#they’re opposites but they’re complimentary

[fandomwonderer]

Here’s my Pearl and Marina redesigns!

[zutaralesbian]

One of the things I love about Wednesday and Enid’s relationship is that their friendship was actually pretty fast-burn. They had one episode where they annoyed each other but after that they started getting along and became friends pretty quickly despite being so different from each other.

Idk. I just think it’s cute.

[jupitersflytrap]

it’s like 9 in the morning and kermit already wants to go home

[sunflowerwinds]

stick ‘n poke | e.w

summary: it’s the first day of the campers arriving and you have a discussion with ellie about tattoos. during the supervised session of the campers doing arts & crafts, she mentions that she knows how to stick ‘n poke and you take her up on the offer. late night tattooing and exposing questions ensue.

pairing: ellie williams x fem!reader

contains: even more flirty!ellie, oblivious!reader, needles and slight bleeding so tw for that, steve being a himbo ally.

word count: 3.6K

a/n: maybe i love this series. comments & reblogs are much much appreciated lovelies <33

under the summer stars masterlist

The first day of the children arriving was more than hectic. More of the staff came the day after everyone else had arrived like the chefs and security for the grounds. Now, the seven camp counselors, including you, stood in a row outside of the main office on the opposite side waiting for the children to come out one by one to sign in with their parents. You recognized a few familiar parents and children but there were always new faces which you loved to see.

Ellie stood on your left while Steve was on your right. The group wore white baseball short-sleeve shirts in blue, green, and red blocking with block letters reading ‘STAFF’ on the back those coordinating colors. You thought they were insanely cute compared to the years before; it was strictly neon but Dina and you begged for something less bright and more flattering.

Thankfully, Tommy, Joel’s brother, and owner of the campgrounds, heard the complaints and had the dress code changed. You forgot every year how exhausting it was trying to reassure sketchy or overprotective parents that their children are safe and are never going to be alone. Etc. You could never blame them considering what people hear a lot about summer camps: specifically slasher-type movies based around the isolation of camps.

There were a lot of kids you recognized from the summers prior, making sure to let them know it, especially the ones that recognized you first.

Once the early crowd came by and huddled into your cafeteria for a complimentary lunch before the parents headed off home, you finally were able to take a breath, turning to the auburn-haired girl with a smile.

“Jesus, I always forget how overstimulating that is. How many parents asked if I was thoroughly CPR trained?” You exasperated to which Ellie threw her arm over your clothed shoulders, tugging you in for a moment.

“Trust me, I get it. Almost every parent asks if I’m even allowed to work here because of my tattoos.” Ellie rolled her eyes and held her arm up to you, turning her wrist from side to side to show you the tattoo. “Like do they think I’m gonna just grab their kid and shove a needle into them?”

You simply chuckle, resting your head on hers. Her thumb rubbed at your shoulder through the fabric causing you to slowly close your eyes with a hum. Every touch from her felt like a stress relief.

“Definitely. They saw tattoos and thought ‘she can definitely do a stick and poke on my child.’” You hum.

“You don’t have any tattoos right?” Ellie questions as her hand moves from your shoulder to your upper back.

You shake your head with a disapproving sigh, trying not to think about how her thumb was now massaging into your tense upper muscles. What the hell was she doing? Trying to send you into a coma?

“I do want some though. They’re just expensive as hell,” you lowered your voice which Ellie hummed in agreement.

“Well, I’m sure when you do you’ll look even better than you already do,” Elise raised her eyebrows at you with a cheeky smirk.

You shrugged her arm off your shoulder and shook your head.

“Shut up,” was the only argument you could come up with as you felt flustered at her comment.

Ellie merely chuckled and held her hands out in defense. “What? You want me to lie and say you’ll look like shit?”

“I didn’t say that, Els,” you look around as she openly cusses without thinking, hoping none of the helicopter parents heard her.

Before Ellie could retort something back, the two of you heard Joel calling the whole group of counselors over. You give her a pointed look before she playfully pushes you along as you walk, making you giggle like an idiot. When you get to where Joel is standing, Ellie’s hand lingers on the middle of your back as he speaks to the entire group.

You couldn’t believe how touchy she was being. Not that you were complaining but you swore years prior she had never been as lingering with her touches with you.

“After everyone is done in the cafeteria, gather your groups so that y’all can go to the cabins and help them unpack. After that, take them to the arts cabin to make their name tags for their bunks and tie-dye their shirts for next Wednesday for the field trip to the Botanical Garden,” Joel reads off his see-through red clipboard.

The group nods as they agree to the set schedule for the day. Once every single parent had said tearful ‘goodbyes’ and ‘love you’s’, your friends began to round up their troopers for their cabin. This was arguably one of your favorite parts of camp; getting to know these adorable children.

One by one, each of the counselors called the names of all 12 of the campers for their assigned cabins. You introduced yourself to the children, smiling at them kindly in hopes they would become comfortable with you. Some of them were more shy than others but that’s usually the case.

“Okay guys, you’re just going to follow me to the cabin where everyone will put your bags down before we head on over to the art cabin. If you have any questions, any at all, do not be afraid to ask me, okay?” You look at the wide-eyed and curious faces before they all agree to your statement.

You reluctantly had to walk away from Ellie and made your way to the cabin, checking to make sure every child was accounted for once you arrived. After about half an hour passed where you explained the basic rules for camp to all the kids, you gathered them to make their way over to the art cabin.

You felt more at ease when you entered the much larger cabin to see the rest of your friend group already having the kids make the name tags. Your campers dispersed once you gave them the ‘okay’ to go and color.

Ellie gradually made her way over to where you were standing, watching over the kids to make sure they weren’t drawing anything inappropriate on their name tags. Her shoulder bumped your own, a brazen grin on her face. Your brows set in a furrow at her fidgety manner.

“What’s up, Els?” You question, turning to her.

“I may or may not have gotten stuff to do stick and pokes,” she lowered her voice, making eye contact with you.

Your eyes nearly bugged out of your head at her words. The children were thankfully distracted by the rest of your friends to even listen to what you two were talking about.

“Where the hell did you get the materials for a stick and poke?” You asked in disbelief.

“Gave Tommy 50 bucks to go and get everything from the grocery store down the street.” Ellie shrugged nonchalantly.

You couldn’t believe your ears.

“I could give you one, you know. Free of charge, of course, since it’s your first one.” Ellie added on which really spiked your attention.

The offer was tempting if you were being completely honest with yourself. It wasn’t as if Ellie was a terrible artist; she actually had a bit of talent in that department. She was pretty much the only person here you would trust to do such a thing. On the more selfish side, you could be alone with Ellie.

“Miss Ellie! I need help!” A young boy shouted from across the room.

“Alright, buddy. I’ll be right there,” she called back before turning to you to point a finger in your direction. “Think about it, okay?”

You nod slowly. “I will.”

Content with your response, Ellie jogged over to the boy who had gotten the glue on his face. You internally freak out as your eyes dart around the room. All of your campers were doodling away, chatting amongst each other while you were having a crisis.

You had zoned out so bad, that you didn’t even realize that Steve was now standing next to you.

“Oh, Steve, hi.” You greeted him with a small smile.

“Hey, um,” he cleared his throat, hands clasped behind his back, “I don’t want to seem nosy but is there something going on between you and Ellie?”

You snap your neck before shaking your head furiously, a weird chuckle leaving your lips.

“No! No, absolutely not.” You persisted.

“Okay,” Steve trailed off, “you… like her, though, right?”

You looked at Ellie who was leaning over all of the kids' drawings, commenting on how all of them were ‘sick’ or ‘cool’. It was undeniable.

“Yeah, why?” You raised your brows at him.

“Damn. I owe Robs 20 bucks.” He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. You mouth ‘what?’ to yourself before Steve continued with: “She thought you just liked her and hadn’t told her yet and I thought you two were screwing in secret.”

“And you placed a 20-dollar bet on that?” You narrowed your eyes.

“Yeah,” Steve said ashamedly. “Robin went on and on about how ‘not everyone is hooking up just because I do’ and how ‘it’s different because it’s two girls’. I understand that but it doesn't mean, you know, two consenting adult women can’t be hooking up too.”

You blink at the flawless-haired man, listening to him ramble. Robin and he had very valid points.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyways because I’m never going to tell her,” you added, shrugging your shoulders as you scanned over the area to see if any of your campers needed help.

This time Steve whipped his head to stare at you.

“Why not?”

“Uh, because I could humiliate myself and lose her as a friend. I know our relationship wouldn’t be the same if I did,” you explained with a long sigh. “She’s not making it any easier either. She asked me if I wanted her to give me a stick and poke tonight.”

Steve whistled playfully before you bumped his shoulder. He scoffed at your annoyed expression before putting his hand up in defense.

“I’m just saying if I know flirting,” he leaned down to mutter to you, “and I think I do, she wants you just as badly as you want her. My personal opinion is to go for it.”

You shake your head at his words but don’t necessarily push the thought away. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Robin and Abby whispering amongst each other. Robin glanced over to where you and Steve were standing before nudging the taller woman.

“You know what’s going on over there?” You lean into Steve with furrowed brows.

“No clue but I think I gotta go. One of my kids just shoved a googly eye up his nose.” Steve patted a hand on your shoulder before speed-walking over to this table full of campers.

To your surprise, none of your children had spoken up once. You jinxed yourself almost immediately as a little girl with dark coily hair pulled into two ponytails raised her hand and waved it around to get your attention.

You make your way over to her, leaning over to lean over her small shoulder.

“Hi, Vanessa. What did you need help on, sweetheart?” You tilt your head and look at her name tag.

“Oh. No, I didn’t need any help. I have a question though,” Vanessa turned in her chair, looking up at you.

“What is it?”

“Are you and Mr. Steve boyfriend-girlfriend?” She pointed her little finger in the direction of Steve tilting the child’s head back to see if he could get the googly eye out.

You awkwardly laughed at her question, scratching underneath your jaw. Kids, from what you’ve learned working at this summer camp, are extremely nosy and have zero filter with their questions. You remember just last summer when a little boy asked you what were the dots on your face: you were breaking out the first week. He was talking about your acne.

“Uh, no. Mr.Steve and I are good friends.” You said slowly. “Boys and girls can be just friends, you know?”

“Oh, well, he’s super cute,” she giggled as she covered her mouth like it was a secret.

The girl had taste but you just didn’t swing that way. You didn’t know what else to say but thankfully, Abby shouted over the conversations to turn in your name tags to their designated counselors so that they could get started on the tie-dye shirts.

You retrieve the hard stock paper from all twelve of your campers before tucking them underneath your clipboard.

“When your group is called, carefully walk up to the front table to grab a white shirt. If you need help picking out a size, ask for help from any of the counselors.” Abby grinned before making her way over to you.

You turn to her with a small smile, nodding your head over to her group of children.

“You doing okay with your kids?” You question, tilting your head up at her.

“Yeah, they’re not too bad but I give it a few days before they start pulling pranks on us.” Abby sighs with a shrug.

You nod sadly, knowing how truly creative these children can get when it comes to pranking. You still can’t stand the smell of a bubble bath.

“Well, you promised to help me prank Ellie so you’re really one to talk,” you raised your brows at her with a soft chuckle.

Abby couldn’t even say anything to you as you were right.

“I meant that, too. I got a few ideas for her.”

A part of you tried to ignore the quite obvious disliking Abby held for Ellie. Her tone triggered you from the first day and their little tense bicker.

“I will, Abs.”

Abby simply smiled before patting your shoulder with her own clipboard. You rolled your eyes playfully as she walked away from you. You catch Robin’s eye and she avoids your gaze almost immediately.

Weird.

“You sure this is safe?” You question for probably the tenth time that night as Ellie dipped the needle into the little plastic cup of ink.

Ellie let out a soft chuckle at your antsiness, reaching over to place a hand on your fidgeting one. You, after a lot of second-guessing, made your way to the cabin next door, making sure to only knock on the counselors’ side to not wake up the children. Every single voice in your head was telling you that you were betraying your one goal you had for this summer but your heart was telling you to spend as much time alone with her as possible.

Your mental and emotional state often collided with one another.

Now here you were in your oversized gray tee and a pair of green pajama shorts that had white shamrocks on them, sitting on her springy mattress as she dipped the disinfected needle into the tattoo ink. Ellie had on her signature black wife pleaser and a pair of boxer-briefs, one singular black glove on her right hand. The dim yellow of the lamp on the small desk was the only source of light in the small room.

“It’ll be okay. Now, it will sting a little bit because, well, it’s ink going into your skin but let me know if you need a break.” Ellie gave you a heads up, scooting in closer to you on her swivel barstool. “You said you just wanted a sun with a swirl in the middle?”

You nod as you watch her place a hand on your knee to steady your shakiness. You were nervous but excited for doing something like this. Outside of the camp, you weren’t someone who left their house often unless it was to eat, for school or when one of your three friends invited you out which you declined most of the time.

“Can we talk about something so that I don’t move a lot and fuck it up?” You nervously chuckle.

Ellie sucked in a deep breath as she began to poke the needle into your skin, causing you to scrunch up your nose at the pain.

“How about you tell me about life back at home? Just tell me everything, you know.” Ellie looked up for a second to give you a reassuring smile.

You mutter a soft ‘okay’ as you close your eyes, gripping onto the thin sheets on the bed.

“I don’t really do much. It’s not that I don’t get opportunities to. I just never have the courage to do a lot in my life so that gives me a lot of free time to read romances even though they make me feel extremely lonely. It’s annoying but I guess I kind of did that to myself,” you sucked in a deep breath when the pressure grew stronger on your upper thigh.

“You’re doing good,” Ellie whispered as she dipped the needle back into the ink cup. Her thumb was gently rubbing underneath the skin where she was placing the tattoo.

Great. Now you’re getting aroused and you’re in pain. A dangerous combination.

“Um, oh, I tried dragon fruit and kiwi for the first time last week. It was in a really big fruit bowl with melon, strawberry, mango, green grapes and pineapple.” You blurt out as you remember how delicious the refreshing bowl was.

“Very summer-y,” Ellie hummed with a cheeky smile as she was finishing up the spiral in the middle.

“I thought so,” you hum, sucking in a deep breath as she wiped a disinfectant wipe over the finished swirl portion to clean up some of the dots of ink and blood resting on your skin.

Ellie sat upright to stretch out her hunched over position, looking at you with a gentle smile. You weakly smiled back as you looked at the swirl, tempted to ask her to just finish there but that would mean going back to your cabin which you really didn’t want to do.

“How’s it looking?” Ellie cleared her throat, twiddling the makeshift ink pen around her fingers.

“It’s so clean. How did you do that?” You ask in genuine shock.

Ellie sheepishly shrugged her shoulders as she scratched at the space behind her ear. You let yourself take a few breaths as you brace yourself for the last bit of the tattoo.

“Okay, I’m good now,” you grin as your hand finds itself gripping onto the sheets once again.

Ellie nodded at your ‘okay’ but her eyes locked on your tight-knuckled hand. She clears her throat before motioning to her knee that was pressing into the metal bed frame.

“You can… put your hand on my knee. Just so you don’t screw up my sheets,” she teases as her eyes flicker to her exposed knee.

You hesitantly release the nylon sheets before carefully placing your hand down on her protruding bone. You held back every urge to rub your thumb on her pale skin just as she had been doing to you this entire time. You did, however, feel the little pricks of hairs that Ellie missed on her knee. You weren’t going to judge her, of course. It was comforting knowing how human she was.

“Is there anyone special back home?” Ellie hummed as she dotted the sunbeams.

Your eyes bulged out of your head. How fucking ironic the girl you had been head over heels for is asking you this question.

“Uh, no, not back home,” you shake your head at her question.

You weren’t technically lying. There was nothing waiting for you at home other than your dads.

“So you don’t have feelings for… anyone at all?” Ellie sounded almost nervous asking you the question.

Suddenly your palm grew hot and sweaty at the on-the-nose question. You could lie and say ‘no’ but your lack of immediate response captured Ellie’s attention. Ellie’s eyes flickered up to you with a shit-eating grin on her pink lips.

“I-I don’t.” You accidentally stutter, making you want to wring your neck right then and there.

“You’re a shit liar,” Ellie scoffed as she wiped off the excess blood and ink. “Who is it?”

“No one. Seriously don’t start,” you let out a strained chuckle.

“Why did you get so tense all of a sudden then?” Ellie quipped.

Well part of it has to do with the fact that I would give anything to have your tongue down my throat, you thought to yourself.

“Nothing. It’s no one and nothing, Els.” You shake your head before motioning to your tattoo. “Aren’t you supposed to be tattooing not being nosy?”

Ellie shook her head with a raise of her eyebrows. “So it is someone?”

You mutter an ‘oh my god’ to yourself before she continues to speak. “If it was really no one, you wouldn’t have called me nosy. I’m just saying.”

God, her sarcastic tone both irritated and comforted you.

“I don’t know. Abby is pretty… cool and sweet.” You blubber out, your word vomit causing your head to ache.

Ellie’s features dropped for a moment at the name. You even felt a nerve in her knee twitch. Why did you say Abby of all people? She pursed her lips before going back to the task at hand.

“Abby?” Ellie hummed. “Really?”

No.

“Yeah. What’s wrong with Abby?” You question the freckled girl, eyes flickering to her furrowed brows.

Ellie sucked in a deep breath, shaking her head. You wanted to scoff at her reaction but you simply kept your hand on her knee, allowing her to finish what she started.

“What about…you?” You carefully ask.

“What about me?” Ellie raised her brows.

You sigh. “Do you have anyone special?”

Ellie’s soft green eyes followed up your body to your lips before shaking her head, dismissive of your question.

“No one you know of.”

This needle is digging into your skin and your blood is seeping to the surface but Ellie’s words hurt the most tonight.

tag-list: @abbyshands @ih8chickentenders @elliesprettygirl @justhereforinspopics @be3flow3r @hearts4joongie @plutolovesyou @bready101 @joanvisitsrome @elliewilliamssrealgf @hysteriawillnotsuccumb @shady-lemur @melanie-watermelon @elliescoolerwife @ucannotcompare @sakiigami @shalalala-sana @joordynn @ummlover @thisiscarlatrying

[kotoku]

may we have some platonic dunmeshi headcanons where the reader is a half elf and Marcille’s friend who she went to magic school with (up until the reader dropped out) and they’re sorta her opposite? (in a complimentary way)

think like Eda and Lilith from the the owl house (season 2)

the touden party with a half-elf! reader

content - half elf and half tall-man applied to reader / pre-storyline and current storyline / platonic headcanons / marcille and reader are childhood friends who are the complete opposite of each other

pairings - laios touden & half-elf!reader / chilchuck tims & half-elf!reader / marcille donata & half-elf!reader / senshi & half-elf!reader / izutsumi & half-elf!reader

warnings - a bit of spoilers towards the end of marcille’s part

note - i hope i did this right ! if i didn't please let me know and i can always rewrite it to your taste. ^^

word count - 1.8k

background - You were a mix of elf and tall-man attending magic school as a researcher alongside your childhood friend Marcille. The two of you were inseparable while growing up, despite your contrasting personalities. 

Eventually, Marcille introduced you to a new friend named Falin, a student attending the school. You knew that Falin was considered an outcast by the rest of the students, but you took the time to get to know her and the three of you became close friends.

With Falin disappearing, you and Marcille were very worried until you received a request from said woman. With you and Marcille making your way to the island to reunite with Falin, you had felt a bit nervous about the idea of meeting her brother and venturing into the dungeon. 

✤✤✤✤

✢  You had heard of Laios from Falin, who seemed very passionate about her brother, always referring to his hard-working and caring nature (..and weirdness…)

✢ Unlike Marcille who had been wary upon first meeting him, you were quite open and friendly to the blond tall-man, despite your quietness

✢ Laio’s is honestly a bit nervous when meeting you, hardly encountering any elves in his homeland and on the island 

✢ As time goes on though, the two of you become inseparable, always looking out for each other and protecting Falin and Marcille 

✢ Sometimes, when you two are the only ones up during the night, you’ll make conversation with the blond, listening to his monster ramblings and such

✢ Laios is grateful to have you around, appreciative of your active listening and engagement with his rambles (and for being Falin’s friend)

✢ When Falin is eaten by the red dragon, you stay back with Marcille (of course, determined to get your close friend back

✢ During the nights that are rough on Laios, you are there to silently comfort him, offering him your company and support 

✢ Laios was never bothered by your lack of words, finding your true intentions and emotions through your actions (he was super observant of you and understood most of your mannerisms)

✢ Forgot to mention this but… When Laios finds out that you're actually half-elf like Marcille, he’s pretty surprised and is interested in your background (was your mom an elf and dad a tall-man? or the other way around?) 

✤✤✤✤

✢ Chilchuck respects you in a professional sense, not really interested in you at first, only asking questions about your magic abilities and skills

✢ Honestly, I think the two of you wouldn’t get along in the beginning, not because you hate each other, but because you’re so quiet and he’s just weirded out by you 

✢ It isn’t until the two of you are drinking that he lets a little loose and inquires more about the kind of magic you use, etc…

✢ It is during this time that he gets to know about you (your background, your schooling, your interests..etc…), dropping the professionalism

✢ You don’t really get to know much about him, to your annoyance 

✢ It isn’t until during one of the party’s night watches, where you are unable to sleep and are left with Chilchuck who was on first watch, that you get to know about him (about his 3 kids, his situation with his ex-wife, etc…)

✢ It takes time for him to fully open up to you, but when he does, he just gives you crumbs of his lore (you are left to piece it all together)

✢ During this time you grow to respect each other, having the other’s back during fights and brawls

✢ Chilchuck, though he’d never admit it, would be grateful for your presence in the party, finding you the most tolerable member there 

✢ He’s hesitant to call you his friend, but just slowly accepts that fact (the same for the rest of the party)

✢ When you reveal the fact that you're a half-elf half-tall-man like Marcille, he’s taken aback but doesn’t view you any different

✢ He likes you the way you are and it’ll be hard for his feelings to budge about you, so don’t expect him to be fawning over you being 50/50 or rejecting you for being 50/50

✤✤✤✤

✢ Ahh Marcille… Your childhood friend

✢ Growing up alongside Marcille, the two of you know all about each other (likes, dislikes, goals, her obsession with The Daltian Clan…)

✢ I can picture the two of you having a self-care night, doing face masks, cleaning up your nails, playing with each other's hair, etc…

✢ People are surprised by the harmony between you and Marcille, as she is much more expressive and hot-headed and you’re more reserved and relaxed

✢ It is these differences that bring you two closer, as Marcille finds your personality enjoyable to have around (it’s like a breath of fresh air for her)

✢ The two of you have different areas of magic that you research, but attend the same magic school as Falin

✢ You have been through thick and thin with Marcille, whether it was enduring the hardships of studying, traversing the dungeon, eating monsters, and eventually rescuing Falin 

✢ Honestly, it feels nice knowing that she’s not the only half and half in.. basically the community the two of you grew up in

✢ Marcille would definitely go to you to talk about The Daltian Clan, even if you don’t even read it

✢ She’s able to confide in you her difficulties of being both an elf and tall-man, and you’re welcome to do the same with her

✢ Marcille is so grateful to have you as a friend, finding comfort in your presence during your adventures in the dungeon

✢ She’s especially grateful to have you during Falin’s disappearance, promising to protect each other as you venture deeper

✢ SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA !! You’re probably the first person that’s able to break through to Marcille during her uh, time as Dungeon Lord

✢ With your convincing and your friends’ support, you were able to help calm her down 

✢ When all is said and done, you and Marcille are ecstatic to have Falin back and celebrate by having a sleepover (to catch up on everything, yknow)

✤✤✤✤

✢ Senshi’s first impression of you is that you’re a quiet but talented fella

✢ Although he’s not a fan of magic, he does find some of the spells you cast to be quite useful and efficient (he acknowledges your dedication to researching your area of magic)

✢ He is pleased to see that you aren’t reluctant to try dungeon food, offering lessons on how to make some of them

✢ You end up being his little assistant, aside from Laios, helping him with cutting up ingredients or doing certain things

✢ Sometimes you’ll be open to Senshi teaching you how to do things without magic

✢ Of course, Senshi is very insistent that you eat and rest properly (it’s especially important since you need mana)

✢ I can see Senshi forming a bond akin to a grandpa and his grandkid, trying to protect you during fights but you end up defending him more often than not (there are times he comes in clutch though)

✢ Senshi comes to understand your quiet behavior, like Laios, he can read your emotions and intentions through your actions

✢ Senshi is your No. 1 supporter, encouraging you if you’re learning how to do something and supporting you during rough nights

✢ He’s honestly a bit confused about how you and Marcille are friends, given your differing personalities, but sees how compatible the both of you are

✢ When he finds out that you’re half-elf and half-tall-man, he..doesn’t really care, that information doesn’t change his perception of you in any way

✢ Senshi will listen to you whenever you need to rant about something, he knows that bottling up your emotions can eventually lead to outbursts so he’ll be a shoulder for you to lean on

✢ He gives great advice, sometimes you’ll consult him on night watch or when you’re helping him cook

✢ Senshi deeply respects you and is grateful to have you around, he enjoys the company a lot

✤✤✤✤

✢ Izutsumi is initially interested in you, curious if you can rid her of her beastkin side

✢ However, she becomes disinterested in you when she realizes you can’t haha…

✢ She’s confused about how you and Marcille are friends, but doesn’t think about it too much (she applies her experiences with Tade with you and Marcille)

✢ Unlike Marcille who openly dotes on Izutsumi, you’d quietly show your care by letting her have some of your food, handing Marcille some products to use on Izutsumi (you’ll be damned if you’re scratched), etc…

✢ You’d probably be the best person to deal with Izutsumi though, you’d just pinch the certain space on her neck to have her freeze (you’d have some knick knacks to stun her)

✢ If Izutsumi bit or scratched you, you’d put a cone or some mittens on her 

✢ She hates you for that but understands it hurts so she tries not to act on her feelings, grumbling about it instead

✢ Gradually, Izutsumi grows closer to you, listening to you talk about your background and research with interest

✢ She’d ask some questions about what you do, inquiring more if something piques her interest

✢ When the party is sent to the Golden Castle, she’ll become clingy to both you and Marcille, pawing at you for pets and scratches which you happily accept

✢ Sometimes she will sleep at the foot of your bedroll, curling in on herself as you sleep above her

✢ When she finds out you’re half-elf, she also doesn’t care 

✢ She’ll treat you the same regardless so you don’t need to worry about any changes

[northrnfool]

I swear, if the moral to this relationship is that they have to let eachother go and Loki becomes to God of Stories working alone and Mobius goes back to struggling with his work/family mess alone, I’m going to become insufferable on here. It’s going to be rants regarding misused symbolism about complimentary opposites, OB weaving those two wires together so they hold tight, Ravonna foreshadowing Mobius leading the TVA by criticizing him because he isn’t as ruthlessly controlling as she is, order verses chaos to order and chaos in harmony.

They’re Yin and Yang. Their soulmates. They’re at their best when they’re together.

[fae-that-rambles]

OMORI AND STORYTELLING THROUGH CHARACTER DESIGN

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I think it’s a very fun detail to over analyze.

SPOILERS AHEAD‼️‼️‼️

HEADSPACE

Upon first meeting the headspace gang Omori and Basil stand out very sharply. Omori with his lack of color, and Basil with the unique color of his hair and eyes. The two are clear foils; Omori is silent and keeps himself as far from focus as possible- While Basil is the group glue and focus before and after his disappearance.

Through the character designs and personalities, we are primed to connect and focus on Basil rather than Omori. Basil is pastel colored, a pacifist and a lover. Omori’s vacant eyes and silent knife-wielding nature are less inviting. Very often with RPG horrors, silent protagonists are overlooked in favor of supporting cast. Omori actively uses this as an aspect of its story. We’re supposed to focus on Basil- Sunny is supposed to focus on Basil

THE HORROR

This all lends to our first bait and switch- and our first of Basil’s complex role in the narrative.

Basil is our first glimpse into the horror themes of Omori- and this actively betrays the players trust. Again- Basil was our lovable safe character- We are primed to trust him. Then everything goes wrong (Sounds familiar).

The red eyes are obviously unsettling- again, betraying our trust by subverting the innocence of Basil’s appearance.

Furthering this! With Basil’s disappearance arrives Stranger

A shadowed figure resembling Basil leaving bloody footprints- Basil’s design has been completely subverted into something known and comforting- to a Stranger.

Omori and Stranger are an inverse of Omori and Basil’s design foils. Omori is white with black accents and eyes. Stranger is a full black silhouette with glowing white eyes. And they are of course just as much personality foils. Omori is danger and escapism under an innocent mask. Stranger is a frightening and cryptic individual who only aims to help Sunny. The bloody footprints are foreboding and unsettling- But they’re guides helping Sunny.

Adding on to this, Stranger and Omori’s design’s aren’t foils in the way of being opposites- they’re foils in the way of being compliments. They’re reflections of black and white- two sides of the same coin.

REAL WORLD BASIL

The introduction of real world Basil once again subverts previous expectations- I think for both the audience and Sunny. Setup as foils- opposites throughout the entirety of headspace, the Real World Basil and Sunny could not be more similar design wise. Their outfits are near identical; and their pale frail physiques are the same- even down to the height.

Despite everything set up in Headspace- Basil is by far the character most similar to us in Faraway town. As much as Sunny tries to deny it in his mind- he and Basil were heavily shaped by their shared history. They’re not opposites. Both have become reclusive in the days since Mari’s death, they both lost connections with the group, and both are riddled with guilt, fear, and self loathing. Sunny tries so hard to sever his connections to Basil in his mind, they’re in the exact same position.

Through the final fight with Basil, all of Sunny and Basil’s parallels are put to light. Both in the same clothes, living with the same crippling fear of what they both went to together. Both of their Somethings heightening their fear and crippling any rationality. Basil’s weapon- garden shears are an easy parallel to Omori’s knife.

Their only major design difference is their eyes and hair. Sunny’s eyes still their empty black (or sharp red when stressed out) and Basil’s an eerie glowing blue. Even if they’ve developed in the same circumstances, the two have reacted very differently because of their personalities. Sunny avoidant and stoic, Basil desperate and erratic. Once again, the two are complimentary foils. No matter what form Basil takes, he and Sunny are tied together as reflections of one another, and the shared experiences that molded them.

BONUS- HIKKIKOMORI

In the Hikkikomori route you fight Stranger instead of Real life Basil. The Hikkikomori route illustrates a complete refusal from Sunny to acknowledge the truth of the incident, and this means erasing Basil as a person. Destroying every one of these parallels I’ve discussed.

Basil and Stranger lose their depth. Basil is resigned to the picnic basket with Mari and kept out of the way. He’s lost his right to focus and autonomy, rather staying a shallow memory vague enough to protect Sunny’s repression.

Stranger is treated as an enemy. He is solely Omori’s opponent and will be eliminated as such. All of Basil’s complexity wiped away with his death. Leaving that cardboard cutout- Headspace Basil.

Furthermore, the fight with Stranger (obviously) has direct parallels to the final fight with Basil. Basil and Sunny wear their identical clothes and fight as two parallels. Stranger and Omori are black and white enemies, as Omori refuses to acknowledge Basil’s connection and similarities to Sunny. He refuses the complexity Stranger represents.

[yuissamidare]

I saw a lot of people questioning the appeal of lukahyuna/hyuluka, and I think that’s quite understandable. here are my two cents no one asked for! for me, other than the fact that they’re the perfect example of interpersonal horror, at least a big part of the attraction comes from my interpretation of the characters—both being people who struggle with control and autonomy.

Luka is someone who is controlled in every aspect of his life, from his daily training, to his health (canonly having heart problems and other congenital issues), and he was paraded around since he was young for his appearance and constantly made to be a spectacle — there is nothing that is fully his expect his emotions, to which he hangs onto hyuna with his love; then there is hyuna, who was completely aware of the encasement she was in and could still live freely, happily chaining herself to the parental role she placed herself in for her younger brother and later on, refuses to live anything but freely but except for being trapped by her feelings and memories of luka and her brother.

It’s a case of someone who has no independence finding a sense of sovereignty and control in regards to the feelings he has with another person versus someone who will carve a path of freedom and control for herself but constantly losing her footing as the only thing she has no control over are her feelings, and that contrast makes it very appealing for me.

Luka and hyuna were made with each other in mind, hyuna being stated to be a ‘YOLO!’ kind of girl while luka is the opposite and is careful—this is shown in their official merch stands as well, hyuna being a lunar eclipse that interferes with the path of the moon (luka) and luka being a solar eclipse that blocks the path of the sun (hyuna). They are complimentary opposed forces, however that does not mean that at one point they were not mutually attracted to each other, regardless of the intent of the attraction—in the prologue and old supplemental art, Hyuna and Luka are seen side by side while rehearsing and also spending their free time together (though Luka is glaring at Hyunwoo who is offscreen), and in all in as well, they’re shown to spend time together while Hyunwoo is not around, and Hyuna also allows him to encroach on time spent with her brother. (In this particular part of All-In, luka shows traits such as sucking on his sleeves which are associated with poorly socialized or developed children, which is something he seems to stop when Hyuna touches him for a sufficient amount of time)

— Anakt Garden Initially, i had thought what luka felt for Hyuna was not traditional ‘love’ or a properly developed crush but possession and desire to have hyuna act as a readily available and constant companion in a convenient social tie—something to have which a special relationship no one else can touch, having something that is truly his regardless of what he felt being considered as ‘love’—, which, while not completely untrue, had shifted when their supplemental comic came out and showed that he had genuine value in her thoughts and opinions (while making sure she had stopped looking at hyunwoo), and in a recent doodle, showed that he had genuinely sought her affection and validation (via picking fights with Hyunwoo and using that as a way to see her take his side over his, which is the second time she is shown to prioritize him over her brother, who calls for her and only her attention in the supplemental comic who she seems to put off for a moment in favor of acknowledging luka’s clinginess towards her and calling him cute).

While the form changed, the one constant of luka —> hyuna has always been: ‘this is mine, I want a relationship with her that gives me a level of exclusivity and control over her that others can’t have, one that includes priority over hyunwoo’

Luka is shown to value her opinions and use it as a basis for his own, as seen in a supplemental comic. he finds worth in her viewpoints considering and there’s a sense of mutuality there that makes him comfortable enough to share and talk about opinions with her and to use her as either a building block for his own ideals due to not having any strong feelings of his own, or to compare and contrast their ways of thinking and finding worth in the perspective that she has brought.

this comic is my second favorite piece of media involving them, with my first being the in the storyboards for all in…! (which i can’t talk about since it’s patreon content, but, you know) and it directly correlates to his character inspiration in which he finds value and a reason to be on stage due to the experiences he spent with hyuna, just like how his character inspiration finds value in their story of origin through experiences spent with others.

Singing makes Hyuna feel free, and through Hyuna, Luka attempts to find freedom and independence through singing as well, though the results are debatable as it seems he doesn’t inherently enjoy singing, but the feeling of closeness it allows him to feel for Hyuna and the privilege it brings him.

hyuna’s feelings for him at this point is hard to succinctly place on tenterhooks, as she was a character kept private and secret for much of the run, but i do think that she had fledging affection for him for several of the reasons i mentioned (re: the purposeful and conscious spent with him over others; the decision to spend time with both luka and hyunwoo and seemingly split her attention between them as they seem to fight when she’s not around, as in the supplementary comic hyunwoo only calls for Hyuna’s attention rather than calling for them both; once again taking Luka’s side when luka provokes others; the memory that sparks her panic is one of them being close—her playing with his hair while he looks at her.)

It is difficult for me to talk about hyuna’s feelings when there is so little about her known, I do feel like much of it will be my interpretation so please forgive the conjecture.

Personally, I believe that Hyuna viewed her love of others through her love for hyunwoo. She took on a maternal role for her brother which spreads through her interactions with others even if she acts like a wild auntie nowadays. I believe she took Luka’s side over Hyunwoo’s because she thought Hyunwoo should treat Luka more carefully since she had expected him to be more responsible to a child that seemed weak and delicate in comparison to Hyunwoo. I believed she split her attention between them both as Hyunwoo seemed to rely on her for her attention as much as luka did (re: only calling for her when he wanted to show off the space beetle.) and had acted as a bridge between them, despite them seemingly not having the best relationship—she could have always cut luka off when hyunwoo had grown frustrated with him, but again, she divided her time between them and had spend moments with them both apart and together because she had cared deeply for them both.

Since she viewed her relationships through her love of hyunwoo, she could not differentiate her feelings for luka being different or starting to develop as something different because she did not treat that as a possibility with her stubbornly placing herself in that motherly role—which is why things like Luka’s possessive statements had the red flags ignored then seemingly encouraged with petting and praise due to being flattered by his close attention.

And since luka is implied to have been artificially created, hyunas nature was something he found soothing and comforting (see: no longer self soothing after she had touched him) before the nature of his feelings changed as well, though his feelings changed sooner than hers did.

— Season 49 and present day: regardless of how hyunwoo died*, it is possible hyuna’s misery and potential feelings of guilt and regret give him a modicum of control over her—even after hyunwoo is dead, she’s going to need to live with luka all the way until season 49 starts and she escapes. she’s still going to have years and years of staying with him and having him cling to her or remind her what happened and she has been affected as a result (her looking so muted and sad when depicted prior to her escape, or having less vibrant expressions compared to all in; her potentially starting to smoke to deal with stress). he has, essentially, ruined her so thoroughly they’ll find his face carved into the darkest part of her heart and that’s sign of her thinking of him, and there’s ownership in that as well. i think the part in sweet dream where they show up and she’s hovering a knife over him while he’s holding her hip implies that he’d genuinely be delighted if she tried to kill or hurt him back, because that’s more proof that she’s still under his control. *While it is normally agreed that Luka’s actions caused Hyunwoos death, there is still contention as to what happen or led up to it, as some people from the start believe when Hyuna had pulled them apart, Hyunwoo hit his head (while originally theorized on the all in YT comments, it gained traction with the doodle comic as additional evidence for later on, but it’s been theorized since all in came out [while I have screenshots, I do not have the source for the original YT comment, magratbastard on Twitter has a great thread on it) or that Hyunwoo had just landed badly when luka pushed him off. Therefore I am using vague phrasing here as what happened is not agreed on in a unified manner as we lack context.

At this point in time hyuna is actively haunted by thoughts of hyunwoo, but seems that she’s conflicted about luka and battles her unhappiness, disgust, and past positive feelings under a vein of apathy, but seemingly falters (sweet dream) due to lingering attachment or being unable to truly know what happened that day, which leads to her passively allowing him near her despite her distaste. she needs to live with him and remember that he was involved in her brothers death, and that he is attached to her for some reason, and that displays itself in a way that could be taken as romantic.

In supplemental art where he is giving her a massage, unlike fighting or squirming away like till does with ivan, hyuna seems to reluctantly acquiesce to his touch despite seeming awkward about it (for many reasons). it seems to resemble parts of all in, and sweet dream—haunted by him, but is determined to shut out her feelings and move past him in order to benefit others (re: singing at the club; her surrounded by robots and his image, only moving forward and away from them in awe when mizi fights for her) seems to have settled into a more uncharitable view of him but still trips up when confronted with thoughts of him and actively fights his memory and positive association with him because she still can’t truly push him and thoughts of him away.

Note: as children in the garden are indoctrinated to think that singing while dying allows you to go to the in universe equivalent of a heaven, her feelings of being haunted by hyunwoo may be exacerbated by that indoctrination, even if she doesn’t believe in it anymore. May possibly be reluctant to kill luka due to three things: this, past affection for him, or feeling the value of other humans for the sake that they are human, despite not wanting him in her life. — present day: Romh, all in, love and peace, sweet dream cover:

ROMH: ruler of my heart is a song that was created prior to season 50 and is implied to have been written about Hyuna. I wrote my thoughts on it here: https://x.com/8bitdetective/status/1745091500789076201

SWEET DREAM: sweet dream generally parallels the luka and Hyuna’s story lyric wise, as luka and sua are diametrically opposed contrasts in their approaches to love and ‘self(ish/ness)’.

I made a rough comparison here: https://x.com/8bitdetective/status/1745110121108168870

hyuna and mizi are mirrors in how they live their lives, similar, I believe sua and luka mirror each other as well.

hyuna and mizi are both people who have experienced love prior to meeting their respective others and having happy experiences with their family—mizi was loved by her owners, who had gifted her toys and sent her off in tears, and in return she loved them as well—mizisua is a video about the people mizi has loved, who have ‘abandoned’ her, and I believe this was also her realization that her family left her alone to participate in a death game, the same way sua had consciously sacrificed herself despite not knowing what may happen in the future.

hyuna had also been given and received familial love in the form of hyunwoo, and that had been her everything. these are both people who had been secure in their love and therefore had love to share, and both luka and sua were addicted to that healthy affection—however luka seemingly refused to let anyone but hyuna in and has never willing spent time with anyone but hyuna, focusing all his feelings on hyuna and ‘the person who is intruding on his time with hyuna’ that he was jealous of—luka, being older than hyuna, was probably set in his ways and didn’t see a need to change, as such change would lead to detrimental effects on his life elsewhere. he did not change, nor did he want to—why would he have to, when hyuna would seemingly always take his side and put him before even her brother? instead, he selfishly wanted hyuna to have her world narrowed to only him, he wanted to own her and I believe wanted her to choose to ‘own’ him as well.

meanwhile sua was willing to spend time with others and talk to them, while mizi was her most important person, mizi wasn’t the only person in the world and mizi had allowed the universe to expand around them, and such varied experiences of being around people had allowed sua to develop a healthier relationship and way of thinking—even if she had become childish and jealous of till at points, she did not try and steal mizis from his company and allowed her to have her own friends, and then was allowed to make her own connections with ivan (as contentious as it may be at time) and had become a person who was more socially conscious and well adjusted compared to luka.

LOVE & PEACE: depending how you look at it, LOVE&PEACE can reference both luka and hyunwoo at the same time, or either/or. For this, I’ll mainly talk about how it can possibly apply to Luka.

if you consider sweet dream to also be applicable to his character, luka says the morning (hyuna, who is compared to the sun) won’t come for him, but to hyuna even if time marches on and she can find the sun (new experiences) it still feels like she’s fumbling in the night (Luka) after everything, because luka is always associated with the night and darkness and hyuna being his brightness, feeling trapped by lukas influence even if she’s mentally aware she’s not under his thumb anymore, because he always pops into her mind.

while luka was her friend, hyunwoo was the other half of her heart—no matter what luka did, it doesn’t change that hyunwoo is apart of her, that he’s still inside her as her blood, and that’s something luka can never take away. That’s the interpretation I got from the cover art, at least. every time she bleeds, he’ll be split on her skin and that is something she will always have to live with, and something she always has to acknowledge being stolen from her.

This also contrasts their ways of loving: luka wants hyuna for herself and lives for the sake of having her, but hyuna lives in order to express her love for hyunwoo by rebelling against the system that has taken her brother away from her, and to keep loving hyunwoo and for that sincerity to reach him someday—to live on for the part of her that couldn’t, despite seemingly not taking good care of her body by drinking, smoking, and getting hurt on her rebel mission. She’s a character that claims to live for herself while taking care of others (again, contrasting with luka who lives for others while taking care of his own self preservation.)

Because Hyuna is a character that constantly thinks of others, she can’t forgive herself when she thinks of Luka fondly, or that she still has memories of them being affectionate after everything, even as she confesses in LOVE&PEACE that she didn’t think the ‘night’, the peace and safety she felt in the garden in the times spent with him, would be stolen from her and would have her reevaluate everything about him.

— re: the kiss

luka is a character with no control or autonomy in his life, he is chronically ill and he is consistently put in high stress situations that he doesn’t enjoy being in. luka is a character who is meant to be subservient and obedient to his owners and ‘betters’ while being treated like a showdog for a majority of his life for his own appearance, in an interview, he mentions ‘being made to sing in a variety of situations to be made sure that he can sing perfectly at any time’ and is someone who is meant to control his own heartbeat consistently and manually. He’s always hunched in and doing things like sucking on his sleeve are traits of neurodivergence and abused/highly stressed children (to which he only stops when hyuna pets him long enough) which reads as him being poorly or under socialized.

I believe he thought that hyuna wouldnt have reacted badly as she had always reacted positively to other things he has done (openly claiming ownership of her or when she takes his side, earnestly as seeing his questions and giving him physical affection) and had showed that she had prioritized him over everyone else. Luka is a character who is calculative and doesn’t do anything unless the move works in his favor, he’s made to be hyunas diametric opposite in that way, which is why he picks on hyunas brother to get him to lash out, to see if she will put him first.

I do not believe* have made a move if he didnt think there was an investment there, because that would risk losing her, and luka has always been someone who has ‘known his place’ and what he has to gain and lose. Even if there was not ‘love’ there, he had probably expected some positive reciprocal action.

*on the case that lukas actions were out of impulse, i think it would be spurred by insecurity and envy. while luka and hyuna hold mutual respect for one another, he does get annoyed when she calls him cute and reminds her that he’s older, despite always going to her when hyunwoo hits him back for her defense. if this wasn’t a gesture that was calculated, it was most likely one used to have her categorized as as something other than something to just be taken care of as the nature of his feelings started to change.

i believe the collar is used to track—rather than negative emotion—level of emotional intensity or dysregulation, which may correlate with heartrate but wouldn't always? for example, there’s supplementary art of mizi and sua that shows sua getting flustered at the sight of mizi’s body, which usually wouldnt indicate discomfort but rather suggests a sudden fluctuation in emotional state, if that makes sense, meanwhile since till is often shown with a green collar around mizi despite being shown heavily flustered when thinking about her, since he’s a very intense person that kind of status would be normal on him, however since sua is a very low intensity person, her red light signals an abnormality.

I think Hyuna’s light changed because she was startled, this was something that was new to her and an out of character action for luka. I do not think she expected him to kiss her as these things would not be on her mind as she has always given priority to others.

In the days that followed it is likely that hyuna had decided to put space between them and luka had ached for her attention again after startling her, and probably decided to get it again in a way that seemed to work over and over again probably provoking hyunwoo (either seeking him out or letting him come to luka and seeing a chance) and getting into a fight with him in hopes that hyuna would defend him, knowing that he was weak and sickly, however hyunwoo had died in the process and that had driven the rift further, if that makes sense?

Luka also purposely provokes Mizi in ROMH, leading to him being protected by a stronger force who will protect him while playing victim—this potentially stemmed from repetition of Hyuna’s defensive behavior when he was young, and had continued using this technique until the present day.

Tldr: I don’t think luka understood that he came off as too aggressive at this point, regardless of what led up to the kiss, and that hyuna was startled being approached in a blatantly romantic way as, while she always liked him, she could not differentiate what made her feelings for him different from anyone else and it had shocked her

—comparing and contrasting ivan, sua, and lukas affection and actions:

luka, ivan and sua all start exhibiting quiet and subdued demeanors, characterized by introversion and a sense of resignation. they all appear passive and reserved in their interactions and behaviors which makes a contrast with the seemingly more assertive nature of the rest of the cast.

ivan, sua, and luka are all self(less/ish) in different ways, they all show different aspects of the weight of being saved by love and ‘marking’ their respective interests in different ways. — sua quietly plans her end and goes out with a smile, fulfilling mizis dream of singing with her while knowingly sabotaging herself with the hopes that mizi will live and remember her, even if she’s not there; ivan forcing himself onto till and choking him in order to lose and make sure till survives, despite having sneered at sua for the same thing; though luka, without a doubt, is the most selfish, as he has nothing but his feelings for hyuna and the stage that hyuna claimed made her feel free. their object of affections affect them by changing their perspectives and motivations in the future, and as a result they’ve been changed and they changed the person who became their object of affection.

all three start the same their respective apathy for life until meeting their assigned partner, but while the former two set aside their lives for love, luka cannot let her go because that is probably his only proof of ‘self’.

first we have sua, who appears to have given up on life, living a subservient existence without expectations of a better chance at life or ever breaking the norm, full of resignation and apathy but the moment Mizi enters the scene, it's like her life is something worth living, like the colors, smells and all of her senses suddenly come to life, she starts becoming more open and expressive infatuated by Mizi's carefree existence—she becomes envious and emotional, she starts to smile brightly, and due to these experiences sua believes she's lived what she thought was worth living, and now what's truly important was preserving Mizi's existence, as life was not worth even being in without her god and the person who had made everything animated. Sua was only able to enjoy ‘living’ with her company, though she had still ‘selfishly’ marked mizi in a way where she’d never forget her.

then we have Ivan, who possibly attempted to unsuccessfully escape his caretaker as he was shortly captured back up again leading to him having a very similar sense of resignation but with a glimpse of mundane contempt. life isn't necessarily worth living but it's also not worth losing, it is comfortable enough even if just as lifeless as it had always been. however this changes when till makes a scene and not just once but multiple times- making him infatuated by the constant refusal of the conformity he had deeply fallen into. this sparked interest and curiosity in ivan who had until then, had nothing to ‘live’ rather than to ‘survive’ for until he met someone with the qualities he lacked—and those are qualities he wanted to have preserved as well, even if he had to hurt till by forcing a kiss on him as a tool for assured survival, and die in front of him, ‘inflicting’ his emotions onto him. Luka’s emotions come from a desire to have and to own due to being taken care of conditionally (due to his looks and talent) and seemingly being treated like a toy. there seems to have been a mental separation between him and other children that excluded Hyuna because she either was able to nurture him in a genuine way that he lacked the support of elsewhere AND she was able to catch his attention in ways that other people could not—whether it was due to her singing talents, her natural charisma that seemed to make her suitable to be a rebel leader, or, similarly to ivan, he was curious after spending close proximity to her due to the time he was forced to spend with other kids that brought him to her and had become curious about someone who seemed to be his diametric opposite, but still had the maturity to realize that she was a prisoner under anakt; however, unlike ivan, luka was not content just watching and provoking reactions out of hyuna, he wanted to own them as well and keep them all to himself- and once again, harming the object of his affection by forcing intimate proximity, and then leading to hyunwoos death.

if ROMH is written about hyuna (which it likely is) then all three share the sentiment of ‘I want the person i love to live’, though lukas sentiment has the caveat of *‘with me’. ivan was always aware that his feelings were not reciprocal, and had contented himself by watching and being in his presence. sua had mizi’s love and affection, and then was willing to be ‘let go’ and die loved. luka can not be happy just observing hyuna, nor does he want to let go or be let go—theyre all very different aspects of love being displayed, and i believe luka and hyuna have a lot of complexities and depth to them that make them appealing even outside of what’s on the surface! theyre all very different aspects of love being displayed!! its really interesting! It’s a really fascinating and intricate dynamic… tldr its neat!

[unsettlingconclusions]

I find myself with uncharacteristically free hours so I’ll logically spend some of them simping over direction of art!

A marvelous gif set made earlier by waverlyyhaught highlighted how Fina’s and Marta’s breakdown had complimentary colors

Their pain is complimentary to each other as one hurts because the other does too. Still, Fina has always been vibrant, and her attire still reflects that a bit.

Whereas Marta, who always struggled not to sink into idk despair? Is finding herself unable to stop it from happening. Her attire is not only significantly darker, it’s also incredibly stiff. Marta can barely move, even her movements aren’t free.

Aside from her whole posture being hardened, the water in the pool (is that a pool?) just complements the feeling of decadence. The whole atmosphere is gloomy. Not even the birds chirping are enough to dissipate that feeling, they do quite the opposite in terms of offering such a stark contrast: the birds are carefree because they’re free, and Marta? She can barely move.

Even standing up is a task, it’s how caged she is.

I was in awe of the art and photography of this episode. I also simped hard for Marta Belmonte, that woman can act.

[ottosbigtop]

if you have any crumbs to share... about aac raz/lili/bobby dynamic pleeeez ramble to me i want info i'm so into this concept T_T

oh my guy I have so many crumbs for you. These guys have resided in the back of my brain forever but I was usually too embarrassed to say anything about it outside of a couple joke posts. But this is my house so I’m choosing to thrive and frolic.

Also a doodle of the aforementioned three before I enter my tangent :) rambling under the cut

the initial dynamic of these three goes something like

-Lili & Bobby - can’t stand his fake ass. She remembers having to deal with him at whispering rock and clearly is not very good at letting go of grudges from when she was ten. This is, in fact, Bobby’s worst nightmare. He was terrified of working for the psychonauts partially because he didn’t want to run into people he used to know. Surprise! They don’t like each other.

-Raz & Bobby. Raz has the complete opposite problem he literally barely remembers this guy. They interacted for maybe a collective hour one day when he was 10 years old, he only recalls him because Lili clocks him and reminds Raz. Bobby mostly hadn’t thought about him since camp, but did build a little (lot) bit of a resentment after seeing that weird little freak from camp pop up on different True Psychic Tales covers. That on top of Bobby now having to intern under this guy makes their relationship kind of spotty to start, for sure.

-Raz & Lili. Theyre having fun :) After having fun “dating” as real young kids they fall out of touch during their teen years when Raz goes to travel with then circus again to try and reconnect with his family (whole other can of worms for him.) They meet back up during the late teen years and sort of pick up right where they left off, dating off and on for a bit and “officially” dating long term for a little over a year now.

Both their relationships with Bobby evolve over time, naturally. Bobby and Raz have a whooole fucking thing that isn’t fully conceptualized and Is way too long a concept for me to share but their intern/mentor relationship does help them learn to get along with each other. And of course them getting along means Lili having to deal with being around Bobby more often and so it begins.

The whole ~ feelings ~ aspect mostly starts with her and Bobby I think, funnily enough. They hate each other, they want each other dead so bad, but eventually they have to learn to get along for Raz’s sake if nothing else. So they learn! Try to, at least. They’re both really bad at it.

but the “i hate you i want you dead” manages to evolve into that more friendly insulting banter some people have. “I hate you i want you dead” (complimentary.) It gives Raz a headache because it takes him a while to process that they’re usually joking when they’re arguing with each other now.

Lili doesn’t like when she starts to have Feelings about that shitty little freak (tm.) I think she’s somewhere on the Aro spectrum and when Raz wasn’t around she really never. Felt any sort of desire for romance with anyone else. Girl just kind of forgot about it for a bit until he showed up again. Which caused a lot of emotions. And then got used to that until Bobby is introduced into the equation and slowly she starts to feel things toward him that aren’t Rage and Disgust. Which causes a lot of emotions.

Raz I think is entirely oblivious of having any feelings toward him for the longest time. While Lili is a slow “oh god oh fuck” buildup, he’s just really happy he and Bobby are getting along at all that any sort of progress in affection toward him just feels like another big win for friendship. I think it hits him all at once late at night on a random Tuesday and he just sits up in bed and stares at a wall about it.

The whole Raz and Lili communicating abt the concept of polyamory would make this insane post already twice as long and it’s not a part of it all I’ve thought about anyways so we’re going to shelve it for now. But once they do reach the conclusion that they saw this guy from across the bar and they liked his vibe, they both proceed to trip over their own feet for the next however many weeks.

You see, “woman who does not process her emotions” and “guy who needs a twelve step plan for everything” is a prime combination for two people who are pulling some mad scientist shit to try and talk to this guy rather than just inviting him out to eat sometimes. And Bobby is convinced for a little bit that they’re planning to dissect his brain or something because they keep doing that ^

On Bobby’s side of this whole equation the evolution is just his own little torment nexus for a few months.

he initially discovers he’s got a thing for Lili after they start getting along more and it sucks for him. He enjoys their flirty little threats of violence but he’s also close with Raz at this point so I think it just kind of makes him feel . Gross . Like man am I flirting with my friend’s girlfriend I think I am. Oh he’s probably going to hate me. Help.

and that concern for Raz is also a guy in the back of his brain knocking on a door very loudly trying to tell him he’s bisexual but he’s not quite arrived at that conclusion. Give him a few more missions where Raz grabs him while he’s falling to his death and he’ll get there probably.

there’s so many words. These are so many words. I’ll be honest the wacky schenanigans of the “before relationship” era are so funny to me that I’ve not really had any conceptual ideas for them getting into + Being In a Relationship yet. But I hope that you like this at least! This insanely long ass post goes out to you and the one other guy who’s a fan of these three (hi)

[thrashkink-coven]

What is the biggest similarity between Lucifer and lilith

My answer to this would be that they are both likely derived from Inanna. That they are both heavily involved with the Qliphoth (The Tree of Death) and that they are both very multifaceted divinities that are often misunderstood. While they may represent slightly different things, depending on how they’re presenting (The qliphothic Lucifer is slightly different to the Greek Eosphoros for example) their domaines are complimentary, even though they are almost on complete opposite ends of the tree.

Lilith is the dark feminine, and Lucifer is the masculine that exists within the feminine, of both light and dark. They are both Gods of self worship and destruction.

Within the qliphoth Lilith represents the branch of Gamaliel, not to be confused with Malkuth which is called Lilith, but the actual daemon Lilith resides in Gamaliel (although she does also have great influence over Malkuth, it’s actually her younger sister Naamah who rules here) Gamaliel is involved with sexual desire and dream gnosis. Genitals. They are referred to as “The Obscene Ones”. Lilith teaches us how our desires control us and how we can find liberation and understanding of ourselves through them. In the sphere of Malkuth, which means Queen of the Night, Lilith and Naamah represent that which is unknown, mysterious, and the forces of night which create monsters and demonesses like Lilith and her sisters.

Lucifer typically represents Thaumiel, which represents duality (morning and evening star), two contending forces constantly seeking domination over each other, but neither ever succeeding. He is involved with conflict, debate, disagreement and argument, all things needed to inspire growth and understanding. Devils advocate.

Both daemons represent things which are usually hidden or shied away from because of their difficulty. I think they could very easily be swapped in their roles. Eve and Lilith could very well represent Thaumiel as the light and dark aspects of the feminine. And Lucifer in his associations as the Venus star could easily represent Gamaliel and Malkuth as the God of sex and lust, as well as his potential title as the father of demons. Edit: Although Asmodeus would probably fit better

Basically, tldr, they have a lot in common! lol. They’ve always seemed to work very well together and have great respect for one another.

[theriu]

Interpreting Bilbo’s Speech

As an editor whose job requires the ability to untangle confusing sentences, I maintain that Bilbo’s speech at his 111th birthday party was actually genuine and complimentary. Let’s break this down.

“Alas, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." 

“I don’t know half of you as well as I should like” can be translated as “Half of you are people I don’t know as well as I wish I did. I wish I knew you at least half again as much as I do.” Literally, “I wish I’d gotten to know you better.”

“I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” He may not have a deep affection for this less-than-50% of the party-goers, but he acknowledges that they deserve twice as much respect and appreciation as what he gave them during their acquaintance. Literally, “I know there’s more to be appreciated about you than I knew of or that I am capable of appreciating.”

Note: Since he clearly knows THIS half well enough to know they deserve more of his respect and affection than what he gave them, we are probably safe to presume that they are the opposite half from the first group, who he wishes he had gotten to know better. (Although there is probably some crossover). (This part gets into Math a little bit, which is NOT my specialty as an editor.)

So, if we take his first sentence literally—“Alas, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits”—then the whole statement is actually quite genuine. For all his grumbling and muttering about his various neighbors’ and relations’ failings or annoyances, Bilbo really does respect and admire many of them, and he is wise enough to know that there’s more to appreciate in the people he doesn’t care for or didn’t know well than he has managed to discover in his short lifetime with them.

But of course this is Bilbo, so he wrapped it up in a mind-bending riddle and left everyone wondering if they’d been insulted before he abruptly vanished, leaving the party in chaos.

In conclusion: Bilbo’s way of handling the awkwardness of being sincere to a large group of people involves tying his compliments into a knot and then running away forever while they’re distracted untangling it.

I’m not saying this is the healthiest way of dealing with the mortifying ordeal of being known, but it does feel very Bilbo.

[lucreziaces]

there’s something about vannozza, cesare, and lucrezia being the only three holding up masks that i really love (they’re also my fave trio at the moment i think) and then the two very different gazes that giulia and lucrezia are giving their respective man??? EATING THAT UP!! and of course cannot forget how ceslu are wearing complimentary colors meanwhile juan is in red and black like an outsider….always the outsider to those two and always wanting in but can never get what he truly wants (to be loved and respected by them) THE TRAGEDY!! (side note: vannozza is wearing a color opposite what giulia and rodrigo are wearing much like how juan is wearing a different color combo from ceslu, BUT unlike juan if you look closer at her dress there are some pink/red tones in the details of the dress that suggest she still has some of rodrigo’s love and respect at least) also love the detail that is cesare holding what i assume is a devil’s mask in the same hand he wears his cardinal ring….the foreshadowing of him becoming more villainous by giving into the temptation he has to kill his own brother…GIMME MORE

[katzkinder]

I'm now curious about your headcanons for the layout of the hotel

*cracks knuckles*

Okay so in canon we get this

Out of the fifty floors of the World Tree Hotel, eight (he’s so funny) of them are rented out by Tsubaki for himself and his subclass

My personal headcanon is that five of these floors are normal rooms, occupied by his subclass. The highest floor, the penthouse suite? That’s used by Tsubaki and his Elites. The second highest floor is a private communal area where while there are rooms, they’re more like drawing rooms. People can retreat into them to do various things, play games, read books, chat with each other, y’know. Social hobbies, without needing to worry about keeping up appearances for humans.

One of these floors is a “business floor” where he has computers and an office set up for those who wish to work on the company side of things.

The ground and second floors are reception, dining, and leisure.

Ground floor is reception, and if you go off a ways from it you’ll find yourself in the breakfast nook area, where you get free complimentary breakfast with your stay (Tsubaki is not a cheap man and prides himself on his hotel’s hospitality). Theres also a gift shop in the opposite direction

Second floor is where you’ll find fine dining with a view! You can also indulge in an indoor, heated pool and gym with showers. Stay in shape on your vacation, whether rain or shine, and enjoy the privacy of one way windows the look out onto the Tokyo streets.

Finally, the rooms themselves come in singles or doubles, but each has its own small kitchen area, a desk area for working, tv with cable and Netflix, free wifi, and a personal bath and shower separate from the toilet. There’s a mini fridge with snacks and drinks, of course, but experienced travelers know better

Finally, in the lowest basement, you’ll find where guests can do their own laundry for any clothing they own. You can also request staff to handle things like business or evening attire that needs special attention.

Would it be too extra to say the roof has a helipad?

This was fun! Thanks for the ask! :D

[loony-bear]

Thinking about how Kabru is presented as a foil to Laios narratively, but is actually, in the meta, a complimentary character - all the framing leading up to the two finally meeting leans on all the visual and literary tropes used to signal an opposite, a foil, a nemesis, but when you actually READ what is happening beyond the flavouring they’re more like mirrors, and their story plays out in a very satisfying but somehow still surprising way.

My favourite creative bit, for lack of a better word, is using an opposing trope to sneak a plot point that would be other wise easily clocked for being a natural conclusion, past the reader’s like a sorta three kids in a trench coat bit. Apothecary Diaries did this too with the Lahan storyline it’s good shit.

[tiefbeef]

I noticed towards the end of the episode that Liam and Taliesin were dressed as complimentary opposites. 

(The fact that they’re in the same pose was an accident; I had to rush to get a good shot at the end but neither of them were moving out of this pose!)