#slightly out of order but it looked much better this way imo

[m00nkissedlover]

・｡midnight kisses🕯️

you've ordered: black cherry merlot affogato! enjoy!

"your lips, my lips, apocalypse"

regulus black x reader | word count: 1,252 words

summary: neither of you can sleep...you wonder why 🕯️

warnings: (MDNI) mild spice, heated kissing/ making out, intimate touches

note: more proof that i need regulus cranially- (who said that?🫢) ngl...this is kinda messy imo. i tried to tweak this as much as i could, but in the end, this is all that was produced.....uh....enjoy, ig?

the common room was quite enough to hear a pin drop, save for the sound of the crackling fireplace and the sound of you flipping a page in the book you were reading. with it being this late at night, almost 5 till midnight, you should've been tucked away in the comfort of your bed. there was just one problem:

you couldn't get even a wink of sleep.

you weren't sure what was keeping you awake, keeping you up tossing and turning in the sheets, making you find an escape in the book you planned to read until your eyelids felt heavy. but your thoughts were soon explained as the door to the common room opened and someone stepped inside.

that someone...was your boyfriend, regulus. click! now it all made sense: you'd been subconsciously thinking of him.

"y/n, what are you doing in here? it's the middle of the night." regulus questioned, making his way over to you.

your eyes drifted down to the book he held then back up to his eyes. looks like you were both in the same boat.

"doing the same thing you're coming to do. read till sleep takes over." you answered, scooting over and making space for him to sit with you.

you watched as regulus settled into the couch, cracking open his book and beginning to read from where he left off. he could feel your eyes on him, his free hand wandering to find yours underneath the blanket around your body.

"need something, love?" the slytherin asked, his nose still in his book.

you felt a strange tingle run through your body as you gently squeezed his hand and shook your head, flipping the page in your own book.

"no, just...happy you're here..." you muttered, running your thumb over the back of his hand.

then, he turned to you, slowly leaning in. you felt your breath hitch as he did so, your face starting to heat up. regulus stared at you for a few seconds before chuckling a little and pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

"happy reading, love." he murmured, pulling away and going back to his book.

not even a minute had passed before you were peeking over the pages of your book to sneak a glance at regulus. he looked so entranced by what he was reading: his lips pursed together in a thin line, his eyes dancing over the words on the pages, his tongue darting out every few seconds to wet his slightly chapped lips. his long, slender fingers turned the pages with such a delicate touch, even his breathing captivated you in this moment.

you weren't sure what came over you, but before you knew it, you were moving closer to him, leaning in to better take in his features. your hand came up and lightly brushed some stray curls from his face.

he blinked, snapping out of his little trance before setting eyes on you. that's when he noticed just how close you were.

"what are you....doing?" regulus whispered, his grey eyes shining as if they held the universe's stars in them.

"oh, uh.....you had some hair in your eyes. thought it might be hard for you to read..." you murmured, realizing you'd been caught.

regulus raised an eyebrow, giving you a slight appreciative nod. "thanks."

"can i read with you?" the question made regulus laugh a little. he didn't ask questions, nodding his head and trying not to laugh as you quickly nestled up to him.

he angled the book so that you could both see, your eyes scanning the text on the pages. as you read, you absentmindedly started to mess with the hem of regulus's shirt.

he tried to ignore it, but that got harder the closer your hands got to his bare skin. you were now tracing random circles over his side, your touch making him shiver. now it was his turn to stare at you.

"you know...you're making it awfully difficult to focus, darling."

"am i?" you whispered, looking up from the book momentarily. the tinted flush on regulus's cheeks gave you your answer.

"well...what if i want you," you began, your hand slowly creeping up his shirt. "to focus on something else?"

that...that was it. before he knew it, regulus was already leaning in, your lips meeting in a slow and soft embrace.

you had expected for him to be overly passionate and heated, but he took his time with the kiss. it was soft and gentle, but also very loving and intimate. your heart fluttered in your chest as regulus moved his hands from your face to your sides, his fingers tapping against your clothed hip bones. the blanket you had around your shoulders found a new home on the floor.

your hands traveled up to lace through his dark hair, a soft gasp spilling from your lips to his as he pulled you fully into his lap. your bodies melded together like finely sculpted clay, as if the two of you were destined to be together from the beginning of time itself.

the tingles in your stomach continued even as regulus pulled away, resting his forehead against yours. the look in his eyes was one of pure love and devotion, making your heart skip a beat.

"i can't...i can't stop thinking about you. you occupy my every thought." he proclaimed between breaths, his thumb brushing over your bottom lip.

"regulus..." you whispered, tucking a tuft of hair behind his ear. simply hearing you say his name lit another fire in his heart and you couldn't get another breath out before his lips were caressing yours once again.

"you...you're...everything to me." regulus spoke softly between kisses, one of his hands beginning to mess with the hem of your shirt.

feeling his fingertips brush against the skin of your side sent a satisfying shiver down your spine. he took advantage of your gasp to deepen the kiss, pulling you flush against him.

your whole body felt warm and tingly. your heart was going a mile a minute and a familiar warmth pooled in your stomach. goosebumps rose on your skin as regulus's hand slipped further up your shirt and splayed out over your stomach.

and regulus, the poor boy. he could hardly contain himself. his senses were filled with nothing but you: his hands feeling the warmth of your skin, his tongue tasting the sweetness of your own, his ears taking in a gentle noises you'd make, his nose picking up on your naturally pleasant scent, his eyes observing your blushing and panting face as he pulled away. damn the need for air.

you took in his disheveled appearance: his half-lidded gray eyes, his slightly swollen pink lips, his mussed hair, and flushed cheeks. it made your heart skip a beat as he laced your fingers together with his free hand, gently kissing your knuckles.

"you're staring, darling." he murmured against your skin as he moved to kiss the back of your hand.

"is it so bad to stare at someone who's so beautiful inside and out?" you posed, your breath hitching as his fingertips trailed over your waistband.

"i guess not....stare all you want, but only if i can do the same." and with that, he let himself go, completely surrendering himself to you and you alone.

the two of you were so caught up in each other, so oblivious to anything happening outside your little bubble. but that was alright. for tonight, you didn't mind at all. 🕯️

© m00nkissedlover, 2024

[ew01z]

weird i feel like some force is compelling me to ask,,, what are your thoughts on krisnix and langworth during the 7 year gap with endgame narumitsu ?? the masses need to know

something crazy is happening ...... apologising in advance cause i think about this sooo much but have never articulated any of my thoughts on it but THANK YOU FOR ASKING this lives in my mind rent free

BASICALLY between the original aa trilogy and phoenix being disbarred, we know miles goes travelling, canonically he is a prosecutor in several jurisdictions but because i'm self indulgent i think he also took up lecturing at universities (unrelated, this concept just itches my brain)

at this point in time he knows he's in love with phoenix and has been for a considerable amount of time HOWEVER. because he catastrophises everything, he absolutely would have convinced himself that either phoenix is straight (looks left looks right) or he doesn't deserve phoenix or both. in the midst of this hardcore yearning, he meets lang Often. lang, who is actively trying to get into miles' pants quite brazenly (although i imagine miles doesn't notice at first)

they end up having this weird fwb situation wherein they sleep together, probably go on dates that aren't dates (sometimes case related, sometimes not) and imo end up like way more soft and intimate than the original fwb arrangement. but because miles is still yearning like a motherfucker, he's extremely emotionally unavailable. which would be fine except lang has definitely at this point caught some feelings

i'm imagining angsty shit like lang trying to hold miles' hand while they walk somewhere and miles just Not having it. or like wanting to cuddle/spoon after sleeping together and miles is like Nope. but because miles has developed some degree of care for lang, he feels super guilty about it so now he's brooding Even More. that being said, they still keep hooking up as the rules of toxic yaoi would dictate

on the OTHER hand we have krisnix which i saw someone describe as psychosexual warfare and honestly i can't think of a better way to describe it. phoenix definitely knew something was up with kristoph almost immediately. the issue w this is that unfortunately kristoph is also sexy so this posed a problem.

phoenix, who was undoubtedly extremely in love with miles, who didn't know if he possibly could or would ever confess this (especially now that miles is prosecuting abroad), originally got involved with kristoph both like professionally and in a sexy way because he was extremely intrigued with kristoph's terrifying vibes.

phoenix gets disbarred, adopts trucy etc etc, but as we know phoenix keeps kristoph close in order to try stop him from Literally Killing People and because he knew kristoph had a hand in the forged evidence that got him disbarred. however this Also ends up slightly more intimate than anticipated. phoenix hates kristoph's guts and yet .. they have toothbrushes at each other's apartments?? know how each other like their eggs in the morning?? i imagine even though trucy is young and extremely perceptive, she was also somewhat won over by kristoph too. in short, waaaay too in each other's orbits for either of their likings.

while all this toxic yaoi is going on, miles and phoenix have kept in touch sporadically. miles offering to fly home in a heartbeat because he knows phoenix is innocent and phoenix having his weird complex about accepting help. not wanting to tell miles too much because he knows kristoph knows Everything.

however, miles flies phoenix (and trucy too sometimes) out to wherever he's based to try covertly prove phoenix's innocence by looking at the evidence again, other case documents etc. during this time, i think they realistically both realise they're in love with each other but ultimately can't act on it due to distance and the kristoph situation. it would be at this point that miles halts the fwb situation with lang (angst likely ensues, although i imagine lang saw it coming to some extent and knew miles was truly in love with phoenix). however it's more complicated for phoenix, who has to keep up the appearance of normality so kristoph doesn't suspect anything. the more emotional aspects of his relationship with kristoph like the toothbrushes in each others apartments etc etc stops and the fwb situation dies down, although its less eloquent and more messy than the langworth situation (which i imagine was more of an actual cut and dry breakup)

but eventually miles does come back to japanifornia and the events of aa4 take place. phoenix gets his badge back, gay kisses miles and realises that if shi long lang has no haters then he's dead. miles and phoenix are definitely both aware of the relationships the other had before they were together, however phoenix wright is jealous and a bitch so now he hates lang's guts despite having never met him.

the end!!!!! i'll honestly be really surprised if anyone reads this all as this was Very self indulgent. this is just how my head filled the blanks in canon in the messiest, gayest way possible and i'm so glad i had an excuse to post about it

[dufferpuffer]

Dude, I need someone to simp over David Thewlis with and I have no one to go to. I have a feeling I know your opinion about David Thewlis as Remus Lupin (and I think it's a positive one? correct me if I'm wrong, I know some people don't think he did the character justice).

To be honest, I don't think the movies did his character justice, but I think David Thewlis was THE cast for him. The movies made him too soft, too gentle, too perfect. Book Remus is a lot more polarized than that. For every soft quality, he has a YIKES counterpart that is never shown in the movies. The only time we truly see this "yikes" counterpart is the Shrieking Shack scene when he smirks menacingly at Sirius and you think he's a villain. David pulled that off really good. I saw the movie before reading the book (I was a young kid at that time and PoA was too much to read for me) and I felt cheated, I suddenly didn't think I could trust him anymore.

The thing David Thewlis pulled off best, imo, is the fatherly quality of Remus. I know, Remus is a pathetic man with an avoidant personality, but we can't deny he is fatherly. And I feel that, no matter what movie I watch with David in it, the fatherly vibes just radiate from him. In a way I am glad it is like that in the movies because I use PoA as a coping mechanism in life. Stressed? PoA. Sad? PoA. Crisis? PoA. David absolutely nailed the comfy professor aura. Everything about him in PoA is inviting, it draws you in. His voice, his smile, the way he carries himself, his quiet strength. Who could've done it better? I love him.

Enjoy this young David Thewlis edit that I'm obsessed with. Cheers my tumblr friend <3

https://www.tiktok.com/@.dearlupin/video/7410813583577091334

David Threwlis is a fucking GEM and the PERFECT pick for the character in every aspect, yes. I can't think of how anyone could actually think otherwise. He looks perfect and acts perfect.

To the point where I would actually be happy if he played Remus AGAIN for the TV series or whatever - even though he looks so much older. Play up the fact he looks 'older than his age' or do some makeup, I dunno, I don't care. I would be alright with it.

I don't think any of the movies do anyone justice, TBH - ignoring the fact that of course things will have to be trimmed and simplified. I think most people agree though that the way they chose to do so was destructive and missed the point of the overarching story.

OotP and HBP were enjoyable as individual movies - but cut out so, so much that it damages the series as a whole. OotP especially should have been two movies, to REALLY get to know the Order Members, the adult world harry desperately wants to enter - revisit Lupin and Sirius, get attached to the real Moody - set up Tonks... maybe end the first one with Dumbledore leaving...?

But some actors pulled through wonderfully with the limited time they were given to portray their role, Alan Rickman of course being one - and I think David Threwlis is an underrated other. He did fucking BEAUTIFULLY and it made up for imo a half-assed performance from Gary Oldman as Sirius. He has perfect aesthetic and his fatherly moments with Harry were gorgeous... but most of the time he felt like his heart wasn't in it.

Remus, in the movies, HAD to be soft... but always carry a touch of coldness. A comfortable room but the heater isn't on. A cup of tea but you're asked to leave right after. Gentle eyes that pierce. Slightly odd expressions that feel kind, but also... off. He nailed that. Absolutely. That softness that makes you want to cozy up close, but a constant distance that makes you wonder why. Also the mustache was absolute genius. If only they gave him greys...

THIS LOOK? Underrated. SO MUCH PACKED INTO IT. Displeasure, surprise, 'oh shit im in danger' - but then forced innocence, a bit of weariness, a cheeky idea...

How he came out of the darkness, too - Snape specifically calling Lupin to show him the map was meaningful in the books, but Remus walking out of the pitch black was symbolic in the movies. It was a decent change. THIS is when I felt a 'Hm...' about Remus. (I saw it as an adult though, first time last year. I had no idea I'd love him so much.)

I LOVVEEEE going on and on about Remus being a wet tissue paper - because he is so often mischaracterized in so many different ways... but he IS good. He IS strong, compassionate, wise, clever... Fatherly. He will put himself aside to comfort someone in need. He just can't do that for himself. He will punish himself for the things he is gentle with in others.

"His voice, his smile, the way he carries himself, his quiet strength. Who could've done it better? I love him." YEAHYEAHYEAH David can pack layers of depth into every movement he makes. His little head bobbles, the ways his eyes pin on something and stare, his control of exactly how he smiles... ITS SO GOOD AHH

Normally a link to tiktok earns an instant vaporization but you get a pass aight I wont kill you God he's so wonky looking, look at him, he is delightful, I am going to spread him on toast with my vegemite

[daz4i]

oh wait i did promise a full dazai and nikolai comparison post didn’t i. time to deliver. no keep reading button, we’re clogging everyone’s dashboards like men. enjoy

clowning

so. i doubt i need to elaborate much on nikolai’s clowning - it’s very plainly put in the text, he along with other characters constantly call him a clown, and he obviously takes on a clown persona.

nikolai’s method of clowning is to take it to the extreme - everything he says sounds like a joke or pure nonsense, making you doubt everything that comes out of his mouth immediately, even when he’s saying the truth.

dazai’s is only slightly more subtle. i’m basing this on no longer human, given that so much of his character is based on yozo. dazai puts on a mask of a carefree, funny, lazy guy, especially to the agency, just like yozo does

his method of clowning is to seem genuine. pepper in just enough truth to make others believe him. seem reliable enough to make others trust him. but never showing his full self, so you should doubt everything he says

ultimately, the same outcome, done with different methods

so, we all agree they both do it. now, let’s analyze why. dazai’s is more obvious imo, so let’s start with him. 

with the agency specifically, it makes sense, gotta appear nonthreatening n all, seem like a normal guy with absolutely no past in the mafia (at least at first). i’d also say it can be used to make his enemies underestimate him - no one expects the goofy silly guy to pull a knife on them, after all, and you definitely don’t expect him to be a mastermind.

on a deeper level, if we go back to the yozo train of thought, it’s also to protect himself. no one can leave you, hurt the deeper parts of your soul, attack you personally if they can’t figure out who you are. no one can get close enough to matter to you then get taken away, the way oda was.

nikolai’s reasoning is less grounded in canon or external works (that i know of), so feel free to disagree with that part (with any part of this post tbh.) but in my interpretation, he does it for multiple reasons:

same as dazai, not letting anyone close enough to get him to care. nikolai sees bonds as something chaining him down - he cares about fyodor and sees him as a friend, and that’s why he wants to kill him. if you see him, he will care about you, and he can’t have that. better to have the self inflicted cage of a mask than have the key in someone else’s hands, if you wanna be poetic about it.

chaos! a lot of what nikolai does is to subvert expectations, be illogical, to prove the existence of his free will. nothing more chaotic than a clown

to contrast dazai, rather than make his enemies underestimate him, nikolai’s intention is to make his teammates underestimate him. he’s trying to throw their suspicions off him - oh, he defied the plan fyodor set up? well, can’t blame him, he always does silly shit like that. look how crazy that guy is, obviously he can’t follow orders - so he can freely do what he wants and only have them catch up way later.

already, we see a lot of similarities, as well as opposites-within-the-same-action. let’s continue

death

tldr: both are supposedly willing to die, yet still avoid death.

dazai sure managed to survive a lot of suicide attempts, huh! weird how all of his on screen attempts - especially since oda’s death - have been using methods that are easily to survive, like drowning. that’s so strange guys i wonder why’s that (psst i wrote a whole post just about that already)

and nikolai sure did give a dramatic speech about how dying will set him free, very convincing! weird that he faked his death, then. hmmm.

granted, nikolai’s speech might’ve been The Page’s work, but tbf it does align with his views on this topic so i’d like to believe there was some truth there, just like there’s some truth in dazai’s suicide attempts - yes, they want to die, but... there’s more to be done first.

both of them seem to hold a high value in the act of dying, and both see it as being set free. both feel trapped in their own life - nikolai outright says so, that he feels caged inside his own head, and if you dig into dazai’s character song you see him describe life as a “never-ending today”. both see death as salvation from their situation, but won’t get down to achieving it.

this is actually a good place to transition to our next topic,

meaning

since i mentioned dazai’s character song, one thing he seems to focus on there is looking for meaning, or rather being frustrated that he hasn’t found one yet (he also brings up this internal conflict in the dark era, but the song solidifies it as relevant even in his current state). dazai tries so hard to find meaning, but can’t.

nikolai’s fixation on free will, i’d argue, is not quite a search for meaning, but rather a struggle to prove there is no greater meaning in life, in order to ease his own guilt. none of his murders matter at the end of the day... right? then why does he still feel this way?

ironically, both can find meaning in their bonds - dazai has many at this point, with oda being the main one he might’ve found meaning in before, and nikolai has fyodor - but this is scary. they’re not used to having meaning, to caring. and so we circle back to the clowning, to pushing people away, to wanting to kill fyodor, to the comfort and familiarity of no meaning. 

guilt

like onions and ogres, clowns have layers. bear with me here.

on the surface, you’d expect them both to feel guilt for their horrendous acts. peel a layer, and it seems neither of them particularly does, otherwise they would stop doing it, you’d assume. peel back another layer, and... honestly, i think they do, but are just repressing it.

this is smth i get less from the text and more from their real life counterparts, tbh. going back to the yozo comparisons, he does outright say “i’ve lived a life filled with guilt” which. is very fair to expect to hear from our dazai. meanwhile the real life gogol straight up died because of his guilt. i don’t think asagiri would overlook stuff like that when turning them into characters.

nikolai also does outright tell atsushi he feels guilty for the atrocities he committed - though, pretends he didn’t mean it immediately after, putting back one of those layers we tried to peel.

going back to dazai’s song, it’s the “the tainted past, too, begone!” line that i feel is nodding to it. dazai obviously knows the things he’s done while in the mafia are wrong, seems like he knew while being in the mafia as well given his conversations with oda during the dark era. but this really does make it seem like he regrets it, imo.

they’re both repressing their guilt for the same reason they won’t die. there’s more important shit going on. dazai outright tells atsushi that wallowing in guilt is pointless, and we see him move forward and execute plans even if he’s still feeling guilty throughout, and even when he needs to do some dirty work to make them happen. nikolai is the same in that regard - he’s just hyperfocused on this goal of proving his free will, and guilt is another thing that’s keeping him caged, so he must break free from it. wallowing in it will simply be counterproductive.

sorry i gotta talk abt fyodor now

but it’s gonna be short i promise

so we’ve got this all knowing, unbeatable, super smart guy, right? anyway what if the only people we see outsmart him were 2 suicidal clowns. wouldn’t that be funny

so, it’s a bit tricky to call it “outsmarting” with dazai considering how their whole Thing is give and take that’s not going to end any time soon, but fyodor obviously views him as someone on his level so i’m counting that. he wouldn’t put this much effort into someone he didn’t think was less smart than him. and, he calls him a worthy chess opponent for a reason

nikolai did outsmart him, though. nikolai was supposed to die. nikolai wasn’t meant to survive the plan, let alone come to meursault and put fyodor in a death game when he could’ve escaped using the vampiric guard he planted in the prison instead. nikolai is throwing an unpredictable wrench in the plan of the guy who knows how everything is gonna turn out because humans are so predictable.

clearly they both affect him a lot, more than we see others have. both of them are the only ones so far we’ve seen get on the same level as fyodor

and, both of them are seen by fyodor. nikolai explicitly says fyodor is the only person who sees him, and dazai is seen because they are the same, on a certain level. fyodor understands them, which is why it’s even more impressive that they can outsmart him, imo

in conclusion

asagiri i am on my knees begging. make them interact properly please please please

fr tho, i’m curious if this means something. because this is a huge amount of similarities, especially when they’re not really related in any way and barely ever talked. does it mean anything?? how about nikolai being able to use his ability on dazai, does that mean anything????? asagiri please give me some answers i am asking so nicely

anyway. thank you for reading! lmk if i missed anything, or reblog with your own additions and analysis. if you disagree with anything i said, feel free to express that as well, just be respectful. hope i managed to infect you with my brainrot as well. have a great day :3!

[enrychan]

Miscellaneous DA:TV impressions so far

Just some thoughts on the game so far, no spoilers (or extremely light spoilers i guess?). I'm writing this particularly for @apostaterevolutionary who's super anxious and worried about DA:TV being bad :)

Keep in mind that I'm still stuck in Act 1 for now because I'm going veeeeery slowly to see everything I can. So at the moment this is just a very messy and 100% temporary list of pros (+) and cons (-) that I found until now.

STORY

+ it's good, I really liked some parts (the darkest parts, because it's me) that reminded me of Origins. For the rest the atmosphere is more similar to Trespasser, I think. I like Trespasser, so that's ok. I'm not particularly engrossed for now, but I have hope that I will be!

- it's just "eh", as story intros go. mostly because there are no origins, and Rook needed those more than other protagonists of the series, imo. since their leadership is justified by their heroic actions before the start of the game. It would have been more immersing being able to see them first hand

COMPANIONS (I still miss a couple of them though)

+ those I already in the team are lovely

- for now not enough rough edges or conflicts between them, I hope there will be more later. at the moment the atmosphere is too polite and friendly

GRAPHICS

+ beautiful, stunning environments, I love Treviso, I love Minrathous

- companions designs are ok with some really good ideas, but all the characters look too... smooth and colorful, almost cartoony in a Pixar/Fortnite kind of way, which i don't particularly like. Also the heads are slightly too big compared with the rest of the bodies? I'm not sure what's going on there but it's weird

+ facial expression are good, though kind of generic. no Andromeda situation thankfully

COMBAT (I'm playing as a mage)

the combat system is just... Mass effect. It's Mass Effect. I mean, ok, I love Mass Effect. But. Why.

- I started playing as I've always done as a mage in the Dragon Age series, staying out of range and attacking from a distance. Turns out that in DATV the devs have decided that the player character should constantly be at the center of the action. Enemies will literally ignore the companions that are already attacking them, and just go for Rook specifically. Thats... not a good situation for a mage. So in the first few hours I just kept dying and dying. Now I'm starting to understand how the game wants me to play it and I'm getting a lot better, but still I don't understand why this choice was made in the first place. I imagine this works better for rogues and warriors, but a mage is not equipped to deal with so much damage

+ I like finishing enemies, it's fun

- my Rook is constantly out of mana and at that point she can only run in circles and give orders to the companions. It's the fight with the Arishok all over again, but this time you get to do it again every 5 minutes!

+ progression is fast, so things do get better eventually

EXPLORATION

+ the way the game is designed reminds me of Origins and DA2, with those "corridors", branching paths, and some wider areas to explore. It's much more focused than Inquisition

- too many doors, magical barriers of many kinds, blocked paths that you have to unlock using a key, or a magical elven contraption, or a companion ability or whatever. It gets annoying really fast imo. It could be just me though.

---

These are my main thoughts up until now. There are others but they are minor, or spoilery, or both, so I'm keeping those to myself for now. In general I'm enjoying DATV well enough, with some really, really good moments here and there, and I hope there will be more going on with the story. We are nowhere near Origins or DAII in terms of story and immersion, but it's a good experience all in all! :)

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Handwriting Analysis

Hello everyone! I decided to take a look at the canonical handwriting of the various characters in DRDT. We've actually seen a good number of handwritings and it definitely seems like they are specifically written differently, so it's a fun new dimension of the characters we can look at. I've done my best to compile all of them in this post, but please let me know if I've missed any!

I'll be going in order of when we first see them, starting with:

Arei Nageishi!

Arei is our first handwriting reveal, which we know because she wrote the arm wrestling contest board in Chapter 1, Episode 2! She seems to write in all caps and has a slightly curvy style.

Min Jeung!

Whoops, murder time. Min's handwriting is seen on the "OUT OF ORDER" sign. We don't know it's hers when we first see it, but in the trial, it's revealed that she must have written it.

As far as I remember, we don't have another sample of her handwriting, which is unfortunate, given that I believe this is probably not what her real handwriting looks like. She's clearly printing in very straight lines; it's probably meant to look official. If it looked handwritten, it would lower the credibility of the out of order sign.

I also tried to see if you could tell what any handwriting looked like from the papers on the table in the Bonus Episode she's in, but I didn't manage to pick anything out that was actually legible. So, I guess we don't really know what Min's handwriting would normally look like.

Xander Matthews!

Xander wrote "Charles Cuevas' Motive" on this DVD, but a lot of it got smudged off when he planted it in the CD reader (god I hope I got it right I'm sorry Charles I'm trying to remember which is which).

He seems to use all caps. It's also not the neatest, given that the two Cs run into each other despite being on different lines.

Notably, there is a more filled-out version.

However, the red text isn't written by Xander himself, because he's dead at the time. As best I can figure, this is Teruko writing in an impression of Xander's handwriting. The image of the CD appears as Teruko says, "Hm, are you talking about this?" implying she's the one carrying it, and the rest of the writing is filled in when she says so. It might seem like it would be Rose, given that she's the one who figures out what it's supposed to say, but Rose instructs someone else to rotate it, so it can be assumed Rose isn't holding it. Teruko is the one to take the DVD out of the player at the end of investigation, so I'd really assume it's her.

...HOWEVER!

We actually have a specific example of Teruko replicating Xander's handwriting! She smudges it during investigation and re-writes it on. It seems to me like the creator went back to the original version of the CD in the trial (the little ink blot at the left of the O matches better with the first of the two images here, imo). I doubt there was much internal consistency given to how Teruko writes Xander's handwriting when trying to replicate it on this CD, but...

Teruko Tawaki!

Teruko's handwriting is bad-bad. It's very shaky and she struggles with letters. The O and C (as she thinks she's writing) that she replicates back on the CD have some more of the shakiness that this handwriting has, which implies to me that the creator knew at the point of the Chapter 1 murder that Teruko's handwriting wasn't smooth. The replication of Xander's handwriting in red back in Xander's section looks smoother than I think Teruko's would, which might be points towards someone else having written it. No clue who, though.

Notably for Teruko, I honestly wonder if she's meant to have dysgraphia? I don't know a ton about it, but it's a learning disability that makes it much harder for people with the condition to handwrite clearly. Just an interesting sidenote, if anyone with dysgraphia knows more/if this is wrong to say in some way, please let me know!

Charles Cuevas!

Back on track, I skipped ahead with Teruko to put hers next to Xander's. We don't technically have confirmation that this is Charles' handwriting, but it's very very heavily implied. It's written in cursive, which Whit says Charles writes in in the Chapter 2 trial.

This also implies that Whit has seen Charles' handwriting, which could add more to imply that this is his, but considering Charles has evidently seen Whit's (more in a sec), I don't think that means much.

Plus, as a fun note, Charles' custom weapon is the only one that isn't listed on the above handwriting sample. This is the biggest factor in me believing that it's Charles'. (Plus, I think Whit says something about getting it from a friend? I'm not reopening the episode sorry gang)

Whit Young?

Wait, where's the handwriting?

Well, as far as I remember, we haven't actually seen Whit's handwriting. We know from Charles that he dots his Is with hearts, but that's all we got. Sorry gang.

Eden Tobisa!

Eden literally gave us a handwriting sample. Thanks!

It's pretty cute! She has a curvier handwriting style with some irregular spacing, which I think gives it nice charm and character.

The Chapter 2 Killer??? (or accomplice)

Idk man! It seems like it has to relate to someone who's at least somewhat guilty in this whole thing, right?

I've written briefly about why I believe this is Levi's handwriting on @1moreff-creator's Levi accomplice theory post, but that would totally work for the popular theory that he's the killer, too. Either way, it's a handwriting sample.

Bonus!

NO WIFI! WHY LIVE :(

I have no idea who wrote this. From what I can tell, it might've been here when the cast got there...? The weird thing is that it changes.

Shoutout to @accirax for remembering that the white board changed, because I did NOT notice/remember. However, that begs the question...

WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS???

It's very possibly Veronika, as she's the one who's noted to, like, know and remember what Monokuma looks like. If so, that means we have a Veronika handwriting sample, yay! I really don't know who else would be drawing Monokumas. Maybe the mastermind...?

And that's all! Clearly there's no point to this post and I can wrap this-

Haha. You didn't think I actually made a post that doesn't have a theory to it, did you?

This has all been building up to me trying to figure out who the hell wrote this note. Because, I originally believed it made the most sense if it was a note that Xander wrote to himself, but accirax pointed out that we've seen Xander's handwriting, and it looks different. Then, I started noticing that we've been receiving various handwritings. Like, a LOT of handwritings.

I think that it's plenty likely that we're going to receive EVERYONE'S handwriting at some point throughout this series. Notably, all characters who have died thus far (Xander, Min, Arei, Chapter 2 Killer Even Though We Don't Know Who They Are) have already shown us their handwriting. This is probably because we're going to figure out who wrote this note at some point.

Does that mean everyone whose handwriting we've already seen thus far is safe? Maybe! I've gone through and talked about Xander, Arei, Eden, Charles and Teruko's with confidence. From what we know of Min's and Whit's, it doesn't seem like it's theirs, but I'd believe for either of them that it could be theirs if the devs wanted to pull a fast one on us (Whit could just... not write with hearts on the Is for this one. Min was replicating printed text).

I guess that means I'm saying that the most likely authors of the "Kill Teruko Tawaki" note are Mai Akasaki Ace, Rose, Hu, Arturo, Veronika, J or Nico, with Min, Whit and Levi also being possibilities that I just don't believe as strongly. I do want to note that, if Rose IS the one who wrote it, she could also easily be replicating someone else's handwriting. Ultimate Art Forger moment.

Conclusion

I compiled this image of all the handwriting I talked about with the purple being known handwriting and the gray being unknown.

I think it's really cool that the dev put time into giving each of the characters unique handwriting, and I think it's definitely a piece of evidence to keep in mind when theorizing about masterminds and killers and such.

Hopefully this was a fun read! I look forward to possibly figuring out the handwritings of literally every other character someday.

[transmascpetewentz]

sometimes i wonder why i'm still in therapy but then i have a session where i talk about something that's been annoying me recently and she gives amazing 10/10 advice. also i now realize i need another meeting to update the accommodations i get (bc the ones my paperwork says i get, i no longer need, while i need some others that i don't have on my paperwork)

some things that i thought would be total non issues ended up being huge issues. and it's very weird things too. like who knew someone would surprise me with cooking. yeah my paperwork doesn't explicitly say that i can't do cooking but how could i even have predicted that it would come up. and i thought that not screaming at someone and making accusations when they display neurodivergent behavior was a no brainer bar that everyone could clear but apparently something has to be made explicit for some people to care.

and this year people have gotten worse. as soon as someone displays any neurodivergent behavior the accusations start flying. oh i don't like this very rigid writing process? i want to actually start writing before i pick out every word out of order? nope, it must mean i have a "computer addiction" (which has even less evidence supporting it than phone addiction does) and that this alleged addiction is my moral failure and that my use of a computer to write means that i'm intentionally trying to collapse western civilization. and any original idea that i have just means i'm not understanding that i need to talk about the plot of the book (in a very rigid framework that means that we just understand the basic moral instead of being encouraged to do real literary analysis. i mean, of course this guy who wrote a story about everyone being equal in every way still kept gender, because the end of the world is more likely than any slight challenge of the gender roles)

and of course, me looking down must mean that im not paying attention and intentionally trying to disrespect people. and when people scream at me to look up and i do, that must mean that they righteously saved me from my inattention even though i'm paying even less attention to the speaker because i'm paying attention to my body language to make sure i don't piss people off. would i like to have something to do other than staring at the wall? well that's obviously my phone addiction talking. people who aren't psychologists obviously have the ability to diagnose a phone addiction in every person they meet and then attribute their completely normal and harmless behavior to that addiction.

i love education and i think it's great. it's one of the best jewish values imo. that's also why i'm a major fan of renaissance humanism. but being micromanaged isn't education, it's training me like a dog to use the right body language while simultaneously understanding absolutely nothing because appearances are more important than actual learning. ironically my "hardest" classes are actually my easiest ones because i can focus on learning about the subject matter instead of paying constant attention to my body language in order to make myself appear like i'm paying attention.

tbh i don't even know what kind of accomodation i would need for this. i just wish that people would give me slightly more grace when i'm displaying neurodivergent behavior. but that's not something that can go in documentation because it's extremely subjective and has more to do with people's subconscious thought processes than their conscious choices to be assholes. i hate it sm i literally have moral rule following ocd and the first year that i have done education since i started meds for my ocd and learned to stop giving as much of a shit, i'm getting mixed signals and being told that i'm actually intentionally unfocused and disrespectful because of my body language.

and of course everything also requires images because some studies have come out saying that people without visual processing disorder "learn better" with images, and of course if i can't understand what's happening in an image then it's my fault because i'm not wearing my glasses for looking at things far away when i'm looking at something a few inches in front of me. and when i wear my glasses and i still can't understand it i'm told i actually just don't see the image well and should look more closely. i explain that i see the image perfectly well and just don't understand what's happening in it, and then i get told to zoom in again. it's an endless cycle and when i explain that i have a disorder people say they understand but then 1.5 minutes later they go back to acting like it's my fault.

[majorshatterandhare]

I’m thinking about which yarns I will order next for my dolls. The copper color for sure, and I know which skin and hair tones I want to use for Ashes and Marius, so I can get those. The other skin tones are harder because I’d like to have variation in them and it’s hard to tell if they’re too pink or too yellow or too orange or whatever, like, the color looks greyish but is it actually or is it bad lighting? I have photos from two different sites of the same yarn I am using do I can get a slightly better idea. TS gets to be a “wood” color (wood colors align pretty well with skin tones though so it’s basically gonna be whatever color I want) and I’d like a muted tone for Nastya since there’s not really another way for me to show her mechanism. I need two skeins of each color (actually I need four I think because they’re only twenty-five gram skeins) so I’ll likely order of a few of the lighter tones so I can decide who gets what color or if there’s one that just won’t work or something. I’m just not sure I’m gonna do that yet.

I am thinking about doing some trials to bleach some of the yarns, so I can get a nice color change for Nastya and Ashes’ hair. I was thinking vinegar or something might work, but I have used household bleach for cotton bleaching purposes before (it was just a denim jacket instead of strands of yarn). But the yarn is mercerized, so I don’t know how that will affect it.

I somehos just had the idea of only doing Brian’s heart and not his whole insides, since, like Tim, Marius, and Raphaella, his mechanism is visible from the outside. But I love how he and Jonny are foils, so showing his heart too would be great! And potentially give context for whatever grey lump ends up being Jonny’s heart. I think Brian’s heart is visible through glass, but recreating that would necessitate clear plastic, which would be hard to begin with due to size and the fact it’s fiber (ie, just trying to glue the edges in there probably wouldn’t work), but also I’m trykng to keep them natural fibers. On the other hand I do want them to be relatively accurate. …Weave a little cage cover using fishing line or something… still won’t br clear but leaving purposeful gaps would still allow viewing without opening… IDK. If anyone has a good idea for thaf, let me know. The best I can come up with so far is allowing this exception and using a piece of one of those plastic clam shell containers you get food in, because, while sewing through that would be pretty impossible (except maybe is I use a hot needle to melt holes in it?) it’s sturdy enough super glue or the like may work.

I tend to stuff things hard. Like, really hard. The most recent ami I made, I purposefully tried not to stuff it too much, and thought I did a pretty good job, but my mom insists is still quite hard. I think the Mechs would think it was fucking funny to be able to beat each other to death with little dolls of themselves, though, so….

Anyway, so I started Brian’s head and it is smaller than I was dxpecting but it looks really good IMO. This yarn is barely plied together, so holding it double results in the plies just melding to look like one thinker strand instead of two smaller ones, which is really cool. I’m a little concerned about doing Brian first, since he has several changes for body type, so I really out to be doing whoever I decided would be as written first, which is part of the desire to order some of the other skin tones, although I believe that I have planned neither Marius nor Ashes to be as written either. I don’t know. Shouldn’t take too long for the felt to get here once I order it, since the seller it relatively near to me.

[muffinrecord]

I'm not going to try too hard for Kimochi, but that doesn't mean I won't have fun all the same.

Taking large chunks of HP from the boss is super satisfying.

This is the team I'm using right now, with a slightly different memoria setup for the "spend" phase.

I think I might swap out Kuroe but I have no idea who to swap in for her. TBH the only thing I use her for is her active mp to all, otherwise she just kinda sits there.

That said, I'm not really sure if there's a good alternative for her. I could try and sub in a different damage dealer but I have a good thing going with my spend phase. Heruka can only contribute so much damage at a certain point (and debuffs and buffs) but her mp restore is just too good to note use imo?

The spend phase is endless fun. The first three turns are literally just the same. All of these are doppels btw

Mami > Mami > Heruka Mami > Mami > Heruka Mami > Mami > Heruka Mami > Mami > Madoka Mami > Heruka > Kuroe Heruka > Mami > Mami

I mean to take a screenshot but clicked the wrong-ass button so. woops.

I haven't really looked at what the best order for the mamis would be, and did scene zero > holier mami. That's cause I'm 78% sure that Scene zero mami gives buffs to the whole team while holier mami only gives buffs to herself, so it's better to have scene zero mami buff holier mami and blah blah blah

I did Heruka last for the first few turns, even though she gives everyone buffs and debuffs the enemy. This is because I wanted to prioritize her mp regen to the team. Thinking about it though, she could probably still go first on round one because I earn enough MP there that it shouldn't be a problem? I should prob test this out.

Okay yeah just tested it out lmao and it works just fine if she goes first. well that's an easy way to increase damage done on turn one!

Alright so new spend phase:

Heruka > Scene 0 Mami > Holier Mami Scene 0 Mami > Holier Mami > Heruka Scene 0 Mami > Holier Mami > Heruka Scene 0 Mami > Holier Mami > Scene 0 Madoka Scene 0 Mami > Heruka > Kuroe Heruka > Scene 0 Mami > Holier Mami

I just looked at the wiki and realized that Heruka doesn't give damage increase/damage up but tbh that doesn't matter because by turn three, I'm consistently hitting damage cap on the two mamis anyways

[naamahdarling]

Dude i love your whats the way to cheta burger (i hope i got the title right) but I was wondering what are your processes of taking pictures (or are they pictures) of your traditional art to post because man do i struggle

Thank you! I liked that one a lot, it has such vibes.

Yeah, they're pictures!

I either use my old (like 2015) digicam and edit the pictures with an ancient pirated version of Photoshop, or I just use my phone and edit it there. I'm certain there's good apps for it as well.

A huge part of this is how high res the camera is, because that's how you capture fine lines and grain. I bought an expensive-ass Pixel solely because of its camera. My digicam is a Nikon Coolpix L840 and is like 8 years old but still good for my purposes. I'd say they are about equal in terms of results with the Nikon being slightly better quality and the Pixel being much more convenient because it doesn't need a memory card and I can edit most stuff right there.

Lighting matters. I prefer photographing 2D art flat, with good overhead lighting, OR photographing it upright with light from both sides. Natural light is best for color of course but isn't always possible.

Rarely I will actually scan things with a friend's ancient scanner.

How reflective your paper or your medium is will affect lighting an absolutely bonkers amount, so you may have to move yourself and your art around to keep it from reflecting. Really shiny stuff may need a scanner.

You lose depth with shaded stuff when editing, scanners are best for that if you can access one, but they are not necessary unless you're aiming for prints or a fine art thing.

Here's a raw pic from the Pixel, then the edit:

Acceptable loss of some tone IMO for being done in my hand in about 30 seconds.

Crop first always, darks or lights outside the piece will fuck with your fine tuning real bad.

With black and white work, desaturate the image before you do anything more, to remove all color from whatever lighting you have.

For this image of Dried Pickle Man, I then went in and fine tuned it in the phone. In order: boosted Highlights, tinkered with White Point a bit, meddled with Contrast a bit. If your phone can't do that, the equivalents in my version of PS would probably be Levels, then Brightness/Contrast. Maybe Curves?

This barely needed to be touched since the blue came out accurate:

This is the original, what it looks like to adjust the skewed edges, then the end result after a tiny tweak to contrast and white point. On the lower right of the last image is where the ink was throwing back some light. This could be fixed in PS or probably avoided with scanning but since I am only documenting these for sale and for my own enjoyment they don't need to be incredible.

Again, a lot depends on having an okay camera, but Which Way to Cheetah Burger was taken 2 phones ago with a POS Samsung and looks fine at internet size and resolution. I edited it in PS I THINK.

I don't know how any of this would do if I wanted to do prints but just to document your stuff it's usually fine.

I hope this helps!

[crowley-the-1-true-king-of-hell]

The Crowley Tour LATE review of 9x10 Road Trip

Intelligence: 2 points. Imo Crowley was not trying hard enough to hack Gadreel. Compare 8x10 with 9x10. In 8x10 Crowley is hardcore twisting on Samandriel. On Gadreel he is tweaking the pins slightly. He's also twisting the bolt on the opposite temple on Gadreel from Samandriel. They are also both the tenth episode of its seasons, so that's why I can't not compare them. Why would Crowley not try? So Dean could unchain him, as Crowley possessing Sam was "apparently" the only way to get to Sam at the time

I say apparently because the show forgot Cas' powers for the plot

I mean Cas also could have just mind walked into Sam's head too [ Hunter Heroici ]. I won't lie, the only thing that makes that forgetfulness of Cas' abilities tolerable is that Crowley got to escape

Bravery: Didn't run from an angel like he said he would

Badass: Demons ordered by Abaddon wouldn't attack him, because they were still afraid of him

Flirty: The way he looks at Cas when he says "Oh, Cas, such a flirt"

Sassy: Your phallus on wheels just ran a red light in Somerset, Pennsylvania, 10 minutes ago

Funny: AND CAST THAT PUNKASS HOLY ROLLER OUT

Witty as in Crowley being sarcastic

DEAN

No.

CROWLEY

No? Of course not. Because if I'm plan "A," I'm sure you have a totally viable, much better plan "B."

9 out of 10 for Crowley. Would have been a 10 but Cas doesn't need to be diminished for Crowley to shine. Crowley would have found another way out, like you can sandpaper off engravings on the handcuffs btw

[bn-brightflower]

Hi, I am new to the monster romance genre of books and not the strongest of readers. What would be a good book to start with in your opinion?

I've tried A Soul to Keep (Dusk walker Brides) but I can't seem to get into it. I really love that monster in particular but the writing style doesn't seem to vibe with me. What books would you recommend?

It really depends on what you like in a regular romance!

A Soul To Keep was my first monster fucking book, too. I struggled a bit with the actual writing too but I really enjoyed the actually monstrous monster.

The Wraith Kings series by Grace Draven was really enjoyable. It's an arranged marriage and there's a lot of growth in the relationship. The main characters are physically repulsed by each other and there's no insta-attraction, which really made the growth more meaningful imo. It isn't super heavy on the smut, but it is there I promise.

Luxuria by Collette Rhodes was also a great read in the same vein; it's also an arranged marriage and there's a lot of distrust to work through. There is insta-attraction here but that does not solve their issues. This one also features the "feeding from humans" like A Soul to Keep, but in a slightly different way. This one is smut-filled once the smut actually starts.

I recommend the A Spiders Mate trilogy by Tiffany Roberts to anyone that will listen. The world building is fantastic and the characters feel so alive. The first book has a rocky start but the pacing gets better from there. Again, there's no insta-attraction and the build of relationships (not just the main couple but with all of the characters) feels very real and actually has depth. There's a medium amount of smut.

And lastly, the Souls trilogy by Harley Laroux. The third book isn't out yet but the books are basically stand alone and can really be read in any order. It has a pretty unique plot and the demons are fun (and they are very much demons). There's a ton of smut in both. (I enjoyed Her Soul for Revenge most). For this series, I would highly recommend reading the authors trigger warnings carefully though.

The Wraith Kings series is the only one here that isn't available on Kindle Unlimited.

If you give me more of an idea of what you look for in romance, I may be able to give you a better and more personalized answer but those would be my general recommendations.

[romilly-jay]

In Praise of Short Stories

A perfect match to my shortened attention span and a merciful way to respond to my sudden, panicked feeling that I've been a Big Fraud when it came to claiming an identity as a reader because - hadn't really been doing all that much reading as it turns out...

This is also In Praise of Library Books and - not unrelatedly - In Praise of Those Emails That Warn You Just Before Those Library Books Fall Due For Renewal. [Today, they are due back - today.]

Used to think of myself as not especially interested in short stories. Did I think you couldn't get enough of the key details in before the wordcount ran out? I was wrong. I'm astonished how wrong I was.

(And I think that's because I'd completely under-estimated how much the reader's mind contributes - how many details we colour in for ourselves, how attuned we are to taking gestures and hints and making worlds from them...?)

Also, I now know that I love a *collection* of short stories - as in, by a number of different writers - and that's because // probably relevant in part to why I am less able to consider myself "a vociferous reader" than I imagined myself to be // - I'm PICKY. Meg-Ryan-ordering-lunch-In-When-Harry-Met-Sally levels of picky...

I want my stories to be comforting but not at the expense of intelligence... having room for ambiguity and spikiness without actually being gross or mean... not needing to spell everything out but also having coherent and discernible internal logic... with characters who have lived a little and who don't need to be likeable exactly but who also aren't AWFUL, because, my g*d, we're hanging out here voluntarily so it needs to be at least a little bit fun.

There were two stories in this collection that especially hit the spot for me - and that's great, isn't it, because now I can go and look for their longer works*. Roadside Attraction by Alix E. Harrow and I Remember Satellites by Sarah Gailey. Even better, I probably wouldn't have picked up a story called Roadside Attraction and more fool me because it was the absolute BEST.

This is not - NOT! - to diss the other authors. I'm sure the other stories are also excellent, if perhaps slightly better attuned for different readers, or myself in another moment/version of self. (Happens that the story by Catherynne M. Valente was actually set as one of our texts for my genre fiction class in the City MFA and - I really liked it at the time and if, this time, I found it hard to re-read that is no question a matter for me and late night reading and reaching the end of the day's allocated attention span...)

After all, they have in common the same editor and all of them also comes with Verified Publishing Track Record.

But Alix Harrow and Sarah Gailey won the rosettes from me, this time... so much so that in playing the little True Reading Name game with my occasionally-local bookstore, my mind bent from the overall collection to the first story within it and I borked the assignment.

Quite liked both the resulting name-smashes, though, if I'm honest...

*Which BTW is **precisely** how I found author Charlie Jane Anders (the first story from Even Greater Mistakes is *chef's kiss* IMO).

PS I was super happy to swing by the library and find that this book was out on the "just back" table of tempting offerings... I'm projecting, of course, but it feels slightly like an endorsement of my good taste in picking this collection to borrow (and my innate decency slash fear of consequences that had me return it... ;) )

[stepswowdsen]

What I like drawing about my faves [6-28-2023]

A lot of my posts here are just me posting from my old notes and editing and compiling them more neatly, so I decided to do a post on what I like drawing about my faves. I decided to talk about what I like drawing about Idate and Judar’s designs :)

Idate (WATGBS AU)

(+) His spiky hair. Idate’s design is pretty much the only time where I actually enjoy drawing spiky hair. As my friends Snow and Cinna said, Idate's hair has more obvious shapes to follow, and big shapes are usually easier to follow. His design is very nicely shaped.

(+) His eyes. They're easy for me to draw. He has pointed cat pupils in his OG design in Funa-verse, so that’s something I’m aware of, but when I tried, it just didn't look good with my style. So I just use a similar eye shape like I do with the rest of my meow meow mf faves. 

But I make the space between the pupils and eye whites wider to make it still look like him though. He still looks good and recognizable as Idate, so it's fine. I just prefer drawing and stylizing them this way cuz it fits better with my style personally.

I do sometimes draw the thinner pupils though when I feel like it fits the mood/drawing (ie. Chibis, side/profile views, certain expressions) and if it turns out good with my style, so I try my best to incorporate it when possible.

(+) The canon eyebags and blue eyeliner in our redesign slays!!! I also love the scars we added to his design, it really suits him. And the star and black sun earrings I added suit his character so well too, heehee. 

(+/-) Again, I use the same eye style for most of my meow meow mf faves, just with some differences in order to fit them better. But sometimes even little variations make the drawing/style look different. It can make my drawing process/redrawing take longer especially if there's a specific look I want to achieve.

(-) His suit/clothes. I don't like drawing things with tight clothing folds, cuz I feel like they rely less on shapes and curves compared to baggy/loose clothing folds, imo.  

Judar (Magi) 

(+) His eyes. I love the rings in his eyes so much. It makes them look unique and it also adds to his unhinged gremlin vibes.

(+) He canonically has eyeliner!!! Slay!!! In the Magi anime, it’s purple. In the manga, it’s red. Ohtaka drew this one tegaki doodle before (back on her now deleted blog?) of him wearing lipstick. I'm so glad Judar's makeup habits and eyeliner/lipstick are canon :) Zooming at the speed of light MY SONNN 

(+) I love the shape of his hair and braids. The way Ohtaka draws his braids just looks so good and it's such a clever way to draw his braids tbh. It helps simplify the design a lot, especially when you have to draw them everytime. It looks like a galaxy or tornado shaped in some illusts... I really love it. 

His braids have a very unique shape since they’re based off the shape of a scorpion’s tail, according to Ohtaka in the Magi guidebook. I have a bunch of rambles in my notes about how much I adore Judar’s braid in his design, and the way it’s simplified and shaped.

(+/-) I love the hanfu that I chose in my design for him, but it can also be complicated to draw everytime. It looks pretty af though, and at least the shapes and wide clothing folds are simple, since I enjoy drawing baggy/loose clothing folds. I’d like to get used to drawing hanfu quickly ^^ 

I drafted a few hanfu designs for Judar before :) But I could sketch out a bunch more designs in the future. I'm planning ideas in my head for the hanfu that I wanna redesign for Judar. I drafted some ideas a couple days ago. I know I want hanfu with black, white, red, and gold colours for sure.

(+/-) Same thing again with the eye style and how even little differences can result in a different look. Despite me using a similar eye style, my Judar drawings tend to look slightly different between each other, and it can take longer to redraw stuff especially since I usually have a specific look I'm aiming for with my drawings.

(+/-) His spiky hair. His hair is kinda similar to TYL Xanxus' hair (KHR) so it's usually simple enough for me to draw. It's just that, sometimes it's easier for me to draw, sometimes it's harder for me to draw, due to the shape of the hair spikes.

(+/-) Admittedly, drawing his braids can take some time to refine... I'd most likely draw a cloud/galaxy shape for his braids. I really love how Kama (FGO) has galaxy coloured hair, so I think it’d be fun to colour his hair like that ^^ 

(-) I hate his canon clothes so much. The stereotypical, bastardized take on South Asian/Desi clothes with this outfit design literally makes me perish. No, I'm not drawing that ever. 

I want to perish innerly everytime I remember that he's literally been drawn in changshan (male equivalent to cheongsam/qipao) and hanfu before, and it would literally fit him more since he’s CN-inspired too. It’d look so much more gorgeous than that horrible stereotyped mess of an outfit he wears in canon, and yet... 

Baby bingus with severely bad fashion taste on purpose. He can still be a whore, just in pretty clothes instead. I'm putting him in proper clothes, I’m currently doing drawings of him in hanfu for him cuz I CANNOT STAND his bad fashion taste and clothes in canon. Judar, get your ass over here!!! The cat mom and cat basket carrier owner’s gonna dress you, smh 

Friend: Yassss. When you have specific things you like about drawing a character you are attached now /hj

Hanfu

Me: I’m currently taking Japanese classes and I also bought a black/red hanfu too!!! Judar colours 🖤 ❤️  

(I’m just gonna call it the Judar colours hanfu hehe)

Link: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1198954493/gender-neutral-hanfu-by-hanfu-story?transaction_id=3551350292

It’s what I based my Judar drawings off of  🖤 ❤️ 

I’d change the patterns to fit him more tho

It’s a rough sketch for now so I still need to refine the lines

Oh yeah and I need to give him gold/red hanfu earrings. I’ll put that down as a reminder for myself

And here’s the photos I took of my hanfu when it arrived!

THE COLOURS ARE SO PRETTY AAA

The quality and colours of the clothes are really good, just like in the preview photos 

Now I match with my son. Weh weh weh /pos /endearing 

Friend: Nice 👀💖

Friend 2: OOH INCH RESTINGG 👀 👀 Me: It's this!!! It's the hanfu I based my Judar hanfu doodles off of 🥺 ❤️ It's in Judar colours. Black and red and white 🖤 ❤️  I was super excited to get something that reminds me of my fave 🥰 🤭 ❤️ ✨

Friend: Yass the colors look so amazing!! I love black and red combo 😭 💖

Me: SAME BLACK/WHITE/RED SUPREMACY

Friend 3: Cool! :3

Pretty!!

Friend 4: OOOO both awesome >:3

Me: Yeah I'm excited for it! Cuz I wanted to level up my Japanese and it's hard to get motivation studying alone. And the classes seem promising!

It's also too easy to fall into the fashion hole and collecting traditional clothes but I definitely want more in the future 🥰🤭💞

Friend 3: Oooh I see!!!

Me: It's because I really wanted to get my hands on the hanfu that inspired the clothes I imagine for my fave. I imagine he wears something similar, probably just with different patterns and details

Ohtaka’s Judar sketches and various manga panels

Thinking about Ohtaka’s Judar sketches Lumen showed me before...  Lumen showed me Judar in changshan and hanfu and JP traditional clothes. Society if these were his canon outfits

(Magi: Ch. 119)

(Magi: Ch. 132)

(Magi: Ch. 214)

(Magi: Ch. 237)

(Magi: Ch. 290)

There’s more than this but I’d have to go back and check to find where they were adklsklsdkldsk

I'm forever gonna mourn this. I can't believe he wears that horrible stereotypical mess of an outfit in canon instead 

Rambles with Cinna 

Thinking about Ohtaka's Judar sketches... Society if these were his canon outfits

Me: The first one of him wearing changshan slaps so bad. I want to incorporate those shirt cuff patterns into my own hanfu design for Judar.

Friend: YOO THAT FIRST ONE IS GORGEOUS The throne one is gorgeous

Me: Yeahhhh... His outfit is gorgeous in the throne one, but he looks so miserable though 😭 Understandable though.

Friend: YEA HE DOES... I think it makes the illustration even cooler though I also like how the 1st one highlights his chest shapes

Me: Yeah I was thinking that too! Like Judar is super twinky but still I like how it highlights his chest And I think it fits the illust. It adds.

Me: The hanfu I'm drawing doesn't really emphasize his chest, but it's fine, I can have a bunch of alt outfits for him Imagine Judar suddenly getting more outfits in retaliation to haniwa sausage Alibaba telling him he always dresses the same in the Vol. 28 - Ch. 278 omake

Friend: Yeah valid!! LMFAO YEAH Judar: See!! I don't always dress the same!! >:(

Me: LMAOOO YEAH

CUTE... 

Me: I default to the black/red ruqun for Judar's hanfu design, but yeah, I can also make extra designs too :) Also that first pic Ohtaka drew for Judar, the changshan one, it looks kinda reminiscent to Viet Áo dài. Except on Áo dài, the slits of the dress are higher

Though I guess that’s inevitable since CN, JP, KR, and VN cultures all existed in the same cultural sphere and did cultural exchanges. There are similarities but deep differences too 

Friend: YEAHH I see...

Friend 2: I’m here for the colors SKSKSKSK

Me: Yeah the colours slap so bad For Judar I was thinking of designing him with a black, white, red, gold hanfu! Or at least with that colour scheme. Like black/red hanfu with white and gold patterns or accessories

Friend: AGREED. 

OOH....

Me: Judar usually wears purple eyeshadow but purple eyeshadow and red eyeliner in the coloured one of baby Judar... I usually draw him with red eyeliner, cuz he has red eyes and I like the contrast of red eyeliner against the rest of his design

Me: KSDKDKSKDSK

Friend: I see.... neato YEAH

Rambles with Cinna, Jaqui and Snow

Cinna said this but there's so much variety to hanfu and huafu (Chinese traditional clothing) that it's not even that hard to find traditional clothing that'd suit his vibes. Like bro, he'd slay harder in hanfu! Not that stereotyped bastardized mess of an outfit he wears in canon

Ohtaka has drawn him in hanfu (when he was younger) and changshan (the male version of the cheongsam/qipao) before too. Society if these were his canon outfits. Like these actually look really good. Like the changshan and hanfu/throne one are sooo gorgeous

Some of my faves have such bad fashion taste it’s embarrassing to look at DHADHSHSDHHDS

Judar literally dresses like a slut in canon LMAO. Dude is slut certified, he's pretty much half-naked

I forgot what exactly you said but Jaqui, I think you and Lumen have both said something along the lines of like, “This is me. I think Judar is cool and iconic as a character. And if we’re talking about design it’s one of my favourites, but I bully him because he’s half-naked” WHDSHSDHDHS LMAO

I’m gonna bully my son /pos /endearing 

Sorry I won't let my faves have bad fashion taste in peace cuz I don't wanna have to draw that shit. I'm the cat mom, so I will dress them up.

Friend: My first thought seeing your Judar hanfu drawing was that this is the opposite of whorifying. You are purifying him. He isn't half naked anymore DJFFJHF 😂 I love the red eyeliner and his expression so much. He looks really pretty 👀 👌 

Now he can have a better fashion style DSFDFDD

Me: HELP LMAOOO He can still be a whore, just in pretty clothes instead. I'm putting him in proper clothes cuz I can't stand his bad fashion taste and clothes in canon. Judar get your ass over here!!!  

Also thank you! I adore giving my faves eyeliner. It's such a nice touch. For Judar I was thinking of designing him with black, white, red, and gold hanfu... I had that above hanfu in mind for him. I love the hanfu I picked out for him, it suits him so much better imo. It even has his colour scheme. Black and red are his thematic colours, so this puts more red on his design  

Because I was brainstorming for ideas... Hmm, I want a black/red hanfu for him... And I was wondering which parts of the ruqun I wanted to be red or black. I ended up choosing the one with the red blouse (襦, ru) and a black wrap-around skirt (裙, qun) since that hanfu I chose is perfect for him tbh. But the reverse, and also different colour combinations could also work! 

Friend 2: Whore (but with clothes on this time) ALSO SO VALID FIX HIS NAKED ASS

Friend 3: HELP YOU COVERED HIM UP This is what Takama did to Idate as teenagers smh /j

Let Judar be a slut and have bad fashion choices!!1!1!11!! /j

Me: Reminds me I need to continue this drawing soon... I love the eyes/expression and hanfu I chose for him

Me: SNOW LMAO

Teen Idate being a hoe until Takama said no is so funny to me LMAO

So now he just wears clothes that cover him up Modern AU Judar would wear a crop top and techwear... At least that combo actually looks good.

Friend 3: He feels like he would wear the smallest crop top ever but wear the biggest pants man has ever seen

Me: LMFAO Yeah he has those vibes

[lavinialost]

hello again, this reblog goes out to @agent-p-94 and @urlocallesbiab who asked if I had found anything while deep in the dghda trenches. let's ignore the fact that it's been approximately four months since you originally asked me that question.

happy to report that I do in fact have opinions on everything I read and I've boiled it down to the ones that I've gone back to for a second read in the last three-ish months. it's mostly brotzly because (surprise, surprise) that's what makes up a majority of the fics (not that I'm complaining). I've also cross-referenced my list with Lavellington's bookmarks (which you should check it out if you're looking for a much more curated list of excellent fic recs)

(list below the cut in no particular order)

Toil and Trouble is an Understatement by TriffidsandCuckoos

witch au! it's such a fun spin on s1 canon, and I love it when authors move everything slightly to the left <3

you know it's good because I read all 19K words and still wanted more. personally shocked that it was in like page 75 of 108 when I sorted by kudos. bc it's GOOD.

feel like a person for a moment of my life by nosecoffee

must be logged into AO3 to view!

looks it's tagged Bart/Ken, but it's so barely there that I personally read it as platonic bc I didn't see the relationship tag originally.

pretty short, but the premise is really neat (the holistics are androids!!)

Bart POV, my beloved

in the stillness of remembering by reptilianraven

combination fairytale au slash casefic <3 a perfect oneshot around 8k

Forces Unseen by oneprotagonistshort

ok, I'll admit it's not exactly a hidden gem because it has 5k hits, but GUYS IT'S SO GOOD

a casefic with all my favorite tropes in one place (fake relationship, only one bed, arson!!)

this fic made me feel like I was sitting in a postcard.

not a moment I could choose by neville

spies! espionage! snark! but also deals with depression

Fear is Only in Your Mind by TriffidsandCuckoos

more by triffids sorry not sorry

im... deeply disturbed by this one ngl. read the tags (heavy emphasis on the lovecraftian horror tag) to make sure this is your vibe definitely. nothing too graphic imo, just deeply unsettling (in a good way-- the author did an amazing job)

i take your word by clockwordcheetah

casefic where todd has slowly growing amnesia and everyone's panicking and trying to fix it

have you ever had a fic tear out your heart really, really slowly and then put it back together again? this is like that. but better.

A Moment of Clarity by electricteatime

One-shot about Farah figuring out that she's a lesbian <3 it's so cute and all the characterizations and dialogue are on point

in this house, we all hate Farah's dad <3

On Egyptian Rivers of Some Renown by ThrillingDetectiveTales

the whole thing is Todd on the phone with Amanda after he realizes he's won the lottery, but there's some... miscommunication... about what they're talking about

ngl this is one of my favorites even though it's pretty short, it's just so silly <3 Todd's endless suffering is delightful TO ME.

How don't you feel about that by agent_p_94

EVERYONE GO READ THE LYDIA FIC. IT IS DELIGHTFUL AND MEANINGFUL.

the dirk and lydia dynamic is everything I have ever wished for and more

the whole agency needs so much therapy.

on bravery by Talls

when in doubt I am probably thinking about this fic: it's short and sweet and a quick + interesting brotzly character study

I've done it. I finally managed to make it all the way to the last page (108) of dghda fics on ao3.

yes, I am mentally unwell in ways the dsm-5 hasn't even begun to define yet, thank you for asking.

[hellionosphere]