don't start until halfway in. ough my god listening to it makes my heart ache (/pos) <3 La Revacholiere singing to Harry in the wind. "Will you start when I end? Yeah, I'm long in the wind..."

"Northern Star" by Dom Fera, a song Harry would sing for karaoke and dedicate to Kim, and then they'd waltz a little clumsily on the dim, starlit sidewalk on their way home for the evening... <3

🦋 "Would You Be So Kind?" by dodie BUT SPECIFICALLY THIS VERSION, because i love everyone's crowded but earnest vibes. this one is led by Suggestion ("oooh you wanna fall in love with us so bad right? right???") and makes me grin, you GOTTA imagine all of the skills squished together in the front of Harry's brain all trying different tactics to get Kim to fall in love with them, (rhetoric: "I HAVE A QUESTION..." ency: "let's write a story! be in my book!") at 2:35, after all the skills singing together loudly, it's just Harry himself singing to Kim, with all the skills slowly backing him up. the ending is all of them fucking ECSTATIC celebrating when harry finally kisses kim hkjhg jesus this'd be so cute hold on i have to go plan this out i have so many thoughts hkjdh

"Seven" by Sleeping at Last would be a sweet Reaction Speed song (ironic that im adding react speed to a list of soft, slow songs though hkjgh) "I'm ready for whatever comes next!" <3 Reaction Speed is a fast, restless little fella who can't sit still for long, always loves moving, acting, doing. he's like the personification of a verb hkjhg <3 i would also accept an interpretation for echem <3

"Cosmos" by Jawbreaker Reunion is a song that The Furies recently suggested to me as a jean song and it's so right for that, very soft and i like it very much :'] (you should also ask The Furies if you want to, it's much more musically inclined than me, i feel hkjhg <3)

awuahg thank you for asking and for reading!! i appreciate it!! <33

oh and here's links to all of the songs in the tags: Come Together Now, Two, Four, Five, Six, Eight, Nine, RPG Animation Meme (<- homestuck lmao)

[matoitech]

quick redesigns for some old ocs today, i still plan on playing around w their designs more, especially gadgets cuz im not very committed to the markings, but im happy with the general directions so <3 

bonus of their new designs vs old designs under the cut cuz the comparison is fun

while not the OLDEST designs bcuz gadget started out as a gray wolf, the left is still from years ago, and theyre characters who always had very basic designs since they werent major ocs and i just didnt mess w them much or have a lot of ideas for them. maybe drawn when i was in high school or something? regardless fun for me to see

i only realized i had old art of them moved over from my last laptop onto this one after i had drawn the new dirk design and was pleased to see that my memory of ‘i think he was plain red and yellow? or something?’ was correct

[skeletalheartattack]

I went on your blog to see which fictional men you were getting your boobs big for and I immediately saw Zarbon. Very valid

everyday i play back every episode of DBZ with him in it in hopes hes angled a specific way to look at me through the screen and see. like hi sir yeah 🤗✨

honestly im a sucker for a lot of fictional dudes. i just tend to talk about Zarbon alot because he's the whole reason i'm gay the way i am. though i have made a list showing off a lot of other key dudes id get my boobs big for. <- normal thing to say. i should know. im the one who said it. normal normal.

[dan-crimes]

I always forget how much time I invested in my Inanimate Insanity interest until I go and look back and holy shit I drew how much shit constantly???

[jellybeans223]

.

[azuremist]

I feel like SAWTOWNE’s “Confessions of a Rotten Girl” is so good partially because of how it makes even people who may dislike fujoshis sympathize with Miku, and it’s interesting that it’s not actually done by painting her as “one of the good ones”. Everything that’s despised about fujoshi culture, Miku explicitly is portrayed as doing.

Disliking female characters on the basis of them “getting in the way” (and being quite misogynistic about it to boot), sexualizing and shipping men in real life (the men portrayed in the song are her teachers), and even the yaoi paddle known for being used to sexually harass cosplayers…

�� all these aspects are there. Hell, one of the most disliked part about fujoshi culture from a social justice standpoint — the language of describing queer relationships as “sinful” — is the whole basis behind the song.

However, SAWTOWNE, instead of lessening that toxic trait, “yes, and”s it. “Yes, she calls queer relationships sinful, as a (presumably) heterosexual woman who finds their relationship gratifying. AND, the reason she does that is because she is a sexually repressed Christian who feels guilty about having any sexual desire whatsoever.”

I think that one (very clever!) addendum makes it so any discomforting aspects to the song takes a backseat. Instead of being a song about trying to resist an interest in yaoi / The Gays specifically, it more so becomes a song about trying to resist any “abnormal” sexual desires, which makes it very easy to like this version of Miku, even as someone who very much dislikes the aspects of fujoshi culture she represents.

Plus we need more gooner girl rep anyway, lol. (As a comment on the video said: close enough! Welcome back Plus Boy!)

[volleypearlfan]

Disney banned an episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur called "The Gatekeeper," because of the current political climate in the US. So the episode is about Lunella's friend Brooklyn being targeted by the coach of a rival volleyball team, Greer, who found out she was trans and tried to stop her from playing. She even goes as far as to trap Brooklyn, Lunella and the others in the locker room, and will only let them out if they follow her "rules."

Brooklyn: "I'm trans, my very existence breaks Greer's rules, which means, as long as I'm a member of this team...we'll never escape..."

And they break out of the room specifically by breaking the rules. There's also an awesome video game-like scene where the team fights a monster-like version of Greer by throwing volleyballs at her, with streaks colored like the trans flag.

Brooklyn: "It doesn't matter how many doors people like you slam in my face. With my fight, plus my crew backing me up, I'm always gonna find my way out."

This episode is EXACTLY what trans kids need right now, but no, Disney was too spineless to air the episode. They can claim for the 69420th time that XYZ is their first gay character, they can sell rainbow Mickey Mouse pins, they can put up pride month collections on Disney+, but it's clear that they only "support" the LGBTQ+ community when it's profitable for them.

[scottsmajorshipbracket]

Copper Husbands' prize for winning has arrived! :D

Tumblr Version: https://www.tumblr.com/deityoftherain/768068471856742400/llama-drama-copper-husbands-post-esmp2-oneshot

AO3 Version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60819016

Reminder that @deityoftherain will write a fic for the winning ship! Have fun propagandaing!

Update: Copper Husbands won, so vote here on what you (yes, you) are wanting for your (the bracket's) prize! [now closed]

Update 2: The form above is now closed! Thank you for letting me know, and I will use that knowledge to craft a fic together. Keep reading if you want more information on that.

We had 25 people who voted on what they wanted to see, so the following is what I'll be using to brainstorm with and write: Empires S2, Fluff and/or Hurt/Comfort (tied), established relationship, and canon universe/setting. People also wanted to see (1) them being cute and silly (2) details on their relationship showing how much they care and know each other (3) teasing and maybe jealousy (4) physical affection, specifically kissing and hugging/cuddling (5) incorporating the copper wire flower Owen made Scott as a reference to rats smp (6) llama Owen, which I'm considering having him be a llama shifter or hybrid or something like that (plus some others that only work if a different smp got chosen)

Update 3:

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

A very self indulgent Billford playlist!

Self indulgent, because this music does not appeal to the masses at all; these songs are limited to the stuff I listen to. So I’m being VERY transparent about my embarrassing taste in music right now! Plus, NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS!!! But I hope some of these resonate with you. This is a little collection I’ve formed in my phone notes since I got into this ship a couple weeks ago.

Not a fancy spotify playlist, it’s just links to the music on youtube. 

I’ve got this divided into parts:

-The Billford Songs

-The In This Moment Billford Songs

SO MUCH of their music is enemies/lovers perfection. I’ve thought about so many *killing you but also making out with you* pairings to this shit, because these songs were like, DESIGNED to be recycled for any and all love hate relationships, and still hit insanely hard EVERY TIME. So now that you have these songs under your belt, you have them FOREVER. You’re welcome. I haven’t even listened to all their music, I’m sure there’s more songs for this category that I simply haven’t discovered.

-The…Maybe…Billford Songs

My standards were kinda high for making this list. But every song is about your ship when you’re insane, right??? So these are the maybe’s. One’s I’ve thought about billford to, but maybe the lyrics don’t totally align.

Playlist under the cut! I wasn’t gonna ramble about each song but WHOOPS I DID 🤷‍♀️

The Billford songs:

Monophobia - Deadmau5 (Extended version, cuz it’s the best.)

THE LYRICS… THE LYRICS!!!! Definitely bill pining in theraprism. 

Propane Nightmares - Pendulum

This one WAS gonna go in the maybe’s, but I convinced myself otherwise after listening to it eighty more times, and now it’s up here on top. And fuck it, this is the *self indulgent* billford playlist, so I do what I want. I go into a fucking trance when I listen to this song, so I can’t really explain 110% why this is a billford song to me, but I’ll try.  Apparently, this song is about the heavens gate cult. So not enemies/lovers angst. But looking at the lyrics, you could interpret it as giving yourself to something greater, and coming to the realization that what you pledged yourself to is actually a very bad thing which will ultimately destroy you. (also, you can’t deny that there was some cult like manipulation happening with Bill and Ford. Sense of purpose and friendship.) Definitely billford-y when you consider Fords commitment to bill. And I’ll admit, when I listen to it, there is some pov switching. Because the “trail of fire”,  “we will be as one”, and “bring it on home” is VERY reminiscent of bill executing weirdmageddon. So overall, my interpretation of this song is Ford feeling torn about bill, feeling regret, feeling scared, and Bill of course, just wanting to bring the dimensions together. “BRING IT ON HOME!!!!”  Or I just like the song. 

Rule 34 - Fish in a Birdcage

Bestie recommended this song to me. It needs no explanation.

Painkiller - The Queenstons

…NEEDS NO EXPLANATION DSKFDSKJHF It’s similar to the above, just more… scary imo. Violent. Definitely bill being a little psycho. I really love this song. It’s very recyclable too. You have it for any toxic ship now. 

9V - The Queenstons

One of my favorite Lapfox/Halley Labs songs… I’m gonna give you the lyrics, it’s a bit hard to understand without them. In my eyes, it’s about betraying Ford. Also these vocals (and other music by this artist) works so well for bill because of the synthesized voice. 

LoveBOMB - S3RL

This is a new S3RL song. This song sounds like a tantrum, and I really liked it when I first heard it, but it didn't fit anything I was into at the time. Luckily, bill suffered a horrible breakup, and now this song has it’s meaning. 

When I'm There - S3RL

Bill thinking about joining the third dimension with Ford. 

Click Bait - S3RL

I’ve listened to this one a LOT before this, and I surprised myself with how much it aligns with bill, specifically, him tricking Ford.

Space-Time - S3RL

Speaks for itself.

Sodom & Gomorrah - Dorian Electra

This one’s just funny :)

The In This Moment Billford Songs

Sick Like Me

Sexual Hallucination

This is one of those recyclable songs, but I was damn surprised at how well the lyrics suited them, because it alludes to being out of body, possession, etc.

Blood

Half God half devil

Roots

Whore

Damn it, I cant deny this one suits them.

Big Bad Wolf

DAMN IT I wasn’t gonna include this one, but I just checked the lyrics and fuck, it works. In this moment, how are you so wonderful

The…Maybe…Billford Songs

Illuminaughty - Infected Mushroom

I'm kind of grasping at straws with these lyrics, but with a title like that? Come on

The Pretender - Foo Fighters, Infected Mushroom, Turbo Remix

Three versions, for whichever suits your fancy.

Leopold - Infected Mushroom

This one has NO LYRICS, but it has this buildup that sounds really cool, and it has an abrupt decrescendo. Reminds me of their "friendship" and how it all came crashing down.

Idolize - Dorian Electra

Hmmmmm, I just like Dorian. But the idolization thing works for obvious reasons.

That’s it! Hope you enjoy. Maybe I'll do an expansion pack of sorts if I find enough songs for a part 2.

[dunmeshistash]

Okay I think I'm ready to write the second part of this post about Milsiril

To make it easier for me I'll just divide this into her relationship with Kabru, Mithrun and Helki (her ex-canary prisoner teammate)

First about Kabru

This is an extra from the daydream hour 5. The caption says "Something like this might as well have happened" so its probably not canon but could be. I honestly think his reaction to Milsiril visiting and being overbearing says a lot about the type of relantionship they have. This is the fakest bitch in the whole of dungeon meshi, he never says what he trully thinks unless there's an advantage to doing so, he's a people pleaser that does and says anything to make people like/trust him. And yet he immediatly converts into "Mooooooom you're embarassing meeeeee" when he sees it's Milsiril.

This translation used "Mom" but as I understand the original he uses the more formal version so I think it would be closer to "Mother" but still he acknowleges her as his Mother, and he acts like her kid in every interaction we see between them.

I really don't understand where the idea that he learned to be fake from being "forced" to be her adoptive son comes from.

(Continuing under a cut)

The other interaction we see between them is the Kabru extra from the Adventurer's Bible

Kabru comes to her with a deep fear he clearly has had even before she adopted him, he trusted her with this fear and she did not disappoint him, she comforted him and then gave him the information he needed to believe what she was saying

I'd also like to point out in no moment she discouraged him from calling his his bio-mom "Mom". He also says she taught her children everything they asked

I doubt this would only be true for him, it also mirrors something she said in the manga

"You can go ahead and learn all you want about something else." I believe it when Kabru says she made every effort to answer her children's questions. I think this is also the way she expresses the love she has for them. Plus I love the thought bubble with Kabru mirroring what he learned from her. I also love this daydream hour, she sacrifices her own comfort to do something for Kabru.

Milsiril isn't a perfect mother tho, besides the fact she is overprotective she comes from a very different culture from her children. I like to call her Kabru's white mom cause I think that would be the real world equivalent. This extra is the one I think the most about showing this context perfectly

Kabru wants to share Utaya sweets but looks at his mom looking gloomy/rejected so he talks about fruitcake instead. This very rude for Milsiril to do since she's kinda trying to overwrite his actual cultural background, but I think its done more as a "I want you to like the things I like" rather than something nefarious, and once again Kabru doesn't hide at all his distaste for it, he does the bare minimum to please his mom since she's being dramatic but he doesn't lie to her, he shows how displeased he is about fruitcake, something he refuses to do when eating the harpy omelette that is way worse, because he must make a good impression for Laios. Kabru is honest with his overbearing white mom once again.

Now a little about Rin, from Kabru's context, this is her extra in the Adventurer's Bible

(look at Helki he's such a gremlin i love him) anyway, Rin has a trauma about elves, they really mistreated her so she hates them, but when they notice she isn't thriving they go to Milsiril for help (Helki specifically I'll talk more about him next). I think this indicates she really has a better understanding of short lived kids, her kids are thriving differently from the ones the other elves try to care for. I'd also like to remember she lives secluded from other elves so while Kabru probably had lots of interactions with elves during his life, most of it was probably spent with Milsiril and her other adoptive kids. She also asks Kabru if he would do this to help Rin, he isn't being forced or anything, I also think it's good that Milsiril knows she cant take in any more kids, this to me shows she's worried about the quality of life her kids have. That is all to say, Rin is the one with elf trauma, not Kabru, because Kabru had Milsiril to shelter him from them.

Helki

This will be short and sweet since there's barely anything about Helki, he's her prisioner companion from her time in the canaries, but he was pardoned after Utaya, it says so in the Canarie's Structure page in the new adventurer's guide but I cant really find it translated again... so here's google's machine translation (I remember it saying "Retired and pardoned as a reward after Utaya", something like that)

so officially he isn't a prisoner anymore, but I think he still works as a canary, even so he and Milsiril seem quite close, he is the one to go talk to her about Rin, He is there when she's training Kabru (both laughing at Kabru and then participating). I saw people theorizing she stays close to him because he is also someone who she can feel superior to, but I don't believe it at all, he's STILL in contact with her even after they have nothing to with each other, I think they really have a friendship, and there's no point where it seems like she feels like she's better than him or that he's less than her, people seem to interpret Milsiril and her relationships in the worst possible ways every time and I don't understand why.

This segways into Mithrun

I've also seen people assuming she only got close to Mithrun because now he needs her and has no power over her, once again with the theory that Milsiril surrounds herself with people she can feel superior to. But once again, Milsiril had a change of perspective about Mithrun after seeing his Dungeon

Rather than she feeling superior to him I think rather she realized he was just like her. (And I think she's friends with Helki for a similar reason, it's probably easier to see him as an equal than other nobles)

I've also seen this part used as proof of that. "He said that you've got suspicious ulterior motives and that I shouldn't listen to you" as if that's true, but this is past Mithrun, the one that didn't trust anyone and thought ill of all his teammates, ofc he doesn't believe someone would help him without an ulterior motive. This doesn't prove much about her real motivations.

Also before she showed up, Mithrun was being cared for by servants hired by his brother, he isn't someone helpless she has power over, he is still a member of an important Noble family that has a caring brother providing for him, he can do without Milsiril, he had done without her for 20 years before Utaya happened and she quit the Canaries.

This is all to say I think Milsiril is just a white(elf) adoptive mom doing her best, I don't see much of anything nefarious about her or her motivations, she is flawed as all the dunmeshi characters are, she isn't a perfect mom, she isn't an evil mom, she's just a person.

Elves in general also see short lived species as "children" so I imagine this makes her "You'll always be my baby" attitude way worse, she really treats pre-teen/teen Kabru like he's a toddler sometimes. But she also respected him enough to go all out in training him. I think they're a family with everything that entails.

PS: I didn't get much into Interracial adoption since this is something that happens irl too and I don't know much about all the issues that entails, but in the end, in this case, it seems like a net positive for the kids she adopts considering all we see about how she raised Kabru.

[yakutarts]

Nightmare and Dream but feral, non-skeletal body!

For the love of god PLEASE click on the image for better quality + close ups and clothed version under the cut!!

Would you kiss them?

Video process:

I made these using a specific context

A while ages ago I drew and posted a drawing of Nightmare and Dream on their light ball form but with some alterations/personal headcanons.

On the post, I expressed my desire to draw the twins in a universe were Nim didn’t need to give them bodies, and just let them grow naturally. And specifically give them an animalistic appearance, instead of a humanoid one like most artist do.

You can see on the process video that it took me 1000 sketches to make something that looked good and I was happy with, the video is obviously sped up, the total time it took me to make this was 28 hours and 15 minutes.

Now explaining some things:

Why are they so big?

I read on a post made by Joku that Nim, before giving them skeleton bodies, tried to make them human ones, but the pure amount of magic and power the twins had made the human bodies explode or some shit. So she picked skeletons since the magic could flow freely through the bones without being confined by muscle and flesh. That made me think if their power had physical forms, it would be gigantic. So I gave them gigantic forms to better represent their status of strength and power, beings made from raw magic to serve as guardians of all emotions throughout the multiverse, of course I needed to make them big and intimidating!

Why the horns?

Artistic design choice, I gave them little horns and a chubby tail in their light ball form to purposefully make them more animalistic, wanted to keep it while making these. Also just giving them a smooth head with nothing much going on looked weird and boring.

Why the draconian look?

Dragons had been created and depicted as symbols of pure power above humanity and worshipped as deities throughout several cultures around the world, different depictions of dragons has been one of the only things present among almost all cultures, like a default folklore creature. While I tried to incorporate other mythical creatures in the design, the draconic body plan felt more right due to the influence of dragons on human beliefs, and their representation as magical and powerful beings beyond human comprehension. Plus I just really love drawing dragons.

Why the clothing choice? Also why is Dream half naked while Nightmare has everything covered?

While designing the clothes for Nightmare, I used as reference clothing that usually royalty would wear, Nightmare has a really big ego and sees himself as a king, so he uses fancy, expensive clothing and jewelry, adapted and designed for his anatomy. Not practical for battle, but his corruption can go through the fabric without damaging it, and most people and monsters just run when they see him, so he doesn’t worry about it getting dirty or tearing, Nightmare just expects every soul to instantly submit when they see him, so he never worries about getting into a battle and getting dirty he has that big of an ego.

Dream is the opposite, his style of clothing much more practical for running, jumping, flying, fighting and general exercise. He has 4 bags in total, 2 on each side, inside them he keeps several items, be it healing food, magical artifacts, first aid kit, gifts he receives, stuff he buys or random things he finds and wants to take home with him. Dream’s crown is now a colar couldn’t figure out how to make it work with the head shape and horns, his cape is from his official design, but changed to white, was planning to make it yellow but when I looked at it my eyes hurt because there was too much yellow everywhere. I made Dream’s clothes with the intent to match his official design, I didn’t to the same for nightmare because a turtle neck with a hoodie on a dragon would make him more huggable than intimidating. Plus I like to think that the leg warmers was a gift from Blue, and the ring on his horn a gift from Ink. Didn’t add more stuff on him because I couldn’t think of something that would look good and match Dream’s vibe, the rest of his clothes on his official design didn’t translate well here. Oh, while I was drawing this, I drew the colar and the leg warmers first, without the cape, Dream looked like a twink with a pet play kink.

Side note; neither Nightmare or Dream see the use of clothes as a necessity or as decency. For them clothes are nothing but pure decoration and to show off status for Nightmare, they can wear full body suits, partial clothing, just jewelry, or nothing at all, which is what they usually go for when at home, wearing or not wearing stuff doesn’t make that much of a difference to them at all.

Do they act as animals or do they have human intelligence?

Despite me using the word “feral” all the time to describe them, they do not actually act as animals. I’m only using “feral” to describe their body/anatomy, Nightmare and Dream are fully sentient and have human level intelligence/awareness. They are capable of speech and have opposable thumbs on their front paws, they can grab, write, hold… do anything a human can do with their hands with dexterity. But they do have to use only hand one at a time, and balance themselves with the other. To use both hands, they have to be sitting, or be supported by something, they can balance themselves on their wings if they have to.

And now contradicting what I just said, they have some animalistic behaviors. The twins can growl, purr and roar. Despite Nightmare being able to use his tentacles and Dream being able to shoot magic arrows out of his wings, they to also scratch and bite while fighting. Since they are big and heavy, they can easily crush bone under their weight and their bite force is strong enough to split someone in half. If you need a reference, just use Smaug from The Hobbit, he has more or less the balance of animal behavior and human intelligence I’m looking for.

Expanding more on this, the twins stretch just like felines, and often sleep in positions usually cats sleep in (they don’t actually need to sleep but do anyway). Dream likes to go fishing, and by fishing I mean jumping in a lake and chasing the fish underwater. He finds it more fun than sitting around and waiting for the fish to come to you instead.

I guess you count their lack of necessity to wear clothes as animal logic too?

_________________

If you have any more questions about them, I will be happy to answer!

And yes, I do plan on making more drawings of Nightmare and Dream on this form!

Dreamtale belongs to @jokublog

Feral concept/design by @yakutarts (me)

[funny-friends]

wanted to try to design my own versions of nagisa and honoka as adults before if/when they come out with something 100% canon (plus some bonus sketches featuring the quasi-canon designs from here). sillies

(design notes and stuff under tha break)

-theyre both anywhere from 25-30something (closer to the latter) here

-nagisa is a gym teacher or something, honoka has a phd but idk what she does specifically because i dont know anything about science

(idr what meppipples phone forms look like and i dont want to look it up rn)

-nagisa's horrible mullet can be drawn tucked into the back of her jacket to resemble her usual short hair (pictured)

-i think she'd be the cool gym teacher that all the students really like. not a bad thing to be said about her. she enjoys it but she doesn't exactly feel like its like her calling and she kind of feels like she's just meandering through life for a bit

-honoka's outfit is meant to give 'eccentric professor' vibes. i was torn between giving her pants or a skirt and ended up settling on pants, but i added the sketch of the alternative. i think she probably would be fine switching between either.

-after much deliberation she ultimately did (reluctantly) decide to leave to study abroad after high school and she was like 'this'll be fine' but leaving nagisa and the rest of her friends kind of left her feeling empty inside so she moved back to japan as soon as possible

ok thats about it. thanks for reading. i care about them very much

[luludeluluramblings]

Bruce Wayne’s Obsession with Smalltown!Reader (Alfred included)

A/N: So I just thought I’d throw this out there. Speak it into existence. Everything is liable to future editing, just a heads up. But, I’ll probably do this after each character falls into obsession. Help with writer’s block when it strikes or when motivation leaves.

Link to Revised Version

Warning(s): Yandere themes, Obsessive behavior

Bruce is already obsessed with Reader.

That was his baby. He knew about them first and only gave them up because he couldn’t be Batman with a newborn.

Plus, Momma wasn’t one of the worst women he dated.

Yes, she was petty, keeping Reader selfishly and never sharing Reader with Bruce. But, she loved Reader, was mentally stable, and she was not some uptight socialite.

(Bruce considered proposing to her after he found out about Reader, but tossed that idea to the side once he realized that wasn’t rational.)

Bruce is mostly struggling with his jealously over a dead man.

Daddy.

Bruce wants what he had with Reader. Wants that bond so desperately.

That unconditional love and respect a child has for their parent.

Totally missing the fact that he avoids Reader because he can’t stand the thought of Batman tainting them, therefore neglecting that bond he desperately craves.

In fact, when Jason died, Reader was part of the reason he kept being Batman.

He deluded himself into thinking he was making Gotham safer for Reader. (Gotham is too dangerous. And, after Jason ‘died’, Bruce couldn’t stand the thought of Reader suffering the same fate.)

Bruce would indulge in his obsession, occasionally out of paranoia.

Once a year, specifically on Reader’s birthday, he would go full throttle detective stalker mode on Reader’s life.

Every social media post, search history, school records, medical records, etc.

For one day a year he would hunt everything digital or printed desperate to know his child and make sure they were safe.

And after, he’d delete everything from the hardware on the BatComputer.

He wouldn’t save anything out of fear that someone could discover something about Reader.

Someone could hack his computers. There could be no links that would connect Reader to him, and especially not to Batman.

Alfred would encourage this occasionally indulgence. Bruce would verbally share and show Alfred everything before erasing it.

Alfred cares deeply for Reader.

To him, Reader is the part of his family that heals the old wounds and the loss. Seeing them thrive, even at a distance, fills him with hope and relief.

Now, when Reader’s parents died Bruce’s (and Alfred’s) first thought was not that he finally had a chance to have Reader to himself.

It definitely was the second, though.

Bruce feels even more connected to Reader, because they both lost loving parents.

But, Bruce is so damn jealous of one of those dead parents.

Bruce also is trying to help Reader fit in with the Gotham elite, since it seems like Reader wants that based off of their Gotham Academy friends.

Buying couture designer clothing, a fancy car, and other little things.

Don’t worry though, he realizes that’s not how it works.

It’s not like Reader’s going to have those friends for much longer anyway.