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littleeyesofpallas · 2 days ago

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Just picking at ye olde Hell material in Bleach again, just for funsies. It's something I've kinda fleetingly covered in pieces but never really done one solid bit on. This isn't going to be very focused and it's gonna involve a lot of tangents and rambling, so buckle up i guess... big ass text wall beneath the cut. (I'll try to include pictures to break things up, but don't expect it to make it much more readable)

Digging up the old hell gate art it's interesting that Kubo and the film team almost immediately came into conflict:

Kubo's original Gate of Hell from the end of the Shrieker fight has nondescript plain fusuma paper screen doors, as a neat kind of complement to the shinigami's shoji screen gates between worlds --the anime later opts to give them an unclear texture and odd purple coloration, which the digital colorist retroactively applies to the color manga-- and the movie team embellishes this with fusuma-e paintings of hellfire and bones, and sculpted metal frames, giving an impression much more akin to the heavy wooden exterior doors of a temple, rather than the more delicate interior doors referenced prior. As you might expect, this Buddhist reference, however non-canonical, is very on brand for the series' themes... but we'll get to more of that later

But when Kubo does his own promo art in the original serial print of chapter 428, he draws the gate completely differently... He gives the "paper" screen doors a new bone-like texture, very similar to the carpet of shattered bones lining the Dangai --something notably more distinctive in the manga than in the anime, where they were a lot sparser with the bones-- and accordingly the color of mixed yellowed and bleached bones has a hue in line with rice paper doors.

Incidentally the scale of the doors and the nature of the giant skeletons seems to nod at least superficially to the gashadokuro, a yokai noted for being a giant skeleton made up of the bones of the people it devours.

It also evokes the Jigokuhen[地獄変]: "Hell Screen" which both literally describes a Japanese triptych style of screen art depicting hell, but also references a short story of the same name (although sometimes alternatively translated as "Panorama of Hell" or "Portrait of Hell".) by famed Japanese novelist, Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In it, a painter is commissioned, by a cruel and wealthy patron, to paint elaborate scenes of torture in the Buddhist realms of penance, the Naraka, but of course more commonly just translated as "hell." He becomes obsessed with the work, seemingly possessed, and begins torturing his art assistants for reference until the spiral into madness drives him to suicide.

(Ironically, Kubo actually did consultant art design for an adaptation of this short story, for the anthology anime Aoi Bungaku:"Blue Literature." although of the three different stories that used his character designs Hell Screen was the only one that didn't actually get any promotional art by Kubo himself)

The title also alludes to a genre of classical Buddhist art in Japan, but perhaps more common in China, of long continuous panoramic scrolls depicting various scenes of the naraka. But that's getting kind of away from the point here...

But more to the point, with the two big weird skeletons that each only have one half of a giant shared ribcage between the two of them, Kubo very conspicuously added a pair of little devil's horns that both weren't on his original drawing and weren't communicated to anyone on the movie's art team, because they're absent in both the movie itself and the concurrent ad material. And Kubo keeps these little horns when he draws the gate again in the New Breaths From Hell oneshot --although Kubo does do away with the bandages and the daoist talismans, so consistency is in question. And unlike their original otherwise mostly humanoid implication, this raises a question about demons/oni, which Bleach has never really directly addressed but definitely doesn't not have a motif about horned demons and/or ogres...

Akon has always been a weird mystery with loose yokai adjacent vibes...

Love has oni motifs seemingly centered around fairytales more than religious lore.

Zaraki's stupid unnamed bankai is just a random unexplained demon/oni.

Ichigo's hollow form is unambiguously demon-like, but in more of a play on being his literal inner-demon.

Komamura's Tenken is almost explicitly a "jailer of hell" in the buddhist cosmological sense, often conflated with oni in Japanese specific buddhist interpretation.

And then Szayel's appearance in the New Breaths From Hell oneshot has very overtly demonic horns in, ironically, a distinctly western derived style, although his prisoner's robes are verymuch buddhist.

They are both bandaged but also have paper talisman wards(we'll be back for those in a sec...) against evil spirits plastered onto them, and...

...they're seemingly pinned into place by shakujo, the metal ring adorned staves used by traveling buddhist monks. (They are pretty famously a cool self defense weapon in stuff like anime, with some very real martial arts history to that, but more commonly they made good walking sticks for long travel, the metal rings were actually very good to scaring away wild animals like bears, and as mendicant monks they were useful for making noise to get attention while begging for alms, since as monks they didn't really deal with money or personal possessions whenever possible they lived off what they could carry on their person and what could be given by the charity of others.)

But anyway guess who has a shakujo and little faux devil horns? Tessai and Hacchi as captain and lieutenant of the Kidou Corps. And we remember what Kidou is, right? Ki-dou[鬼道]: "demon way" or with a little liberty, "demon discipline"/"demon teaching." Which we really don't get any more detail to chew on beyond that vague parallel, but it sure does seem to suggest that soul society's magic system is something they developed or otherwise stole from an unspecified race of demons/oni.

Which is curious, because even though the TBtP arc screwed things up by being lazy and uninteresting in making them structurally derivative of the gotei 13, originally the Kidou Corps were supposed to be their own organization within soul society and very conspicuously not samurai.

Other than just favoring magic over swords, their uniforms were based on the aesthetics of buddhist warrior monks and nuns, and as it was originally explained the kidou sorps, gotei 13, onmitsukido(prior to being merged with teh 2nd division) and the Central 46 were all distinctly separate entities within soul society. And given the onmitsukido's clear ninja aesthetic and seeming preference of hand to hand combat, it seemed pretty self evident that the role of the kidou corps was also uniquely outside the bounds of the gotei's assigned shihakusho and zanpakutou samurai styled system --it was only the appearance of Tessai and Hacchi in generic shihakusho that contradicted this.

Even putting aside the full covering robes used for Rukia's escorts, when it came to the Kidou Corps members presiding over Rukia's execution, the manga colorist, the anime, and even the enemy models in BBS all seems to have defaulted to making the Kidou Corps uniforms a variation of the shihakuhso, even though, the way Kubo originally drew them, they were very distinctly not solid black the way an actual shihakusho is; he used screen tone indicating some kind of middling tone color.

There's also the odd case of Ururu's talisman sealed missile pod? The anime got a little lazy and just skipped out on any semblance of the written calligraphy on each paper seal, and makes it look more like it's wrapped in bandages, but the original art is very clear that those are paper wards; the type used to seal away a cursed object.

They're fundamentally daoist in origin, but similar traditions seeped into buddhist and shinto practice. Typically you'd expect them to be either white with black, or yellow with red ink, but red paper with black ink wasn't unheard of. The manga's digital colorist(s?) waffled between a couple options, but at least one of them matches Kubo's choice of color combo for the seals on the skeletons of the Hell gate.

Oh and only tangentially linked to all this is also Jinta and his ridiculously sized kanabo/tetsubo club. A favorite of fairytale oni. He only barely even begins to factor into this set of themes, he just happens to also be conspicuously in proximity of louder contributors like Ururu's thing and Tessai. He also sorta falls in line with a bit of Love's shtick, and Love's got his oni mask to reinforce it which almost strengthens Jinta's case by proxy? sort of???

Anyway... All those aesthetic loose ends aside just to point out that Bleach directly names several naraka directly. Of the 8 Hot Naraka...

Toukatsu Jigoku[��活地獄]: "The Ongoing Resuscitation Hell"

Kokujou Jigoku[黒縄地獄]: "The Black Rope Hell"

Shugou Jigoku[衆合地獄]: "The Mass Sum(of weight) Hell"

Kyoukan Jigoku[叫喚地獄]: "The Scream(ing) Hell"

Dai-Kyoukan Jigoku[大叫喚地獄]: "The Great Scream(ing) Hell"

Shounetsu Jigoku[焦熱地獄]／Ennetsu Jigoku[炎熱地獄]: "The Charring Heat Hell" / "The Blazing Heat Hell"

Dai-Shounetsu Jigoku[大焦熱地獄]／Dai-Ennetsu Jigoku[大炎熱地獄] / Gokunetsu Jigoku[極熱地獄]: "The Great Charring Heat Hell" / "Great Blazing Heat Hell" / "The (Most)Extreme Heat Hell"

Mugen[無間] / Abi Jigoku[阿鼻地獄]: "The Ceaseless(ness)"(lit.: "No Gap/Interval") / "The Avi(ci) Hell"(just a phonetic approximation of the sanskrit Avīci[अवीचि] itself meaning "Waveless" from which the Mugen's meaning of "without intervals" as in "without variation" as in "unchanging"/"ending" derives)

Toukatsu it isn't directly referenced but its basic description as a hell where you're repeatedly beaten unconscious only to be revived to be beaten again does seem to match the profile of Unohana's bankai and how she used it in Zaraki's training.

Kokujou is obviously the namesake of Komamura's bankai; initially it seemed to imply that he was himself the hell jailer punishing criminals, but later developments in the wolfman lore actually suggest that as a criminal reincarnated as an animal as karmic punishment, he was himself a prisoner of the Black Rope Hell. The nature of zanpakutou and bankai suggest that the jailer has imprinted as part of his identity because in his heart of hearts he remains in hell and punished for the sins/crimes he seeks to atone for, and that that moral need for atonement is what makes him more human than animal. His self identity is one anchored to guilt, penance, and self flagellation

Shugou is only ever name dropped, never seen, as the 3rd level of Soul Society's massive prison complex, that Tessai was supposed to be sentenced to for the events of Turn Back the Pendulum.

Kyoukan isn't directly referenced but it does share a root with Kyougoku[叫谷]: "The Valley of Screams" which is itself a homonym with the contraction of Kyoukan Jigoku.

And the Muken[無間] is the lowest level of the prison where Unohana and Zaraki fought, as well as where Aizen was imprisoned. It's written identically to Mugen[無間] just with a slight variation in pronunciation.

Notably of these references, the Shugou and Muken are levels 3 and 8 of the 8 tier Shinou Chika Dai-kangoku[央地下大監獄]: "Central Underground Great Prison" which is a prison facility in and run by Soul Society, rather than a part of the distinct realm of Hell.

The distinctive structure of layered realms of punishment are used again for the Hell Verse movie, although they've only got the 5 layers, and they only loosely mirror superficial elements of existing naraka; motifs of lotuses and fire. Incidentally there's the fun cultural closed circuit of Dante's Inferno seemingly influenced by naraka lore via Chinese cultural exchange along the silk road, looping back around to being the most globally iconic image of hell and in turn influencing pop culture like anime and manga.

And on the more obscure side, the Cold Naraka...

Abuda[頞部陀]: is just a phonetic approximation of the sanskrit Arbuda[अर्बुद] which i believe is supposed to describe a shape that, depending on context, could either describe a fetus or a tumor or a sore, but in the context of how this cold hell works seems to be translated as "Blister" like what happens from hypothermia. (Chilblains?) So round about way to say it reads as "(Hypothermia) Blister(s)"

Nirabuda[尼剌部陀]: as you might have guessed another approximation of sanskrit, this time apending the prefix Nir- to the Arbuda. Nirarbuda[निरर्बुद] means "No Blisters" but given descriptions seems to reference the fact that here the hypothermia blisters pop, inflicting all the associated pains that come with that.

Atata[頞哳吒]: Again, this game of telephone from India to China to Japan; from Aṭaṭa[अटट] which as far as I can tell is supposed to be an onomatopoeia for the sound of chattering teeth.

Kakaba[臛臛婆]: a much looser approximation, from Hahava[हहव] similar to the above I think this is supposed to just be the sound of like a deep crying or wailing or maybe "groaning" is a better word for it.

Kokoba[虎虎婆]: you know the deal here.... from Huhuva[हुहुव] which i think it supposed to be the sound of like sniveling in the cold, not quite a "sneeze" but I've seen it compared to "A-chu!"

Ubara[嗢鉢羅]: from Utpala[उत्पल]: "water lily"/"bluelotus"

Padoma[鉢特摩] / Guren Jigoku[紅蓮地獄]: and suddenly we're back to actual readable japanese, and the jigoku:"hell" epithets are back! Means "The CrimsonLotus Hell" and derives its meaning from Padma[पद्म]: "lotus."

Maka-Padoma[摩訶鉢特摩]: / Dai-Guren Jigoku[大紅蓮地獄]: The sanskrit Mahāpadma[महापद्म] means "Great Lotus" and in turn gives us the Japanese, "The Great CrimsonLotus Hell."

So obviously the big one here is Hitsugaya's bankai, Dai-Guren Hyourinmaru[大紅蓮氷輪丸].

But surprisingly the rest of the cold naraka don't really get much attention. maybe because they don't have a nice cleanly understood Japanese meaning? I'm actually really not sure why these use so many distinctly Chinese style phonetic approximating characters, rather than having either just kana like most loan words, or uniquely Japanese translated terms. Maybe the cold hells are less utilized in Japanese Buddhism in general? I wouldn't really know.

I guess that just leaves... The Jigoku-no-Gokuri[地獄の獄吏]: "Jailer/Gaoler of Hell" epithet?

It's the phrase Szayel uses that retroactively identifies the big arm and kabuki-like face behind the doors in the original appearance; It's what actual buddhist lore calls the kind of monsters that torture people in naraka, which Tengen Myouou ends up being based on, and that are conflated with Japan's indigenous oni lore when buddhism comes to Japan.

The Hell Verse movie really boringly seemed to explain that first appearance as the Kushanada --seemingly named after the place in India where the buddha died, Kushinagar-- by bringing back the giant arm, a kind of knife weapon, and the shoulder armor, but they don't meaningfully build on anything or otherwise offer any real insight.

There's some extremely tangential avenue to argue that Chad's Left Arm of The Devil is derived from whatever this category of creature the Jailers are, not just because of the tribal tattoo-like patterns, but also because the original Jailer of Hell does appear to be left handed. His kanji uses a different word for a demon/evil spirit though, akuma[悪魔]: lit. "evil spirit/demon" which is different from the oni/ki[鬼]: "ogre/demon/ghost."

Notably it also wields a shirasaya tanto, rather than a katana; it's a wooden handle (no hand wrap) typical for storing a blade (not for wielding in combat --although it is a popular weapon of yakuza in fiction), lacks a distinctive crossguard that would otherwise identify a unique shinigami's zanpakutou. This is kind of curious once we find out that Ukitake has taken up the role of Jailer in the No Breathes From Hell oneshot, where he uses his zanpakutou, now proportionally huge, in place of a tanto.

Oh but curiously Kubo changed the doors. They swing out now instead of sliding. It's funny because until now he was consistent about them being sliding doors, both in style and function, and it was only the movie promo art that went for the big swinging temple doors.

So we have something (loosely) associated with big temple gates, held in place by magical buddhist exorcist tools, with skeletal demons, leading to hell.

And we have a seemingly monastic order of magic users, practicing "demon arts", with hair mimicking devil horns --where Tessai in particular is both wielding a shakujo and presumably had some hand in making Ururu's cursed seal anti-hollow weapon.

We know there are at least two types of beings directly associated with/from hell sporting horns(although they're noticeably more demonic/ram-like) and then a second subset of horned characters who aren't directly tied to hell in lore, but do have more of an oni short-horn design matching the horns on the gate itself.

We know Ukitake serves as a Jailer and appears to have grown in size accordingly. So in reverse we can assume the first jailer seen was once human sized.

But the first jailer's weapon does not appear to be a zanpakutou, implying not a shinigami

but he is wearing samurai armor; a sode in particular, but without any accompanying kote forearm guards. (It's a bit of a long shot, but this kind of points away from samurai proper, and possibly to something more like a peasant soldier, or something like a war-torn era bandit in stolen/scavenged armor.)

there's also the weird loose thread about tribal tattoos and devils and kabuki makeup that never come up past the original appearance of hell, and has no direct links or parallels in other lore, but do very loosely kind of align with Chad's Left Arm.

Also the tanto and shirasaya are pretty in line with possible yakuza theming but so are tattoos at least in the superficial sense, the tribal shapes shown however aren't really in any yakuza related style. (i dunno where else to plug it in but here's a post on some criminal tattoo stuff seemingly referenced in Bleach. Also unrelated yakuza stuff.)

Come to think of it, there's a lot of stuff kinda orbiting these bits about yakuza and a gates and kabuki that don't touch on the hell themes directly but do all kinda half orbit the subject... Monstrous gate guardians like the oni-like ni-oh come close to the hell jailers. gate guardian names as part of a yakuza type when the tanto the jailer uses is kind of a yakuza thing. the ni-oh style tasuki being a kabuki thing, and that brushing up against the jailer's kabuki villain makeup pattern. The two yakuza lieutenants serving captains with hell jailer and oni themes... again, it's not a direct hit but it's all kinda lingering around in the background....

Oh and the LN tries to handwave hell as not part of the broader origin story and cosmology, but other than not being canon, apart from the handful of little designs and names Kubo lent to it, they're also just badly written and don't really engage with Bleach's (admittedly very messy) web of themes and symbols in any functional or satisfying ways.

Oh and if it wasn't clear the lore of the Hell Verse movie really isn't being taken into any meaningful consideration here, apart from how it can contextualize Kubo's choices made in opposition to it. Like how the gate isn't actually designed like temple doors, but the movie choice to change that comes from the presence of buddhist elements already in it. But I'm not going to really dig into the kushanada or the togabito at all...

Oh right and then there's just the actual explicit lore from the oneshot. There's not really any digging to do with that, so i nearly forgot. But the Jigoku-no-Rinki[地獄の燐気]"Hell's PhosphorousEnergy" has some weird little implications in it, although it's hard to really pin down clear intent from it. For one, rinki is a homonym with rinki[悋気]: "jealousy" where the kanji swapped out is very specifically Rin[燐]: "phosphorous" the chemical. It's seemingly used almost exclusively in the context of chemistry, but a variety of pop culture stuff like Touhou and Blue Exorcist have taken to using it as synonymous with onibi[鬼火] lit. "ghost fire" the phenomenon known as ignis fatuus or a will-o-wisp.

The association seems to be from the blue-green hues of white phosphorous in the dark and the typical white-blue appearances of ghost fire. However phosphorous is also used in a orthodox catholic ritual called "holy fire" where its properties as a self-igniting are used to produce a "miraculous" inextinguishable flame. And on a similar christian note, the word phosphorous itself comes from the greek Phōsphóros[Φωσφόρος] meaning "Light Bringer" in reference to Venus, aka "the day star" as the only celestial body visible to the naked eye in daylight; and of course that greek epithet is where the Latin translation LUCIFER comes from.

So go figure, it's a holy, ghostly, ever-burning fire from hell synonymous with Lucifer and Jealousy, associated with gaki/preta: "hungry ghosts" condemned to be possessed of unfulfilled desires and forever jealous of the living and their indulgences...

Right right, I guess I need to add a but on the gaki themselves. they are of course a part of buddhist cosmology, called preta[प्रेत] in sanskrit, a kind of ghost in realm parallel to the naraka, in a similar way that animals exist parallel to humans, and asura parallel the deva. They are driven by instinct rather than intellect and as such get to sort of half escape imprisonment in hell; still tormented by those desires, forever emaciated and starving, despite bloated and full bellies, but free to roam the world of the living and spirits alike.

It's kind of unclear if Kubo ment this as a formal term or if Szayel called them that as a sort of slang; although it's a little oldfashioned, gakidomo[餓鬼共] can be used to describe rambunctious, often thieving kids. Essentially calling them too driven by greed and thinking of nothing but food, and kind of derogatory toward poor kids. In english it often gets roughly localized as something like "you brats!" or "damn kids." "little rascals" or "gremlins" or "little devils" might be comparable phrasing too, if still a little too clunky for casual english.

Yeah, okay, I think I'm out of steam here... I dunno if i missed anything, either actual details I missed in the text, or conceptual links I failed to make... but this is the end. I desperately need Kubo to put out some kind of new content. But like, actual content, not shitty google translate transcripts of some random interview where none of the questions matter and he just does that awkward professional thing where he tries to "yes, and..." everything even when there's clearly no real answer. Hopefully when the final season ends it'll coincide with some kind of manga sequel, even if it's just another oneshot...

#bleach #bleach meta #yet again i post in the dead of night when no one will see

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ren-cerati · 2 days ago

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TW yap and pressure spoilers

Something a buddy of mine brought up while I was sobbing over p.ai.nter

Technically, if you think about it, you *are* rescuing him.

Stay with me.

Painter is one of my favorite characters EVER. Like hes very important to me okay and you will not believe the crash out i had when the update dropped. There is a painter made of cardboard in my room now. I was literally exploding. Kaboom kaboom kaboom EXPLOSION

Anyway

Now, let's reference the scene. Player smashes his screen in, effectively destroying him (assumedly permanently, since Sebastian can be heard afterwards in distress, and he kills the player at the end.)

Thing is, maybe this is mercy. Sebastian and painter have been trying to get out of the black site for what, 13 years? Thats a long time. Even if its a lesser number than what im thinking, thats still a godawful long time.

Painter has actively expressed regret over his actions through multiple voicelines. Even if some of the lines seem to take joy in gunning down expendables or trapping them in a room with eyefestation, he still expresses regret. He'll apologize to you after you enter a door with good people.

Sebastian himself puts it really well- they're just doing what they need to survive. Its them or the expendables.

So in destroying him, you truly could say that was the kindest option. If it's taken this long, it might never happen. Why continue watching blood spill, deaths caused because of what you've done?

And something alongside that- it's heartwrenching how sebastian and painter have dialogue on what they'll do after escaping. There's hope there, but is it misfounded?

Think about this from his perspective- you're a computer programmed for art, an expression created from life. You gain sentience and form an attachment to your creator. One day, jealous people decide that because of their own lackings, you're for the taking. They track down your creator and torture him, later killing him. You're taken to a facility and forced to give up the passion that was coded into you and mine roblux.

You try to fry your circuits multiple times, resulting in unstable behavior and drop of the hat moodswings. You fail to destroy yourself, and existence continues on.

Eventually, someone saves you. Someone who's also experienced the injustices of the company.

You team up. Eventually, alliance turns to friendship, and even with the passing days you trust your benefactor to save you both. That one day, you'll get out of this awful place and be free.

You have to kill to do it. Because once the crystal is retrieved, who's to say they cant blow the black site sky high, covering up all their misdeeds? Or a hundred other horrible options. So you do. You kill, you shoot, you misdirect and trap.

And it's horrible. Because those are people, no matter if they're searching desperately for a pardon for a crime they could have or could not have committed. Many are guilty. Many are innocent.

They all bleed the same, regardless of who they were.

And you? Slowly sinking to madness. You can't remember your creators face. You cant say his name. When you don't talk with Sebastian, you sit in a room, alone, maybe drawing, maybe just staring into space. You watch as people run to their deaths, even sometimes without your prompting.

People pass through sometimes. You try to let them know it isn't personal- you just want to survive. There's a reason to survive now, since theres a chance to get out. There's also someone to live for.

You'll get out, surely. Ignore any doubt you might have as the days drag on.

And now back to the weird analysis claim thing- I'm not good at phrasing my thoughts.

I likely sound like a broken record, but im just gonna lay out my base idea.

Killing painter is mercy because he and Sebastian might never get out. Why prolong suffering if it's pointless?

This probably sounds extremely depressing and nihilistic, and it is. But there's literally almost no hope to be found in the situation.

Now, this isnt to say oh, painter and sebastian will never escape and wah angst sad wah, but it's a sort of deep dive into why destroying him could be considered 'rescue.' You're releasing him from the torment of worrying about the next day, from watching red drip over the walls and floors, from having to wonder if each day is the day you'll get out.

But in destroying painter, you essentially destroy sebastians hope. He likely knows he and painter may never get out of the blacksite, but he still wants to try, needs to try. Because someone is relying on him now, and they believe in getting out. I like to think they're both sort of each other's reason for carrying on after everything.

Will NEVER be mad at Sebastian for killing the player at the end. It's so deserved. It's insane. (Also Simps. Wtf. You just killed that mans computer buddy and you're kicking your feet as he rips out your assumed heart and basically calls you a piece of shit and a horrible person.)

Bit of a rant there uh

Anyway! Yeah I feel like theres just so much to think about given the update and there were so many thoughts in my head but theyre gone now. I really hope the update spawns a lot of fluff fanfics for painter and seb because im still in shambles. I really hope theres an actual option to rescue them both in the future and not some relaly fucked up mercy kill.

Holy yappathon. Anyway sorry if this is incorrect first time yapping about my thoughts about a fictional character (I should stick to art)

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kozachenko · 3 months ago

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Shortly after that Zanmu drawing, I went on an art spree and made small little drawings of a majority of the current playable characters in Touhou (I've been procrastinating on drawing Aya and Ran) and finally gave myself refernce points for how to draw all these characters going forward! Also, don't mind the change in background colour, that's just me changing the background so the values are actually visible lol.

Artist's Notes;

So the first one I started with was Reimu, and the inspiration for her pose came from this pose reference on Pinterest of a girl doing ribbon dancing, and I thought "Damn, that's very Reimu-coded" and did a quick little Reimu drawing from that.

This was also the drawing where I finally learned what makes a Reimu drawing feel like Reimu. It's the shirt, it's literally just the shirt. I decided to try making Reimu's shirt have a stronger square shape and oh my god it's like I discovered some kind of secret sauce because it just feels so much more like Reimu. I also gave Reimu a tabard and loose pants because I felt like that also fit her very well and also tied in some element's of Yukari's design into hers. I also made her bow look more like a very geometric butterfly as a bit of a tie in to "Diochromatic Lotus Butterfly" and also because I think butterfly symbolism fits her a lot. I also left the hands unfinished because they are not the focus of this piece, Reimu is, I don't wanna cry over how I can't get the hands right and then never get to the actually fun parts of the drawing. Previously, I did some design experimentation with Reimu where I added a little ornament on her obi that was inspired by Yuna's design from Final Fantasy 10 (I can't remember if I ever posted that one lol, also FFX is so good you guys I love it so much) and I like it, I think it adds some fun assymetry to her design that I think makes it look neat. I also gave her some more traditional Japanese shoes (I don't know the name of them so please correct me if you know) since I've seen other artists doing it and I love that look so I added that to this drawing as well.

I also really like how Marisa turned out, I experimented a bit with her body type and outfit, though I didn't really go too off-model with her compared to Reimu. I liked the longer sleeves on her and I gave her a big bow on the back of her apron since I thought it looked cute. I couldn't find a spot for the bow on her hat that looked good so sadly that isn't present in this version of her :( I do like how her face turned out though, since I've also been experimenting with how differently stylized I can make faces in my art. I will always love mangas like Hunter X Hunter that can put two extremely differently stylized characters on the same panel and make it look cohesive, it's why I love the style so much.

I think the crulest irony is not being able to draw your favourite character well while you're hyperfixating on them, but then only being able to draw them how you picture them once they're no longer your favourite, and that happened with Sakuya here. I was initially gonna give her the flashiest eyeshadow known to man but when I removed the layer wih the eyeshadow rendering on it I ended up liking it more without it, so now she's just got some nice bottom lashes. I tried giving her more of an hourglass shape for her body type, mainly to differentiate her more from Reimu and Marisa, and I focused on making as many points in her drawing as sharp as I can. I also gave her some white gloves because I like the idea of Sakuya having fancy gloves, it fits her. To me, Sakuya has always been the most high femme of the main Touhou characters. Maybe this is just because she was my gay awakening, maybe it's just influence from the fandom, but it just kind of makes sense to me. Much like Marisa, I also emphasized the bow ribbons for extra oomph with the silhouette and when I added the red bows and looked at the overall design, I fixed the lack of red anywhere else by just... covering her in blood... I mean she does work for two vampires and she's exactly the sanest person in Gensokyo so please pardon my indulgence in edginess it couldn't be helped.

Youmu was really fun to do but also kinda challenging. In my mind I wanted to make her feel different compared to everyone else I've drawn so far, short enough to be somewhat accurate to canon, but not too childish looking since she never really acts all that childish in cannon and it wouldn't make sense for her to look like a child. I also had to make her look fast and speedy without her looking like Sakuya and potentially avoiding same body syndrome with Aya, who's whole gimmick is speed. In the end, I think her drawing is my favourite, mainly because of the shapes and silhouette. I also really like how I golden-ratioed myon. I also took a few liberties with her outfit and decided to give it some layers to add visual interest. I also like how the cuts in the clothing add more triangles, which adds to the shape language. For her face, I was wondering what to do with her eyes until I decided to just go for the simple, glowing, circular eyes she has in the final product. I was also listening to a bunch of Gorrilaz albums while drawing these (Demon Days is my favourite album btw, idk how basic of a take that is though) and my brain 100% was subconsciously influenced by some elements of the art style (it's so good omg). I also like the shade of green I gave her, though I am a certified green lover so I am 100% biased.

Reisen is where I let myself get a little weird with it, because as you can see, I turned her into an anthropomorphic bunny because she is a weird moon rabbit god dammit, why should she look normal? I was more excited about drawing her IN design than her modern design so that's why she's dressed like that, but I do have a sketch of her in my sketchbook of her modern design. I also had fun rendering her velvet suit jacket. This also helped me tie in some of the reds in her eye and ear, which is also a nice bonus. I also gave her pure white fur to create more visual contrast. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how she turned out, though I wish I didn't shade the legs too much because it's kinda blending with the skirt colour....welp, ya win some ya lose some I guess.

Sanae is also relatively on-model compared to everyone else here, though I did try to make some changes to her outfit to make her feel different from Reimu. First of all, I made her big sleeves (IDK the proper Japanese term for them, if there is one, so again if you know please correct me on this) more open than Reimu's, as well as making them more pointy to give her a different silhouette. I also tried out a new rendering style on her eyes that I also applied to Cirno (we'll get to her in a moment) to also make her face feel different from Reimu's. I'll be honest, I didn't really know what to do with her body type so she just kinda got the "basic slim girl" look in her drawing. I'm not too big a fan of the frills I added to her skirt though, I don't really think she needs them. I'm glad I gave Reimu pants and a tabard instead of a normal skirt because that does help to make the two of them feel different. I also kept her little frog hair clip the same shade of blue as her dress, mainly to economize my colour usage and limit the palette into something a little more tight-nit. I do like how her little hair snake looks though, it's cute lol.

And finally, we have Cirno. I have been a firm believer of "long sleeve Cirno is best Cirno" ever since I saw the art of her in PMiSS because she's an ice fairy, I think it would make sense for her to want to keep herself warm, same reason she has little socks too. Now that I look at it more, her colours are pretty similar to her design in Great Fairy Wars, and honestly I like that, I think keeping her colour palette simple is a good idea so I'm happy about that. I mainly wanted to focus on rendering her wings though, mainly because rendering ice and crystals is fun even though I have done zero studies of them! I also wanted to experiment with rendering her eyes in a similar way to Sanae's, and I like how they turned out! I don't know if I'll continue with this style in the future but it will probably stick around because to me, any stylistically different way of doing eyes is another facial feature I can use to bend the rules of same face syndrome.

While I'm on the topic, I want to mention that the reason Hunter X Hunter's art works so well is because everything is kinda rendered the same. It showed me that if you do everything else consistently in your style (i.e. rendering, lineart, shading), stylizing each character's faces differently will be a lot easier, at least that's how I see it. IDK if I'm ever gonna do drawings of Aya and Ran in this style since I gotta think about them more as well as stop procrastinating lol.

#tw blood #touhou project #art #fanart #touhou fanart #reimu hakurei #sanae kochiya #sakuya izayoi #marisa kirisame #cirno #reisen udongein inaba #youmu konpaku

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vehemourn · 25 days ago

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smth i honestly recommend everyone should do is like. keep a private folder of art u like on ur computer lol. and like. download art u like when u see it. ur gonna lose stuff Forever if u just like it, u know? and like, discord archives arent really enough lol. I have been downloading art since like 2016 & I have a LOT of art that was scrubbed from the internet otherwise, especially due to like. the antics of deviantart & twitter. And on things like twitter theres Barely a way to save art to begin with (bookmarks is Not good enough)

u do kinda lose Credit a lot of the time (unless u save it with it named? which i do sometimes but not always) and often like, it won't be the Perfect HQ or itll have a massive watermark on it. but like. since it's not really for Sharing as much as its for my own personal enjoyment, these things don't really bother me at all... Having a collection of art that i love that I can look at offline & like, On My Computer is so nice. And I back up a lot of it on hard drives when i back up my own art! Again, like, a lot of these pieces this is the Only way i can look at them anymore, and Maybe the only archive OF them.... I've had pieces from my friends Before they were my friends, that i just saved as a "fan", that THEY lost years later... I have pieces they hadn't Seen in years. And every year I Probably save at least a few more pieces that will become like, totally scrubbed from technology otherwise. idk. i think it's nice to have an archive of this art that is in my taste but also like, that i'd likely Lose otherwise.

i Hope people save my art. I don't honestly Think anyone does, but I Hope that like, if my shit ever blows up and all my accounts get scrubbed, Someone has at least one drawing I made saved to their computer 2 remember me. u know. Its like a scrapbook. I remember these ppls characters, i remember the communities at the time, i remember how i felt when i first saw the piece. Its really inspiring but also genuinely like, really Important to me and sentimental. I kinda think everyone should have their own collection but I think people are genuinely Scared to right click & save ppls art LOL. Genuinely where is the harm, though.

#idk i really think ppl are afraid of it and like #i think. some artists might at first think “ew no i dont want ppl doing that to my art”#y #like why #like actually.... whats the difference between them looking at ur art on a social media feed vs on their own pc #its beautiful and inspiring and doing a part to archive ur work #cuz like we've been shown time and time again that social media degrades #why wouldnt u want it except like. Just out of kneejerk Fear of people having too much access to ur work #they arent Stealing from u...#thats not what this is LOL #idk maybe this is a hot take but i dont think its a take anyone has any real opinion on cuz i think most ppl dont #like... think about it that hard #but i think ppl should do it #have ur own personal collection 2 refer to #i still have like... my favorite pieces from when i was in middle school #do u know how much that Means to me?#its better at holding my memory than like... anything else... cuz i take it with me #i have art from my Friends back then and my favorite artists #and i can see how clearly my spaces and my tastes have changed over time #i can always draw back the lines of inspiration and hold them close to my heart #idk. im rambling. hi . are u reading the tags. probably not . LOL #im talking to myself #whateva #text post #text

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absolutely-esme · 11 months ago

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I have seen too many posts where a time traveling member of the JL decides to kill Danny to prevent Dan from happening and not nearly enough where they decide to kill Vlad for the same reason.

Even if a hero was pushed to the point of preemptively killing one of the two people Dan was made from in order to prevent his creation, why would they pick the one who is currently both a hero and a kid instead of the one who's already a villain and a grown ass adult?

Also, it would be so much more fun to read about Vlad getting hunted down by Booster Gold or scrambling to try and stay one step ahead of the world's fastest man while desperately trying to figure out which of his evil schemes they found out and got this hero's attention and pissed them off this much.

Was it bugging his nemesis's house? He can see how that probably looks bad out of context, but he swears the video surveillance of a teenager's bedroom was regular supervillain creepiness, not other types of creepiness!

Edit: Two things.

First off, my wording about having seen too many of the other thing was intended playfully. I am not putting those fics down. You don't have to justify it to me, and I am genuinely sorry if I came across as antagonistic. I think everyone should be allowed to write whatever they want and I don't expect it all to adhere to my likes and dislikes.

That said, I wanted to address something else. I've gotten a few different people just talking about how they would have no reason to target Vlad because of what looks like an older version of Danny, and I wanted to clarify.

Here's the thing: Dan does not look like an older version of Danny, he looks like a fusion of Danny and Vlad.

Unless someone they have reason to believe tells them that Danny grows up to be Dan, there's no reason for them to assume that Danny and Dan are the same person (especially considering that Dan is a name the fans came up with and not something the character himself went by).

So this time traveler sees a teen hero fighting an adult villain both of whom share differing physical characteristics with the Future threat, and the most likely conclusion to draw is that it's a Conner scenario.

Alternately, maybe they did actual research on the origins of the threat before time traveling instead of just hoping that murdering the first person they saw with a familial-level resemblance to the threat would prevent him from going on a rampage.

Here are some pictures of them

See how much Dan gets from Vlad's side?

#dpxdc #dcxdp

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nyaruelle-designs · 29 days ago

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🦄 Mane 6 Redesign! 🦄

Aaaaaa my first redesign post!! I had so much making this and been looking forward to finally share it. (but my hand hurts right now from drawing lolol)

To those new to me: I do this thing where I redesign characters as a challenge (+ have fun being creative with design tweaks (✿◠‿◠)) , I don't dislike any of the OG designs, I just like to give myself something fun to do :'D

Keep reading below for design notes! :D

OK so starting off with species differences:

I make it a point to make each species unique from one another with different tail + ear shape for each kind of pony

in order to explain away how do ponies in this iteration get conveniently matching body markings, I imagine that fillies are born without markings but slowly get them after receiving their cutie mark. the markings slowly leaves changes on the coat/mane as they grow into adulthood :D

also gave all species hoof markings, the shape of the hoof corresponds with the pony's cutie mark

for unicorns– they also have horn markings that correspond with their cutie mark. OH and, horn magic color corresponds with the color of the pony's eyes

for pegasi– the tips of their wings would match with the color of their manes

not mentioned in the images attached but the eye light shape also corresponds with the ponies' cutie mark >_< (fillies just have regular circles until after they get their cutie marks-)

misc feature: ponies may or may not have leg tuffs, like with some ponies you'll see below, some may have fuller leg tuffs that goes all the way around.

Alright now that you know more about the species design notes, I'll get into each ponies' design choices

Pinkie Pie

Starting off with Pinkie, I made her coat fluffy, matching her mane, her mane was shorten a bit and also gave her a white streak in her bangs + added a hair accessory + confetti in her hair from throwing parties (my headcanon is that she doesn't bother to pick them out so she just leaves em there)

she has pebble shaped markings on her face and coat running down her back. In her pink form, those markings are commonly mistaken as large freckles

her desaturated form takes inspo from how she looks as a filly, also her mane shape may or may not have been inspired by the shape of pinata paper strips.

Among all the ponies, Pinkie is also the shortest. I try my best to give each pony a different height, hope that was noticeable haha

Applejack

Next up, Applejack, now for her design (+ most of the mane 6's designs) there isn't too much change. For her, I gave her coat more texture akin to actual patterns from real horses. Similar to pinkie, Applejack's back has pebble-shaped spots (feel free to believe that I intentionally added it there to link AJ + Pinkie as distant relatives haha)

In comparison to pinkie though, I used a lot of sharp lines while drawing AJ, also made her look more muscular / "box" shaped compared to the other ponies. (which fits too as I imagine her farm work made her pretty fit)

As mentioned, AJ's hoof tuffs go all around

Twilight Sparkle

For twilight, I tweaked her colors to be more Purple and included a bit of orange to create a small contrast as I noticed her OG palette was a lot of Purple. (cool colors) + I wanted her palette to resemble more of a twilight color (?)

I also noted that some other people felt that Twilight doesn't match the archetype she was meant to represent so I gave her glasses in an attempt to make her appear more "studious"

Her unicorn form is also shorter compared to her alicorn form. (gave her slightly shorter horn + legs)

Rarity

Okay Rarity's has to be my favourite redesign HAHA. I also have a feeling a lot of you will point out she resembles the last unicorn a lot 🥲 to that, i'm deeply sorryy

Anyway, for Rarity I changed her palette a lot more compared to the others because I wanted her palette to match her name sake 'Rarity', so what better way to set her apart as being a pony with a different mane/tail color!! + heterochromia which means her horn magic is 2 different colors. (that's my headcanon of what might constitute as 'rare' in pony genetics. ALSO off topic but is it just me or has there never been a pony in the show that actually has heterochromia? 🤔 tbh I can't remember)

I also gave her some gem accessories that she wears as a necklace, oh and a matching earring as well

Fluttershy

ah yes, my other favourite design. For Fluttershy, I softened her colors and also added some green

also, among rainbow and twilight, Fluttershy's wings are purposely designed to be fluffier. I imagine as opposed to rainbow who actively trains her wings for athletic flying > sharpens them to become aerodynamic, when fluttershy flies, she takes her time, so they aren't as worn down as RD's.

I imagine Fluttershy uses floral-scented shampoo that she handmakes with flowers from her own garden which attracts the butterflies that rest in her mane

I also purposely designed fluttershy's ears to be down on default, playing into her 'shyness'

Rainbow Dash

last but not least, rainbow underwent a few changes. Firstly you'll notice I shortened her hair + added white streak bangs & side tendrils that cup her face. (now that I'm looking at it, her hair resembles the pony life RD 😭)

Additionally, RD's wings are sharper, more chipped due to active use.

also among the rest of the ponies, Rainbow is also on the shorter side but she's also more lean/fit. I took into consideration her being an athlete (and a flyer at that) would influence her body shape, I feel that in order for her to fly fast, her body shape suited her nicely.

I also gave RD some googles as accessories.

Anyway, congrats on making it to the end! here's a height lineup ref for the mane 6!!

Thanks for reading all my design notes :'D I'll definitely be drawing more. (I definitely wanna draw secondary characters and also the mane 6's families soon)

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emptymasks · 9 months ago

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They're done! I really want to try and make prints again as it's been years and I've never felt like I was very good at making whole posters. Dipping my toe back in with these silly chibis of each Papa with every Ghoul they've had. Perhaps they can also work as a guide for those wanting to learn all the characters? I added in a fair amount of little references with the Ghoul's poses so it'll be interesting to see what you guys figure out and notice!

The prints are on pre-order and won't ship out until November. I've put up 25 of each to start with but if they get low on stock I'll keep adding more until I have them printed and then it'll be a set amount in stock.

Also a reminder about the stickers of every Ghost Papa and Ghoul that I made earlier this year that are also available as customisable badges! Thank you so much to everyone who already bought them and got Etsy to list them as a 'bestseller' for a while. They're still up and in stock.

EDIT: someone informed me Delta was not in Secondo's era so sorry little water ghoul but he got edited out of that drawing.

Characters featured on the prints and are also available on stickers and badges: Papa Emeritus I / Primo, Papa Emeritus II / Secondo, Papa Emerirus III / Terzo, Papa Emeritus IV / Cardinal Copia, Aether, Air, Alpha / Fire, Aurora, Chain / Water, Cirrus, Cowbell, Cumulus, Delta, Dewdrop / Sodo, Earth, Ifrit, Ivy, Lake, Mist, Mountain, Omega / Quintessence, Pebble, Phantom, Phil / Special Ghoul, Rain, Sunshine, Swiss, Zephy.

I can’t link to my Etsy without risking Tumblr hiding the post from tag search results, but the link is in my pinned post, my carrd, I’m emptymasks on Etsy. Reblogs help support artists more than likes ❤️

[ID: Four landscape drawings, one for each of Ghost's Papas and the Ghouls that were in the band with them while they were the lead singer. Each Papa is in the center with each of their ghouls standings to their sides. Every character has their name written above or below them, on brightly coloured backgrounds for each Papa's robe colour. Also, individual pixel art chibi drawings of 69 characters from various European musicals (listed above) that are available as stickers. These drawings are also available as badges where they are placed inside circles to show what they will look like as physical button badges, some of them with plain colour backgrounds and some with 1-3 different pride flags as examples of how you can customise the backgrounds.]

For those who want to know what the little references in the prints are and don't want to guess, they're under the cut:

Omega can be a stompy boy when he's playing guitar, Alpha likes to throw up peace signs, Air is very found of the rock horns hand symbol, there's one close-up photo of Lake out there where you can clearly see his black sclera contacts and he's doing double 'horns' hand symbol, Mountain infamously takes his shoes off when playing the drums and leaves them on the stage at the site of his drumkit, Dewdrop likes to like.. most things including his guitar and his picks and sometimes his own hand, Pebble liked to hand out his drumsticks at the end of shows by dropkicking them into the crowd, Omega wore a flower tucked into his guitar strap during one show and Terzo constantly flirts with him more than other ghouls, Delta is suspected to be the ghoul that attempted to kick an audience member off stage when they climbed onstage and attempted to kiss Terzo, Zephyr was the only band member and only keyboardist who sat down while playing, the special ghoul played by Tobias wore a nametag 'Phil' in an interview, Swiss constantly is showing all his teethies with his smiles and always wiggling and moving around, Aether and Dewdrop often interact with Dew teasing/bothering Aether, Dew and Rain also often interact with Dew constantly reaching to grab his neck and attempt to kiss him, aaaand I think that's everything I intentionally included other than just generally tried to get the poses and expressions to match the personality we've seen from each ghoul.

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alllgator-blood · 25 days ago

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I don't usually do anything for pride month cause I'm fruity every day of the year, but ahhh let's just say this year it felt especially important. Hope everyone is doing safe and that your ally friends/family members are giving you all their worldly possessions + sacrificing heretics in your name! I actually drew a very similar picture last year but didn't end up finishing it, some of the flags were definitely different though. NARINDER HAD THE EVIL AUTISM FLAG FOR SOME REASON. Shamura was the only one I finished so I'll just drop them off here:

Wow look at them go, rejecting humanity and encompassing cosmic knowledge and ceaseless war rather than masculinity or femininity....what an icon

Over the year that I've been in this fandom, I've had a lot of thoughts about Shamura's gender that I'll dump here, I WILL SAY it gets more ranty than I've ever gotten on this blog + talks about the fandom itself, so I hid it under the cut. But I feel like I've been pretty tame on this blog so far and because it's pride month, I have the legal right to make ONE rant about a queer fictional character's perception by the fandom

My weak enby heart still has a fucking death grip on shamura that hasn't been loosened in over a year at this point. They're not the best nonbinary representation in media but they're MY FAVORITE and that's all that matters. I can't stress how awesome it felt playing an actually cool, fun game a couple years ago and seeing that the Wisest, Most Powerful Eldritch Beast in all the land was a disabled nonbinary person. And it goes completely without question, it's like yeah that's shamura and *they're* going to traumadump on you and mind control your followers to rebel against you. Don't even worry about it bro

Being like....nonbinary and disabled and native and butch and yadda yadda, I swear to god I just got used to having no media/characters I could relate to. I didn't even think about how bad it felt until I'd stumble into the odd comic or indie game that had a Diverse Cast that MAY feature someone like me, but generally those types of things don't really *do* much with those characters. Not to be like THEY JUST WANT BROWNIE POINTS but...uhhh.........is it so bad to say that sometimes it does feel that way lmao, I won't play your game or read your comic if I feel like you see me as a checkbox to tick rather than a person with a fundamentally different experience.

I'll take this time to say it is kind of disheartening to see the fandom's treatment of shamura's gender sometimes, as someone who uses exclusively they/them. I've got a thick fucking skin, I've publicly acknolwedged I was genderless since before the nonbinary flag was even made, I've had a lot of time to roll with the punches that inevitably come from being trans. But literally one of the first comments I ever got about my shamura headcanons (when I still posted on reddit like a year ago) was that they didn't like that I made them AFAB and said "why can't they just be completely genderless". Like...making the TRANS character TRANSITION at some point was a bad thing? I wasn't saying "they're a girl in my drawings lol" and I even explained that I made them AFAB so I could connect with them better but. Ough

I s2g just mentioning this character brings up arguments, same with the lamb to a lesser extent, but DO NOT look at the reply chains on the youtube uploads of ANY of shamura's songs. It's always that someone calls them a him or her, someone corrects them, someone crucifies that person for being the Woke Police, blah blah blah IT'S AWFUL. It's funny in a way that the mere presence of a nonbinary person is enough to start a small war, but it also feels dehumanizing to know that my gender just cannot respectfully be talked about the same way binary genders can.

While I'm still talking about this, I don't hold it against people who played the game in other languages and call shamura "he" or w/e because from their perspective, the character is male. I've not changed my perspective of the character because I found out they're male in other releases, so I can readily accept that those folks won't either. But it feels....gross to see people who played it in english who just picked whatever binary gender they wanted shamura to be and went with that. Literally every single character with a confirmed gender is male except like, Heket + Forneus + Monch, so to take the ONE undebatably nonbinary character and decide they're not good enough the way they are is....ough. "It's my headcanon" bro that's erASURE IDK HOW ELSE TO TELL YOU. The people doing it probably literally do not comprehend what it's like to never see themself in the media they consume so I don't hate them or anything, but it took me like two decades to find a character whose gender feels like mine. It's lonely out here man

There's something to be said about me talking about that while making my kallamar nonbinary, but I'll just say this: there are so, so many male characters out there. If there was a crowd of millions of characters and ONE GUY vanished, you wouldn't be able to tell. But if there was like...a broom closet with like 9 they/thems, you'd fuckin notice if one was gone. AND I DO. Nonbinary representation isn't good enough rn to be taking the very few they/them characters out there and being like "nope my headcanon is that you're just some guy/chick", especially when sooo many people do it. Me taking one sopping wet man out of that crowd and being like "you can still be a sopping wet man, but sometimes you're a girlfail and sometimes your gender is squid" isn't the same I don't feel, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. I can't stop anyone from making shamura binary, we're all just random internet artists and do as we please, but I'm still allowed to judge from afar. I've definitely had people judge my headcanons from afar lmao

edit: I walked away and had to run back because I need reiterate, if you give Shamura features that are seen as "binary" but keep them nonbinary I think it's cool and based, especially if you are also nonbinary and just want to connect with the character more. "Gendered features" or w/e that are on a nonbinary person don't detract from their nonbinary-ness and we don't owe anyone perfect androgyny. I have boobs and an hourglass shape but also a lot of body hair + mustache and a good amount of muscle mass, doesn't mean I'm more girly or manly.

Okay end of rant, I had to get that off my chest for like EVER tbh. I really really hate discourse or drama or w/e but this is a topic that does mean a lot to me, so I made an exception this one time to make my opinion known.

#pride month #cult of the lamb #cotl bishops #leshy #heket #narinder #kallamar #shamura #lambert

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gotaksboyfie · 1 month ago

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HII :3 can you do Baku x reader who is his polar opposite 💔 love your fics/headcanons!

purr-fect

gif creds: @cesowi

pairing baku x gender neutral reader

summary you're happy by yourself. then comes baku stumbling into your life after he finds you feeding a stray cat behind school

word count 2.2k

warnings/tags developing relationship

when anyone thinks of eunjang, they think of baku. the undefeated king with fists made of steel, and an outgoing personality. he practically ruled over eunjang, making sure to protect the weak and fend off any unwanted pests (cough, the union)

but you?

you were quiet. never speaking unless called on by a teacher. which was never, because they seemed to forget about you too. you weren't a background character, you were a walking ghost among the eunjang halls.

no one paid you any mind, not even the bullies. they too seemed to not notice you, but better ignored than to be a bread shuttle.

if humans ignored you, the animals sure didn't. leading you to your current predicament.

there was a stray cat with a small litter hidden behind the bushes, and you took it upon yourself to care for her. she hissed and scratched whenever you tried picking it up so moving it home with you was not an option.

you built a makeshift cardboard shelter the next day, even painting it green to hopefully blend in enough to not draw attention. the last thing you wanted were some lowly thugs torturing the kittens.

skipping pe was a regular occurrence for you, so the cats were just an added bonus. who would willingly want to run or play basketball? you snuck away to the convenience store instead and bought cat treats, feeding them to the cat.

"...tuna will be your name." you muttered, watching as tuna rubbed her head against your fingers. the kittens were fast asleep, piled on top of each other.

it's only been a few weeks since you've met tuna, but she trusted you almost instantly after you gave her the cardboard box. she shed the defensive stray cat act and instead turned into a clingy kitty.

she meowed as you poured water into a small bowl, lapping it up quietly. you squatted as you watched, zoning out and thinking of nothing in particular.

"that's sick! is that a cat?!" a booming voice came from behind you, making you jump and fall on your ass.

you winced as you glared up. who the fuck—oh. it's baku.

"what's up," baku lazily grinned, plopping down next to you. "how long have these kitties been here? aww look, one has a spot in the shape of a heart on the belly!"

you blinked as you turned away from him, watching as tuna got into a defensive position and hissed at baku.

"yeowch man! can you help me?? i don't think she likes me very much!" baku exclaims, clutching his scratched up hand. you scooted closer and rubbed tuna's head.

she melted under your touch, but immediately backed up the second baku inched closer.

"not fair dude, she only likes you!" baku moans, pouting as he watches you pet tuna's head. "not much of a talker, are we?"

the bell rings and you get up, dusting your pants off. baku watches you in interest and follows you back into the building.

"what's your name? i never caught it," baku asks, walking with his hands behind his head next to you. you scowl and walk faster, hoping to lose him. thank god you didn't share a class with him or else you would have to deal with his yapping for the rest of the day.

rushing into your class, you take your seat and ignore baku lingering at the door. he leaves soon enough and you forget about him.

until the next day, that is.

there baku is waiting for you. new scratch lines prominent on his forearm as he smiles at you. you sit a foot away from him, leaving you in an awkward distance away from the cats but you would rather die than willingly sit near him.

"ah, i see your nametag now. hi y/n!"

you don't respond, instead pulling out some wet food for the kittens. they all gravitate towards you, still wary of baku.

it's almost funny how reversed the roles are right now. baku is sat like an outsider while you are the center of attention.

nothing seems to dim baku's joyous mood though, because he's still looking cheerfully at you. he snorts to himself, causing you to look up and furrow your brows at him.

baku bites his bottom lip and holds back his laugh just to say "what's a cat's favorite food? paw-sta!"

you don't bother giving baku anymore attention, instead plucking leaves out of tuna's fur. you can hear baku laughing at his own joke, even running out of air once.

baku keeps cracking dry cat puns, but you don't say anything (obviously). he's not deterred by the silence at all, and keeps at it. you grimace at another odd rendition of "purr-fect!" and scoot further away from him.

"does she have a name, or will i just have to keep calling her 'the cat behind school' forever?" baku questions, watching as tuna contentedly rubs against your knee.

"her name is tuna." you stiffly reply, short and straight to the point. it's a stark contrast to baku's tone but when has that ever bothered him?

"aww! is it tuna because she likes tuna the most? or is it just because? does she have a favorite food? are the kitties named? there's 5 of them, we should start distinguishing between them!"

"the kittens have no name."

"let's name them tog–" baku is cut off by the bell ringing. baku curses under his breath, muttering something about "stupid bell" and "worst timing"

he gets up and waves "bye!" as he runs off, kicking up dirt. talk about a dramatic exit, it looks like he's farting up a storm from it. you suppress a laugh (and a sneeze) as you wait for the dust to settle.

the next month or so is the exact same. baku showing up at your spot and claiming it as your shared spot. you think this is more of some form of encroachment but you don't bother talking to him, opting to care for the cats instead.

baku also got the hint and stopped following you to class, noticing the way your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and you hunched inwards as people asked baku "who's that?". at least he got that social cue.

it becomes sort of a silent rule that baku buys food while you bring water and whatever tools needed, like toys or a fur brush. tuna still hates him so you have to feed her and the kittens.

you don't want to admit it but he's actually helpful. the free food supplied by him has given you more money to spend on other things.

those nine words you spoke before remain the only times you've actually talked around him. despite this, baku welcomes your presence with open arms.

he's constantly talking your ears off, but you start to find that it's not actually that bad anymore. his voice is pleasant to listen to. a nice background noise, even. you know almost everything about him now.

you're starting to enjoy being around baku now, you belatedly realize. even if you found solace in being alone, having someone there wasn't.. all that bad. he never forced you to reply either, just happy that someone was there to listen.

still, baku does not share the same invisibility you have. he wasn't at his usual spot today, and you felt a small pang of disappointment. but at the last ten minutes of class, you notice baku jogging towards you, a scowl on his face.

baku sits down and immediately starts complaining while pouting. per usual, tuna starts to shuffle away from his side closer to you, worsening his pout.

hyuntak has been stricter on him recently, forcing him to not skip today and instead make him teach juntae how to play. which is like talking to a brick wall, because that boy does not seem understand a word they teach him, according to baku.

"isn't it the same? talking to me?" the words slip out of your mouth before you can think and you clamp your jaw shut immediately.

thank god baku wasn't looking at you, or else he would've seen the panicked look on your face. you've kept your expressionless face around him all the time, you can't let that mask slip now.

"not really. you're different," baku says. there's a a pause from him as he sighs, not continuing what he wanted to say for some reason. his voice takes a different tone at the "different", twinged with a softness that makes your heart stutter.

you nod slightly, and baku returns back to his babbling about anything and everything. no one says anything about how you scoot closer to baku, brushing his shoulder with your hoodie. or how baku does the same, sitting side by side with you now.

the bell rings and you look down at tuna and shoo her back to her house. it was awfully barren, perhaps you should get her some things. it must be boring with only the bushes to play around. not to mention it's going to get colder soon.

baku does his same 'wave bye with his whole body and head in first' and you follow behind him after unlatching tuna from your pant leg.

the next day, you make a quick stop to a pet store before class and another during pe to the convenience store.

by the time you get to the same spot during pe, baku is already sitting there. he beams as he sees you turn the corner, loudly beckoning you over. he looks more energetic today, you note.

"look, look! she's letting me feed her!" baku is holding a tube of cat treats while tuna laps at it. you raise your eyebrows as a way of saying "wow", and baku is nearly shaking in happiness. seems like tuna has finally accepted him.

you sit next to baku, opening up the plastic bag you brought. it contained of different cat toys, all silent of course, and a large cat bed with a blanket.

baku makes a (Ö) face as he watches you carefully lift the kittens into your lap and set up the new bed. tuna is too occupied eating from baku's hand to notice the small cat-napping.

never would you think you'd be thankful for baku, but he just made the process 100 times easier. tuna was a menace when it comes to someone touching her babies.

"damn, you bought a bunch of stuff today," baku whistles. the half the kittens were eating whatever baku bought and the other were playing with you.

"y'know, i didn't think you'd be like this," baku starts and you prepare to tune out whatever weird shit he was going to start spouting. no need to hear about how weird you were. "you're actually pretty chill to be around. do you know yeon sieun? he's like you, except more bitchy."

yeon sieun? that study nerd who's known for being a smartass when it comes to fighting? you??? and him??? similar???

your confusion must be apparent on your face because baku cackles. it's a deafening sound compared to the quiet purr of the cats, but it's nothing you're not used to.

"you guys are both all dark, quiet, and brooding. but you're actually pretty..—nice! pretty nice, haha, and kind to animals, and you don't just walk away when i talk," baku flushes and you pretend to ignore that awkward pause in the middle of his sentence. the ground is suddenly really interesting, baku thinks.

he has odd taste, but whatever suits him. you glance at tuna. she just finished eating and is sniffing baku for more.

"i thought you'd be more into like, hmm.., beating up nerds on the side. like out of school. but you don't really seem that bad."

"i don't like fighting."

it's the first time you've talked about yourself, and baku is careful to not scare you off. "oh really? why?"

"i dislike blood."

"honestly me too. it stinks a little and the taste is just nasty. getting a nosebleed always sucks because it just tickles my upper lip and ruins my focus in fights. i don't really like fighting either, but i have people to protect."

you don't respond, because what was there to say anyways? baku just continues talking, knowing that the chances of you wanting to reply were slim to none.

the bell rings again and you grab the plastic bag to throw away, but baku beats you to it. your hand lands on his and you blink. a moment passes with your hand still on his, and baku is beet red.

"oh! uhm, ahaha i'll just take it and throw it away and yeah you don't have to worry about anything don't even worry about it!" baku rambles, his back ramrod straight as he stands up. he moves robotically to the trashcan, and glances back at you multiple times before looking at his hand.

as he leaves, he's smiling ear to ear as he waves widely at you despite being only 2 feet away. "bye! i'll see you on monday!"

you smile softly at him, making his mouth open in surprise. "bye, baku."

the blush returns full force on his cheeks, and his grin grows impossibly wider. he's skipping away giggling to himself like a schoolgirl. did he forget you could still see him?

what an odd guy, you shake your head and laugh to yourself.

fin

a/n eek yapper x listener my favorite trope!!! i feel like baku's opposite would be someone similar to sieun, considering how outgoing baku is (´ ε ` )♡

#weak hero #weak hero x reader #weak hero class 2 x reader #weak hero class 2 #weak hero class #weak hero class x reader #baku #baku x reader #park hu min #park humin #park humin x reader #park hu min x reader

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tizeline · 2 years ago

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Presenting: The AU I accidentally created OOPSIE!! 😬😬😬

And yes, I know, it's another Seperation AU, and yes YES, I KNOW, they're a bit overdone at this point, bUT LISTEN!! That's precisely how I ended up in this situation!!!

So there's a lot of Seperation AUs exploring a lot of different scenarios with the turtles being raised, well, seperately. I've seen quite a few of them at this point, and despite whatever the combination is when it comes to turtle + parental figure, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed a pattern of specifically Donnie often being raised by a villain. Which makes sense, he has a tendency to put on this evil-mad-scientist-act in the show, so of course a lot of us want to see what Donnie would actually be like as a proper antagonist. But that just made me think think of the opposite possibility, of Donnie being the singular good guy while his brothers are all bad guys. Mind you, I'm sure SOMEONE must've thought of this concept before me, but I haven't seen it! So here we are!

In this AU (which doesn't have a name so don't ask!) Splinter only managed to yoink Donnie during The Incident™, so he ended up an only child, while Raph, Leo and Mikey were raised by Draxum. I also imagine Draxum being at least a decent dad considering the circumstances, so the kids he raised ended up with pretty similar personalities to what they have in canon.

Because of that we get Hero Donnie who acts all villainous cuz he's a total theaterkid, and Villain Raph, Leo and Mikey who act all heroic cuz they honestly believe they're doing the right thing in literally destroying all of humankind and as a result developed an intense case of main character syndrome.

Anyway here's some references-

I don't know how far I'll explore this AU. I fully intended to just make like one or two posts rambling about the basic concept, but when I was drawing these images my brain went into full Brain Blast mode and I started coming up with a bunch of other ideas so uh... we'll see how this turns out later I guess haha

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multi-fandom-imagine · 6 months ago

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Under the mistletoe at a Daily Planet party for Clark Kent. No lois lane slander plz, I love her!

A/n: I could never 😩. She was my favorite back in the animated series and I love her in the comics. Fuck anyone that writes negative shit about her and just bashes her character.

If you want a different clark please let me know 🙏.

It was the annual Christmas party at the Daily Planet and once again Clark found himself in the corner of the room with his gaze fixated on you. Your laugh ringing in his ears for something that Lois had said.

Lois the ever observant one turned to find Clark's gaze on you a smirk forming on her lips. Jumping, Clark quickly turned away finding the drink he was holding much more interesting.

"So Smallville when you gonna take the plunge and finally ask out our favorite photographer?"

"Lois!" Clark quickly adjusted the glasses on his face, his cheeks flushed a deep red. "I don't know what you're talking about." He muttered.

Rolling her eyes, Lois placed on hand on her hip as she pursed her lips. "I'm not blind Kent! I'm pretty sure everyone can see your feelings for them in space..."

"I don-."

An exasperated sigh escaped as she stepped behind the man giving him a hard shove. "God it's like pushing a brick house." She muttered. "They are under a Mistletoe..now that's your excuse now go!"

"You're very pushy!"

"I call it being innovated! Now go!"

Stumbling forward, Clark took a few steps then narrowed his eyes spotting another work step towards you. Making a B-line to you, Clark slipped in between you and his co-workers name he happened to forget.

"H-hey."

Beaming, you gave Clark a bright smile as you tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear. "Hey Clark, you enjoying the party?"

"Y-ya I." Glancing up at the Mistletoe he then looked to you.

Lois's voice, her whisper somewhere in the office urging him to do something. "Kiss them." She hissed ignoring the looks she was getting.

Adjusting his tie, Clark cleared out his throat giving you a nervous grin. "So uh...I happened to notice we are standing under the Mistletoe and I...would you mind...I mean you don't have to but can I kiss you?"

Blinking, your gaze flicked up to the red and green plant that hung above you both. Gaze softening, you smiled then stood up standing on your toes as your breath fanned across his lips. "I'd like that Clark."

Returning your smile, Clark let his arm wrap around your hips drawing you in close. "Good." Bending down his lips grazed yours in a soft and gentle kiss.

Holding her head high, Lois crossed her arms over her chest. "I made that happen."

#drabbles #drabble #clark kent x reader #clark kent x you #superman x reader #superman #superman x you #dc #dc x reader #dc x you #dc x y/n #dcu #dcu x reader #dc universe #dc universe x

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bbybluemochi · 4 months ago

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can you drop sinner’s lore or just more information about this oc?👀 you probably already wrote about this somewhere, but I can't find it(

No, I haven't posted much about her story (or any OC story) anywhere. With my original characters I tend to take a very relaxed approach; they're something I draw for fun, and their stories/personalities are revealed to me slowly, almost as if I'm getting to know them rather than creating them. That's why their story is subject to constant change, and I'm reluctant to post about them outside of my irl circle, because what if I change my mind about something, yk?

I recently found these two moodboards I made a long time ago of Sinner and Frankie from my Band AU, so I'm leaving them here! (more about sinner below↴)

For Sinner in particular, I was heavily inspired by 80s music (glam rock, hair metal, heavy metal, etc.). Each of my fictional band members is based on different musical genres, depending on what kind of music I'm obsessed with at the time. The 5 band members are at different stages of the design process (Frankie, Sinner, and the drummer (who doesn't have a name yet!) are the ones I finished; the leader and singer are still in the works).

It's taking me a while because I want to give them all a personal/distinctive aesthetic, but also keep their designs somewhat consistent - I want them to look like they could be in a band together (and in the same decade!) while being inspired by different eras and genres ranging from 70s rock to 90s britpop, and it's hard! That's why it's taking me so long to finish the whole band.

Sinner in particular has become my muse, the character I draw when I'm feeling burntout or just want to doodle. My friends and I always joke that she has orange cat energy (chaotic, not the brightest person in the room, but we love her for it). She loves dad jokes, beer, her bandmates, the rock n roll lifestyle, the road. She has a reputation for being a “player,” spending every night with a different girl (something that will make her entire relationship with Frankie a mess, as no one expects her to catch feelings or commit to a serious relationship). Big heart, laid back attitude, a thirst for adventure. Terrific guitar playing skills. Lives for the music!!!!

I love her so much and I feel like I’m doing her a disservice by describing her this way, because there’s so much more to her personality, but I wouldn’t know where to start! I’ve spent so much time thinking about her and imagining different scenarios with her and the rest of the band that summing up her entire personality in one post seems impossible! Maybe I’ll do an OC Q&A in the future so you can ask her directly :D

(re: the moodboards. I want to clarify that the musicians featured on the moodboards are there for aesthetic inspiration, and my characters are in no way inspired by their personalities or personal lives! I don't condone anything a man from the 80s has ever done/, and neither do I share their political views. Just wanted to say that before anyone takes it the wrong way! I'm just stealing their gender bc 80s men fashion is so lesbian coded to me.)

#my ocs #q&a #asks #sinner oc #frankie oc #moodboard #band au #80s rock

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the-fiction-witch · 3 months ago

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Scream

Media - EPIC The Musical Saga Character - Prince Telemachus Of Ithaca Couple - Telemachus X Reader Reader - Princess Y/n (Betrothal) Rating - 18+ (Princess / Masturbation/ fingering/ lap sitting/ nudity) Word Count - 1621

Telemachus Art - Gigi

Telemachus wandered through the grand halls of the palace, his footsteps echoing softly against the marble floors as he sought to evade the boisterous suitors who had taken over his home. The golden rays of the setting sun spilt through the ornate windows, casting a warm, amber glow that bathed the rooms in a tranquil twilight. Shadows danced along the walls, creating an almost ethereal aura. Suddenly, he paused, his senses heightened as a sound broke the serenity, drawing his attention and igniting his curiosity.

“Telemachus!”

At first, he feared his mother needed his help because of the suitors, but he knew that wasn’t her voice. He knew that voice. That was the voice of the princess Y/n! Telemachus’ own betrothal. So of course, when he heard her voice shout for him he dropped any hesitation and began to run toward her chambers.

He reached the door, his heart pounding in his chest, and instead of knocking, he flung it open with a swift motion. In one fluid gesture, he drew his sword, as his gaze swiftly scanned the room for any signs of danger.

Y/n was sitting against the headboard of her bed, her wide eyes shimmering with fear. The clutter of her bags and trunks lay strewn across the room, remnants of her hasty arrival, untouched and waiting to be unpacked. The heavy curtains were drawn shut, casting shadows. She had curled her legs tightly against her chest, trying to shield herself, her breaths coming in shallow gasps.

Seeing her like this panicked Telemachus even more and he made a quick dash to the windows to check the printer. But then he turned to her, his face showing how worried he truly was for her safety, "Y/n! What happened? Are you hurt?"

"no… No ughh it ughh it's nothing…" She blushed,

His eyes softened, as he set his sword away and came to her bedside, "It wasn’t a nightmare, was it?"

"No. I - I promise it was nothing Telemachus … You - you didn't need to come and-"

Telemachus shook his head quickly, "Of course I came! I heard you scream and-"

"no! No I- I didn't… I didn't think you'd hear me." She nervously admitted,

Telemachus gave a long sigh, equal parts relief and frustration, and rubbed his hand across his brow before looking at her again, "Why did you scream then…?"

"…ughhh …." She blushed hard unsure if she should admit it,

A small smirk spread across Telemachus’ face. He scooted further onto the bed and moved so that he was sitting right next to her, “Come on. Just tell me.”

Y/n tried to put some space between them bundling her sheets around her waist tightly,

Telemachus noticed and leaned over, a playful smile on his face, "Don't tell me you're embarrassed. All you did was call out my name.”

Y/n met his eyes and her cheeks red. Her gaze gave more than words ever could.

His gaze pierced right through her. "Were you…saying my name…in pleasure?"

Y/n scoffed, "What? No no no of course i-" She tried to lie but his gaze meant he knew and she couldn't hide it anymore. "…yes."

Hearing her admit it, Telemachus leaned in even closer, "And what were you doing while you said my name, my Princess?"

"… I feel I don't need to answer that." She sighed,

Telemachus laughed softly and pulled her onto his lap.

She squealed at the sudden lift. Her face went red. She settled her hands onto his shoulders looking into his eyes,

He wrapped one arm around her waist and tilted her chin up with his free hand, "You're right. I do know what you were doing…" He leaned in, his lips just a whisper away from her ear "You were…imagining it was me touching you…" Telemachus’ hands ran up and down her body, as he held her tight. "You couldn’t help but imagine how it would feel to have my hands all over your body, could you…?"

She gulped and nodded,

Telemachus chuckled softly, a wicked gleam in his eye, "You imagined that it was me making you feel all sorts of things, didn't you…?"

She nodded again her face bright red,

Telemachus leaned in even closer, his lips brushing the side of her neck, his hands still roaming across her body, "And those little noises you were making…you were imagining me making you moan…"

“Yes…”

Telemachus hummed in satisfaction. She looked so sweet, sitting there in his lap in just her dress, face red and blushing. Telemachus’ hand moved to her thigh, sliding up under the fabric to her bare skin. "You were just having your fun by yourself, but you want it to be my hands on your body, don't you?"

"Yes …" Y/n blushed,

He traced circles on her inner thigh, inching higher and higher, "If you'd just told me, I could've been the one to make you feel good." He nipped her neck gently, "Instead of imagining it was me, you could've just taken the real thing."

"We- we shouldn't…" She said holding his wrist still before he went any higher, "We- we aren't wed yet…"

Telemachus chuckled, "Is that all? You let me inside your bedchambers, you let me onto your bed, you let me pull you into my lap…and suddenly you're concerned with what is proper?" He gripped her thigh, his fingers digging into her skin.

She gasped her eyes widening as she felt Telemachus move his hand higher regardless of her grip on his wrist. And begin to touch as she had. Almost immediately Y/n melted Into his arms her body slumping so perfectly into his,

Telemachus laughed in satisfaction as he felt her give herself to him. His hand moved ever higher under her dress and began to tease her in all the most sensitive places, stroking her lips and clit, "See, that’s a good girl…" He bit her shoulder, his other hand moving to push aside the fabric of her dress

She hummed and laid her head on his shoulder biting and sucking on his neck to muffle her moans,

His grip on her tightened and Telemachus let out a moan of his own. Her teeth on his neck, the feeling of her body in his arms, the sound of his name on her lips…it all felt so right to him. His hand moved even higher, rubbing hard on her clit continuing to pleasure her. He shifted, lifting her up with him so that she was fully straddling his lap, "You need to be quiet now. We wouldn't want any of those suitors to come and investigate all that noise coming from these chambers, do we, princess?"

She shook her head nervously,

"Good girl." His free hand went to the laces of her dress, tugging at them to loosen the fabric and expose more of her body to him,

She whined softly as quietly as she could trying not to make too much noise,

Telemachus smirked and continued to loosen her dress until it fell apart, leaving her naked. He took a moment to admire the sight before him, his hand pausing until he was satisfied, "You're so beautiful…I've wanted to see you like this for so so long…" He pushed her down onto the bed, straddling her. His hands pinned her wrists above her head as he leaned over her, his body pressing down onto hers. "You need to be quiet, remember? All these suitors around and you'd let them hear the sounds you make for me?"

She whined softly squirming in her bed kicking her feet a little as she danced on the very edge of pleasure,

His gaze was hungry as he looked down at her. The sounds she was making, the way she squirmed, it was doing all sorts of things to him. His face was so close to hers, that he could feel her heavy breathing on his skin. He leaned down and bit her neck, wanting to hear more as he increased his ministrations with his hand, "Hush now princess…you don't want the suitors outside wondering why you're making those noises, do you?"

She whined, her eyes rolling back as she whispered his name, "Telemachus…"

His name on her lips was like heaven to him. He nipped her neck again, his teeth just barely biting into her skin, "Good girl…say my name again princess…"

"Telemachus…" She whined a little louder,

His hand moved a little bit faster as if to reward her. He pressed his body down against hers to keep her quiet. "Shhh…not so loud princess…if the suitors hear you they'll know how good I make you feel…how much you're enjoying this…"

Before she could say another word it happened. She grabbed Telemachus by the hair and pulled his lips to hers, kissing him hard to muffle her moans as she came. Y/n then pulled back and collapsed down on the bed, her body falling on the sheets concealing nothing of her body. Her skin flushed, her breaths jagged and a dark wet spot on the sheets below her.

Telemachus groaned, He knelt, staring down at her with clear desire in his gaze. A sly smirk appeared on his face, his voice teasing, "Careful princess, now the sheets are all wet."

"I- I- I'm… sorry…"

Telemachus chuckled, "Don't apologize princess. You gave me a wonderful show. You're so beautiful, all laid out on your bed for me…" He traced his hand along her bare flesh, his touch trailing from her waist, up her stomach, to her chest. His gaze wandered, admiring the way the candlelight danced across the curves of her body, the way her skin looked flawless in the light. He leaned down and planted kisses along her neck.

She blushed and giggled a little, "Could you stay? For a little while my prince?"

Telemachus hummed in satisfaction at her words "Of course princess, I'm not done with you yet anyway." he growled before pulling her into an intense kiss,

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 4 months ago

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Doing Time 3

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, threats, age gap, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: you try to keep your brother safe in jail but put yourself in danger along the way.

Characters: con/ex-con!Steve Rogers

Note: I need the weekend to come so I can cum

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

"Things aren't too bad. Not since I got my ass kicked," Vaughn chortles. "Mighta knocked some sense into this thick skull at last."

"Hopefully," you agree. "Mom said--"

"I tried calling. She didn't pick up."

"Oh..."

"Why-- Why should I even bother?" His humour fades to hostility, "and why are you acting like you're my mother? When she does answer, she just calls me a fuck up. Like I don't fucking know."

"Vaughn," you hum, "please, I'm not trying to piss you off."

"But you are," he snarls. "Always gotta ruin a good time, don't ya?"

You frown. This is the Vaughn you don't know. The one with the anger like a grenade pin. One tug and it's over. You sit back and wait. Arguing only fuels the flames.

"You're the one person who's s'posed to believe in me and you're nagging me about mom," he snarls.

You look away guiltily. You wonder how he'd react if you told him about Steve. If you mentioned that the reason things 'aren't too bad' is because you did something just as stupid as him. Somehow, you don't think that him knowing you do dumb stuff too will help.

He tugs at his cuffs. The guards come forward. You say his name again.

"Vaughn, please--"

"Piss off! Yeah, you meat head, get me outta here," he turns his wrath on the guard. "Waste of my time."

"Please, I didn't-- I just--"

"I told you not to talk about it no more," he barks. He did. You didn't listen.

Your eyes well. You don't know what happened to him. Where did all this anger come from? As you watch the guards unhook him and he stomps away, you can only think you may have made a good decision talking to Steve. At least there's someone in there who can help. Or try to.

You wiggle your nose and dab your eyes with your knuckle. That was embarrassing as much as it was scary. The guard on the other side returns.

"We'll bring the next early, miss."

"Thanks," you nod. You recognise him. You realise most of the guards must know your face too. It's so strange to think this is a normal part of your life now. That this has become your social life as late.

It isn't long before Steve appears. He sits calmly lets himself be leashed. He leans forward and takes the receiver. You still have yours in hand but it's against the table. You lift it.

"Couldn't wait to see me, huh?" He purrs.

Your cheeks draw tight, "how are you?"

"Mm," he narrows his eyes as he looks you over. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, Steve," you swallow the dregs of your tears. "Really. It was an early morning."

He stares a little longer, the lines deepening in his forehead. His eyes meet yours. His aquamarine irises are speckled with gold and silver. He takes a breath and tuts.

"You were crying."

"No, Steve, it's nothing."

"That brat brother of yours," he nods as his expression turns dangerous.

"Please, Steve, not you too. Okay? It's... a sibling spat. That's all," you assure him. You wish you were as transparent as the window between you.

"I don't like that. I had family coming to see me, I'd be nice," he snarls.

"It's not your problem."

"That's where you're wrong, sweetheart. You made it my problem when you started coming around." He insists.

You chew your lip, "I know..."

"I'm not complaining, so you know," he leans back. "Kinda used to ya now."

"Thanks," you utter grimly and stare at the desk.

"Hey," he says and your eyes flick back up. "I didn't drag myself out here to see you mope."

You swallow and push away the rest of your chagrin, "sorry, I... better?"

"How can that face get any better?" He winks. You squirm.

He's been more forward lately. You assure yourself that it's just him playing with you. He's bored and you're the only person he talks to that isn't a guard or an inmate.

"That's... Right. Um, I guess it was dumb to ask how it's going," you scoff at yourself.

"It's going good, now I'm here," he runs his hand over his mouth, feeling his cheeks, "fresh shave this morning. Looking good, huh?"

You let your eyes focus. You can tell. His chiseled jaw is bare, not one speck of stubble. And his blond hair is parted and combed back. It's getting a bit long.

"You look refreshed."

"Well, I got something coming up later today."

"Another visitor?" You wonder.

"Lawyer," he shrugs. "No big thing. I got business on the outside still. Power of attorney or whatever."

"Mm," you hum.

"Boring stuff. What about you? Besides that idiot you call a brother, how's life?"

"It's life," you say. "Go to work, come home, sleep, it's all the same."

"Huh, sounds like being in here," he snorts. "Lonely?"

You don't realise at first, he's asking.

"I guess. Thought about getting a cat."

"Ah, you're young. Probably wait a few years before that," he chirps.

You tilt your head wryly, "no harm starting early."

"You're funny, sweetheart."

"Am I?" You wonder dryly.

"Well, the things they think are funny in here..." he makes a face. "You know, I wouldn't tell a lady all that, but it's low brow."

"Right."

"I'm still trying to figure you out, you know? Your brother, well, not to pile on top but he's not exactly a model citizen, but you, you're practical, considerate, you make stuffed chicken and pesto. I can't help but wonder how you're not adopted," he snickers.

"Life is strange."

"Isn't it? Never saw some girl knocking on my cell door but here we are," he drawls.

"Here we are," you agree. He smiles and bites his thumb. You shift as his eyes sparkle.

"I might never get outta of this place, but at least I can see a pretty face now and again," he growls.

Yep, at least he'll never get out. You just need to hope Vaughn doesn't get any time added and it will all be over soon.

⛓️‍💥

It's the first night Steve doesn't call. You're a bit disturbed by how it seems to throw the whole evening off. It's not like you're friends. He's an obligation. You should be happy to have one less thing on your plate.

You take a long bath, your phone on the back of the toilet, the ringer set to chirp. But it doesn't. The soak isn't enough to ease your nerves.

If something happened to him, what about Vaughn? It's a selfish worry but you can't help it. How could that even happen? Steve has this invincibility about him. You just can't believe it.

You get out and dry yourself off slowly. You're achy from sitting on your ass all day. Admin work isn't very thrilling. You stretch and rub the cushion of your bottom, the muscles easing beneath the layer of padding. You've always had a bit extra. It never bothered you as much as it bothers men. Your brother used to beat up any guy he heard hurling insults at you.

It's not your biggest care in the world. You tend to eat those away. Your sweet tooth hardly helps.

You put on a night shirt and lay awake for a while. Even when you do sleep, it's not peaceful. You dream of iron bars and blood on the floor. You wake with a thumping in your temples.

You dress for work. Your stretch-waist grey pants and the silk blouse with roses on the collar. You pack your lunch and brew your coffee, honey and a dash of almond milk splashed in. You leave with your bag and thermos.

The traffic around the clinic is always clogged. You get in with two minutes to spare. You sit behind the window and the phone rings as soon as opening hour strikes. You're swept up in the demands of patients and doctors alike. One thing you can't complain for how quickly the days fly.

You eat your lunch in your car. You cherish the moments you're not surrounded by sniffling, coughing, and complaining. You head back in and finish the last half, yawning at the monitor.

It's even busier when you pull out into the street. You let the music flow into your ears and distract you. You tap the pedal as you slog along. Finally, you get to a side street and cut a zig zag across town. You pull up to your building and linger in your car.

You have this eerie feeling. You glance over at the unfamiliar car parked facing the brick. The sleek white muscle car is vintage and polished to a shine. Someone loves that thing.

You get out of your dusty Honda and snatch your bag from the passenger's seat. You tap your fob and enter through the side. You stop before the elevator and turn back. You should at least try to get a few steps in. You take the stairs.

You stare at your pointed flats as you drag your soles over the carpet. You smother a yawn behind your hand. A throat clears. You move over, thinking someone's coming your way. You stir in your bag for your keys. Your name brings your chin up.

You gasp and drop your keys. You teeter as you nearly spin and sprint away. Your bag slips and you barely catch the strap. You gape at Steve as he stands beside your door.

Silence wafts around you with the smell of cooking and laundry. He holds a bouquet of classic red roses. He sports a tailored suit in black that puts his prison uniform to shame. The collar is crisp and the tie perfectly knotted. His jawline is shaved and his hair is styled down to the strand.

"Hey, sweetheart," he greets with a smirk.

You wordlessly bend to pick up your keys then stand and fix your bag on your shoulder. Your eyes glaze in disbelief and horror. A million questions flurry to a storm of terror.

"How..."

"Appeal went through. They turned over my conviction," he struts away from the wall. "These are for you, sweetheart."

You look at the petals then at him as he comes close. Your shoulders sag as you shrink down at the breadth of his shadow. He's even bigger like that. You shudder, the lack of barrier unsettling.

"I got you speechless," he intones and grabs the strap of your bag. "Look like you had a long day, let me take a load off."

He takes your bag then guides your hand to the bouquet. You close your mouth and gulp. He sweeps away your keys and hooks his arm through yours. You let him lead you to the door of your apartment. He swings it open and you flinch.

"Wait, Steve, how did you-- how do you know where I live?" You quaver.

"Told you, I got friends on the outside. You don't think I'd leave you unprotected--"

"Wait, wait," you plead as you face him, untangling your arm from his. "How is this real? How are you here? How- Why-- You don't think--"

"I think I spent months talking to you and you spent the same time coming to me. It's not what I think, it's what I know," he insists. You choke.

If his conviction was flipped, maybe that means he isn't so bad. No, no, you heard of what he did in there. He's dangerous. Whether he did what the court said he didn't or not.

He waves you in, "come on, we can take it slow. We'll talk, like old times."

You shake your head but enter. You see no other choice. You're too stunned to think of any.

He follows and pulls the key free of the door before shutting it. He hangs them on the little hook beside the frame. He faces you as you focus on slipping off your flats. He puts your bag on the top of the small shelf where you store your mitts and whatnot.

He whistles, "you look... good. I mean, I never got the full angle." He steps back and you feel him raking you with his eyes. "Got a nice shape..."

"Steve," you snap and face him. "I... I never..." you pace yourself and take a breath. "The flowers are lovely, thank you. And I appreciate you coming by but I think there's a bit of a miscommunication." You turn and slowly inch away. You spin around as he watches you, his expression betraying nothing. "I only talked to you to keep Vaughn safe."

He sighs and his eyes narrow. His brows tilt slightly and his jaw squares. He nods and smooths the front of his jacket.

"Well, sweetheart, I went and got a new suit for you."

"I'm sorry--"

"No, get this," he strides forward and stops before you. "Whether it was for me, for you, or for that scum you call a brother, it happened and it's not over. You got me? I might be out but I got men inside. Men who are willing to do a lot worse than me," he snarls.

You shudder and he grabs your chin. You whimper. "I wanna be nice to you, sweetheart. That's all I've been dreaming of. I went out, got all dressed up, got you flowers, now you do me a favour, go put a dress on so I can take you out for dinner." He sniffs and squeezes just until your jaw throbs, "see, I'm still doing stuff for you. I'm not asking much except you to come out and look pretty."

He lets go and you stagger back. You sniffle and quickly hide your face. Your voice comes out hoarse, "I'll put these in water first."

Your heart races and you go into the kitchen. You find a vase and focus on filling it. You put the flowers in and toss the paper cone. He looms in the doorway.

"I'll find something to put on, okay?" Your voice cracks.

You cross the kitchen and he stays firmly in your path. He brings his knuckle up under your chin and forces your face up.

"Smile, sweetheart," he growls. "We're together. At last."

#steve rogers #dark steve rogers #dark!steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #series #fic #dark!fic #dark fic #au #doing time #captain america #avengers #marvel #mcu

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