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quixoticprince · 7 months ago

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Yayyy!! Yippee!! I finally get to make one of these!! Art without the text under the cut and some long-winded elaborations:

How long I've been playing: well, it hasn't been a straight 11 years, rather off and on - but I have drawings of these guys dating back to when I was 14, so I'll give it to me. And man I had no business reading the fanfics I was reading back then It's also crazy how this was a super influential media for me in so many ways. It's the reason I ever made a tumblr, it changed the direction of my drawings for a long while, my broken sense of humor (gmod animation memes and yt poops were the brainrot back then), tf2 Sniper changed my god damned gender (rather, it was the inspiration for me to start socially transitioning at 15). This is part of my personal lore that I tend to not admit to 😓

Your main: I've always been completely ass at the game, and I can play flexibly, but I enjoy playing Sniper, and more recently as Heavy. Whenever I'm sitting around somewhere, occasionally throwing sandwiches and attracting Medics, I feel like this:

Favorite character: When I was younger it was definitely Medic, and I think you can tell that he's still up there based on how much I've drawn him! However, since getting back into it, I've felt quite a shift in focus towards Heavy, very strongly. It's unfortunate that he's side-lined in a lot of fanwork, and I think I'm also complicit in this so far - but for me it's cuz, how tf2 works is that it's going to prioritize humor over character and consistency haha, and Medic is just so loud and insane that he's really easy to make fun stuff with. Heavy is a more serious and grounded character, not to say that he's not funny or that he doesn't have his own cartoon slapstick moments! But that aspect of him is what is really really intriguing to me. I love his quiet, stoic, and intimidating character, I like how loud and boisterous he is when filled with bloodlust in contrast! I love his bird story and him getting into wrestling as a child from Poker Night. I love his back story setting, there's so much to extrapolate from a young boy in Russia growing up during WWII, what his parents must have been through before that from the aftermaths of the revolution, all the way to his fathers execution and his imprisonment. I love his strong relationship with his family, his role as an older brother, as a protector, as a man - the way that he performs these roles - and because I personally see him as bisexual - how his orientation intersects with all that! He is incredibly fascinating to me and I wish that he was played around with more to see a lot more corners and angles of these things that I listed! There's way more that I want to say here too but this is getting very long 😅

Character I relate to: It's so interesting that a lot of the characters have very strong, tho maybe dysfunctional, families. Heavy, Demo, and Sniper in particular really speak to me in that relation. From Heavy being an eldest brother (I am also an eldest sibling) the parentification that comes with that, especially with him probably being like 10 years older than his sisters from the looks of it. Demo and Sniper both struggle living up to their parents expectations (although there's a lot of love there from everyone), being disappointments in one way or another (not gonna deep dive into that lol), and the general alienation both of them feel. From Sniper not knowing why he's not like other Australians to Demo being "a black Scottish cyclops." And well, I'm Filipino, I'm queer, and mentally ill so - there's a lot to project there!

Class you want to play as: I find Medic incredibly stressful to play as but I find the idea of battle medics incredibly funny. However I usually find myself rushing around madly trying to cater to everyone, and I'd like to just not give a shit and just start stabbing people with a saw lol

Favorite ship: "I just like the dynamic" - The dynamic:

No but fr, they're really compelling to me, I'd probably need a longer more thought out post as to what I like about them and I was already going crazy up there ^ Overall tho I like that they're practically built for each other in terms of mechanics, really plays into my desire to spiral into intense codependency haha. I also think that Medic's drive to cheat death and hide behind meat shields plays really well into Heavy's desire to be a meat shield and a protector, and how nice it is in turn, that Medic can grant this man who's been around death, starvation, and war invulnerability. (He outsmart boolet, yknow?) They're also depicted together a lot and I like how much they enjoy each others company, and bring a lot of joy to each other. It's beautiful to me :'^)

Character you like to draw: What can I say! Medic is handsome! He is very fun to draw and easy to make memes and shit posts out of!

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 meet the artist #personal #tf2 heavy #tf2 sniper #tf2 demoman #tf2 medic

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beannoss · 9 months ago

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Something I think about a lot and wonder if maybe gets overlooked in Twilight’s story and as vitally indicative of his character is actually in the very first chapter:

Anya isn’t needed for Strix. Twilight decides to adopt her anyway.

[Spoiler warning: Mostly this post deals with early chapters already in the anime but there is reference to chapter 62, which has not yet been animated and will be in season 3]

Twilight decides it — “I’m going to rework the mission so it doesn’t involve a child because that’s too dangerous” and he’s 100% right! Donovan Desmond is canonically a far right warmonger with fascistic authoritarian aims. His government made liberal use of the SSS — a group to mirror the Stasi — who continue to operate in morally dubious ways (much more likely they’re actively morally reprehensible, though we’ve mostly only had rumours of that so far). From what we can tell, Desmond is at best an absent father and likely actually worse than that: if that's how he treats his own children, imagine how he might treat others. And the timeline seems to indicate that the experimentation performed on Anya was done under Desmond's government — even if Twilight isn't aware of experimentation on children, he is aware of both human and animal experimentation under Desmond's government. Taking all that and also the complexity of Strix's aims, undoubtedly there were other things that could be done, more straightforward if not necessarily easier.

So. Why? Why entertain the change at all? And then, having entertained it, why go back when the reasoning is indisputable?

On the Doylist level, I think Endo wanted to ensure that Anya had some agency within the set up — Endo also does this with Yor. It would be much harder to be on Twilight’s side fully, or to trust him on an ethical level/take him as any sort of moral authority, if he were just straightforwardly using these two people. To have them be active and consenting participants (arguably to actually be affirming the arrangement: Twilight sets it up, but Anya and Yor actually make it happen) even if the audience only knows the depth of their knowledge/motivations/etc currently, shifts the power dynamic in important ways.

But it also the set up tells us important things about Twilight. He is largely impatient, cold, detached in chapter one. His overarching feelings towards Anya are, I think, real annoyance, real confusion, and real impatience. He just doesn’t understand this damn kid and it turns out she’s a person which is frankly unacceptable — he’d needed and anticipated an automaton, ideally of himself in miniature form. (Though I think one could ponder whether Twilight was, in many ways, an automaton himself at this point, but that's maybe for another meta 🙃)

He’s not entirely unmoved of course — we're given to understand he’s affected when Franky tells him how many times Anya’s been adopted and returned, and isn't amused by Franky's joke about names. Franky's comment — "Just don't get attached" — reinforces this. The prospect of “the future” perturbs Twilight when he’s reading the parenting books. His initial reaction to Anya’s kidnap is horror. All these are true too.

Then there’s also this, from earlier in the chapter:

It’s exposition, yeah, and it’s also exposing. "Hopes" and "joys" are very specific words to describe those events. It could simply have been "A marriage? An ordinary life?" but describing them as such — hope for marriage; joy in ordinary life — expose something of what Twilight feels about those two experiences and, on the flipside, they expose what he deems he's lacking. No hopes of intimacy; no joy in (an ordinary) life. There's an argument as well, of course, that he's being ironic but I don't think that actually invalidates the above analysis. Drawing attention to 'hope' and 'joy' at all are revealing, regardless of Twilight's tone in thinking of them. I think it's also interesting this panel, taken in conjunction with a pair of panels in chapter 62, Twilight's backstory. The above is almost a pulled out version of this below panel of Twilight's recollection of his childhood, and of course the returning image of not just a rubbish bin but a rubbish bin on fire when it comes to disposing of his identity:

Back to Strix. Both his final interaction with Karen and the whole everything of the framing of Strix is making Twilight think (and feel, ahem) things that he hasn't for some time. Twilight decides, I’m reworking this. It can’t proceed this way. Not because Anya is a pain in his ass, not because she’s not as (apparently) intellectually advanced as he’d originally thought, not even because he thinks he can find another child who would better be exactly what mission parameters called for. No:

And what changes his mind is Anya asking to come home.

One of the important parts of this to me is this:

He seeks consent.

This moment is a keystone, I think, to understanding Twilight. It’s also more telling than he maybe realises. Twilight is decisive — we all laugh because he spirals at the drop of a hat when his daughter or wife look even mildly upset but outside those (also very telling) scenarios, he makes decisions and he pursues them. Often he makes decisions quickly. He’s a dab hand at it; it’s a large part of why he’s as good a spy as he is.

He’d decided to change Strix.

Anya asks him, in essence, not to.

So, he doesn't.

But it's wild that he entertains keeping her request at all — why? Why even entertain it? It’s dangerous; it’s impractical; there are too many moving parts outside his direct control; Anya isn’t the sort of child he’d wanted for the mission if he’d spent any time thinking about what a child might actually be like; Strix is in many ways an extremely long shot anyway, Desmond could just stop attending for reasons unknown and unrelated; etc.

So, yeah, why? Maybe because of this —

In conjunction, I often think of this moment in the cruise arc:

Twilight first naming the feeling as lonesome, and secondly tacitly conceding that he perceives Yor as a companion and that that relationship is important to him, something to be missed. What makes this for me though is that Anya calls this out "Papa's you're so sappy" and Twilight's reaction is that of someone caught-out. He doesn’t say “nuh-uh!” but he may as well have. Essentially, something landed a bit close to home, hm? Maybe some of that hope for marriage? A soupçon of joy of an ordinary life?

Twilight’s loneliness underpins many of his decisions with his family — probably without him being fully conscious of it. I think he is at least somewhat conscious of it, but also if he looks too closely... Well, best not to. I could fill this post, I think, with images that demonstrate his loneliness throughout the series; that sorrowful/pensive close-up of his eye(s) is one of the abiding motifs for Twilight throughout. I'd probably start with this one from Twilight's backstory arc:

Anya's request plays directly off his loneliness. Still though, he doesn’t immediately capitulate — he emphasises Anya’s choice. Is she sure? The last day has been scary for a child (and for him, but he's ignoring that part) and Twilight, in his increasing recognition that Anya is a person, is probably aware in the back of his mind that he hasn’t exactly been warm or welcoming or at all patient with her. Things that people respond to — he's otherwise excellent at manipulating people, so of course he understands this. So. Given she'd just had this scary experience, given he hasn't exactly been great with her: Is she sure? She wants to come home — with him?

I think the moment may get a little lost because Anya says something riffing off his own earlier thoughts and self-revelation (featuring that shadowed, lonely eye motif again!)

Were this a post about Anya, I’d talk about how it’s an important character moment for her as well by way both of demonstrating her agency/choice and also that she isn’t nearly as dumb as Twilight thinks (and the audience, maybe, also thinks).

But in my view, she didn’t actually need to say anything about it making her cry. I think she could simply have said yes in that moment and Twilight would have agreed.

Twilight’s an unreliable narrator; he’s disconnected from his heart and that shrouds his own motivations from himself — something he actually also concedes in this chapter!

And it shrouds from us just how much he actually understands himself. He’s also a master of deflection. Easy to assume or say that bringing Anya home is just to align with Strix. Nothing more to see here; nothing else going on. But also that ripping off of the mask in the panel above — and the literal 'riiip' sound effects — also indicate to us that this is an unveiling to himself.

In my view, Twilight agreeing to Anya's request, deciding to go back to original mission parameters, actually shifts his motivations, subtly. Now he’s committed not only to the original mission goals, but also to Anya. He needs Anya to succeed at Strix, not only for Strix's sake, but also because otherwise the mission will end and she’ll have to go back to the orphanage, and he’s just agreed with her not to do that (not right away, in any case). I don’t think at this point he’s thinking it’s forever — his thoughts throughout the manga indicate he still expects the Forgers to be temporary. I don't think the shift in motivation is necessarily even conscious, but given the set up, I think something inside Twilight recognises that agreeing to bring Anya home is a compact, jointly engaged. Mostly all this has become subsumed into Strix: he makes decisions. He pursues them. He deflects, even from himself. Of course it's just for the mission; this saved him the trouble of reworking it, of figuring out something else. Nothing more to see; no need to think any more on it. And to be fair to him, Strix is very high stakes, resting pretty solely on his shoulders, so of course that is, objectively, motivation enough. Why even consider beyond that?

But I personally think that to the extent he's aware of it at all, there is something else going on, that he wants to have Anya for as long as it takes him to work something else out for her. If that's the case, then of course, we have Occam’s razor: the simplest solution may be the best one.

Maybe Twilight should just keep Anya himself, eh?

[Image description: gif from Spy x Family season 1, episode 1. Twilight and Anya have just found out Anya passed her entrance exam and are overjoyed. Celebratory, Twilight picks Anya up and swoops her into the air as they smile at one another. End image description]

#spy x family #spy x family meta #agent twilight #loid forger #sxf manga #sxf manga spoilers #i haven't talked too much about yor in this but ofc she is also an important part of this dynamic #i’ve been in my thoughts for weeks about twilight and they’re all pouring out 🥲#i tried to work them out in fic first but it was not enough 😤#should I put some of this post behind a cut? pls lmk if yes #also caveat that ofc i'm working from translations which may sometimes miss nuance/be somewhat off from endo's originals #here fandom take this!#gif #and i had a whole section about the complexity of consent in children and particularly a child with anya's background #ultimately tho this is fiction we're discussing and i'm sticking within those parametres pls and thx

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oddygaul · 1 month ago

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the REDLINE manifesto

In honor of my second DIY screening of Redline, here is, at long last, a prettied-up version of my most popular reddit post, an unabashed love letter to my favorite movie. Most of this is probably less groundbreaking than it was when I first posted it a decade(!) ago, but whatever, the internet needs more Redline content anyway.

REDLINE Trivia

–JP stands for Joshua Punkhead, and in the very first draft he had 26 children and raced to pay off his child support. Also, the catchy moniker ‘Sweet JP’? English-only… the original Japanese gets the mouthful ‘very sweet weaponless prince’.

–You'd be hard-pressed to tell without looking into the lore a bit, but Miki & Todoroki are damn near the only actual humans in the movie; everyone else is some species of alien. Some are obvious, like Shinkai (Oceanic/Chikulun hybrid) and Trava (Anista tribe), but even the most human-like characters are some other race. Sonoshee, for example, is listed as being half human, half Oceanic tribe (海洋族).

The most curious case, though, is JP. While it'd be easy to assume he's human, there's a lot of details that don't add up: his unique elf ears, his super-lanky-even-for-a-Koike-character-design physique, the fact that his race is conspicuously redacted on his bail sheet… and his seeming immunity to death. Seriously, bro crashes every single thing he drives in the whole movie, then emerges unscathed with just a fiery flash of the eyes – that ain’t normal. If I had to wildly speculate, and I do, I’d put money that he’s somehow linked to Mikuru and the Giant species, as seen in Trava: Fist Planet. The physique matches, the Giants have displayed some preternatural healing abilities, and Trava lays the groundwork for a few other threads in Redline (namely, the existence of bioweapons and Shinkai & Trava’s past military experience), so there’s precedence. Maybe one day we’ll find out for sure…

–We all know and love Funky Boy thanks to the Roboworld president’s endless tirades. But the giant data-motivated crocodile monster Volton fuses with to engage Funky Boy in thrilling combat? She is a lady, and her name is Wire Girl.

–All of Redline’s vehicle and mechanical designs are nuts – they’re insanely complicated and filled with organic curves and details. Despite the immense difficulty of keeping such complex designs consistent, every mechanical shot is hand-drawn, without the aid of any CG. To help the animators stay on-target while drawing, the team made some sweet-ass production models for them to reference. What I wouldn’t give to own one of these…

–Before deciding on Redline being a film, writer Katsuhito Ishii and director Takeshi Koike considered making a TV series. Initial writers’ meetings saw the team fleshing out a comprehensive story bible about the setting: it included not only a wide-scope view of the universe and its history, but also detailed backstories for each racer. Even after deciding to make a feature film, Redline’s initial script gave each racer as much time and focus as the final cut gives to JP & Sonoshee; all of this was, unfortunately, cut for time. According to Ishii, though, much of this ancillary information made it into the novelization…

one day my Japanese will be good enough to read you ;_;

–Confused about why the movie ends with that sparkly, PowerPoint-ass ~LOVE~? Well, you shouldn’t be – Redline is ‘unabashedly dumb’, after all, per Ishii – but there is a little context. Over the course of the movie’s 7-year production, Koike and Yukiko (a producer on the film) fell in love, tying the knot in Switzerland just before Redline’s world premiere. If that doesn’t justify the ending for you, I don’t know what could.

–This isn't trivia but idk where else to put this stupid-ass Lynchman meme I made

Subtext you may have missed on first watch

–Machine Head is Sonoshee's estranged father?!

Crazy, I know, but hear me out.

First of all, Redline unambiguously shows the viewer that Sonoshee and Machine Head have some sort of pre-existing relationship, the nature of which isn’t explicitly clarified.

At the Oasis restaurant, Sonoshee tells JP she's waiting for someone; it may sound like she's simply brushing him off, but the moment Machine Head enters the scene, Sonoshee perks up and waves to him. When the Crab Sonoshee is flipped by missile fire during the Redline race, we get exactly two (2) Dramatic Anime Freezeframes: JP and Machine Head, implying those two, out of everyone, care the most about Sonoshee. During the final stretch of the race, as Machine Head prepares to pop his steamlight, he is not only aware that Sonoshee also has one, he taunts her about it:

“I see you still have your steamlight – got the guts to use it this time?”

JP even draws attention to the fact that Sonoshee’s looks identical to Tetsujin’s. Finally, though this is certainly ancillary, it is interesting to note that the exact moment Godwing loses its structural stability is right after JP declares he’s going to win because he, not Machine Head, has Sonoshee at his side.

So let’s line this up with what backstory we definitively know. As stated above, Sonoshee is a human / Oceanic hybrid; Machine Head, though his body has been modified beyond recognition, is referred to the same way. While talking to JP about the steamlight, Sonoshee says her father is the one that gave it to her, then describes him as a skilled racer who ran a junk joint. In that same conversation, when JP suggests she’s too focused on racing at the expense of personal relationships, she bristles and tries to end the conversation. During the flashback of young Sonoshee racing, her reaction to crashing is intense: she’s clearly holding herself to a higher standard, and is already dead set on racing in the Redline someday.

Now, there’s other plausible explanations for all this; maybe there’s just a romantic entanglement between Sonoshee and Machine Head, with JP barging in as the third vertex of a love triangle. But is that the most likely scenario for two people constantly characterized as putting racing before any personal matters?

No, I think Machine Head is Sonoshee’s father.

Picture it: Machine Head raised Sonoshee at his junk joint, so she grew up around racing and car modification. After seeing success on the circuits, Machine Head stopped being content with mere victory, and started spending all his time and energy modifying his body, pushing himself farther and farther. Sonoshee, feeling neglected and cast aside, turned to racing, seeing it as the only way to get her father’s attention. This lead to her perfectionism complex; if she’s not the very best, why would the King of Kings ever look her way?

Anyway, while it’s not confirmed in the text, I think there’s so many hints it might as well be. It makes JP and Sonoshee’s romance a lot more interesting, too. Their arc isn’t just two people falling in love, it’s about Sonoshee moving past the trauma of her father’s emotional abandonment and opening up to someone new. After JP explains his match fixing history in the climax, Sonoshee isn’t placated because he told the truth, she’s fired up seeing the strength of JP and Frisbee’s friendship: she sees the folly of chasing approval from her absent father, and that she could instead be forming bonds with friends who support her unconditionally. She can race for herself.

Koike and Ishii said Redline is about adult friendships, after all!

pictured: the most romantic kiss in cinema history

–The Redline race is, in fact, underhanded political maneuvering

Now, this one is sorta just The Plot Of The Movie, but I feel like there’s so much going on in Redline people often don’t connect these dots.

We all laugh at the Roboworld president’s hammy word salad:

“I wonder if this might be some kind of ploy by our enemies to infiltrate our borders. If that’s true, do you realize Roboworld’s military secrets could be at risk here? We’d be exposed!!”

…but he’s… kinda right, though?

At the time of the movie, the M3 Nebula has just emerged from two devastating interplanetary wars. The galaxy’s superpowers are under a tenuous peace agreement – one of the most important stipulations of which is a ban on the use and development of “bioweapons”, which in the Redline universe are less ‘weaponized bacterial strains’ and more ‘gargantuan synthetic monsters that can be deployed to wreak unthinkable destruction’. Despite this ban, the government of Roboworld has been continuing with bioweapon development unabated… and not only does Planet Supergrass seem to be aware of these violations, it really seems like they’re leveraging all their soft power to expose them.

Now, we know Supergrass is generally involved with the Redline final. As a member of the Redline Committee, they have a reason to be involved; they’re helping out with nuts & bolts logistical stuff, like transporting the racers to the course and prepping the finish line. But when you consider the significant, tangible political blows dealt to Roboworld by the race – Funky Boy and Wire Girl’s presumed destruction, Roboworld’s violation of the bioweapon treaty being broadly exposed to the public, the decimation of Roboworld’s military – the long string of coincidences that got us to that point start to seem a little suspicious.

Who pushed for the Redline final to be held on such a hostile planet? Who knew about Roboworld’s experimental orbital laser cannon – a project so tightly under wraps even their president only learns about it during the race – and hired contractors to sabotage it? Who organized a group of malcontents to attack both Roboworld’s power relay station and Funky Boy’s containment creche, right when such disruptions would be the most impactful? And who decided the race’s crucial middle stretch should go right over the restricted military zone housing said creche?

Supergrass has the motive and the means – plus, the race is already illegal, so what can Roboworld do, sue them about it? No sir, that Princess is on some subterfuge shit, and Secretary Titan, that shady fuck, is her inside man. And you can take that to the bank.

Craving more REDLINE?

Unfortunately, due to the movie’s commercial failure, there’s not much else in the franchise. The Redline production pilot is fucking sick, though, and there’s Trava: Fist Planet, an OVA by Koike & Ishii that predates Redline and focuses on Trava and Shinkai’s misadventures. While Trava never got the continuation it deserved, they did make a trailer for season 2... ahh, what could have been.

youtube

If you’re just after more of Takeshi Koike’s mind-blowing animation, there’s only a scant few projects in his trademark black-filled style. His most well-known work is probably the Samurai Champloo OP, or maybe World Record from The Animatrix (can’t find a link for that one, but y’know, do your thing). Koike also contributed animation to two other Ishii films: an extended intro for Party 7, and this aggressively horny dance sequence for Funky Forest. Back at Madhouse, it seems the studio liked to use Koike as a bait-and-switch, letting him direct lavish production pilots to secure adaptation rights then switching the staff up for the full production. Feels kind of scummy, but we got the immense Afro Samurai Pilot and Iron Man Pilot out of it. Finally, he made the series of Love shorts for SMAPxSMAP, the SMAP variety show, which are as dope as they are low-res.

dailymotion

I really wanna know if Koike was the one ballin out to CYNE and Gang Starr for this

—

And finally, as I threatened in my last post about Redline: let’s talk thematic depth.

~Thematic Depth~

In conversations online, Redline is often given this caveat of just being ‘eye candy’, or hit with the classic ‘style over substance’ cliche. Now, the phrase ‘style over substance’ has always bothered me, generally – it feels like it comes from folks who have never tried to make art before, who make light of the painstaking work and dedication that goes into creating anything – but it particularly frustrates me in animation. The process of animation is such an absurd, masochistic timesink that it’s a wonder anything ever gets finished at all; something this ambitious being finished, with this level of consistency and polish, is nothing short of a miracle, and to simply call that ‘style’ massively undervalues the whole endeavor.

Because, make no mistake, Redline is ambitious as hell from a visual standpoint. The consistent focus on kinetic motion and speed, buoyed by Koike’s masterful use of exaggerated perspective, spatial distortion, and dynamic camera work; lots of moving, hand-drawn backgrounds instead of matte pans; lively crowd animation in most scenes; remarkably expressive, constant character animation that imbues personality to every character and never settles for industry standard lip flap dialogue… and all of this using incredibly complex character & mechanical designs, many of which feature distinct alien physiology, and a rendering style with bold, detailed shadows that would be more at home in illustration than animation. It is truly a singular work.

And the thing is, that wild ambition and unfailing dedication to the craft is the message.

The very first moments of Redline, before we see a single car or alien, are a brief series of title cards. I think most first-time viewers, and even many repeat viewers, immediately forget these words seconds after reading them due to the famously high-octane opening act. They read:

“In the far distant future, when cars are giving up their wheels in the changeover to air-cars, there still exist stubborn fools who carry on a vanishing spirit of racing…”

It’s easy to pass over this narration because, well, Redline simply isn’t about this conflict. We don’t see a single air-car racer, and there is no on-screen depiction of this purported old-school / new-school racing divide. So why is it here?

Because it’s the thesis of the whole damn project. Redline is about a group of old-school animation industry vets coming to terms with a changed industry that doesn’t support the type of art they want to create anymore, and their determination to pour their hearts into one last, stupid, beautiful swan song.

Madhouse was founded in 1972 by a group of ex-Mushi Pro staff, including Masao Maruyama and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. A response to Mushi Pro’s shoestring budgets and spartan timelines, the goal of studio Madhouse was to create production schedules where animators could flourish, rather than choosing the cheaper route; as Maruyama puts it, their mission statement was to ‘create animation other people aren’t interested in creating’. And, well, for decades, that’s what they did – Madhouse consistently gave a platform to idiosyncratic creators and produced incredible results. Their film canon includes pivotal productions like Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, Rintaro’s Metropolis, every single Satoshi Kon production from Perfect Blue to Paprika, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the film that launched Mamoru Hosoda into stardom. While their TV output might be seen as more workmanlike, they were still dedicated to creating original stories. For example, despite his proven track record, Masaaki Yuasa was unable to secure funding and creative freedom anywhere else but Madhouse, with whom he produced Kemonozume, Kaiba, and The Tatami Galaxy prior to the establishment of Science Saru.

Takeshi Koike’s formative years as an animator were during this golden era of Madhouse. Poached directly out of high school by Yoshiaki Kawajiri himself, Koike was taken under his wing – his first job as a professional animator was inbetweening for Wicked City, and he’d moved up to key animation roles just one year later. I think Kawajiri’s intent was for Koike to be his protege; in this boom era of animation, with high-budget feature films and OVAs as the de facto standard, creative vision and a unique style is what you’d look for in an up-and-coming director, and Koike had both of these in spades. For a time, this pathway seemed almost assured; Koike’s big-league directing debut on The Animatrix produced one of its most well-received shorts, even amidst an anthology stacked with superstar creative talent.

Unfortunately, the turn of the millennium brought a lot of change for Madhouse and the industry at large. Budgets shrank, and production schedules started trending towards today’s unsustainable nightmare grind. CGI became ubiquitous not for the unique shots and compositions it allows for, but as a corner-cutting method for complicated actors like vehicles or mechas. A certain homogeneity and tendency toward ‘safe’, appealing designs and premises took hold; what good is your off-the-wall, creative worldbuilding idea when the anime industry revolves around merch sales, and generic moe waifus are outselling your original IP ten-to-one? All these industry vets could see the writing on the wall: animation would survive, but things were changing, and the ideals they’d founded their studio around were becoming untenable.

So I genuinely believe Redline is a parting shot from the old guard, a celebration of the era of the industry they cut their teeth on, one last lush, extravagant farewell before they passed the torch to the next generation. Maybe not from the start, sure, but after years of troubled development, progressing slowly due to the team’s meticulous vision, I think they rallied around the cause, dead set on making a masterwork, no matter what. Just look at the talent they attracted, the staff list reads like a best-of: Shinya Ohira, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Sushio, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Sayo Yamamoto, Katsuya Yamada, Takafumi Hori.

And that’s where we come back to that opening message, about those stubborn fools. Suddenly, that movie chock-full of characters putting everything on the line for their passions feels a lot more personal. Koike is JP, the traditional [animation / racing ] purist who’s become an anachronism and just wants to be able to do things his way; Kawajiri as the God of Racing, who JP’s looked up to since he was younger, giving him one last thumbs as he achieves his goals; and Maruyama as Frisbee, putting his livelihood in danger to buy his team the time and money they need for one last gig, who wants to see his friend finish the damn thing on his own terms, just this once.

In a way, it makes it heartbreaking that Redline performed financially as poorly as it did; Japan’s frosty reception to the movie is at such odds with the fervor of its creators. But you know what? Redline exists, and it exists without compromises. They did what they set out to do. They made it across that finish line.

—

#will's media thoughts / virtual brain repository #redline #redline anime #takeshi koike #madhouse #long post #anime #redline 2009 #movies

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imlosingitiswear · 18 days ago

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would love to hear your breakdown of the most egregious things the new season’s animation has done to the og intent of the manga (comparisons and all).

(note: i’m an animator and i agree with you i just wanna see what you’re specifically thinking of)

Oh boy

Ohhhh boy

Spoiler alert for ep 3 and comparison to the same scenes in the manga.

Also tw for some triggering moments from ep 3, please proceed at your own risk.

So this is going to be part 1 and I'm gonna start with shrimple 🦐 things because I don't have my big tablet with me so the suggestions are made with what I have available.

So first of all, the RCiel flashback, absolutely disgraceful execution.

I'm not going to go into it fully yet, but for example this scene:

In the manga you can see the horror in his eyes.

When using only black and white, one is forced to convey emotions in their most pure form because of the color restrictions. That's why it works so well, plus Yana is a master of shadows and compositions primarily containing black.

The "animated" shot does not convey even remotely the same emotion for me.

Firstly because of the style they have chosen. You can't have his eyelashes be this bright and expect to portray fear properly.

Secondly because of the colors.

IT'S SO DAMN BRIGHT.

Yes, the manga is also bright but that's because it wants to point your attention to his eye. And the emptiness that comes with the terror in it.

The blue in his eyes and the two highlights ruin any convincing part of this shot left. Too much detail, TOO MUCH. It works in the manga because it's made with as little lines as possible, the detail takes away the effect.

So here is what I added according to what I mentioned:

It's darker on the side, creating a greater contrast with the eye. I have included only one highlight, just like in the manga and have made the eyelashes darker. I also added a bit more detail under the eye for a stronger effect (just like it's done in the manga).

Here's a gif to show the difference:

(Please keep in mind I'm not claiming to be an expert and I'm not claiming to be better than the studio itself, this is just how I would have done it to fit the aesthetic and story better)

The next one is Sebastian related.

I hate his new design.

Bro he's so petite and shiny, WHY ARE THEY ALL SHINY, SINCE WHEN anyway

Here's one shot I took of his face that annoyed me to hell and back

Who is this man.

Is Tamatoa gonna come for him soon, what's the deal?

So I used Book of Atlantic as reference and fixed his face a bit. I also made the shot darker because OF COURSE IT WILL BE

(Once again, it's not the best, but at least the hair reminds of the og Sebastian and at this point, that's enough for me)

Here's the gif

And for last, another Seb related

He's giving again, he's a bit, just a tiny bit more serious again, you see how big of a difference to his personality it makes.

It's paying attention to those details that keeps a character in character.

It's this scene from the manga:

I love it's composition because look at how full and sad and overwhelming ociels panel is compared to how small and cornered sebs one is.

Not only is he so small, but he's also off center IN HIS OWN panel, pushed as much to the left as he can be to portray how distant he is to ociel now.

Its not about the speech bubble, it's about unconsciously separating them from one another.

And here's what the stupid ass studio decided is best

SMACKED HIS AAH IN THE MIDDLE, TAKING vertically 2/3 OF THE SHOT.

EHM

WHAT

Also IT'S SO BRIGHT YET AGAIN.

He's supposed to be lonely in this shot, left aside, pushed away, unwanted.

DON'T PUT HIM IN THE MIDDLE YOU DUMMIES FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

I put him in the first third of the composition, put the light source off camera, cus we don't need that brightness, fixed his hair and made IT DARKER YET AGAIN. I also had to draw some of the background, I hope it doesn't stand out too much.

ANYWAY.

No gif cus there's a 10 pic limit that I didn't know about.

This is just the first part, I'll get to the animation and specific scenes later. I know I didn't cover any of the important ones but I can't do much without my tablet 😔

All of those shots, that mind you, 2 of which are not even animated at all aside from Sebastian's mouth, took me less than 2 hours to work on. Yes, the base was already there, but that little effort makes THE DIFFERENCE, IT MAKES SUCH A DIFFERENCE!!!

Once again, I'm not claiming to be an expert, I just really love this story and want it to get the care and proper adaptation it deserves.

And if you think I'm being nitpicky...

Yes.

I absolutely am.

Because that's how you make a high quality product.

By THINKING. And making THE APPROPRIATE CHOICES TO MAKE THE WANTED EFFECT EVEN STRONGER.

Wow I feel better.

Can't wait to get to the animation heheehehhe

Thanks for the request btw, you're awesome, let's colab and fix it together :3

Bye now, see you soon, keep arting!!!

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #ciel phantomhive #kuroshitpost #sebastian michaelis #sebaciel #emerald whitch arc #yana toboso

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timeagainreviews · 17 days ago

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Lux Makes My Heartbells Sing!

Growing up in the ‘90s, we were often shown depictions of cartoonish characters manifesting in real life. There was the cartoon “Freakazoid!” where a young child transforms into a crime-fighting cartoon man. In comics, we had “The Mask,” which was turned into a blockbuster film starring Jim Carrey. We also had Marvel Comics’ Slapstick, a superhero with the powers of a cartoon character. And, of course, in film, we had “Space Jam.” While there was an animation renaissance in the early 1990s, one contributing factor of this sudden interest in animation coming to life was the recent release of 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” which had infused animated characters into live action in a way never seen before. The concept of incorporating animation with live action was in no way new. It was seen as early as 1900 in the short film “The Enchanted Drawing.” Later, we saw the stop motion sequences of masters like Ray Harryhausen, where real actors fought swathes of animated skeletons, titans, and chimaeras.

But Roger Rabbit was different in that its cameras weren’t locked into place. Gone were the almost stagelike compositions we saw in “Mary Poppins,” where Dick Van Dyke dances in a bowtie and strawhat alongside four animated penguins. There are real cinematic compositions mixed with puppeteering and animatronics that married together seamlessly. It was enough to have damn near created its own genre, and I was at the perfect age to eat it up! So when I discovered Doctor Who had a story where the Doctor meets a real-life cartoon character and even becomes part of the cartoon world himself, I very excitedly bought my own copy of the Eighth Doctor novel “The Crooked World,” from eBay. Because even as an adult, I still love that concept. Then, several years later, they made “Lux.”

I don’t bring up “The Crooked World,” as a slight on Lux, quite the opposite. It’s clear that Steve Lyons saw something in Doctor Who that Russell T Davies also agreed with. Doctor Who is a show begging to do an episode like “Lux.” I harp on and on about how Doctor Who is a metatextual story wherein the mythology is often dictated by its own real-world limitations. Because of this, it’s developed a kind of maleability which allows it to take on genres like the Fifteenth Doctor trying on clothes. Experimentation and parody are part of the brand. It’s part of why Doctor Who is so appealing while simultaneously daunting to new fans. But it’s also why people like me side with “rad” in the “rad vs trad” debate. Doctor Who is meant to be radical because it’s not bogged down like other properties. What is Star Wars without the Sith? Where is The Dark Crystal without the Skeksis? Doctor Who can do away with Daleks and Cybermen invasions forever because it’s also a show where glowing skulls manifest golden goddesses, sailing barges drift through space, and cartoon men attain universal consciousness.

If you read Doctor Who Magazine, which I do (mostly for the comics), you’ll likely have been treated to the first appearance of Mr Ring-a-Ding and Sunshine Sally in the one-page comic eponymously titled “Mr Ring-a-Ding.” In it, Mr Ring-a-Ding helps the Easter Bunny deliver eggs in his cartoonish jalopy. It’s very festive and timely, with it having just been Easter. But the part that stuck out to me the most was Mr Ring-a-Ding’s first utterance of “Don’t make me laugh.” Not because it reminded me of “The Giggle,” but rather how Eddie Valiant gains the upper hand in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” by making the nefarious cartoon weasels laugh themselves to death. Whether or not this was a direct reference to Roger Rabbit, I don’t know, but it was enough to give me hopes that the story would do right by its own premise.

The second RTD era has introduced us to some new tech. First with intelligent gloves and rope, and now the “vortex indicator,” or “vindicator,” as the Doctor calls it. As Doctor Who gadgets go, I love the vindicator. The notion of using a beacon to latch onto points in time like a grappling hook is so tactile and chonky. It feels like the same Doctor who flew the TARDIS onto a busy motorway with a piece of twine. It’s brilliant, but practical. The Doctor has been forced to use this mode of travel because the TARDIS keeps bouncing off of the 24th of May like a game of pickleball. Belinda, while still wary of the Doctor, seems to trust that he’s not just yanking her chain about getting her back home. However, she doesn’t want to go home so fast that she would pass up the chance to see Miami in 1952.

The usual crybaby wankers were up in arms about the Doctor and Belinda talking about the real life practice of racial segregation in public places in America. Evidently, it’s woke to mention the existence of real-world racism as it applies to the Doctor and Belinda’s safety. Yet you never hear anyone complain when Martha or Bill spoke on the subject. I guess that’s where we are in the world. And like the Doctor, I wait for people to topple that world. “Until then, I live in it and I shine,” - words I needed to hear after a week where the UK Supreme Court declared I’m no longer a woman but a secret third thing. You may ask how someone like me can keep talking about Doctor Who when the world is like it is, but Doctor Who is part of why I am here. Art and expression sustain us. The Doctor’s words helped me forget the real-life super villain smoking cigars on her yacht. That feeling lasted until watching “Doctor Who Unleashed,” and hearing Ncuti Gatwa platform Harry Potter. It’s easy to see why the Doctor Who Instagram account chose to highlight his comments about Pokémon instead.

The conversation of race felt less like a morality tale and more of a history lesson for kids who may not know about racial segregation. It doesn’t really become the plot like it does in “Rosa,” and ironically, I feel it’s more effective. That said, it doesn’t say much on the subject other than “this happened.” The only time racial tensions truly come up in the story is when Lux is trying to fool the Doctor with another illusion. For the most part, the people of Miami seem almost eager to bend the rules. I like this depiction because it’s one often over-looked in these situations. The world would like me to see cis people as suspicious, but I see acts of kindness and acceptance from them every day. It’s important that we see the “Dot and Bubble,” side of racism as much as the “Lux,” side as well. There are people out there who want to share space with people different from them because the world is better when we do.

“Lux” plays out much like an episode of “Sapphire & Steel.” Two time travellers show up, one flamboyant and one stern. They spend their time in a single location trying to save fifteen lost souls from a mysterious “haunted” movie theatre. It’s as though P.J. Hammond was in the writers’ room. Previously, I had compared the reluctant companion role of Belinda to Doctor Who’s first human companions, Ian and Barbara. However, due to this dynamic, we see aspects of the First Doctor in the Fifteenth Doctor’s desire to explore obvious danger despite the protests of his human friend. It restores in the Doctor a bit of his mercurial wiliness that we’ve lost with gung-ho companions. It’s nice that Rose is ride-or-die, but Belinda’s sober attitude has a grounding effect when the stories start to introduce giant robot incels and blue talking cartoon pig bugs.

The Pantheon is back with another God of Chaos in the form of Lux Imperator, the God of Light, as voiced by the the brilliant Alan Cumming. After surfing a moonbeam through the Palazzo Theatre’s skylight, the glint off of a tack shines his essence into the projection beam of a Mr Ring-a-Ding cartoon. Lux has been given life in the form of this capering cartoon icon. His perspective towers over the audience as he reaches out of the screen into the dark. I was reminded in more ways than one of the friendly Stay Puft Marshmallow Man chosen as the means of mankind's destruction. After witnessing Lux vanish the audience onto celluloid, the theatre owner, Reginald Pye, keeps Lux at bay by screening reels throughout the night. Or perhaps Lux keeps Mr Pye at bay by manifesting a film reel of Mr Pye’s late wife, Helen, back from the dead. Both of them are stuck in a loop of fear. Mr Pye afraid to let go of the past. And Lux afraid to step out of the darkness into the light. My only question is what the hell was Mr Pye eating for three months? Popcorn?

After 37 years of technological advancement, how does Lux compare to Roger Rabbit? The choice to continue using hand-drawn animation was obvious. You can’t have Mr Ring-a-Ding looking like an animated reconstruction. He needed to look the part of a classic cartoon and he does. They even hired an animator who worked on Roger Rabbit, who I am sure was a font of knowledge. The static cameras we saw in “Marry Poppins,” compose many of the shots with Mr Ring-a-Ding. However, this feels like more of a directorial choice than a limitation. Many of the shots in the theatre are framed like a stage play. They’re calling attention to the artifice of theatre to call attention to how we, the audience, consume media. More on that later. The only time I was ever actually disappointed by the animation was when the Doctor and Belinda are turned into cartoons. I loved their Scooby-Doo aesthetics, but the sequence was little more than a trailer moment. Had I known this was about as far as they were planning to take this concept, I would have preferred they not put it in the trailer. I’m reminded of the time they announced the return of the John Simm Master instead of letting us be surprised by it. Hell, even the thumbnail is them as cartoons on iPlayer.

Had it not been for the stellar animation of Mr Ring-a-Ding, I would have felt stronger about the cartoon Doctor and Belinda being cut so short. It would have felt like they wasted a good concept on poor execution. As it stands, this may be some of the best animation in Doctor Who history. And I do still feel like they wasted a bit of the potential for some animated Doctor hijinks, but RTD had other plans. Hijinks would have gotten in the way of possibly Doctor Who’s most meta storyline to date- the Whovians. After breaking out of the 2-D space by gaining a bit of depth through vulnerability, the Doctor and Belinda find themselves in a white void, the visual of a film lens flooded with light. Our heroes try to break out of the film by forcing the frames of the film to advance. Davies even sneaks in a line about needing to stop scrolling and go outside. Which is really the theme of this episode. How we take in media extends into how we live our lives.

The Doctor and Belinda find themselves in the living room of three avid Doctor Who fans- Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn. This is Davies calling us, and by extension, himself out. It’s also a love letter to the fans. Sure, they’re opinionated and annoying, but they also made friends through their love for Doctor Who. One of my favourite moments in this scene was the jump cut to the Doctor lounging on the couch while the Whovians geeked out around him. The Doctor once claimed to be a Sagittarius, but this is total Leo behaviour. I found myself thinking of the Fourth Doctor, whom I imagine would also relish in a bit of fan worship. He even had a cup of tea! It was such a cute attention to detail and I’d be hard pressed to think of a single Doctor I couldn’t see allowing themselves a moment of ego stroking. The living room set is full of fun Easter eggs for nerds like myself to scour freeze frames like a Doctor Who edition of an I Spy book. Davies pulls back on the meta by positioning the Whovians as the fictional characters and the Doctor and Belinda as real. It’s another illusion created by Lux. The fans get to save the Doctor by helping him break from the illusion. The Doctor and Belinda burn their way out of the screen.

Having the Doctor repair his hand with some excess bi-generation energy was a bit silly. It’s really only there to reveal regeneration energy to Lux. What’s funny is this is now part of regeneration lore. So have fun with that, wiki editors. It’s also interesting to note that the Doctor has firmly continued to refer to himself as a Time Lord. He reveals these things to Belinda throughout the episode. I love Belinda’s early days reactions to the Doctor. She gasps when she sees him use the sonic screwdriver for the first time. And she sighs at the ridiculousness of introducing the Doctor as “the Doctor.” I find myself all the more endeared toward her. I hope she and the Doctor continue referring to one another as Fred and Velma, respectively.

Lux sees the Doctor’s regeneration energy as the ultimate light for a God such as Himself. With it, he can grow a real body. Parts of this story felt like a rehash of “The Devil’s Chord.” Only instead of it being Ruby tied up by snakelike lines of music so a God can steal her essence, it’s the Doctor tied up by snakelike rolls of film so a God can steal his essence. They could have avoided this by having Lux manifest a couple of Sunshine Sallies to hold the Doctor within the beam. When he says “Go get ‘em, girls!” it’s what I actually expected to happen. The snakey film reels were still cool and had I never seen “The Devil’s Chord,” I wouldn’t have thought twice. I really enjoyed the attention to detail by giving Lux a cartoon heart in the x-ray shot of his chest soaking in the regeneration energy. It’s the details that make this episode work so well. There is a loving hand at the helm.

It’s up to Belinda to save the Doctor now. Remembering that celluloid is highly combustible, she heads to the projection booth to blow a hole in the roof. But Mr Pye with his nicotine stained fingers won’t give up his matches, especially not to let Belinda blow herself up. He’s spent to long pining for the image of his dead wife. His best chance to see her again is by searching the undiscovered country. The ghostly apparition of Helen is giving Lady in the Radiator vibes as she assures Reggie that in Heaven, everything is fine. In fact, a lot of this episode reminded me of the works of David Lynch. The theatre gave “Part 8,” of the Twin Peaks revival where Helen also made a fine stand in for Seniorita Dido. And the image of Lux fading into the universe evokes the ending of “The Elephant Man.” Joseph Merrick’s consciousness floating into the stars as his mother’s face welcomes him, saying “Never. Oh, never. Nothing will die. The stream flows, the wind blows, the cloud fleets, the heart beats. Nothing will die"

The “death,” of Lux was like something out of eastern philosophy. The idea of losing all identity by becoming everything in totality was both tragic and beautiful. What is complete ego death to a God? Is it odd that this felt less like Lux dying or even being defeated, and more like the natural cycle of his life playing out? It’s curious that as he’s absorbing regeneration energy, Lux becomes more complex, and very possibly, more deranged. But as he begins to soak up the light of the sun, he returns to his 2-D state. The Doctor mentioned that being 2-D gave you two dimensional thought. On a less complex and fundamental level, Lux yearns for the light. Perhaps this is why he lost dimension. His nature is simply to shine.

Other than the late Reginald Pye, this is one of those “Everybody lives!” moments. The patrons of the theatre have returned to their families with little memory of being captured to film. Even our Whovian friends become more than characters that don’t merrit last names. The credits see to it that we know their names are Lizzie Abel, Hassan Chowdry, and Robyn Gossage. The implications of this on the greater Whoniverse are yet unknown. It wouldn’t be the first time Doctor Who has broken the fourth wall or even met fans. They’ve done this storyline multiple times in the comics. However, having characters who know the world of Doctor Who exist within Doctor Who could get interesting. Just look at Marvel’s Gwenpool, a superhero from our universe. Her knowledge as a comic book fan gives her an edge in their world. Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn are living in what is basically a Doctor Who isekai.

All of this meta fourth wall-breaking points directly at Mrs Flood. I’ve seen fan theories that the three Whovians are secretly the Gods of Ragnarok and that Mrs Flood is some sort God of Fiction. Perhaps she has the ability to cancel Doctor Who. It would make sense when you consider she says the show ends on the 24th of May. But if you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that while the 24th is a Saturday, it’s only episode seven. The show goes on beyond. This gives further credence to theory that Doctor Who cancellation rumours are actually a clever tie-in with this Mrs Flood storyline. In the same manner that regeneration addressed the real world change of a lead actor, Mrs Flood addresses the real world threat of Doctor Who’s cancellation. Mrs Flood is like a sort of all-powerful Mary Whitehouse, hellbent on putting an end to the Doctor’s story.

I said at the beginning of season two that I found it odd that they would film season two of Doctor Who before season one had even aired. However, I am now wondering if it’s not so they could leave themselves enough room to plan for season three to start filming at the end of season two. After all, we still have “The War Between the Land and the Sea,” coming. It would be weird to cancel a show they’ve put so much time and effort into. Can you imagine the sad state of airing a spin-off to a show that just got cancelled? Furthermore, Disney+ recently revealed that Doctor Who was it’s number five most watched series last year, which is pretty good for our beloved show. The BBC also stated that Doctor Who is among one of its top earners across their entire media empire. Is RTD so bold that he would use cancellation as a marketing ploy? It’s a risky one for sure. On one hand you could get more people watching, on the other hand, it could scare off would-be viewers who see it as a testament to the show’s overall quality. Are we living through a second Cartmel era where the show is facing cacellation just as it’s starting to get good again? I certainly hope not.

The real question about all of this metatextual storytelling is why now? When Russell T Davies returned to the program, the fandom was scattered. While the Chibnall era brought in new blood, it hemorraged old viewers. Going by this week’s ratings, that trend continues, which is odd considering everyone I have spoken to loved “Lux.” RTD seems interested in opening up a dialogue with the fandom about some of our more toxic traits. Sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, all and more have been explored these last two seasons. Maybe he hopes to change some minds, or maybe he’s saying “We don’t need those types of fans.” You can sit alone in front of your keyboard banging out screeds against “Doctor Woke,” or you can come out of the darkness into the light. Like our meta Whovian counterparts, Doctor Who has the power to bring us together. Does it give me hope? Yes it does, sir.

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averagewriter-inthedark · 2 months ago

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The Crow & His Charmer 🐍 | Kaz Brekker Imagine P.2

My masterlists

continuation of this imagine

Characters & Pairings: Kaz Brekker x gang leader!reader (romantic).

content warnings: profanity, light fluff, rivals-to-lovers, smoking, mentions of violence, gang activity, threats, typical SOC themes, canon divergence. | female!reader (she/her)—no use of Y/n | wc: 2.1k

Premise: Following the success of the Ice Court heist, Kaz Brekker and the Snake Charmer return to Ketterdam newfound allies and a little something that teeters the edge of, 'I can't stand you but can't get you off my mind."

------------------------

Kaz’s cane clicked along the pavement as he strolled up to the entrance of ‘The Snake Pit,’ located on the opposite side deep into the Barrel, making heads at the sight of the owner of The Crow Club nodding his head to the bouncer who returned the gesture as she opened the curtain for him to pass through.

“What’s Kaz Brekker doing on this side of the Barrel?”

“I thought the Serpents and the Dregs were lifelong rivals…”

“Didn’t you hear, lass? Brekker managed to charm the Charmer. Or the Charmer charmed him depending how you see it.”

Lips curling up at the whispers behind him, Kaz went through the curtain and down the spiral staircase leading into the main floor of the building, smirking at the newly refurbished snake enclosure he paid for following the destruction of the previous one. Destruction he caused.

“I want fucking crystal, Kaz Brekker.” She told him on the ship back to Ketterdam over a bottle of Fjerdan Brännvin. “No glass, no acrylic, none of that bullshit cheap plastic to save you Kruge. You are going to find the finest crystal on the damn island and you’re going to have my babies’ enclosure rebuilt to a fucking T. And it better be filled with everything they need otherwise we’re going to have a fucking problem. Am I clear?”

For the amount of money they just earned, Kaz would’ve rebuilt the whole Snake Pit had he destroyed it. Toasting her glass with his, Kaz saluted, “Crystal, Charmer.”

Sure, it was a little uncalled for. Scaring the patrons half to death with a dozen loose snakes. Risking the safety of the animals. But it was a means to an end. How else was he supposed to draw out the Snake Charmer into the light and get her to team up with him and his Crows on their journey to the Ice Court. They needed more muscle, and she had that.

And thank the Saints, it all worked out in the end. They broke into the Ice Court, rescued Yul-Bayur, dealt with Van Eck, and got their fucking 30 million Kruge. Of course, nothing about the heist was easy. It was the most grueling, exhausting, and downright worse job of their life that it’s a miracle any of them survived.

And besides millions of Kruge--once split--Kaz and the Charmer walked away with something more…intimate. Strong enough to put an end to their bitter rivalry. Succeeding a mutual respect that leaned toward admiration.

It was why none of the Serpents paid any attention to Kaz as he migrated through the club towards the Charmer’s office. Why her main bodyguards posted outside her door simply nodded and allowed Kaz to walk in unannounced.

He found the Charmer seated at her desk, cigarette in one hand and telephone receiver in the other while leaning to speak into the transmitter perched on the surface of the desk. Kaz eyed the telephone with curiosity, it being one of the newest investments to her office as they were slowly becoming popular among establishments. Kaz had yet to purchase one, more keen on sending physical notes to people using a messenger.

“I’ve told you this time and time again, Bram,” She snapped, agitated by the person on the other end of the line. “You had every opportunity to pay back the loan in increments prior to the final night of Nachtspel, otherwise you were expected to pay in full by midnight tonight. And it is,” she opens her pocket watch, “precisely half past. I’m very impatient when it comes to my money, Bram. So what’s it going to be?”

Kaz smirked at the Charmer, who narrowed her brows at him as he crossed the space to approach her desk. Then she tilted her head, listening to the man on the other end list off excuses to why he was unable to pay the loan. The loan she gave him months prior, even giving him grace by offering the chance to pay it off monthly instead of waiting till the last minute where she’d want the entire payment in full.

Stealing a cigarette from her open tin, Kaz leaned forward when she flicked open her lighter and held it to him. Reeling back once it’s lit to steal a glass from her bar cart off to the side and pour himself a glass of Rum before settling in one of her oak wood chairs.

A heavy chuckle escaped her, the Charmer closing her eyes to rub her temple while careful not to let any ash on her clothes. “Oh, Bram, you really know how to piss me off, huh?” Kaz could faintly make out the high-pitched voice from the receiver trying to beg his way out. But she wasn’t having it. “No, no, no, don’t act like I don’t know what you’ve been up to. Not only did I hear from one of my guys that the restaurant--that I gave you the loan for--was gaining attraction during my time away, that you were earning enough to make payments every full moon, but you have been seen playing tables at The Silver Six four days out of the week!”

Kaz whistled under his breath while blowing out smoke, chuckling as he tipped back the Rum. He didn’t feel bad for the guy. Not one bit. After all, she gave him money to start up his restaurant, then gambled away its earnings. If anything, he felt sorry for what the guy was about to lose, but maybe he should’ve thought twice than screwing with the Charmer.

“And not to mention the mere fact your pretty wife has been flaunting diamonds and rubies--covered in silk from Shu Han and fucking fur from Fjerda--you really thought I wouldn’t find out?” An empty glass was passed to Kaz, and he refilled it. Watching her gulp half of it before spitting out, “yeah, well you had your opportunity, Bram, and I don’t give second chances. You’ve got till sunrise to gather 150 thousand Kruge--.” Her brows pinched as she was cut off, face consorting to absolute rage, “It would’ve been 100 thousand had you paid me on time!! You had ten months--ten months and you let greed get in the way! You brought this upon yourself, Bram, now it’s time to deal with the consequences. Pawn off your wife's precious gems, steal from your neighbors--I don’t fucking care! When my guy comes to your door at sunrise you better have 150 thousand Kruge or you can kiss your restaurant and all that you have goodbye!”

The receiver met the phone handle with a slam, the charmer bellowing out a “Ugh!!” while pounding a frustrated fist on the desk and snatching her glass to down the remaining alcohol.

“I take it that didn’t go well,” Kaz mused, lifting the filter to his lips to take a drag, watching her do the same with hers.

“Don’t anger me more than I already am, Brekker.”

That made him chuckle, “Will he have the money? Or should I go ahead and add restaurant co-owner to my list of investments.”

“What makes you think you get any say in what happens to my restaurant?” It wasn’t bold of her to assume the establishment would be hers. There was no way in hell Bram would accumulate 150 thousand Kruge by sunrise.

“Darling, I thought we had an agreement,” he sets down his glass, eyes full of mischief, “The Crow Club remains mine; the Snake Pit stays yours, and then anything added on is a…mutual collaboration.”

“Hmmmm,” her pointer finger circled around the rim of the glass, “Well, we’ll see about that, Brekker. He won't have the money--that’s for sure. And if he by Saints above does, then the matters of how is not my concern, so long as he meets the expected amount.”

“And what if he decides to burn down the establishment?” It wasn’t uncommon for people who take loans to attempt to destroy the business if they cannot pay it back. That way whoever gave them the loan cannot own the property as retaliation.

“I’ve got men posted there,” she smirks, tapping away the ash on the tray between them. “He won’t torch that place once he sees them. And even if he were to manage, it's not like he can claim the insurance for it. My lawyers are drafting a lawsuit as we speak.” The woman leans back in her chair, “I’ll get my money one way or another.”

Kaz leaned back in his own chair with a hum, perching his cane on the side of the desk. “We’ll settle the details of the restaurant’s ownership at another time--.”

“Kaz, for Saint’s sake--.”

“I came by to make sure we’re still on for tomorrow evening.”

The woman’s expression turned incredulous, checking her pocket watch once more to which she then raised a brow, “You came all this way--at nearly one in the morning--to ask if I’m still having dinner with you tomorrow?”

Kaz would not grant her the satisfaction of him blushing, remaining stoic to the point his jaw nearly cramped, giving only a shrug, “It wasn’t that far.”

This time she spluttered a sound, “Kaz, you live in the East Stave. This is the fucking West Stave.”

Again, he shrugged, “I needed the walk.”

“Oh my God,” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why didn’t you just call?”

“I don’t have a telephone, you know that.”

“So send a messenger!” she couldn’t contain her grin any further. “You didn’t have to walk all the way over here.”

“Well I did.”

“Saint’s above,” the smile never left as she snatched the bottle of Rum to refill her glass. “Might as well stay, you know.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” he voices, unsure about the offer. He’d visited the Snake Pit several times since their return to the island, but usually it was with the Crows or during the day for a few hours when the place was closed and the two gang leaders could talk in peace without the annoyance of patrons gapping at them. Since he revealed the Charmer’s identity, the Snake Pit had garnered more attraction than ever--everyone wanting to get a glimpse at the woman who managed to stay under the radar for years while pissing off Kaz and Pekka Rollings.

Oh how the tables turned. Now the Crow and the Charmer were considered Ketterdam’s most powerful duo. Kaz controlling the East Stave, and the Charmer controlling the West.

“We’ve got plenty of room and I’m sure you want to be the first to find out whether or not the restaurant is ours.”

Kaz straightened in his seat, a knowing look plastered on his face, “Ours?”

She rolled her eyes, putting back the bottle of rum once she tipped off his glass, “Don’t fucking look at me like that.” She points a finger at him, face serious, “The place is on my turf, Brekker. I get the higher cut.”

“Oh, Charmer, you wound me.”

“You’ll live,” she playfully mocks.

“How much are we talking exactly?”

“Seventy-thirty.”

Kaz shakes his head, “No, thirty-five.”

“You want thirty-five?” She tilts her head in challenge, “Then you can cover more of the property tax. How about that?”

Saint’s, she was just like him. So much so it had Kaz grinning, and he was thankful it was only them two in the office. No witnesses to see the man they called Dirtyhands delighted by the woman in front of him.

“What if instead of the property tax, I cover the import?” He suggests, leaning into her space as she extinguishes the remaining filter of her cigarette, smirking when she visibly reacts to the proposition. “After all, I own Fifth Harbor.”

“Thirty-five and the import tax?” she reiterated, folding her hands on the surface of the desk, eyeing Kaz like the businesswoman she was about to crack a deal.

Pleased to have got her where he wanted, Kaz lifts up his glass of rum, smirk widening. “Thirty-five for my cut, and I will pay the import taxes and deal with whatever tariffs that might come our way.”

She appeared to be deep in thought, as though pondering over her options. But by now Kaz could read the Charmer like a book. They were similar in nature. Thought alike, conducted business alike. Knew when the other was bluffing or being disingenuous.

Slowly but surely, the Charmer raised her glass, clicking against his while never straying her gaze, “Very well, Mr. Brekker.” They both shot down the Rum at the same time. Sealing the deal.

Who would’ve thought a crow could charm the snake. Or maybe it was the snake who charmed the crow. Whichever it was, one thing was clear.

No one in the Barrel could ever go against the crow and his charmer.

#kaz brekker imagine #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker x y/n #kaz brekker x you #kaz brekker fanfic #six of crows imagine #six of crows fanfic #kaz brekekr fluff #kaz brekker #grishaverse fanfic #grishaverse imagine

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lilybug-02 · 1 year ago

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Happy 2 Year Anniversary to The Chara Timeline ✨

I FINALLY made drawing references for you guys, yippie!✨

It’s wild how long I’ve been working on this comic without reference sheets. I’m never that consistent with my art style, so I figured it was a waste of time 🫥💀😔 this is my first full comic okay…

Thoughts and Feelings About the Comic Below ❤️💖💕💞

Wow. It’s been 2 years??? I thought I would be done with this comic in 2 months! I don’t know whether to feel worried or accomplished!!

(With months between each update, I understand why it’s been 2 years. I’m a slow writer and artist and well- many things have come up in my life that had to come first, like my sisters wedding! 💞 and college 😅)

I want to thank my family and friends (WHO DO NOT READ THIS COMIC- THANK GOD) 💕 AND I want to THANK YOU! The readers! 💐💐

You guys are relentless! I’m as impatient as traffic and yet you guys wait for weeks or months at a time for like 4 pages?! You guys don’t even complain!!! I truly want to thank you all for that ❤️ it helps me so much. Being busy and getting burnt out are common and it helps me feel relaxed that i'm not on a timer. Literally tho- you guys keep this comic chugging I swear. Tysm 💐

Unorganized rambling about the comic ahead :) ⭐️🔥

—

My feelings with this comic are actually so complicated. On one hand I hate looking at my older art because GOD IT LOOKS SO OFF I want to stab it, and then on the other hand I am so so proud of myself for even continuing it this far. Ngl the weird route has been one of my favorite parts of this comic. It took me FOREVER to figure out an ending, but damn do I still get chills >:) hehe.

I’m still miffed that I named this project “Deltarune: The Chara Timeline” I could have gone for something so much COOLER. Doesn’t help I use like 7 different titles for it either. We got Deltarune the Chara timeline, Deltarune chara timeline, THE Chara timeline, chara timeline, Ct??? Man,,, I’m crazy. I take after my family so hard. We have 3 names for each of our dogs 💀.

Comic/Animation Tip i have learned. It is VERY GOOD to make the character relatively simple in design. Shape language is also super important, ((but I never really got around to doing that before I was half way through the comic, woops.)) These things can make ur process go by so much faster. This whole comic has been a HUGE learning curve. LIKE OH MY GOD. I had to learn how to draw backgrounds, write dialogue, plan a story, learn how to draw fast and draw noses (which god damn I really still can’t). And I had to learn how the heck to squeeze art into a tiny page and make it not look grainy. It's intense!

Anyways.... this has been such an awesome opportunity! Thanks Toby Fox!

I totally ran out of “art time” for my iPad and wanted to finish this today. So it’s a bit rushed. I’ll add weapons and possibly the other characters later :)

Oh shi- I forgot to add this grainy image of the next few pages lmao

#chara is literally built like a rectangle. idk why ive never noticed that #a thick greenbean #and Asriel is kinda half and half when it comes to standing on his toes or regular foot. He has a more top heavy approach to his balance #bread #undertale #deltarune chara timeline #my art #chara #asriel #character sheets #character references #art #deltarune #happy 2 year anniversary!!!!#college chara #college asriel #darkworld

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justwinginglife · 5 months ago

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To Be Touched By You

25 Days of Simpmas: Day Twelve December 12th: Kyo Sohma, Rank 14 Anime: Fruits Basket Event Masterlist

@totallybakedcake, correct character guess but incorrect placing lol I am kinda lowkey ashamed that Kyo is down much farther than you thought he'd be. Poor guy. He used to be number one. Oof. I'm sorry, Kyo, I still love you: this one's for you.

More than being unable to be touched by girls, Kyo disliked being touched by girls. In fact, he disliked being touched by anyone. But damn it, he wanted to touch you.

He’d noticed how kind you were, how thoughtful you were, how loyal you were, how funny you were, and he loved you for it all, but lately, more than anything, he’d begun to notice just how touch shy you were.

You could hold a conversation with him for hours, but the second he picked up your pencil for you, the minute he nudged you with his elbow, the moment he plucked a stray petal from your hair, you were a sputtering mess of a girl and it turned him into a lovestruck mess of a boy. And he fell for you more and more with each passing second.

“Kyoooo!”

He heard your voice calling out to him from the end of the hallway, drawing the attention of each and every passerby, and he shook his head, smiling to himself, as he waited for you to inevitably catch up to him. Sure, you were touch shy, but you weren’t shy any other time. He found it amusing and incredibly adorable.

“You said you’d wait for me!” You exclaimed, nearly out of breath after weaving in and out of the waves of students pouring out of their classes to catch up to him.

“I didn’t say I’d wait in here, it’s too crowded. I was gonna wait by the gate, silly.” He gave you a grin before poking your nose.

Your cheeks immediately flushed and you began to furiously rub at the spot on your nose with a pout forming on your now fuschia face. “Kyooo-” You whined, batting him away. “You better not be lying, because if you weren’t going to wait for me, I would’ve eaten all the ramen WITHOUT you. Then what would you have done?”

Damn, you were adorable. But you had recovered too quickly, he’d have to try a little harder. “Would’ve just ordered something else instead.” He pinched your cheek this time.

“Kyo!”

God, when you said his name…

“Kyo, are you even listening?”

…Like heaven…

“Kyo, you’re the worst! You can’t just go around-” You started to emphatically poke at his arm and his shoulder and his neck, just to see how he liked the random touch aggression. But it backfired on you.

The more you touched him, the deeper your blush, and eventually you found yourself leaning against a nearby wall just to catch your breath.

He brought a fist up to his mouth to muffle his laughter but not before you’d already heard it.

Your head whipped in his direction. “You better not be laughing at me or I’ll kick your butt.” You grumbled, crossing your arms and glaring him down in supposed annoyance. But even you knew that annoyance didn’t feel like goosebumps on your skin and butterflies in your stomach and galloping in your chest. No, annoyance wasn’t why you insisted he walk home with you, and why you insisted he have dinner with you, and why you insisted he study with you. But you were bad at this love thing. More than bad- you were terrible at it.

So, of course, you yanked your arm away every time he bumped into it. Of course, you’d rather risk tripping down the stairs than letting him tie your loose laces. Of course, you’d go into karate chop mode when he tried to fetch a loose crumb from your cheek.

It was like you malfunctioned every time he touched you. And you didn’t understand it in the slightest.

You were always at your most comfortable when you were with him… and yet you were always at your most uncomfortable when you were with him too. What was this ridiculous thing people called love? And why was it working against you?

“Yeah? And how are you gonna kick my butt when you can’t even touch me without gasping for air?” Kyo teased, towering over you in an instant. His hands rested against the wall on either side of your head, effectively trapping you in place. “Hmm…?” He trailed a hand down to capture your chin in between two fingers.

He waited for you to react, waited for that pleasant bit of pink to creep into your cheeks, waited for that doe-eyed gaze to pierce his soul. But, as he waited for your usual -adorable- bumbling and blundering to surface, he never could’ve guessed that this time you’d be so overwhelmed by shock, it’d send tears spilling down your cheeks.

His eyes widened as the drops began to flow.

What had he done??

His first instinct was to reach up and wipe the tears away, but then he realized his touch was the reason you were crying in the first place and he quickly made the split second decision to withdraw, pulling himself off the wall to give you some much needed space.

He waited anxiously as you attempted to compose yourself.

You hadn’t meant to cry. You didn’t want to be crying, you wanted to be able to touch him and withstand his touch. More than withstand it, you wanted to ease into it, relax against it. You wanted to want it, to need it, to crave it, to love it. You didn’t want to be so pathetic and so overwhelmed with emotion that you couldn’t process even a shred of it without bursting into tears. You wanted to reciprocate his emotions. You wanted to touch him. You wanted to try.

You took deep breaths trying to steady your nerves, but with each shaky inhale and exhale, he felt guilt spearing deeper and deeper into his heart. He hadn’t meant to make you upset, he’d only meant to make you a little flustered. He was honored that you were flustered for someone like him. That someone like him could make your pulse race and your cheeks warm. That someone like him could make you look for him in a sea of people. That someone like him could make you smile for him in a sea of people. That someone like him could make you choose him in a sea of people.

But he’d been selfish.

Too wrapped up in all the things you made him feel, all the things he could make you feel, all the things he wanted to make you feel. But how did you actually feel? Would you still want him like this? Would you ever love him like this?

He’d be better, he swore he would.

He’d never touch you again. He’d reply when you wanted him to, laugh when you wanted him to, and never step out of line again.

But then you brought your fingers hovering into the air space between the two of you and his train of thought halted. Your fingers quivered but they were poised for action nonetheless. You were steeling yourself for something, but what was it?

His brows furrowed.

Then, with a sharp inhale, you flicked him in the forehead, exclaiming loudly, “Kyo, you big idiot!”

He blinked in shock. You’d just touched him… on purpose. Then he smiled. You’d just touched him on purpose. God, he was a lucky man. He lowered his head towards you, coming as close as you’d allow him to. “Yeah…you got me, I am a big idiot. And I think you can do better than that. C’mon. Give me a really good one.”

To his surprise, instead of dealing another blow to his forehead, you hesitantly ruffled his hair.

His head shot up at the sensation and the sudden movement made you reflexively yank your hand away.

Before he could stop himself, he’d already let out a whine of disappointment.

Then you were the one giggling into your hand.

“Hey- you better not be laughing at me, or I’ll kick your butt,” He grumbled, looking away shyly as he repeated your earlier words to him.

You laughed again. “Let’s go then, you and me. One on one.” You balled your hand up into a fist, feigning aggression, and then very gently tapped his chest with it. “Your move.”

He chuckled. “Alright, well I won’t go easy on you just cuz you’re a girl.” He lightly karate chopped your head.

“Devastating blow! Will she make it? Oh, wait! It appears she is counter-attacking!” You poked his cheek. Then, before you could help it, you trailed the finger down his cheek to his jaw.

He sucked in a breath, eyes fluttering shut at the warm and welcome sensation.

You had no breath to hold, you’d been completely and utterly stunned out of your oxygen. You were trembling, but still, you couldn’t stop touching him. You couldn’t stop the way you wanted to touch him. You traced his chin, skimmed the length of his neck, and rested finally on his chest.

And now suddenly he was the shy one.

But he didn’t dare move for fear you’d stop.

“Y-your… your heart is beating.” You swallowed.

He laughed softly. “Yeah… they tend to do that.”

“But like… really fast?”

He cautiously brought his hand up, eyes searching for permission. When you nodded, he rested it on top of yours. “It only does that… when I’m around you.”

You smiled at him and his pulse thundered beneath your fingers. “Funny… mine is the same. Only with you.”

He wondered if you knew that your touch was more than just warmth on his skin, if you knew that your touch lit up even the darkest corners of his heart, if you knew that he had already surrendered his heart to you and only you.

You wondered if he knew that your hearts were the same. That yours only beat for him, that yours only burned for him. That you’d loved him before you ever touched him, and that you’d love him long after. That, one day, you hoped to turn quivering fingers into interlocked fingers, interlocked fingers into interlocked lips, and interlocked lips into intertwined bodies, and until that day came, until you were ready, you hoped he’d wait for you.

But, looking at him now, as he smiled so sincerely, so ecstatically, so endearingly, you thought to yourself that maybe he wouldn’t have to wait too much longer after all. They say time flies with the one you love, and you could already see a lifetime by his side in the amber of his eyes.

Taglist: @pixelcafe-network @ouiouimochi @minasfwoopyponytail @inkytypewriter

#kyo sohma #fruits basket #fruits basket kyo #kyo sohma x reader #sohma boys #han's library #anime fanfic #anime #oneshot

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grapenamjams · 7 months ago

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20 minutes

Characters: Artem wing x fem. Reader

Genre: Smut

Contains: needy Artem wing because y’all haven’t fucked in a week, fingering, p.n v, mutual orgasm, princess. Gorgeous. Darling. Pet names used, marking.

A/n: needy desperate Artem is my favorite animal

🩵Start here 🩵

When Artem received the notification that his early morning appointment was canceled. He knew he had to take the opportunity that had presented itself. as the rare pleasure of having an extra 20 minutes before needing to get to work.

And he would be damned if he didn’t make every second Count.

So he set out to do just that. Your body trembling with arousal in minutes, breathe feeling like it’s been stolen, letting out gasps and moans.

His chest pressed against your back as you both laid on your sides under the sheets that were getting increasingly warm.

He captures your moan in his mouth Those dark eyebrows furrowing as if not being able to get enough air through your moans. His kisses where desperate. Because that’s what he was. It’s been a week since he last fucked you and the consequences of that, were apparent to him each passing day.

Feeling himself tighten in his suit pants at just the sight of you-hell just at the thought of you got him scooting his chair closer to his desk at work. He felt pathetic, not used to the feeling of lack of control. But if you were the reason for it? He would gladly relinquish any sense of it. having you consume him entirely.

“I Need to be inside of you” his voice coming out strained. “Please let me fuck you, darling” Artem dosnt care if he didn’t sound composed as he normally did. He wasn’t going to let any second go to waste.

With your agreement in a form of a moan and you throwing off the covers from on top of you both. Artem pulls his hand that was between your thighs away. Fingers coated with your arousal just by rubbing your clit.

He pushes down your pj bottoms along with your underwear. lifting your hips to aid him. He tosses them over the side of the bed.

he kisses any skin exposed to him as he removes his own embarrassingly soaked briefs. His uneven breathing hits your neck. He presses his body closer behind you. “You’re so beautiful. So perfect, my love. Ive missed how you felt” he tries to regain some sense of said composure through his words.

His hand goes down your side and takes ahold of your thigh. Lifting it up slightly so he can settle himself closer. He holds back a moan at just feeling your folds graze his swollen head.

he knows he isn’t going to last long. Not like he usually does, making sure to draw out his thrusts, changing the pace to keep himself inside you as long as possible.

Right now though, it was different. His body trembling with desire. a growing flare that licked at his restraint. “Ready?” He asks even if mind was hazing. his number one priority in everything was your wellbeing and happiness.

Seeing your nod Artem shifts so the head of his cock is at your entrance. Your delicious warmth calling him to a long overdue welcome home. Artem sucks in a breath, lips hovering over your shoulder.

“You finished laundry, correct?” He sees the confused look in your eyes at his strange question.

“Yes I did. Why-!” You feel artem slips inside of you in a single thrust to the base when he heard the words he wanted. The sudden action making you both moan. Only, Artem’s is muffled with a bite to your shoulder. Soothing the mark with his tongue he begins to thrust into you.

“Good. You can cover these up then” mouth latching on to another section of skin. As much as he loves marking you. He’s always careful to place them in areas that can’t be seen, mindful of your professionalism.

But right now he didn’t have much choice. He was needier than ever before, feeling so incredibly sensitive and this position wasn’t helping. Letting him feel you at a whole new angle. “To long princess” he groans. He pulls out to the head and slams back in making you Yelp. To damn long. Feeling your heat stretch at the size of him. Your warmth engulfing him so tightly he wonders how he survived days without it.

“You feel incredible” he pants as his thrusts quicken. “No matter how much time passes, you always take me in so well” he praises landing kisses up your neck to your ear “isn’t that right, darling? Always ready for me.”

You turn your head to the side “I’ve missed feeling you inside me. P-please Artem harder” you beg breathlessly. He looks at your pretty face etched in pure bliss next to him. Something primal snapping in place. He kisses you as he obliges you. Needing it too if not more.

As he suspected Artem felt the all to familiar tension in his body coiling up rapidly. He curses not wanting this moment to ever end. Wanting to shut the world and thoughts of work away and just have you in bed the entire day making up for lost time.

“Touch yourself for me,hm?” hand tightening against your leg. “Together. Alright?” He manages to grunt out. You do as you’re told needing that release.

It didn’t take long for both of you to reach your highs together. Both of you so pent up for the other it was inevitable. Artem lips don’t leave yours, moaning your name and giving you praises as his hips don’t slow down feeling your walls clench around him as if they don’t want to let him go, demanding he stay and give everything he had left. He sucks in a curse at the thought filling your cunt, over and over again with his seed. Burying it deeper and deeper into you.

Groaning reluctantly, he slows down his hips ridding both of your highs. After a moment of catching your breath. Artem lets go of your leg. his kisses become gentler, reassuring. His words asking if you were alright.

A hand cupping your check and another pushing your hair away from your glistening face. He sucks in a breath, when he feels himself slip out of you as you turn your body onto your back.

Clear blue eyes, the hue that is found in the cracks of a glacier. gaze down at you with a sincere content look of fondness. a contrast against the bursting pink splotches across his face and ears. The smile you give him only deepening the color. He feels your hand push back his damp hair. He turns his head and presses a kiss to your wrist. Keeping his sights on you.

“How does your evening look like?”

#Yall I don’t know what happened I picked up my phone and suddenly this was staring back at me #artem wing #tears of themis #tot smut #tot artem #artem wing x reader #Enero’s demon writing hour

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sunflowerandstrawberryspice · 8 months ago

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CARMEN SANDIEGO? In 2024? It's more likely thank you think! Please excuse the shit quality for some reason I wasn't allowed to upload the normal pdf and I had to upload a fucking screenshot???

So my friend convinced me to watch Carmen Sandiego and since he's watching ALL of Ninjago for me I thought it was the least I could do to watch four season of a show with a pretty decent concept but uh... yeesh, don't get me wrong the show is really fun but lord have mercy does it have problems especially the last two seasons which were just so wildly disappointing to me. It went from a show with an interesting look on morals to pure pro-cop and mostly black and white thinking so quick (that not mentioning the breaking up a found family full of people with abandonment issues) it was honestly just so disappointing so me and the friend who introduced it to me decided to rewrite it! (I will not be animating nor do I plan on doing more than MAYBE a comic or art piece here and there because my chronic pain ridden ass can not handle that much lol)

The main goals are to:

1) Flesh out characters that aren't Carmen and actually give them reactions based on their lived experiences and how they might realistically react instead of what the show needed to move the plot along

2) Having characters other than Carmen be actually relevant to the plot the main one being Chase Devineaux who we're gonna kind of have as a parallel to Carmen (trust me yall) as kind of a "What if Carmen didn't have her friends/family to ground her and fall back on" but for all the Chase fans out there (gods I hope there's some other than me) he will be getting a happy ending but bro is getting put through the RINGER first

3) Have both A.C.M.E (now standing for Administration for Containing and Monitoring Evil) and V.I.L.E be the bad guys. Also just as an extra bit of fun we're making VILE a full blown cult, they were very cult like in the show so we're just gonna make it one. Both are going to be very morally questionable and while it'll take a bit longer for ACME to show it's true colors don't you worry they definitely will ;)

4) We're doing canonical lgbtq+ rep, I know the show teased a lot of relationships and really only gave yall background gays not to say thats bad but we can do better than just a brief shot of a damn taco truck. I mean like come on in a story about a young woman going against the government for the greater good why not put some rep into it ya know!

5) We're making it light sci-fi, not like SUPER high tech but definitely beyond what we've got currently, as shown with Carmen's prosthetic, and don't worry I'm doing my research as a disabled person I know how it feels to be misrepresented or ignored so I want to make sure I'm being realistic

6) PLAYER ISN'T GOING TO BE A CHILD! I don't know if this bothered anybody else but to me it was really weird that this 16 year old's only friends were in their 20s!

Alright I think that's what I'm gonna say for now, I'd love it if yall tuned in for updates if your curious since this is a passion project for me and my friend and we're having a blast writing it!

As always I am still working on stuff for Ninjago cause I could never abandon my one true love, currently there's a Pixal drawing in progress (it's giving me hell T-T) something for Cole and Geo, and something of Sora MAYBE even Euphrasia if I'm feeling up to it.

Having said that I hope yall have a great day/night and PEACE OUT!

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandeigo 2019 #carmen sandeigo fanart #redraw #rewrite #character design #Lowkey kind of an original piece of art at this point but OH WELL #lesbian #gay #lgbtqia #carmen sandiego ivy #carmen sandiego zack #chase devineaux #julia argent #We're changing a few surname/giving characters surnames btw #disability #art #digital art

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eternalera · 15 days ago

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please tell me that when gojo first took off his blindfold i wasnt the only one who was shocked with how much i did NOT like it. im so sorry but he lowkey looked like one of those anime drawings i would do as a kid with the big sparkly eyes. like he kinda looked like a barbie doll but if you replaced the eyes with blue rhinestones. he looked like he was aboutta stare into my soul and start telling me how long i had left to live and that i was gonna spend the rest of my life raising 3 kids i found on the fucking street and could not get rid of. he looked like one of those 'uwu' main character videos you used to see in early gacha videos with something like "you wouldnt wanna see me when im angry >:(" captioned under it. like my instant reaction was "damn i see why he's got the blindfold now he looks weird as hell". was that just me???

#some of this is exaggerated...#some...#gojo satoru #satoru gojo #gojo jjk #jjk satoru #jjk gojo #jujutsu gojo #jujutsu kaisen gojo #jujutsu satoru #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

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trashisstillhere · 2 months ago

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Two other characters for the NN AU! Two more who hasn’t changed much but will be shown quite a lot in the story!

First Ninja and Plop Plop!!!

Hell yeah bbyyy the two prime dudes let’s get itttttt (yes. Even did both of First Ninja’s forms even though there isn’t that much change to him cuz why tf not-)

First Ninja now has a scar on his cheek right near his eye that he is now pretty much stuck with, all thanks to a certain incident caused in the past by a certain short ninja who couldn’t control their emotions at the time.

Yeah. NN/Nobu still feels very guilty about it every time they see it, even though Finja has forgiven them already.

Meanwhile Plop Plop hasn’t changed at all, he still looks the same after the incident with the cursed samurai….expect that he may or may have not caught feelings for HER.

Yeah that’s right, you heard me. While he was literally being held hostage, Plop Plop suddenly started catching feelings for the cursed samurai. The one who literally kidnapped him, threatened to KILL HIM. He found it really strange at first but after a while of being held hostage by her side and Honoka was finally freed from the curse, he knew that he was really truly in love with her and he doesn’t regret it one bit!

(yes, in the NN AU, Honoka actually gets to be freed from the curse thanks to the two ninjas, Randy and NN/Nobu, themselves since this took place back in the past where she hasn’t been the curses host for THAT long. Unlike my Rc9gn fanmade story Hidden Danger with Serenity which takes place in the present- still haven’t really explained that story yet but maybe one day hehe.)

Yuuuup. This is pretty much a oc x Canon. If ya ain’t really a fan of that, I suggest you just ignore this-

Now, what happened then now that he has a crush on (post curse (after being freed from the curse) Honoka?….well….

Let’s just say…NN/Nobu, now along with Martin, did some time travel fuckery stuff (again) and tried helping the chubby man with getting closer to his crush and impress her, basically being his wingman’s lol.

Unfortunately, Plop Plop’s started to get incredibly nervous and scared about the possible chance of this date he was having with Honoka becoming a total disaster….

the sorceress got to know what was going on and with some convincing words from Kurai, went to sent out her stank…

Leading him to be stanked, again, but by her this time instead of the sorcerer!

A literal pufferfish, a big one. who, strangely somehow, is able to float and blow out bubbles even when he’s not actually underwater.

As this sea animal, he’s really spiky which could hurt anyone who might get way too close.

While Honoka is completely shocked by what just happened to Plop Plop, NN and Martin has to go and try to find away to help destank him!

Luckily for them, there wasn’t much fighting that had to be done for this one!

And yes, Plop Plop’s feelings actually got returned by Honoka! They ended up together right after that! Yippie! And end up married with 3 kids later on, holy moly-

“What about First Ninja tho? Is he also gonna get stanked?”

The answer is no…..

At least….not YET.

He hasn’t gotten stanked so far, he is a pretty strong ninja that is the first one to have dealt with all the stanking centuries for so damn long so he seems to be able to endure it…

But that doesn’t mean that he will be stank free forever….

You’ll never know if or when it’s actually gonna happen at all….hehehehehe…

—-

The plop plop stank form came from @artistic-harlom-world ! They’re also the one that came up with Plop Plop x Honoka! I did not think of the possibility of them as a couple until they started bringing it up with the scenarios and stuff that was honestly cute and I was like: “you know what? Hell yeah! I fuck with this!”

I’ll probably gonna make NN AU post curse Honoka soon now, I don’t really have a full colored drawing of her yet.. and maybe even their 3 children who knows

So for now, have this meme she’s in, that I made which was only like back in February or some shit hehehe

(This post curse Honoka is kinda a concept I guess?? Idk yet)

this meme basically, fits them too well hehe

Oh! Also have these! Some size comparisons and First Ninja with his own children the other ninjas

#rc9gn #randy cunningham 9th grade ninja #ninja show #randy cunningham 9th grade ninja oc #randy cunningham #rc9gn au #new ninja #new ninja au #rc9gn first ninja #rc9gn finja #Finja #rc9gn plop plop #plop plop #art #drawing #rc9gn randy #doodles #what would Honoka and Plop Plops ship name be?#no clue yet

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