#wordplay with the flowers too i see you

[jounosparticles]

the flowers used in this image (columbines) often represent good fortune, risk-taking, hope, and faith, which is exactly what dazai relied on for his plan to work :)

[arty-holly]

I caught up with the bllk manga and it is a 5 course meal with the way it is serving rn.

Rin's moment came and it is mind blowingly perfect. I could’nt ask for more and there are so many delicious details it's terrific.

The title of this chapter is very interesting to me for reasons. Because Rin as a character is shown to be connected with death and suicide. Infact his 1st character defining line is " Soccer is a battle to the death". Later we find the seed of this thinking in little Rin. He's a weirdo who flings himself at pigeons at toy blocks and a completely opposite mentality to the other kids. The ultimate monster who fights someone stronger, gives his all, and then dies is incredibly cool to him. He hopes to be someone like him in the future . So is it really coincidence if the title of his chapter has a clever wordplay with a famous author who was also suicidal and who wrote a book called " No longer human"?

Now Dazai Osamu was an remarkable author and coincidentally (those who watched Bsd will know) he strived to do double suicides with the women he was in love with. So is it really coincidence that the words that comes out of Isagi’s mouth are " I'll die with you!"? Are you all seeing the romantic connotations here guys?👀

Moving on, just the general remarkable-ness of these recent chapters is blowing my mind.

To see Isagi, the master adapter, arguably the best person in Blue lock who can analyze others to perfection floundering at the anomaly that is Itoshi Rin is so great. This is the first and only time Isagi has been unable to decipher the thought process of another person to this extent. It's gonna make the time when he does get through Rin so much more satisfying. 💚

And its too sad that Rin is so chained in by his feelings that he can't kick a goal his teammates would kill to have because of his own mind( bro needs a therapist fr). It's so baffling to others watching from the outside, but to Rin, it makes perfect sense. It's the way he's almost begging for someone to come, someone to break in and-

The image of Isagi literally swiping away Sae’s phantom, almost reassuring him that he's here, he's real is too beautiful. When Rin is about to lose everything, Isagi is the one who is there. I'm pretty sure Loki would've benched Rin if he threw away a goal again, so Isagi is the reason Rin is still playing in this match. Just the visual framing in this panel is too good.

Do I need to say more?

The way Isagi's eyes look so bright as if he's giving hope to Rin. Rin's EXPRESSION 😭(All we need are some flower petals)

Tell me this isn't poetic beauty, come in my face and tell me this isn't the epitome of romance.

Regardless if it is romantic or platonic, I still adore the way they're written into each other’s arcs. I wasn't the one to notice this, but if Isagi had collided into Rin and Rin had not scored, Isagi would've been red-carded instead of being let off with a yellow card. ( His head was definitely not all there in this moment)Isagi Yoichi, thank your stars your lover is a genius , bro would've been cooked otherwise.

And at the end,

We see the old Rin again, finally enjoying the game he worked his entire life for. (Off topic, but he looks so cute and gorgeous here) and the catalyst for that is none other than our protagonist.

Isagi is the light that brings hope to Rin and Rin is the centre, the ideal for Isagi’s growth. They saved each other.

All of NEL hasn't been exactly amazing but Kaneshiro's writing peaked in these chapters. There is so much said in every panel, so much emotion expressed in each drawing, It's incredible.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

I hope this doesn't sound confusing, but is there a way to strike a balance between using "simple" words and "complex" words? Like, trying to write something that isn't too simple or too verbose.

I think context is the keyword here.

What I do is I just write using my current vocabulary, so that I'm able to convey what I mean as accurately as possible. And if I want to sort of elevate my writing, that's when I might swap out some simpler words with more "complex"/poetic words, or maybe even phrases. But I make sure I'm using the appropriate vocabulary. How do we do this? I'm just going to copy and paste here an excerpt from this writing resource to answer this question:

It’s important to use words and expressions that fit the context so your meaning is clear. For example, different audiences for your writing will require different levels of formality: the vocabulary you use in an academic essay may not be effective for a blogpost targeting a popular audience. Consider the following questions to help you choose the most appropriate words for your audience and purpose. a. What’s the exact meaning of the word? Words may be broadly similar in meaning but differ in important aspects of that meaning. Consider the difference between ‘the fragrance of flowers’  and ‘the odour of rotten eggs.’ Both words refer to the sense of smell, but fragrance has a positive core meaning while odour has a negative one. If you don’t know what a word exactly means, check it in a dictionary. Also look up sample sentences that use your "complex"/fancy word, and see how it is actually used. But, once you truly know what a word means, wordplay can be your friend. b. Is the word attached to a feeling? Compare the two sentences: ‘The freeway snakes through the town’ and ‘The freeway meanders through the town’. In this example, snake indicates negative feelings about the freeway while meander doesn’t. c. What level of intensity does the word show? Many words with similar meanings describe different degrees of the same quality or action. For example, ‘comical’, ‘hilarious’ and ‘side-splitting’  show different degrees of funniness. Think about the intensity of what you want to convey when choosing words. d. Is the word formal or informal? Go for formal words and expressions in business communication and academic writing. In the following examples, the second expression in each pair is more formal than the first: (1) come up with / create (2) one after another / at regular intervals (3) huge / considerable (4) enough / sufficient e. Is the word polite? Words which describe negative qualities or sensitive issues too directly can be offensive. Good communicators consider the feelings of their audience. For example, when writing about childhood obesity, it’s more appropriate to use ‘children with weight problems’ or ‘children of an unhealthy weight’ than ‘fat children’. f. Is the word specific or general? Use words with specific meanings whenever possible to make your message clearer to your audience. For example, avoid overusing general verbs such as ‘be’, ‘do’, ‘have’ and ‘get’, especially in academic writing, as they don’t accurately convey specific ideas. It’s better to use a more specific verb or verb phrase to strengthen your message. Compare the impact of the verbs in these sentences: ‘To be successful, learners need to have high-level literacy skills.’ ‘To be successful, learners need to develop and demonstrate high-level literacy skills.’ g. What other words does the word often go with? Some words are frequently used together and therefore sound more natural in combination. This is called collocation. For example, we say ‘fast train’ not ‘quick train’, but ‘quick shower’ not ‘fast shower’. Similarly, it’s more natural to say ‘highly critical’ rather than ‘deeply critical.’ Additionally, be aware of idioms. Idioms are commonly used word combinations or expressions. These have very specific meanings that are not obvious from the words they contain, e.g. ‘a piece of cake’, ‘get the hang of it’, ‘an Indian summer’, and ‘after a fashion’. Many dictionaries list and define idioms if you look up the component words. For example, try looking up ‘Indian’ or ‘summer’ to find ‘Indian summer’.

But if you have a wide vocabulary that people have difficulty understanding you, maybe you can do the opposite of this and swap out the too complex words with simpler ones, haha!

Lastly, when you read through your work whilst editing, ask yourself: Does this sound natural? Does it sound like your literary voice? Do you recognise yourself in this written work? Or do the simple/complex words you've inserted sound too unfamiliar?

Hope this helps, dear Anon. But if anyone has a better answer for this, do let us know.

[mayflowers515]

Smiling Critters: Non Lore-Heavy Headcanons!

This is just what I personally think they'd be like in my AU, if you guys have different interpretations, that's fine!

(I could also do scenarios based on the headcanons too if you guys wish! )

Reference post for characters if needed: https://www.tumblr.com/mayflowers515/743811211445010432/smiling-critters-in-gacha-life-2?source=share

Kickin would 100% call his friends a specific nickname. It's his way of approving that they're cool to him. He barely calls them by their actual name unless the situation is serious. Here is what he'd call everyone:

Bubba = Nerd (in the most affectionate way possible here); Can also imagine Kickin calling him sir or mister sometimes

Bobby = Beary or BB (may or may not be based off of content I've seen with these nicknames for her-)

Hoppy = Hopscotch (calls her by last name because he thinks it's cool already; Hoppy would use that logic against him and call him Chicken occasionally); He also likes to call her Hops for short

CatNap = Sleepyhead, Sleeping Beauty

DogDay = Mr. Brightside, DD

Crafty = Princess (that would probably freak Crafty out since she thinks he knows of her status; in reality, he calls her this because of her vibes, especially after a certain scenario I have planned for her)

Picky = Piggy (doesn't really have any other idea for a nickname, but he wants to come up with one that sounds "more cool"; tried this by calling her PP, but didn't realize how bad it was until the first and only time he used it for her)

Kickin would call himself KC, since y'know, he wants everyone to know he's cool, too! (credits to mr. story for the idea)

2. Crafty has a very good singing voice. She doesn't show it off for a couple reasons though:

Because she's a little shy about showing it off in the first place

Doesn't want to overpower her friends if they sing together

She's worried her friends will find a way to link her voice to her background (will discuss more in a future post)

(Based off a voice canon video I saw for her where her singing voice was based off of Fluttershy's from "Filli Vanilli")

3. When Picky isn't cooking or eating, she likes to dance and tend to her personal garden. It's filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, but she also has some flowers and shrubs, too! She likes to use products from her garden for her cooking sometimes.

4. CatNap's house smells like all kinds of specific essential oils. He is the one who uses them the most of the Critters, which helps set the atmosphere for his calming home.

5. I already mentioned before that Crafty can never keep her clothes clean for the whole day. But she really likes her overall dresses, so she keeps a lot of the same ones just in case one of them gets too messy.

6. Kickin is great with comebacks and wordplay. Even in the toughest of situations, he usually pieces together slick phrases. The only exceptions are if he were to start like-liking someone or if he had an idol he admired. He'd get more nervous and fumble his words by that point.

7. Here is what I like to think the Critters want to be when they become adults (they're still children in this AU):

CatNap (counselor; something to do with aromatherapy too most likely)

DogDay (doesn't know; he hasn't thought about it)

Bobby (nurse or maybe a therapist)

Crafty (artist of course; may be more inclined to be a painter)

Kickin (journalist or reporter?; I can see him commentating on things like sports and current events lol)

Hoppy (soccer player or coach)

Bubba (professor, but not sure of which subject rn)

Picky (chef, no surprise there. She wishes to run her own restaurant someday)

8. Inspired by some comics, but CatNap's tail can extend to really long lengths. His friends use this as an advantage to drag him along or hold onto him when he's not aware of his surroundings or he's asleep. His tail can only extend to so long though (maybe four-five feet?) so eventually it can get pulled. He doesn't like that. His friends realize this the hard way, and from that point forward, they tend to drag him along their adventures in a wagon. Typically DogDay is the one to watch over the wagon.

9. In contrast to CatNap, DogDay is much more nervous during the nighttime. He tries to hide this to not worry his friends, but they can usually see through him. He doesn't exactly get the best sleep all the time, yet he still manages to operate smoothly for his friends (maybe through coffee? I can see him drinking that-)

10. Possible fears of all the Critters

Bobby (being alone and abandoned, canon; can also see her fearing bugs too, but she can't bring herself to kill them since she loves and values all life regardless)

Picky (sickness, a part of this plays into her need to stick to a healthy lifestyle, and she stresses out whenever she feels she made too many unhealthy choices; she also hates being sick because then she can't provide for her friends)

Kickin (sudden noise and heights; he would try to hide this to keep his cool image, so he brushes off his fears so others can't see it from the outside. However, on the inside and sometimes more obviously the outside, he is TERRIFIED)

Bubba (failing his friends and leading them down the wrong direction; tries to prevent this from happening by being as well-informed on as many topics as he can think)

DogDay (the dark; he always needs a nightlight in his room so he can go to sleep better)

CatNap (his second scent; more elaboration on that sometime soon but if you know what I'm referring to, you know...; can also seem him fearing water a little since y'know, cat behavior-)

Hoppy (needles; I just don't see her holding up well at the doctor's personally-)

Crafty (public audience; she can only handle so many people watching her at once until she feels she needs to get out)

11. People would expect Bubba and Crafty to constantly be at odds due to their different thinking approaches (left brain + right brain), but they actually get along quite well! They may have a couple disagreements, but otherwise they are usually open to what the other is saying. Basically, an "I want what you have" kind of situation but downplayed. Mainly since Bubba isn't as good with thinking outside of the box meanwhile Crafty isn't the most book smart. They would bounce off each other well. They would work well together when it comes to devising plans with their friends. Bubba would explain the plan while Crafty sketches the plan's details.

12. Crafty can draw at fast speeds, but she can't draw anything super detailed. Still, she is surprised herself that it doesn't look too bad when she rushed it.

13. Speaking of speed, Hoppy can, in addition to moving fast, speak fast and somehow still remember what she says. When others don't process what she says, she would be a bit more annoyed and say it slower. She doesn't speak fast often, only in situations where she is really enthusiastic or she's in a panic.

14. In terms of their more animal-like qualities, DogDay is the most expressive of the Critters. He wags his tail and raises his ears a lot depending on the circumstance.

15. Bobby can have very bad anxiety in stressful situations. Worse case scenario, she may even just ball up and become unresponsive to stimuli.

16. PB&Js are still Picky's favorite food, but she eats them in moderation when she's felt good on what she ate for the rest of the day. She will refuse to eat them when she's stressed or if she gets sick. She gets like this with any unhealthy food in general actually, just more inclined to do it with PB&Js.

17. (Based on that road trip image of them) They're all kids, but in their world, they're able to drive. Still, there are some Critters you should trust behind the wheel more than others:

Bubba (not only would he be safe on the road, but his great memory basically makes him a walking GPS, assuring an instant trip to their destination without getting lost; despite this, it's usually #2 who drives more because he's usually tasked as the voice of reason to make sure no one riots while someone is behind the wheel; he also slightly manages his memory better when he isn't multitasking)

DogDay (is usually the one that drives everyone when they're out on road trips. He is generally very calm behind the wheel and will encourage others on the way to wherever they're going, so he's also considered fun to have as the driver by his friends)

Picky and Bobby (tied; both would do just fine behind the wheel and would both be careful of the cars around them and the passengers in the car; would give Picky the edge here though since she doesn't have to raise her seat as much just to drive compared to Bobby)

Kickin (would care more about looking cool on the road than actually driving well. When he isn't focused on his ego, he doesn't drive too badly. He may have a slight bit of road rage, though)

CatNap (he would be better during night time trips as he is more active then, but even then it wouldn't happen often since driving can get stressful. Also, at any other time besides night, he runs the risk of sleeping on the spot even while driving, so no, please don't let him drive…) (ngl, him and #7 could be interchangeable here; both have drawbacks whenever they're behind the wheel-)

Crafty (she's pretty mediocre when it comes to driving. Her mind usually spirals in a panic whenever she's behind the wheel, and she'd focus more on the panic of driving at all than actually driving, so for her sanity, don't let her drive...)

Hoppy (never, EVER have her behind the wheel. The car will crash and burn in seconds... She can get really impulsive when it comes to driving and I can imagine her having some bad road rage; the Critters let her drive once after she pleaded with them so many times; probably in a situation where for some reason DogDay and/or Bubba couldn't do it. She led them in a ditch, crashing into someone's party down below, unintentionally of course. Everyone was okay, but they never let her drive again after that)

18. In addition to wanting to be the cool friend, I can also imagine Kickin wanting to joke around and make his friends laugh from time to time. He also pulls harmless pranks sometimes (sometimes he is unaware how his pranks potentially hurt others until it's too late though-)

19. Bobby has a really big sweet tooth. Especially when it comes to chocolate. Also, if anyone were to give her a chocolate heart, she would melt in their arms on the spot (doesn't matter if the intention is platonic or romantic, she just loves receiving chocolates, especially the hearts)

20. Hoppy would have the most game equipment of her friends. She has equipment that ranges across all kinds of sports as well as other physical activities.

21. If Crafty was given sidewalk chalk and there was pavement outside of her friends' houses (though I don't think this is the case in canon sadly), she would use it to draw something outside her friends' houses as a way to show appreciation.

22. Bubba would have his own mini library inside his house will all different genres of books. The books of this library are books he collected that were from his family's or from what he found when they were out and about. He occasionally lets his friends borrow books from him if they need to.

23. The Critters are vegan. Things like burgers and milk come from other sources for them. So no worries, in this version, the burger Picky was about to eat in the intro was sourced from plants (she wouldn't actually eat animals... right? *cough cough* canon version... *cough)

24. CatNap would be the best at telling spooky stories. He already has a naturally quiet voice. All he'd need to do to make it sound more spoopy for his friends is give it a creepy tone, and already that makes him a good scary storyteller...

25. DogDay doesn't really make his own food often, but he actually does like baking more than people give him credit for. His favorite thing to bake is cookies (especially ones that look like dog treats!)

26. This meme explained for Critters:

"We have food at home" - Bubba, Picky

"MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS!" - Hoppy, DogDay, Kickin, Bobby

In between these two sections: Crafty (depends on her mood)

*Pulls into the drive through as children cheer* *Orders a single black coffee and leaves* - CatNap (not meaning to be rude, but just doesn't want to put up with ordering for everyone so he orders for him; he's too tired for that ok?*

27. CatNap has the worst reaction time and is the most clumsy of the Critters. It's literally canon that the guy trips on his own tail. That HAS to be a thing here. It just has to.

28. This may come as a surprise, but CatNap actually does like drinking coffee, except he mainly has it at nighttime so he can stay up and help people in need of assistance at nighttime; he puts a lot of creamer and milk in his coffee, though- He doesn't like black cofffee (I imagine in the McDonalds meme he takes the coffee home with him and prepares it with his usual creamer and milk)

Welp, this is pretty long and scrambled. Sorry if some characters have more headcanons than others. If I think of other hcs I can update this! I do actually have more I'd like to share sometime, but the ones I'm thinking about are more lore-heavy for the characters so I'll put that in a separate post :)

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Rotobaga

Debut: Plants vs. Zombies 2

Characters based on root vegetables are always oh so darling! I think having leaves sprouting from their head is a big factor, but that is far from the only appealing aspect of Rotobaga! So round, a pleasant rutabaga color scheme, a funny dangling taproot, and that face! Such a lovely face! Sometimes I feel like big wet eyes with a smile is trying too hard to be cute, but this is not one of those times, and I don’t really have any reason why.

Rotobaga is a Plant, of course. If you plant her you will be in for a Silly Surprise, as she does not emerge from the ground, instead flying by default! She does not need ground at all, as she can be planted even on water or air tiles, but she Does use a flower pot in the Zen Garden, maybe because it is just cozy.

Alright alright! I’ll talk about the nodules! Rotobaga has four Nodules around her body, which I think are very funny. Some plants have their attack methods baked into their design. They’ll spit projectiles from their mouth, whack with extremities, that sort of thing. Rotobaga’s face is not very combat-oriented, though, so she has Nodules to shoot things from. I think they are quite funny.

Rotobaga has to take a deep breath and force those little rutabagas out! Have you ever seen a turnip so pliable? I haven’t. The positioning of these nodules means Rotobaga uniquely shoots in an X pattern, hitting zombies in lanes other than the ones she occupies!

This is a very unique attack style, giving Rotobaga a unique niche! And I think this just makes the nodules even MORE funny. The most similar plant to Rotobaga is Starfruit, who shoots five stars in five directions, since he is star-shaped! It makes perfect sense. A rutabaga, however, has nothing to do with X shapes. So they just slapped on some nodules. This is not criticism! It’s funny!

Isn’t Rotobaga such a perfect name? Clearly one of those ones where they came up with the concept and design based on the wordplay!

Or IS it...?

It isn’t!

Good heavens! It isn’t! I don’t think it is, at least!

As we can see in concept art, at one point Rotobaga’s role was considered to be filled by an X-shaped Peashooter variant! I love Peashooter, but I am happy we got something more distinct here. Even in the early rutabaga-based design concepts, the mouth is not present, implying that the nodules may have actually started as mouths? That sure would have been wacky, but again I am happy with what we got! Maybe they are still mouths. Lesser mouths. For eating lesser foods.

[peachjagiya]

Hey Lady Peach.

I know we are all “obsessed” with the Dream premier, the Hawaii vacation, the Golden photos etc, but what do you think of Tae’s pictorial in W Korea for 14 Feb 2024? I read in W Korea’s insta post that the artist asked that the photos are published on that date. Maybe he didn’t have much to say about the overall photoshoot, but I think he 100% was the one asking for Tiger Lillies in his photos! I know of only 1 person that has that tattoo…. Hmmmm. Tae even has a pair of jeans with Tiger lilies during his Layover promotions. Now! Am I crazy? Or am I right that the photoshoot was also a message for a certain loved one?!? 🤪

Ooh Lady Peach 🤗

I just did a little clicking. Deep diving ridiculous things is my serotonin 🙃

W Korea caption that refers to the date says:

밸런타인데이 선물 같은 방탄소년단 뷔의 화보를 공개합니다.

Deepl says: We're releasing BTS's V's cover like a Valentine's Day gift.

Papago: I'm releasing a photo shoot of BTS V, which looks like a Valentine's Day gift.

Google Translate: We are releasing a pictorial of BTS V that is like a Valentine's Day gift.

I don't think they do refer to this being Tae's requested date.

But there's still a lily involved. This is the shoot from Valentine's Day 2024:

(I could have illustrated the point with one picture but the face card was too insane. 😌)

Other flowers are featured though:

Some dahlias, zinnias, chrysanthemum, gypsophilia - none of them with any relevance as far as I know. I think they've all just been picked for being the same tone of bold orange. But who knows whether the lily dictated that or whether orange was just the chosen colour.

What I will note is that tiger lilies have markings and these don't. JK definitely has the markings on his tattoo:

I think what Tae has is an Asiatic lily:

He posted these in his story though, drawing attention to the flowers:

Then there's the jeans:

This is a bit delulu but I do think things mean things when it comes to Tae. He's very witty and pointed, right? He loves symbols and wordplay. An orange lily is close enough that it might be something.

But in this case, I'm thinking Taekook Maybe. I can see it being a set dressing thing and then Tae grabbed a lily because he was drawn to it due to bias. Ditto styling on the jeans. But to ask for it himself? I'm not sure. I don't know about that.

Thanks anon! 💜

[the-jellyfish-graves]

🪼Introduction🪼

!!! No Minors Allowed !!!

any pronouns are fine | Pan/Bi | 28 | (heavily) dom-leaning switch

Posts Masterlist

Other info

Asks are preferred over DMs (I won't stop you for now, but please don't expect much)

You can use a variety of titles for me - just don't use any submissive ones (without permission) (don't use king, queen, or princess, either). Other than that, use whatever will be most comfortable for you - if I don't like it, I'll let you know. You can treat "Graves" as a last name. I don't want to give my name to everyone, so if you want to use something other than a title, you can refer to me as E or even Easy if you're feeling a little silly (it's a bit of wordplay based on my name). Fuck, you can call me Jelly if you want. I'm not too bothered. Have fun with it - just don't be rude.

If you want to send moaning/whimpering/begging audios in response to something I post, feel free (but I can't guarantee that I'll listen, reply, and/or be into it).

Do Not

ask for pictures/videos (I don't think I'm pretty, so it makes me uncomfortable)

DM if you're under 23

DM if you're strictly dominant

send me unsolicited lewd pictures (I will accept pictures of cats; nature - especially bodies of water, trees, mushrooms, flowers, and moss; interesting architecture; and cute things, though.)

demand my time, attention, or effort

take it personally if I don't reply in a timely manner or at all

degrade me without consent

randomly tell me to be nice to myself, or other kind gestures like that, aimed at self-care. (I likely don't need to hear it from someone if we're not close) It's sweet, I understand the urge, but it makes me uncomfortable and less likely to comply.

Unless you're given permission, do not call me yours.

Anons (feel free to claim a name or emoji not used)

anon rose, the boop anon, an enby sub anon

Maybe I'll give a proper kink+limits list at some point, but some turn ons that might come up in posts:

soft/gentle dom | being called mommy or daddy | voice kink |monsterfucker | mask kink (especially horror or pretty/artistic masks) | shibari/ropes (rigger) | other lighter bondage (cuffs, ribbon, chain - if used gently) | petplay | collars and leashes (both ends) | degradation (light; both sides) | somno (giving + receiving) | pegging | lingerie (mostly on others) | desperation (in others) | corruption (corrupter) | public teasing | begging (both ends) | marking - biting, scratching, scent (via perfume or soap) | cuckold (cucking a willing sub, especially with a switch) | blood (giving or receiving) | knives and other sharp weapons - especially unique and/or pretty ones (light; receiving; but also just seeing them kind of gets me turned on hush)

[0-eclipse]

Amayadori Illustrated Diary #022-#028

Alright, strap in, friends, this is going to be a long one.

Chapter 22 references a classic japanese tradition in which, in order to overcome the stress and anxiety that comes with standing in front of a crowd, one draws the character for "person" on the palm of their hands three times (hence why Atsu says "it's one too many") and pretends to gulp it down.

According to at least these two QAs i found, this practice comes from the idiom "人に呑まれる, to be swallowed up by a crowd". Seeing that the verb for "swallowing", 呑む, can be used in both the "swallow a thing" and "being overwhelmed by something" senses, the practice aims to ease the pressure put on an individual by reversing the situation, that is, the individual simbolically swallows the crowd instead.

The punchline of the chapter relies on the fact that Ame guides Sooda to draw the character for "Umbrella", 傘 instead. In Japanese, Kanji can be merged together in order to form other Kanji, and indeed, the Kanji 傘 is formed by four repetitions of 人, a "cross" (十, the number 10) and a "roof" (𠆢, doesn't really mean anything on its own).

Of course, seeing how it involves extreme wordplay with japanese characters, it was essentially impossible to localize, which is why i left the characters in the speech bubbles to see if I could still get it across.

On chapter 25, Atsu brings up various terms that refer to the blossoming of cherry trees under a rainy/cloudy weather, these are, in order of appearance:

• 桜雨, lit: Rain cherry blossoms, translated as rainy blooms, and 桜流し, lit: Cherry blossom wash/flow, translated as flowing blossoms. These are nouns made by joining "Cherry blossom" with other words, and don't have a direct translation or equivalent in english;

• 花ぐもり, lit: Clouds made of flowers, translated as clouds of bloom, is used when the flowers are blooming under a cloudy weather;

• 花冷え, lit: The cooling from the flowers, translated as petal breeze, refers to flowers blooming when the winds are chilly;

• 花風, lit: flower winds, translated as wind blossoms, refers to when the wind blows through the blooming flowers;

• 花嵐, lit: flower storm, translated as such, refers to when the blossoms are hit by a strong rain, scattering their petals around.

The punchline of the chapter comes from Sooda suggesting Mapo Glass Noodles, "麻婆春雨", the kanji for "glass noodles" is Harusame, "春雨", which also refers to the gentle drizzles of rain that occur during springtime. I tried my best to localize it but i found it very hard to get it across without leaning too much towards one meaning in particular, so i figured i'd make a note instead.

On chapter 27, Sooda says she bought the food from a デパ地下, which translates more literaly to "underground department store". From what i could understand, some department stores in Japan prefer to sell their perishables and other foods in an underground floor, however, over time, the term simply came to refer to the food sections in department stores in general.

The archive for their first live concert has since expired, however, the physical release for their 1st album, also titled "The Umbrella Folds Down", seems to still be up on the Findmestore. Alternatively, you may simply listen to it on streaming.

If you use LINE, you may also purchase their Sticker collection.

Read the originals:

Chapter 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.

Comic by Fukasaku Emi: @ i_moni on Twitter

Amayadori Project:

@ amayadori_info on Twitter

@ amayadori_official on Youtube

Amayadori are Utaite Sooda (@ sooda_oda on Twitter and Youtube) and composer Mizuno Atsu (@ atsu361 on Twitter and Youtube)

[distant-screaming]

Five favourite songs at the moment!

thank you for tagging me ana @solana-ceae omg I love songs and music and I will always talk about my faves <3333

These are in no particular order because I can choose five(ish) but I can't rank them :D

Lullaby for a Princess by Ponyphonic

GOD I love this song so much! The vocals are absolutely incredible, the music is very simple and fits the vibe perfectly, and it's so incredibly blorbo (specifically tragic siblings which is one of my top favourite tropes literally ever I eat it up EVERY time). Also, it's so fun to sing with its slight shifts in octave!

creature - w/ Orchestra by half•alive

Man. This song is so. It's magical, almost? I love the orchestra part because I'm a shameless music kid, but just - the entirety of this song is sooo good. It's this blend of heartbreaking and hopeful accompanied by amazing backing + vocals. And it's just such a song I love it - I want more of this genre of songs.

Inarticulation by Rio Romeo

This song is one that, every time I listen to it, I once again realize how much I love women <3 it's such a tender and raw song that's given life by utterly wonderful vocals and music. The wordplay is also so fun to me specifically because I'm a nerd through and through. I can't fully describe it but all of Rio Romeo's songs are very 'this is EXACTLY what it feels like' and I love it so much.

Night Flower by Ahn Ye Eun

Literally no one talk to me Ahn Ye Eun is one of my all time favorite artists - I only recently discovered her, but. chef's kiss. I adore ALL her songs so much. I debated putting CHANGGWI here instead, but Night Flower is the one I've been more obsessed with recently so! Her range is absolutely incredible I love listening to it, and the song just has a vibe that makes me want to listen to it forever. Also, I'm pretty sure Night Flower was written for a gay manwha? Which just makes it even better!

It's Tokyo by kakizaki yuta

kakizaki yuta is another one of my top music artists, I enjoy his songs a lot! It's Tokyo is probably my most played though. I don't know how to describe it because there isn't any one specific thing in the song that stands out, but all together it's so enjoyable to listen to that I often have it on loop. It's a very danceable song while also not being too upbeat so as to be distracting for when I'm studying :')

Bonus:

A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Connecticut by Have a Nice Life

The song title is WILD and I adore it. But the song itself is just absolutely amazing. There's no lyrics, just music, and it just. It feels like a very specific type of feeling I can't name but it makes me go absolutely insane every single time. Listen to it and you'll get what I mean.

Tagging: @qt-qtoey @jojotichakorn @akaane000 @ranchthoughts @cornflowershade @mutlishipperfangirl @softneomiro @chainedupgirlsblog @justafriend-ql @theoryofarson and anyone who wants to! I love finding new music and I wanna see your faves <3

[winterswhite]

So, translating drained me a little, but I have been meaning to talk about my thoughts on this year's relay blog, and a discussion in the Kisetsu server about the Homare -> Citron post order sparked a ramble from me, so I figured I'd post it here, too.

I think putting Homare and Citron in sequence was really fun and showed us a lot more about both of them than any other order could have this year. While at first glance it looks like Homare trying to fill out Citron's profile properly until the "someone I look up to" section, and Citron responding with nothing but jokes, but looking properly at both posts, you see a lot more of each of their characters and development.

The way I saw it, with Homare putting down his own name for Citron's "someone I look up to," it would've been easy to dismiss that as showing that Homare still struggles with understanding people, but Citron's reaction ended up proving that he was right, and it wasn't just by chance that he was. Homare says himself that he analyzed Citron over and over again, and it shows in all three sections of the profile book that he *does* understand him, with him writing down "wordplay" for Citron's hobby, pegging him as someone prone to loneliness (there's a ramble about shared feelings of isolation somewhere here) and wanting to love (again, I could go off about Citron loving harugumi and expecting nothing in return), and even in the names he put down in all three flowers in the association corner, including his own. The way he was able to do this and the way he talks about it both show a great deal of his development and how much more confident he's become in his ability to understand the people around him.

Going forward, Citron's reaction to his profile only further solidifies the idea that Homare saw right through him. He felt seen, his perfectly crafted character was seen right through, and his entire blog was a response to that feeling.

He starts off his post with a title in his typical misspelled fashion (though this carries very different meaning in Japanese than I could ever convey in English with him using wildly inappropriate kanji instead of just misspelling or using hiragana instead of katakana or vice versa and I think it's really interesting what kanji he chose for his own name because they imply these choices were very intentional, especially in combination with what he chose for Guy, but I digress), setting up the expectation for a typical Citron blog, but from the very first sentence, the tone of the post completely changes and Citron is suddenly speaking in a formal and proper way that he hasn't before. He also says:

This time, I thought it would be better to make this easier for everyone to read, so I adopted this way of writing. However, my other blogs have always gotten through to you, right?

Immediately, readers think something is off, and to anyone who doesn't know what Citron is really like, the first question is "okay, who wrote this for him?" And that question is further justified by the way he ends his blog with "Written by: ???" (the Japanese word is 代筆, writing on someone's behalf), creating the impression that he didn't write this post himself; someone else had to write it for him. His hobby is wordplay, you say? What wordplay? He's simply bad at Japanese and messes up his words out of genuine inexperience. Silly Homare. To any outsider, it would seem that Homare genuinely is mistaken, but Homare knows, as we readers do, that he hit the nail on the head with that one, and it takes someone who can understand other people to see that Citron is just putting up a front.

This is further seen in the profiles he filled out, a stark contrast to the tone of the blog post in how joke-y they are, especially when right after correcting his own, he tells Homare not to joke around like that.

His corrections are filled with references to his manzai duo with Tsuzuru, where we all know he plays the role of the boke or funny man. Aside from acting silly throughout his corrections, there are three references to manzai in that one sheet, serving to really drive the point home; he's just a funny man, no more, no less. The first is him writing in "manzai" for his hobby, the second is him crossing out "A kind person" and saying Tsuzuru is his tsukkomi (straight man) in Citrun, and the third, which I meant to clarify in the posts at some point but forgot to, is his reaction/response to Homare's incorrect username for him. I tried to have it come across by having it say "what the heck?" to make it sound sillier than something like "what the hell?" or "what are you talking about?", which are also both correct translations of the phrase he used. That phrase is 「なんでやねん？」, which means what I said above, except that it's in Kansai dialect as opposed to 'standard' Tokyo Japanese, the significance of that being that the Kansai dialect is frequently associated with manzai.

In combination with the way he misspells Sakyo's name in two different ways and jokes around on his entire profile (especially by adding on that he's unsure of Sakyo's ID when it's obvious that the ID is the only thing he got anywhere near the correct answer with), it's clear that Citron is trying to drive two points home: that he's bad at Japanese, and that he's a funny man whose character runs no deeper than it seems on the surface. Essentially, he's all but telling Homare that he hit too close to the truth in a way that only Homare will be able to see; to anyone else, it's just Citron being his usual silly self, and that's why I really appreciate that these two got put one after the other. It gave us a really interesting look at both of their characters that I don't think any other medium would have showed us as well as these blog posts did.

[theomnicode]

Burden of prophetic sight

I'm checking out our national hymns and shit because it's our national day in 3 days and all of a fucking sudden, I'm punched in the gut about the knowledge of what could have scared Psykos so fucking badly that she refused to talk about and she wanted to stop remembering it and she looked like death warmed over in webcomic.

What would be the worst thing you could see in the future? To you personally and not distantly enough to just ignore if it's too impersonal and wanting to forget it?

What would evoke your survival instincts down to the core in effort to prevent it from happening?

Your own inevitable death and your worst fears.

That is the burden of possessing the ability to see to the future. To see not just your own death, but also the death of everyone else and your loved ones.

She probably saw her own death at Tatsumaki's hands here or Fubuki's death. Or both.

And in the manga...I wonder if it's the same but this time, false memory that were implanted to her head. Or she saw her own demise in the hands of the Tsukuyomi group.

Lady shibabawa died after she had looked into the crystal ball and predicted Earth was in danger, because she took on a cough drop after that and then choked on it, but was still able to write down the prophecy.

Somehow. Not likely.

I think...she made her own prophecy to come true. Or that she wanted to avoid a far worse fate because the prophecy scared her so and she wanted to go out on her own terms because she was already old. She even had assistants around who would've made sure that she'd get help upon seeing she was choking. But that did not apparently happen and they just...let her choke and write her message.

So what is the timeline when she made that prophecy again?

The moment when Saitama realized that he had started caring about potential casualties again. That he would do anything in his power to prevent it from happening.

(haha ominous moon haha)

When the sky was still dark with clouds during daytime.

(Saitama does not consciously even remember Satoru, because he never sees his full face I bet. And Satoru does not remember Saitama back from school because Saitama does not have hair. But the subconscious does.)

(Inb4 Saitama and Satoru used to date too, like Psykos and Fubuki have implied relationship.)

(Purple colour scheme is often used to depict evil in japanese anime, like sasuke's curse mark had evil purple aura on it, but also: "As in the West, purple stands for royalty in Japanese culture. It is also considered the color of warriors, symbolizing strength. Purple flowers are very popular too" So you could say that Saitama gets strenght to protect in that scene from his conviction to care.)

--

I thought of this because my SO shared with me his thoughts about:

Michael Hartnett's poem of Sibelius in Silence.

Irish drunk and disorderly writer writes from Finland and about himself and sibelius at the same time hartnett is Irish but grew up in England, speaks English and never felt welcome among the Irish irish was not his mother tongue Sibelius was a Finn but grew up in Sweden, spoke Swedish, never felt welcome among Finns… both were alcoholics who drank themselves to death and hartnett foresaw his own death and equated it with the death of Sibelius in that poem there's nothing left but hands shaking with drunkenness, no swans of hell, no sketches (luonnotar, virgin of air, this is a wordplay), no compositions

(The black swan of tuonela reference and Saivo-lake, tuonela as concept meaning both heaven/hell, the afterlife)

"vodka ebbs in tremors from my hand" is fucking brilliant that part of yourself that hasn't disappeared yet, no matter how ethereal, you still feel it when it's still there despite everything. OR ether (aether) no matter how puffed up you are, yeah, I'm still there, yeah, hic wakes up at night at odd hours because genius is a burden and inspiration comes at any moment and voila, finlandian magic is just out of thin air OR can't sleep because drunken insanity ruins your sleep completely and solves the problem by pulling out a bottle of Finlandia

Me: or did he get his strength from the concept of finlandia that hasn't left him yet? SO: or the fact that it listens to finlandia, if you think from hartnet's point of view yeah me: what did he want the anthem to represent SO: you can think of it that way but that whole last verse is a double-meaning at the same time that it hasn't lost itself and is still creating art which was true for both of them. and at the same time that he has completely lost himself to alcoholism and is nothing more than that which was also true for both of them fucking brilliant and rough as fuck ;_;

SO: I suppose that being undead there's not much to life, a soul is needed for loving, feeling

Funnily enough, my SO also pointed out that Saitama's dream being a forewarning of Saitama losing himself, things that are important to him and his being when I said that he prolly foresaw the loss of his self and people who were important to him like Genos, is akin to conspiracy theory and ahaha...this personality type has a tendency to get caught up in conspiracy theories.

I mean, I can pull out outrageous meta which sound like conspiracy theories (like this one) out of thin air. Woosh.

Because cognitive bias is seeking out patterns even when there is none. xd

(I swear I'm just doing this for fun and not seeking out if there is a hidden conspiracy theory. I am making up shit though)

--

Unfortunately, how does this relates to Saitama?

Chances are, he has already intuitively foreseen his own death, at some subconscious level. Because he started to care again. Since he knows himself well enough that he would know that if he started to care about people again to the degree that he now cares for Genos, he would sacrifice himself for them, because of his caring nature and not having any self-worth.

(Thanks Murata-sensei, I can now see the tired, dark bottom eyelids that are only more pronounced in versus Garou.)

(Ugh now I'm crying again)

(The wounded healer archetype is to be self-sacrificial.)

Or that he will come to consciously see his own demise/fears at some point, when his third eye that is referenced to exist in the Orochi fight opens.

(I bet we will revisit the demise of Orochi as well....thanks Murata-sensei for the hint...)

Saitama is willfull. But what he is susceptible to doing is chasing dopamine highs and addictions. Adrenaline. Gambling. Spontaneously buying some weird shit. Indulging himself with his favourite foods. Because depressed people often are susceptible to doing that stuff because of dopamine deficiency to get dopamine fix.

Including binge drinking alchohol.

Fate can be changed though, due to intervention. Just like Saitama is intervening on Psykos' fate.

But yea, turning to alchoholism would probably be the way for Saitama to try and forget if say, he somehow accidentally managed to kill Genos, if Genos happened to be say, not in complete control of his faculties. Saitama is motivated to forget all sorts of bad stuff even at the cognitive level.

Or hell, feeling guilt over pushing Genos into being a bloody hero, like how Genos decided to confront Awakened Garou while only being a torso. Or worse, compelling him to be self-sacrificial and heroic because of his divine power.

--

One thing for sure though, Saitama seems to be a person who has the capacity of changing the fate of people around him.

Because conveniently, prophecies can't be trusted. But they sure can become self-fulfilling.

[phantomguild]

Taking Shay's invitation, Capital takes a seat besides it. "Such a lovely place this is, no?" they ask, taking a glance around. "Though there does not seem to be a lot to do here." They gesture towards the green pool and the rainbow rift. "Perhaps you could "shed some light" on what you do here...?"

"Haha, nice bit of wordplay there..." Shay smiles and thinks on Capital's words. Truthfully, there wasn't all that much to its job, at least to its own perspective on everything. But then again, it has been doing this since... well, the entirety of eternity, it had to assume.

"Most of my days are spent right where we're sitting... Though, 'days' is in quotations, since the rules of time don't apply here..."

"While it had to take a backseat to keep an eye out for the warning signs of the Hollow, my job is usually watch over the inhabitants of the world, as well as their dreams..." Shay's glowing pupils, both the ones on its face and its flowers, take on a noticeably greenish color as it gazes into the pool. A few stray embers in the same hue surround its body, swirling into a small wreath of green flame just below the collar helping contain its power, in a shade not too unlike that of a Lunar Wing.

Slowly, an image of Eris sharing a nice dinner with an older Alolan Ninetales and a Typhlosion fades into view within the pool. A reunion that can never be, but one she still dreams of, despite her insistence to the contrary... As quickly as its shown, the image fades back into the normal glowing green hue, and the flames surrounding Shay's neck peter out.

"Of course, there are a few cases where I simply must intervene in your world, either to help avert its devastation, or to rein in my counterpart..." Shay's pupils return to normal as it looks away from the pool. ... Towards the massive rift in the sky, leading into a white space, a blank canvas. "As you can see from the giant hole in the sky leading to the rest of the multiverse, I failed in the latter part... Failed horribly in fact."

[doodletae]

"still life" by rm - mini lyric analysis

I'm still life, but I'm movin' Just live now, goin' forward, yeah A still life that does not stop, keep my flower blooming again

finally time for me to ramble about kim namjoon's stellar wordplay and lyricism :D

already namjoon sets up the seemingly paradoxical nature of this song with that first line "i'm still life, BUT i'm movin'." the word "still" can refer to something's continual action, like "life is still happening", but it can also be used as an adjective, like something is calm and peaceful. when a river is still, it's not moving.

so in the first line, namjoon presents the statement "i'm still life, i'm still living and existing and life is pretty stationary right now" then juxtaposes it with "but I'M moving, i'm the one going forward." yet then he says "a still life that does not stop" implying how no matter how "peaceful" a still life may feel it's always moving through time

Still nonstop life Shall my flower bloom again

you're always moving and your external world is always moving too, so it's easy to feel you're trapped in the same mundane routine everyday. it's a "nonstop still life" and you're just racing to catch up to where you were ten seconds ago. and let's not even start on how this is perfectly visualized in the still life mv where namjoon is on a train, meaning even if he stays still, he's still moving forward with the train, and if the train stops, he's confined to that space for how far he can move forward. i knew the mv would slay, but i didn't know it was gonna be a whole freakin artistic metaphor so props to the producers behind that one.

also super cool how namjoon mentions flowers in these lyrics and he asks "shall my flower bloom again", probably referencing his title track "wildflower". if the wildflower is supposed to represent him, then it's like he's wondering if this nonstop still life will allow himself time to grow and develop.

OKAY ONE MORE THING.

Gimme no name 'cause I'm untitled (Oh, yeah) My life is on display, still life, still life

I want to escape the frame of this canvas (Oh-oh)

a big theme in indigo is about namjoon grappling with his identity in the midst of all these expectations people have about him and namjoon ingeniously introduces the metaphor of a painting to describe this. he mentions how he is "untitled", a moniker often given to pieces of art that don't have a name (which is also how he describes himself in "wildflower"). the term "still life" can be used to refer to "still life drawings" which are what the name implies: drawings of inanimate objects in the natural world. if namjoon sees himself as a "still life", he is quite literally trapped on a canvas in a painting where nothing moves. one might also speculate that he no longer wants to be seen as just an "artist" or be identified only by his "art" since heaven knows that literally describes the last 10 years of his life. it calls back to "Yun" where he sings "i want to be a human before i do some art"; namjoon is perhaps trying to reclaim his status as just another human being living life amidst all these people throwing all their expectations onto him.

The shadow cast over me by yesterday and tomorrow

also the way the line "the shadow cast over me by yesterday and tomorrow" perfectly encapsulates both a person's regrets about the past and their worries about the future, like *chef's kiss* brief and brilliant poetry

I just calmly livе errtime (Oh-oh) 24/7, yeah, baby, I’m on timе I just live every minute and every second of today

and also i love the subtle imagery implied in "baby, i'm on time", which could literally mean he's punctual, but i get the picture of him standing on top of time, like maybe on the second-hand of a clock, so that he's moving forward with time itself and not pausing to think about the past nor worry about the future. he is fully in the moment.

okay that's it for real.

[nana2capriccio]

[ Kiryu - Gekka Bijin - English Translation ]

己龍 - 月下美人 [Moonlit Beauty]

JP Lyrics: Mitsuki Sakai | EN translation: me:3

Note: a detour from shuka ensen buuut that album is giving me a hard time so here's one of my fav singles! notes at the end as usual, but this time i'm trying something different putting short notes by the lyrics! lmk if this is too distracting :-)

This song is a pretty lightweight one where the speaker talks about the youthful arrogance of someone else. I didn't really do it justice since Japanese lacks pronouns which makes translating to English sound quite clunky, but I hope you get it!

-

Iro ha nihohe to chirinuru wo wakayotare so tsune naramu [this is basically the Japanese ABC's]

This is paradise on Earth Crouching down, I close my eyes 1

"Can't see"

"Can't speak"

"Can't hear"

"Can't touch"

"Can't feel" [i.e., emotionally]

...Am I dreaming?

On my deathbed, my head hangs down, for I am already a withered corpse

If you just sliced the stitches holding up my weak points... 2

I scream: the flowers bloom with dazzling colour Shouting as if I've got control over my life 3

The shadows of yesterday are beckoning From the emptiness that surrounds me

If I shake off the dizzying pain Just reach toward the light and shout

["to touch it in a dream would be..."]Dreams are fleeting But if I can touch the real thing, I'll be sure

Iro ha nihohe to chirinuru wo wakayotare so tsune naramu

Uwi no oku yamake fukoete asaki yumemishi

You cover your eyes with both hands, lamenting the darkness

Wallowing [lit. rotting] in your self-pity Your head's so far in the clouds, it's comical

On my deathbed, my head hangs down, for I am already a withered corpse

That incessant, nagging [lit. pecking like a bird] pain has become my whole reality

Crying out, my skin goes pale It's "transparent", yet "richly coloured"

I just have to be myself Still surrounded with emptiness

If I look back, I see a sweet and colourless nectar To get drunk may be to delude myself, but my heart feels so full

Dreams are fleeting But if I can touch the real thing, I'll be sure

Life blooms, wilts, falls, withers, then ends

On a moonlit night, when the time is marked by the flowers blooming 4

Will you let yourself become a living corpse? Or will you cry out for your life til the day you die?

Will you sway with the wind holding onto a dream? Will you sway with the wind and hold onto the present?

I scream: the flowers bloom with dazzling colour Shouting as if I've got control over my life

The shadows of yesterday are beckoning From the emptiness that surrounds me

If I shake off the dizzying pain Just reach toward the light and shout

Dreams are fleeting But if I can touch the real thing, I'll be sure

Iro ha nihohe to chirinuru wo Waka yotare sotsune naramu

Uwi no oku yamake fukoete asaki yumemishi wehi mo sesu

-

1: "closed eyes" as used in this sentence is a wordplay. The way it's usually spelled is 目閉じる (to close one's eyes), but the song spells it 眠綴じる, which has the same pronunciation except 綴じる means "to bind" or "to file", for example like folders in a file cabinet or a stack of papers bound together.

2: I took a lot of liberty translating this because the "weak point" mentioned is a difficult-to-translate Sanskrit -> Japanese concept. To put it literally: "If you cut off the buds of marman sewn together". In Sanskrit, marman is a "weak point", which can refer to any weak part of the body (both spiritual or literal) or the "core" of any being.

3: Literally "as if I'm spinning the threads of my own life/fate", I know this does make sense to an English-speaker but it's just...so much longer a phrase in English and this translation already sounds characteristically "translated from Japanese" enough 😭

4: This is referring to flowers which only bloom at nighttime, for example the evening primrose. The point is that the speaker has lost track of time and only knows what the time is because the nighttime flowers began to bloom.

[sugarbean]

Reader of your Midzel Cafe, I absolutely adored the whole fic! But color me curious...

How didja first devise the whole concept in general? Sudden burst of inspiration, drawn from your life experiences, made a bet with someone...?

So Link is the master chef he's meant to be and I love it! I know he excels at a lot of dishes, but what's his favorite?

Your Midzel are both theater nerds, what's their fav musicals?

Hi! First of all, thank you so much both for reading my fic and for this ask!

1- I have so many notes on my inspirations for this series so this will be a long answer even though I will try to keep it succinct XD

First I saw peevishpants' artwork and liked it so much that I wanted to create a story around it because I'm all about the ☆vibes☆ and characters just hangin out together!

It was actually only supposed to be a one-shot so I'm also confused got to be so long XD But my basic thought process was:

'Wait when/where is this set? It'll have to be an alternate universe' -Insert a ridiculous amount of lore 'Hold up I always think of Link as being mute how is this going work?' -This is now a Midzel fic too that will be set in two worlds and Link will be the link between them because I like puns (that's literally it. wordplay was how I came up with the concept of his diner XD) 'But what are they going to talk about?' -Flashback to TP's opening scene + Deep dive analysis into the characters + Themes I feel like writing about

I also just love both distinctive and contrasting aesthetics so it's essentially a story of opposites.

Light Realm: Cottagecore vibes. Medieval/Gothic Era. Literature and Libraries. Nature. Gift of flowers.

Twilight realm: Cyberpunk vibes. Modern/Futuristic. Technology and Labs. City. Gift of manmade object.

Zelda: Introvert. Quiet. Blunt. Polite. Shy. Stoic.

Midna: Extrovert. Chatty. Sarcastic. Teasing. Sociable. Expressive.

If I were to fully go into how I interpret their characters and why I view them that way then that would probably have to be a whole other post XD So just sticking to the concept here.

Cyberpunk is usually 'high-tech, low-life' but I wanted them both to be peaceful so I went for high-tech, chill-life. We don't see much of the twilight realm in the game and it is quite barren but the glimpses we do get indicate some kind of advanced technology so it still felt fitting.

The twilight citizens/twilos coming from stars was inspired by how the castle town folk look when the twilight takes over, with that cyan kinda glow:

The idea of the twilight realm being where souls in the Hyrule go after they die came from Midna's ancestors originally being from the light world in the game and also from some dialogue about the twilight realm like the opening monologue but also when twilight takes over.

But I didn't want to change how Midna looks so the royal family is slightly different. Also because I didn't want Midna to be a reincarnation so she only gets one life which is part of the reason she struggles to connect with the twilos.

In terms of drawing from my life experiences. Definitely in some ways because I feel like that's how I can write it in a way that feels somewhat authentic but at the same time, I didn't want to project onto the characters so I thought about how I interpret them first then looked for ways that I could connect to them whilst still maintaining a boundary.

But I also looked for inspiration in my life for the environments too. I have been to English towns that look very similar to Castle Town, excluding the castle itself obvs XD In terms of time period though, TP just gives Gothic era vibes to me from the architecture but also the tone it reminds me of gothic literature in some ways.

As for the twilight realm, in the original fanart I recognised the type of diner that it shows which can be found in alleyways in cities like Tokyo, and because Zelda's a Japanese game too I drew from there in some ways. But since I haven't actually been there I found myself thinking about my closest experience to city life which was going to Hong Kong so I drew from that too which I think is more obvious in pt.2.

Funny thing is I actually wrote the drafts for pt.2 before pt.1. Those 7 chapters were literally just supposed to be one for the prologue! I know no restraint XD And if this text post doesn't make it obvious I'm also a massive overthinker XD

2. Another good question! The pumpkin soup is actually Link's favourite dish which of course was inspired by the pumpkin soup quests in both TP and SS. But even the soup gets its own backstory in pt.2 XD Since I did want there to be a story behind at least one of his dishes!

3. This one is actually the most difficult to answer XD Since they're both fancy ladies I imagine their favourite type of theatre would be opera which I'm not that knowledgeable of aside from a few clips I've seen of western and chinese operas.

But if I had to think of what broadway musicals they'd be into. Midna would probably go for Wicked because of Defying Gravity and girlie is floating around everywhere most of the game XD And for Zelda, Shrek The Musical I guess, she is trapped in a castle most of the game like our girl Fiona was but instead of an ogre and donkey saving her it's an imp and a wolf XD

[evelhak]

Since you were so gracious to give me some asks, I shall do the same! Artists asks: 2, 7, 19, 26, and also 30. ^__^

Always happy to hear from you and to know more about you!

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)?

I think it's the easiest to draw someone facing left. That one usually takes the least amount of redrawing.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

Pottery is something I feel very drawn to, as well as glass blowing. I don't have the physical requirements to become good at it but I'd like to try some time.

19. Favourite inanimate object to draw

I'm stuck between flowers and books. I'm so basic.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended?

Wow, what a question. Nothing came to mind from the art I have on Tumblr, so I had to look for something I haven't posted.

Someone interpreted this as your typical fantasy character with fire powers. It's SO far from that, actually. The fire is symbolic, because this character plays with fire metaphorically, and because what she's holding in her hands can symbolically be burning for better or worse, and also because she is blinded by magic in the story, although it's more the lack of it than the thing itself, and because she's seeing what she wants to see.

I guess it's not that "wild", but I couldn't think of anything else.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated?

I'm going to have to go with writing for this one, because sometimes I can't believe how much more interaction smut fics get on AO3 than long fics like mine that are basically like another season of the story (with a different focus or angle, but still).

I get that another reason why I'm never going to get that many readers is because I'm pretty much never posting at the height of a fandom's interest, because I need to mull things over for months after the series ends, and I never create anything while the original story is incomplete, so I'm usually only starting when the peak interest for a series is already going down, and my fan works tend to require a bit more of an attention span than the average fan seems to have for one thing. Even my She-Ra comics were a bit late for the fandom, although they are of a much more readable length than my fics, so I assume that's why they got relatively popular. I guess comic form is easier to digest for a lot of people, too.

Anyway, I think if I have to pick the fics I'm the saddest that many people haven't read them, they are my retellings.

I'm really proud of the way I basically paraphrased the whole Into The Woods to tell a KnB story! I don't understand how most people's brain doesn't light up with all the good hormones from wordplay like this! I was SO high, writing this.

I'm also really fond of this one, which was inspired by the Romance of Silence. Where are all the people who love intertextuality, hiding??

Yes, I understand another reason why people aren't into these stories is that they are so niche. That's always going to be my curse too, because I love the interaction of specific and general, but I love to go about it by combining things that are niche and don't usually go together. Not because they are niche or rarely combined, it just happens, I can't help but be drawn to specific concepts in a specific thing and then finding another equally specific thing with compatible concepts that send me right into hyperfocus, and I can't leave them untouched, I have to create something new from the interaction of those separate elements, because the abstract connections just sing to me. But I guess there's always the hope that when someone whose niche my stories perfectly fit into, finds them, then they are going to really love them. And honestly, I'd rather have one person to whom they are the perfect fit, than a hundred who thought they were "okay".

Also, I know these stories don't work very well unless you read the whole fic series, though I guess Kuroko's Fairytale makes more sense, and I tried to frame it like you could read it as a standalone, since I think technically you can, but you're probably still going to be very confused at some parts.