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fumifooms · 2 months

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The Nakamoto household - facts & theories masterpost

Table of contents:

the hierarchy & general situation

The parents

The Maizuru situation

The siblings

The other retainers

Izutsumi

Toshiro

Conclusion

I also made tldr summary charts here. This post is about collecting facts about the setting and characters, but it’s gonna be a lot of analysis on what it means through the lens of Toshiro as well, his relationship and place in everything etc etc. They have entangled drama the scale of Daltian Clan. Things are so interwoven it’s hard to keep topics neatly in their own section, because of this pictures may be relevant at several point of this but I mostly won’t be putting them in twice, you might have to do some scrolling up while reading if you want the visual proof to accompany statements. Unlike with Chilchuck’s family there’s less ambiguousness and more intricate details and implications so it’s less theorizing & headcanoning and more stringing together all the crumbs canon gave us. I also dig into some cultural parallels, especially since characters from Wa are the most culturally coded in the series. Also disclaimer that I’ll be calling Shuro Toshiro through this whole thing bc that’s his actual name & Shuro isn’t even a nickname he likes, for accuracy’s sake. The servant girls have real names but are typically called by their code/given names so I’ll call them as such, except for Izutsumi who was named Asebi which I won’t be using.

The general situation

To start off, what’s the situation in canon? All three kids of the head of the house, the three sons (Toshiro and his two younger brothers), are sent out on a vague mission to find something interesting for his father to pick the heir. Each son is thus on their own journey, out with their own group of retainers for an unsure length of time, during canon it’s been 2 years that Toshiro left the house for this mission, and they seemingly all drifted towards dungeons. It’s important to remember that this state of things is the exception and not the rule, and before this the sons lived at home and had different uses of their time, and the retainers had other jobs than care after them. See the next paragraph.

The household offers ninja services, no exaggeration or misuse of the term, mostly spyint but also "covert maneuvers" which could include anything including assassination of people high up. That’s the job of their servants/retainers at least, the heads themselves are more like managers probably, possibly samurais themselves though especially since as we see with the heirs (besides the samurai armor) they also got trained in fighting as their skills showcase. I need to dig into the history of samurais more before I can draw the parallel confidently though. The Nakamoto household is noble/wealthy, distinguished as the Adventurer’s Bible puts it, but it works for and puts its service at use for "their local lord". It buys servants, but also has families who have served it for generations like with Hien. The comic shows that there aren’t only women servants, it’s just the ones we see all happen to be because Toshiro’s retainers are only a small team of all of Nakamoto’s servants.

Above, in a page showcasing characters’ relationships with their party leader: 父親の部下を借りている状態なので、距離がある。Doubtlessly there must be a translation of this already somewhere but I’m lazy and impatient so I turned to machine translation instead, this translates into: "Since he is borrowing his father's subordinates, there is a distance between him and them". Calling the servants retainers is what most of the fandom does and it’s accurate so I’ll be calling them this.

Hien and Toshiro were childhood friends which means the servants do have some degree of contact not even just together but with the heirs too, or maybe just specifically Hien, since both their parents were ninjas for the Nakamotos she ended up getting raised there and they let her play with him as an exception? They did end up drifting away as adults as their relationship got more professional, so it’s possible. The servants eat and sleep in shared spaces, separate from the masters, though Maizuru has her own bedroom, if the room configuration at the in is to be believed + it’d make sense since she’s governess/head servant. I’m hesitant wether to say it’s implied that this group of 4 retainers was always a bit of a team or it wasn’t and got formed for Toshiro specifically. We know that Benichidori had little contact with Toshiro before they were sent out together for example, but we do see all three girls with Izutsumi in Inutade’s extra when they were younger, and them eating in the same japanese styled room etc. The inn they stay at on The Island is western styled though they do have futons rather than beds (there’s only one bed in their shared room and Hien has it because of her rank).

From Izutsumi’s Adventurer’s Bible profile: "Maizuru, who was also Shuro's governess, is the one thing Izutsumi fears. After Izutsumi was taken in by the Nakamoto family, Maizuru forced her through a harsh training regimen of speech, common sense, and fighting skills. Since Izutsumi refused to listen to her, Maizuru set a curse on her that would activate if Maizuru didn't touch her within a set time frame: "Ninja Art: Babysitter." "

Maizuru, called a governess, is the one training the girls, at least some of them, we know for a fact she was the one to train Izutsumi for example, and in general she’s the one in charge of the ninja girls we see. She was a ninja herself but retired from frontline missions, but has a central role managing the servants instead. Inutade for example is strong but not stealthy, and it’s said that it’s Maizuru’s job to choose how to train her and what role to give her in consequence. Her training includes manners but fighting as well, notably kunais and martial arts. Hien is shown to use bombs and Benichidori is implied to be good at disguises, Inutade uses a bold weapon like a club but it’s implied with "ogres and clubs just go together" and Maizuru not knowing where to put her to use that it’s uncommon for Nakamoto servants to use those. Their board game artworks also show their specialties neatly. When brought into the household, the servants are given new names and their whole lives become devotion to the house and their duties. The names might be intended to act as code names due to them being ninjas? It’s implied that they never use their non-code names anymore once they start serving the household. Maizuru’s training also contains language and "common sense"… Critical thinking? As well as implied etiquette. This isn’t surprising, as she was the one put in charge of raising not only Toshiro but his brothers as well.

Oh yes I want to mention that all the retainers’ "first deaths" are in the dungeon during canon, considering our main cast we’re used to death being permissible because dungeons make resurrections possible, but it’s relevant to remember that these people never died before. Never. These girls are professionals, ninjas with a sometimes very dangerous job. Messing up means death, permanently.

From what we see and with who we see, the hierarchy is:

Father (head of house, his word goes)

Mother (has status which puts her wishes above others’ and give her some control over the house, it’s unsure how much though, but hierarchy wise she’s very much above the rest but below the father)

Maizuru (governess, in charge of (at least some) servants and raising Toshiro. Two dots)

Hien (leader of their squad, trained servant from a family devoted to the Nakamotos. Two dots)

Benichidori (trained bought servant. Two dots)

Inutade and Izutsumi (bought servants. Power wise from their rank it’s unsure just how much the difference between Inutade (who has one dot), Izutsumi (who has none) and Benichidori (who has two) is, since Hien is team leader between the four servants at least that’s measurable. Inutade gets some janitor duties, and Izutsumi has a curse put on her so she doesn’t run away I suppose. Power wise it’s unsure, but socially/role wise Inutade and especially Asebi are treated worse.)

I didn’t add the sons because I’m talking more generally about the power structure and it’d depend on each sibling, like Toshiro’s wants and directives during canon trump Maizuru’s, but Maizuru is also his nanny and manages the girls so she has a lot of importance and sway even on the final decisions.

The parents

I am so pissed I forgot that we know Toshiro’s father’s name, Toshitsugu, from these panels showing the progression of the family tree. I am so pissed I’m adding this halfway into writing this whole thing, I am not gonna go back and replace every "the father" by his name atm.

The father is the part of this puzzle most important yet most shrouded in mystery, or rather a lack of details. What we do know paints a pretty full and vivid portrait: impulsive and cares mainly about his own entertainment. Maizuru calls him a fool, his sons are exasperated and go "This again?" when he summons them saying that they’re boring/dull, everyone knows he’s having an affair and he often has undignified demeanor, but what he says goes so yes Maizuru will take Izutsumi under her wing, yes the sons will be going out right away into the world to find you the 8th world wonder, yes whatever you want lord. He seems to have little care for how his action affects others, like crashing into Maizuru’s room at night and asking she take care of a catgirl, or sending out his sons suddenly with kicks to the butts. He does what he wants hen he wants and others have to comply.

Like we see with Izutsumi and Inutade, he tends to take a liking to slaves here and there and buy them on the spot, usually at entertainment places, like sumo wrestling matches for Inutade and a freakshow for Izutsumi. The Adventurer’s Bible states him acquiring Inutade as "By coincidence, Shuro's father came to see her first match; he liked her and bought her for the Nakamoto family." and Izutsumi as "She was on display as a "cat-girl" in a sideshow when Shuro's father took an interest in her and bought her." In Maizuru’s extra, he calls Izutsumi a "souvenir" he got for her, and he’s drunk so it could well be assumed that buying Izutsumi was a drunken whim, and that he mitht be alcoholic. You can’t really say that he picks them out because he sees potential in them to be a ninja or would be useful, since with Izutsumi she had no fighting training and Inutade doesn’t fit the skills they seek like stealth and she has trouble fitting in. You could assign noble goals to him like maybe wanting to help or relating to the misfits, but I think with what we see of him it’s more likely that he likes to pick up "oddities", like a catgirl at a freakshow or an ogre, especially since one of the only things we know of him is he wants his sons to bring back interesting trophies from their travels. Toshiro, about his father buying Inutade, says: "People in power desire ogre as servants, and ogres are chosen as opponents in tests of strengths or military exploits. My father bought her for similar reasons."

Also from this we can infer that he goes out to events often, like circus and sumo wrestling, again mostly for entertainment from what we see. I like to think it’s implied that he used to travell maybe still does, due to his own liking for it as a test and because he visits various places like the sideshow, plus his forearm scars in Toshiro’s extra… But him being a samurai in service of a lord could definitely explain that.

This all paints an interesting picture doesn’t it… The Nakamoto’s lifestyle is super encased in rules and social propriety, duty and hierarchy. Old noble man who’s been surrounded by propriety all his life and just wants some spark of interesting stuff happening amongst the humdrum of his lavish cushioned life at home, and is shitty to people around him in consequence and due to his privilege allowing him to. He’s despicable, but from his 3 appearances he becomes an interesting well-fleshed character, at least proportionally to the screentime he gets…

We also know that the affair with Maizuru is well known at least inside the household, so there’s no genuine secrecy around the topic. Makes sense that the wife would hate her guts.

Ahh yes the mother. Little is known about the mother, except that from Maizuru’s profile "Shuro’s mother can’t stand the sight of her, to the point where there are areas on the property Maizuru is forbidden to enter. Maizuru, however, is impressed by his wife’s strength of character." From this I glean that she does have enough power/respect in the house that she can make rules like where Maizuru is allowed to go. Also the implication that otherwise Mazuru would have access to EVERYWHERE in the house despite being only a (high-ranking) servant is a bit interesting. Wether the mother’s "strength of character" is overt and hot-headed or understated and cool-headed is unsure, but I imagine the latter more. I could see Maizuru’s angle in many ways, from being able to tolerate "that fool" aka the father both just in general and with knowing that he’s cheating on her, to knowing how hard it is to be respected as a woman and admiring her putting up with it all and still being able to have sway in the household. This is I think the only mention of the mother anywhere. Doesn’t seem like she is an important figure to Toshiro at all: in fact we hear about her on Maizuru’s profile, and seeing all of this we can see the importance of her in Maizuru’s backstory and life, moreso than Toshiro’s. I imagine she’s a bit of a recluse, which is part of why Maizuru not being allowed to roam the full house is important, because them running into each other at the house is high.

It’s unsure how much contact the parents have with their kids. What we know is that they left the principal tasks of raising the kids, or at least Toshiro, to servants. Toshiro’s profile says that he’s more attached to Maizuru than his parents, and that’s the phrasing. From the comic where their father summons the sons, it does seem like they’re more or less used to interacting, with the sons’ "This again?". So it’s not that they’ve only interacted with them few times enough to count on fingers, but how meaningful were those interactions? From Toshiro’s profile we know he has a complex where he thinks he’ll never get recognition from his father or be able to measure up to him… But is that more born out of secondhand gossip and expectations, or from direct interactions with him that made him feel that way? Likely a mix of both, especially since the father does seem to be very dismissive, uncaring and insulting with his sons. Oh, but it’s definitely notable that in the Hag monster tidbit (below in Maizuru’s section) six years old Toshiro runs to his father scared shitless for help against the shikigami, and his father casually helps him without batting an eye. Toshitsugu knows how to deal with Maizuru’s shikigamis, and he does so efficiently and without any sense of worry or urgency. Although the event traumatized Toshiro and he was very scared, it doesn’t seem like his father offered any comfort, beyond just helping getting rid of it and letting him cower behind him without comment. Toshitsugu gives hungover vibes in that one imo haha. It’s shown he was already training as a ninja, perhaps this event only reinforced Toshiro’s complex, seeing his father, the samurai the achieved man who has expectations for him, so unfazed and uncaring like that.

The Maizuru situation

Let’s establish a timeline first. It’s left vague how much time she’s served the Nakamoto family for, or how she came to be in their service. The central point is that "She was put in charge of raising their children at a young age". If straight from his birth, Maizuru started taking care of Toshiro when she was 15 years old. If from toddler age, then 16. It’s uncertain if when she stopped getting front-line espionage missions, but we know it’s late rather than early despite having kid raising duties. But well, since she’s also in charge of the ninjas she’s definitely has a multitasking role even now.

The dad prob has around 5-10 years more than Maizuru, I’d say. We only see half of his face and only a good few years in the past, around ~3 years ago probably with the shuro quest and a good 7 years with Izutsumi as a kid, but visually those are the vibes I’m getting. From Toshiro’s birth, it’s possible that the father was 15 when the baby was born too? But conception would have been closer to 14 years old then, and yeah I don’t think they marry and have kids that young. Toshiro is 26 years old in canon and is unmarried, and the heir hasn’t been officially picked, so marriage and kids don’t seem to be in the family’s priorities. Even if Maizuru do say that the father would love if Toshiro brought back a wife.

Now the elephant in the room: she has an on-and-off affair with the father and it has been si for many many years, at LEAST 7 years since that’s when we see that comic of him going into her chambers about Izutsumi, and in the comic above, Hien in that panel has an ambiguous age. Regardless it’s definitely implied that it’s a long, long-standing thing. Hien’s phrasing above makes it sound as if it’s not purely physical, as if feelings are involved, "he’s head over heels for his confidante", and who knows if this relationship is part of why Maizuru was chosen to be the governess, or even hired at all.

It’s in the feud with his father that we learn about maizuru’s affair and how after learning it he started shutting her out emotionally. It’s left vague when Toshiro learned about it, Hien made it sound as if everybody always more or less knew but I don’t think Toshiro started shutting her out when he was still pretty young. Regardless, the two are implied to be linked, his dislike of his father/complex and how he stopped getting along well with Maizuru/being emotionally open with her. Is it that he now feels as though Maizuru is actually on his father’s side and not his own, that after all if she had to choose she’d pick him over Toshiro too? Or is it that, because his father’s known to be a self-centered frivolous jerk, that knowing she lets it happen, "can’t seem to shake it", he respects her less? He has an irresponsible reputation and she does give off the vibe of needing to clean up his messes, so that wouldn’t be unplausible either.

On the flipside from her perspective, since he learned she was his dad’s mistress he emotionally shut her out, which can partly explain why she’s SO fussy with him and happy at the slightest hint of happiness or compliance, like when he listens to her and eats, or maybe even being happy that he lets her help him dress and keep tidy (imo this is supported by how they interact in the page showing him interacting with all his party members). She wants to regain that closeness they once had and for her baby chick to be alright as he’s slipping through her fingers. Man so sad to think about him rejecting her when he’s the only thing in her life. She’s raised him for 26 years, no wonder she’s so attached to him, the only thing in her life she feels true unconditional attachment for. Maizuru says that she thinks Toshiro’ll be a better head of the house than the father, too. The respect and care is somewhat onesided, given freely from her side but repressed from his end. When she cares for Toshiro is when her demeanor immediately and drastically softens. She gets easily carried away when it comes to him, rambling enthusiastically or smiling widely or tearing up. Her tendency to ramble or tell anecdotes about Toshiro is shown making Hien and Benichidori go "Here she goes again…" twice through canon.

With Izutsumi’s timeline we see Izutsumi was taken into the Nakamoto household at 10 yo, and since in the comic with Maizuru and the dad she’s shown as stinky and all I imagine she arrived there the same day, so Maizuru was in charge of her since she was first here. In fact if we assumed that it’s the same day as when he bought her at the circus show, then we could assume that buying her was a drunken whim like mentioned.

Since Izutsumi was taken in at 10 and she’s 17, this would mean that Maizuru is 34 years old here. She looks younger without makeup, but lower than that is mathematically impossible besides maybe 33 if Maizuru and Izutsumi’s birthdays line up just right.

Time for the second elephant in the room!!

Maizuru’s magic

Maizuru is the only person in the Nakamoto household, anyone from Wa really, who we see using magic, I doubt she’d be the only one who can use magic in the household but as the governess it wouldn’t be unplausible I suppose. From what we see, the magic is estimated by Marcille to be an "appropriation of gnomic magic" with an eastern script. For my analysis of written magic (though with only a brief glance over Maizuru’s magic), see this post.

If you scroll up and read the little section on Maizuru’s profile, Ninja art: babysitter: "One of the curses put on Izutsumi is Ninja Art: Babysitter, which manifests as a terrifying hag shikigami. Unless Maizuru touches the victim within a set time frame, this terrible curse makes a hag appear and chase them around with a carving knife. Maizuru originally created it in an attempt to keep Shuro from getting lost, but it ended up traumatizing him…"

From Izutsumi’s profile: "Maizuru, who was Shuro’s governess, is the one thing Izutsumi fears. […] Since Izutsumi refused to listen to her, Maizuru set a curse on her that would activate if Maizuru didn’t touch her within a set time frame: "Ninja Art: Babysitter." It was put on her when she was 12. Since Toshiro had it as a kid, presumably the curse can be lifted off rather easily, Marcille was confident on reverse engineering it as well. It’s unsaid what the time frame is, it’s kept vague everywhere and Izutsumi herself says "who knows" how long it is. Izutsumi ran away despite the very real risk of it killing her. Essentially, Maizuru can put people in a timebomb collar

… MAIZURU WHAT THE HELL

As we might have expected, Maizuru being given the task of rasing a child at 15 did not go perfectly. This, a babysitting technique??! This comic happens when Toshiro was 6 and so Maizuru was 21. Interesting to note that Toshiro didn’t even know it was Maizuru’s doing before this conversation during canon, and he doesn’t know how to bring it up or deal with it how it affected him. Maizuru seems surprisingly uncaring of Toshiro’s feelings on the matter here, oblivious to his conflict her and fondly recalling it all.

This curse is a shikigami. From her profile: "A shikigami user, Maizuru has a variety of shikigami that have been sealed in paper as her servants. Her favorite seems to be Gyuki, a bull ogre." Now don’t ask me when Gyuki appears, I do not remember it. But before we go into the cultural/historical basis for this practice, let’s take a second to recognize the parallel that Maizuru has servants she keeps sealed unless useful in the moment, even despite having enough "attachment" to have a favorite. She’s the governess in charge of the other servants, and she has shikigamis, which she has used on the heir and the runt at the bottom of the hierarchy alike.

Shikigami, in traditional japanese folklore, are conjured to exercise risky orders for their masters, such as spying, stealing and enemy tracking. Shikigami are said to be invisible most of the time, but they can be made visible by binding them into small, folded and artfully cut paper manikins.

Shikigamis are from onmyodo, onmyoji is a profession-legal title historically but it’s what you call a practitioner of onmyodo, and so I feel content in saying that Maizuru is an onmyoji, or based on it. Her outfit reminds me of a shinto priest. It’s interestingly closer to a shinto priest outfit than a miko/shrine maiden’s (in picture below, 2 instead of 5), and I feel like red being chosen for the inner sleeve is a very charged decision since the white & red color combo is the shinto clothes color combo. Especially white clothes with red inner sleeve. Shinto priests can be women nowadays but they’re rare, and onmyojis can be considered shinto priests though it’s a more complex than that. Image below as example, source. Now I don’t think Maizuru has the role or prestige of a priest at all- But the association with onmyodo and spirituality is definitely meant to be made I think. Onmyojis are usually clothed similarly to this.

The babysitter ninja art seems to be based off of the hannya yokai. "They were once human women who were consumed by jealousy and transformed into demonesses", twisted by anger and resentment. Interesting considering her being a mistress to a man whose wife hates her. Hannyas are associated with wisdom because of its name, but there is nothing positive about them. At its highest level of "demonic corruption" if I can call it that, their body tend to become serpentine, fun link to make with her name being from the snakeberry plant.

Other cultural ties or symbolism on Maizuru’s character could be found in the motif of cranes due to her sleeves, in the tales of the crane wife, origami cranes (called orizuru, from deformation of 鶴 "tsuru" aka "crane". All names are written in katakanas in Dungeon Meshi, but thus if we had had the kanjis it’s possible her name would have been written with the kanji for crane), tennyos, and japanese crane symbolism in general. I thought cranes might have been associated with motherhood, but seemingly not in japanese culture at least, I was thinking of storks haha.

Ok speaking of her name. Maizuru is the name of an existing japanese city (舞鶴), meaning "dancing crane". From @room-surprise’s work in progress research paper on Dungeon Meshi characters’ names: "Maizuru is her ninja code name, and comes from “maizurusou”, which is maianthemum dilatatum, the snakeberry plant/two-leaved Solomon's seal/false lily of the valley. Lily of the Valley is a plant associated with motherhood and virtue… So Maizuru being a false Lily of the Valley implies that she is a false, replacement mother, and also hints at the way that Toshiro became cold towards her when he realized she was his father’s mistress, and not a pure, virtuous mother-like figure that he thought she was. Also, lilies are toxic to cats, which makes sense since Maizuru and Izutsumi have an extremely bad relationship." For more details I’ll leave it up to Room when the paper is ready to be released.

So some big themes of her character are: (false) motherhood, spirituality/magic, control, cranes, woman’s jealousy.

The siblings

Alriight so besides Toshiro the eldest at 26 years old, there is Toshiyuki (Toshitsuge in one fantranslation) the middle son and Toshizane the youngest (Toshikage in one fantranslation). They were all said to be raised by Maizuru. "A strange level of distance" is interesting. Why strange? I feel like this implies they do interact regularly, and that they’re all rather civil wirh each other, but they still have little bond to speak of. That wouldn’t surprise me, especially since even inside the family etiquette and propriety and rules are enforced, the summoning by his father feels very formal and they all listen to him standing in silence despite having snappy inner thoughts. It’s unsure if they were largely raised together or apart, but since Maizuru was their (at least main) caretaker/governess it implies that they were imo. They were put in competition with each other for the title of heir to the house, though it’s unsure to what degree. It’s examplified by their family all having names that start with "Toshi" that the legacy is very important and thrust upon them, cogs in a machine almost. They all think the same thing when their father summons them and has a spiel, so they’re used to the same sort of treatment and they are indeed brothers for being on similar wavelengths haha.

Toshiyuki, as seen in the comic about his retainers, the poor soul sent into Darkest Dungeon, is brattish. Rude, selfish and rather lecherous, does not hesitate to be mean to his retainers and complain he wasn’t given women retainers. Visually he looks what, 14 years old top. I wonder if Maizuru stopped using her babysitter ninja art on the heirs after it traumatized Toshiro, and if so maybe that explains why Toshiyuki Knows No Fear In His Heart™️ and that’s why he can spout off stuff like that.

The retainers for the youngest brother, Toshizane, don’t seem to be as clad in ninja gear as the other two, seems like the priority is to take care of the very young young master there? Rather than truly go adventuring and dungeoneering, perhaps. Not that it’s ever said by anyone that their quest is to go into dungeons specifically, only to find something "interesting" to bring back, but both Toshiro and Toshiyuki are shown to have ended up drifting into dungeons. Toshizane looks young, I’d clock him 8 years old personally. He’s drawn looking rather innocent, especially the headshot doodle above and in the Toshitsuge complaining about his retainers comic. ALTHOUGH on the latter, interestingly as we see with Toshiro having a smug smirk in that same panel (or alternatively a smug indifferent/uncomfortable "i don’t care about this, even though you want it so much" look which at the very least is very exaggerated from how he emotes in reality), it’s Toshiyuki’s unreliable/exaggerated vision of his brothers and it doesn’t necessaeily reflect reality, though it’s still interesting to note that that’s the vision Toshiyuki has of his brothers/the impression Toshizane gives off. That can imply juicy dynamics for the brothers, for example if Toshiyuki feels as though he’s in competition with his brothers, feels superior to them, that instead of pushing the shitty family dynamic angst onto his father he puts the blame for it all onto Toshiro. Toshizane seems maybe too young to notice the tensions and seriousness around him, maybe more coddled… IS WHAT I WOULD SAY BUT in the comic where their father send them away he’s as well-behaved and serious as the others, so clearly he has a grasp on his role.

When talking about which retainers go with who, it’s said it was the father’s choice. I’d like to assume it wasn’t an airheaded/random choice. Maybe he knew that Toshiyuki would be weird about having women in his team of retainers? And wants to forge their character or protect them in the way they need. Though how Toshiro’s party only has women isn’t only pointed out and commented on by the comic with Toshitsuge but also in the main Dungeon Meshi story, both Marcille and Chilchuck going "his party is fully made up of women", one more loudly than the other haha. So it does feel like a somewhat pointed/purposeful decision, if not that the 4 girls were already a team like I mentioned.

The other retainers

Already made an analysis of Hien and Benichidori’s relationship (+ moment compilation) here. Honestly my juices are exhausted so quick rundown:

Hien’s parents both serve the Nakamotos, so she grew up with the family and was even a childhood friend of Toshiro. She assumed he and her might end up in a Maizuru-Toshitsugu situation ‘just because that’s how things are’/‘it’d be a natural development’ if we’re to believe Hien, ahh what growing up in the Nakamoto with those role models will make you believe is normal hah, and was surprised when it ended up not in that way at all. They grew more distant with time, in good part because of the professional nature of their roles in relation to each other (truly a reversal of the Maizuru-Toshitsugu situation). She’s the leader of their lil squad, under Maizuru, she’s confident and she gets the perks, like getting the bedframe in the shared inn room. For all the details just read her page. She has two dots, showing her rank as a full fledged ninja.

Benichidori was bought, by "the Nakamotos" so we don’t know who made the final decision. She’s perceptive and submissive, her specialty is implied to be disguise. She never had much contact with Toshiro before she became part of his party. She has facial dysmorphia where she fears the judgement of others if she doesn’t wear makeup and highly values beauty, in her extra her anxiety really shows and she ends up angrily snapping at Hien. Benichidori ends up taking a big liking to Hien and from there on they’re implied to be inseparable. She has two dots, showing her rank as a full fledged ninja.

Inutade is said to worship Toshitsugu because he "saved her" from her horrible life conditions, buying her personally from the sumo matches, she’s extremely grateful to the family and is happy to do any work they give her and is highly satisfied with her current living conditions. She seems to find Toshiro intimidating, though. She was separated from her parents from before she can remember and raised as a sumo wrestler in inhumane betting matches, where her front tooth broke. It seems she has very littke ambitions and dreams besides obeying orders day to day, but after Izutsumi fled away she was happy for her and mused that she’d love to go out and find her one day. They’re so besties Izutsumi gave her a dream of her own I’m sobbing… </3 She has one dot, showing she still has to be attributed her role and earn her stripes.

Their approval rating of their leader. The highest total score from all the parties.

Izutsumi

Sighh where to even begin. Her timeline was put in Maizuru’s section of this post but the rundown is "taken away from parents and turned into a beastkin" at 6 yo (the human half of her soul), "sent to a sideshow on the island of Wa" at 7 yo and bought by Toshitsugu at 10 yo when he took an interest in her when he visited the sideshow. Maizuru put the curse on Izutsumi at age 12, so from then on she always had to not stray much far from Maizuru or risk death, it’s unsure if Inutade’s extra is from before that time, before she was 12, so she could still attempt many many tries to run away. If that’s the case, then Maizuru’s curse was very much treated as a last resort, honestly beyond everything else I can see it being a pain that Maizuru would need to touch her every so often on Maizuru’s schedule as well. The alternative is that, not unlike Kabru who had no regrets dying in a dungeon rather than staying with Milsiril, she’d risk her life to get a taste of freedom. Besides, you know, being a slave and having a timebomb collar with Maizuru’s curse, her frustrations with her life with the Nakamotos is most concisely put in the comic just up above, Inutade’s extra.

She has no dot tattoo, meaning she’s at rock bottom of the hierarchy. It makes sense, since unlike Inutade she’s rebellious and needs threats to obey orders, and even then might try shifty business.

This last part where Izutsumi tries sleeping with Toshiro is most interesting to me. So she’s sought out contact with Toshiro before, she considers him "the stuck-up guy" but she doesn’t exactly hate him. I wonder if this comic is set in the inn on The Island or back at the Nakamoto household, because if that’s the latter it implies that she could get access to his room if she’s sneaky.

Oh oh also, this is fanon but since Toshiro’s weapon is one used usually on horseback, and with the steadfast and upright character of horses I associate Toshiro with horses a bit, though this is wild fanon. What’s interesting is that the plant Asebi was named after is a plant infamous for being toxic to horses. Hehe hehehe he wears a ponytail… Hm now that I think of it hairdos have importance for samurais, should look into that.

Toshiro

God. Ok. Everything was leading up to this guy. Need to split open his head like a geode and vibecheck his brain crystals. Let’s get some interesting details out of the way first.

His weapon is a tachi, not a katana. The wikipedia on tachis is more in depth if you want, but I consider the article I linked to be in deoth and digestible. Tachis are heavier and longer blades than katanas, and make for better horseback weapons than close combat. The way Toshiro uses one instead of a katakana shows that he’s extra strong… And does make sense, since most monsters won’t fight in as close quarters as human fighters. If katanas aren’t a thing in the world yet could make a difference, since tachis were invented first, and once the katana was invented and spread tachis became something more common in higher-ranking samurais. In the monster tidbit of the Hag, it’s shown that even at 6 years old Toshiro was training and learning ninja skills, his first instinct to the shikigami besides running being to fight.

Toshiro knew that Izutsumi wanted to leave, for sure. He may have been sympathetic, if his cryptic look back at her in the ‘Toshiro interacting with his party members’ page means anything. As seen below though, him being sympathetic doesn’t necessarily mean that much. Also, Toshiro had to have known about the curse on Izutsumi, where if Maizuru doesn’t touch her once in a while she’d die. "Asebi must have ran away, leave her" can be seen as subtle support for her to gain her freedom, but it could just as easily be seen as him leaving her behind to die. Because the outcome options are 1) she gets killed by Maizuru's curse, 2) she finds a way to break the spell, 3) she finds a way back to them.

He’s very conflict averse. Wether it be in relationships like with Laios or the status quo. Will not stand up for 99% things including himself. He obeys his father quietly despite his anger and dislike. This is the same guy who can't even get himself to speak up to correct the butchering of his name, the slippery slope that got him tangled in the Laios party seemingly without resistance. It’s very japanese etiquette from even nowadays, never saying a direct no to not be rude. ALSO THAT PANEL, has Toshiro beaten an ogre before?? Is that a brother of his?? Does seem in character for Toshiyuki the most, unless Toshiro was desperate to earn his father’s attention with feats. On the right I’d say the ones in the foreground are two of the brothers, maybe the third being the one to gesture to the ogre. It’s worth noting that inheritance laws during the Edo period often made the heir the son with "the most merit".

When with a goal that’s important to him he’s fine with even starving for it. Although what we see him be like that about in canon is Falin, aka self-admittedly in the post-canon proposal comic "the first person he has liked this much", which for him I feel is like admitting she’s one of the first things he has truly wanted for himself and fought for, soo… It’s more like an exceptional freaking out moment than something that would be recurring, most likely. How disheveled he got is a testament to how much he would forego propriety and rules for people of his status for the person he cares about most. Maizuru says the first personal request he’s (ever?) made was for them to help him rescue Falin.

Which ahh yes, his crush on Falin. I do think idealization plays into it, he doesn’t know Falin that well for sure, but it’s more complex than that too. Falin is pretty and can have an ethereal energy to her, she’s caring and gentle kinda motherly which Toshiro would find soothing I imagine, BUT MOST OF ALL. She’s weird!! She’s just weird enough to allow and be charmed by!! Shuro was fully shaped by his upbringing and environment of nobility, social etiquette and whatnot. Yeah she’s weird and quirky, but still quiet and sweet-mannered enough that he’s like "Yes, she wouldn’t bring shame on my family name". And why would he be charmed by her weirdness? Because all he’s ever known is rules!! Conformity, fitting in!! Unlike the others he knows, she is weird without being overbearing as well. "Woah she’s so different… She’s kind and soft and doesn’t care about fitting in… She is out of this world, she’s free, she shows me a world where tenderness and authenticity is possible…" She’s like his comfort character. MOREOVERRR I had totally forgotten about it, but Toshiro was shown watching a snail behind a bush and losing sight of everything else (like Maizuru calling him) as a kid in the Hag monster tidbit, the moment he fell in love with Falin it was when she looked enthralled at a caterpillar and he mentions how "most girls would have screamed or recoiled in disgust", and in the beach chibis page he’s crouching and collecting shells thinking about Falin… He likes bugs and crawly critters guys, he wishes he could be cottagecore too… It’s a genuine shared interest… . Someone pointed out that Toshiro & Falin’s relationship probaboy references this japanese folk tale, and I think that’s very interesting to note.

And Maizuru is like his mom but it’s a Thistle situation where they can’t just be a normal family and normal affectionate either- and when he learns about his father having a thing with her he feels weirded out. And like. Who knows how much he even got out of the mansion. He got homeschooled. He’s distant with his brothers. The family is in shambles

Shuro’s issue is that he was taught to be perfect and have the upmost respectable behavior, so if something annoys him he has to be righteous about it and that it’s the annoying thing’s fault or moral failing. Bro just let yourself be petty sometimes it’s healthier. With the feud with his father it’s explicitly stated that the pressure and expectations of the family name weigh on him a lot.

But then, that makes his beef with Laios so understandable doesn’t it. Not justified, but explained certainly.

Laios & Shuro and the whole mess coming to a head

I’ve made an analysis of the Laios-Shuro fight from Laios’ pov before, here. This is the Shuro pov analysis. Yes yes in The Fight, Shuro is dehydrated sleep-deprived and underate, he’s majorly off his rocker, BUT his frustration and the underlying issues are still things he felt on any day and it’s interesting to note.

Toshiro has been raised from his birth with the priority of propriety, nobility, etiquette, rules, conforming elegantly, appareances and reputation are everything. He’s modest, humble, quiet, stays in his lane and bottles all his feelings up. Wait who is this loud guy coming up to me being inconsiderate and loud af?? Does he not see me blinking in morse code that I’m not enjoying this and want him to leave?? Was he raised in a barn?? He’s overbearing and rude and way too friendly- He’s weird wtf! Not conforming to basic etiquette is illegal??! And people just… Let him do whateve he wants?? He lives well, no one stops him or kills him?? What the fuck, I’ve followed rules and etiquette thoroughly all my life, and it’s thankless work I get no recognition for, meanwhile he gets to be oblivious af and do whatever he wants without getting clapped?? Resentment, frustration, dislike, anger anger anger, jealousy.

Laios might even remind Toshuro of his dad in a way, because he SEEMS impulsive and like he does whatever he wants without a care to people around him, without thinking of how it might affect them. Doing things without thinking through the Implications. And interestingly this is a bit paralleled to to how Shuro is serious, strict, and big on the duties that come with having a leader role and the family dynamic it brings, like Laios’ own father, who Laios also dislikes… Dealing with his anger towards Laios, especially knowing that Laios doesn’t mean anything bad by it like Toshiro admits, is probably very healing to him. He stops repressing and thinks through his issues a bit, realizes what parts of his life he’s unhappy with and where all the negative feelings come from. I do think he bottles up his dislike for his father a bit, he has to at least for appearances. His beef with Laios is repackaged internalized anger for his father, but it’s ALSO repackaged frustration from his etiquette-bound lifestyle. He says it himself, when Laios is like "You never told Falin how you feel…? Alright, when I can I’ll tell her for you buddy!!", "that’s the part of you that I envy". Laios’ ability to just come out and say what he wants to, what he means. He wishes he could be free of all the rules more, that he had te courage to speak out, like with Inutade, or talking things out with Maizuru, or nit having to act like he’s not angry with his father. This narrative point of Toshiro envying Laios’ ability to say things freely and being frustrated by not being able to himself is ESPECIALLY examplified by their first interactions, the basis of their relationship: Laios enthusiastically befriending him, giving him a bad nickname and roping him into joining his party, with Toshiro never turning it all down despite wanting to, too hesitant to act possibly rude.

And now is time for the laishuro addendum… Because of personal experiences it’s a bit of a sensitive spot to me so while I see timelines in which I enjoy it I’m very picky… This is all further theorizing from me btw I’m not pushing my view here onto ppl as facts, but I think there’s more interesting bits and scenarios to bite into here. Laishuro has very cute and sweet potential. I personally don’t see the "Oh wait Laios is just girl Falin… 😳" angle because to me if anything that’d just make Shuro disillusioned with Falin lol, but like yes make Shuro learn that it’s ok to be weird with Laios 🥺 They DO have differences first of all, important ones, especially from Toshiro’s perspective. Laios is overwhelming, whereas Falin is soothing. Laios is loud and asks things of him where Falin is a calm, quiet presence. Laios pushes himself onto Toshiro, whereas Falin is content on just doing her own thing in her corner alone.

Hot take but the ultimate laishuro timeline is the one where he DOESN’T bring Laios back home, because he knows he’ll be seen as an oddity and clown by his father, and he doesn’t want Laios to be treated like the tapdancing monkey there to please and entertain his father the way he himself has always kind of been. Wouldn’t inflict that onto someone he loves. He can recognize when people are taken advantage of (mostly) like Inutade, and it doesn’t settle right with him. He might be especially sensitive to it in Inutade’s case because it’s about seeing his dad in a better light than he deserves, though. His father is his weak spot, THE weak spot.

It gets me so emotional thinking about it actually because seeing Laios played like a fiddle by his father, Laios so happy to find someone who’s enthusiastically listening to him ramble and engaging, would destroy Shuro emotionally I think. Like. On one hand being like "Oh of course my dad would find Laios fun, unlike me his boring son", super angry as coping mechanism for his intense sadness of not having positive parental attention, and then on the other he’d see Laios being treated as a clown and identify with it and that would remind him of how he gets treated similarly which he’s in denial about (more or less, but since he puts up with the family rules and follows along he hasn’t given up on getting recognition. He wants his father’s approval, and he couldn’t blame Laios for being happy with it despite how hurtful that attention truly is without Laios’ knowledge), which would be such an overwhelming conflicted mess of emotions and his worldview would shatter a bit because he has to repress it all even now, and he’d have a breakdown.

And similar deal but if he brought Falin home… Bc ok yes he idealizes her and doesn’t even know her all that well, but like I said imo what he sees in her is that "Woah she’s so different… She’s kind and soft and doesn’t care about fitting in… She is out of this world, she’s free, she shows me a world where tenderness and authenticity is possible…" So meanwhile with Laios he’d have mixed feelings on him getting treated like a clown and identify with it, bringing Falin home and having her be demeaned would be like having his perfect comfort character dunked on and he gets reminded that the world can’t have anything good actually. With both Toudens it’d make his resentment towards his father even worse, he might snap. I’m not the biggest on gendered analysis tbh but Kui evidently does like to do it to some degree, with the genderbending changing their life considerably and different fantasy cultures having different gender roles and all, but Shuro idealizing the Touden sister as something perfect he cannot attain while being jealous and frustrated at Laios for being something he cannot attain is like. So compelling actually. With Maizuru’s hannya of female rage weaponized there could be a theme of pushing the blame and responsibilities of things onto women too, the responsibility to raise and to manage and to dish out the work and to clean after mens’ reckless decisions. Anyways just a tangent.

Shuro on a bad family angst day is everything I love in a blorbo… He can be a lil shitty as a treat to make his healing arc more fulfilling. Toshiro snapping after he sees how they treat Laios/Falin and he gives up the family headship to LEAVE. Maizuru arc where she has to choose between loyalty to the clan and loyalty to Toshiro, will she stay with the boy she raised or go home… To me Maizuru is much less sympathetic than Shuro, but she is pretty tragic and her selfless love for Shuro is her one redeeming quality. Babygirl take no shit no more, but also better yourself and turn your life around please and thank you… She is so evidently taken advantage of but like. What else does she have? So she just takes care of and loves the boy she raised like her own kid and goes about her daily life in servitude and doesn’t think too much about it all.

Shuro is awful a nickname but also, I think Shiro would be a good nickname for Toshiro, because it gets rid of that ‘Toshi’ first part of his name that all the male members of his family share. It severes the link to his father and the tied pressure from his family.

Laishuro brotp turning slow burn romance would be so lovely. I think college au for laishuro would be peak actually… Shuro so is the repressed "I am so normal" guy who has a furry liberation identity crisis arc… I also quite like the potential he’d have with Namari, as both work-oriented misfit foreigners cast out of their homes, and she’s also bolder so it’d be good for him, and he could bring her stability… That’s a topic for another day tho. Even he and falin are sweet tbh, they could have traveled around together even if just as friends… Bc yeah she does value him as a friend at least somewhat, she says she’ll visit him~! Mostly I want Izutsumi-Toshiro brotp fancontent.

Conclusion

The household is very hierarchy oriented, and honestly the system doesn’t seem to make anyone happy, or at least not healthily so. Sighh feudalism.

Obviously their situation are very different, but still Toshiro and Izutsumi react to the same conflict in opposite ways: when a hierarchy and lifestyle of rules and duty is thrust upon them, Toshiro obeys and believes that it’s how things simply are, always having it been drilled into him since being a baby and being privileged enough to live ok with things as they are, meanwhile Izutsumi rages and eventually breaks free and never wants to submit herself to rules or hierarchy ever again, even if that perceived hierarchy is a mutually beneficial professional party dynamic or having a role inside a well-meaning team, like Laios’ party. WHICH IS WHY THEY SHOULD HANG OUT AND HAVE AN ARC TOGETHER. LET HER INFLUENCE HIM TO GET WILDER AND THINK OF HIMSELF MORE. FUCK INHERITING THE HEADSHIP. THE SIBLINGS NARRATIVE.

As always if I find more stuff to add i’ll edit it in. Rn I’m thinking that I’ll look into ninja & samurai feudal history and try to find specific terms that might fit their roles and situations more. I should reread the first chapter with them to try and notice the hierarchy at play more, sigh, and Izutsumi’s end of the Toshiro-Izu dynamic as well.

Ah yes yes, I forgot to talk about it but we don’t know what Toshiro’s retainers have been doing with their time on The Island, especially while he was dungeon diving with Laios and co. Ah although in the anime’s ed in this shot we see them "stealthily" follow him around, so presumably when he’s not in dungeons they’re tailing his moves.

Afterword here, it has summary charts about the power structure & relationships and complementary pages and artworks, couldn’t put them in here because SIGH 30 pictures per post limit.

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goemonishikawaxiv · 1 year

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LUPIN III

DEAD OR ALIVE

#arsene lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin iii #lupin sansei #this took 15 and a half hours and has 99 layers yall better enjoy this shit #poshart #zoom in for all the details if you want....#the card designs are cute aswell im proud... esp of shogun of spades goemon...#bombshell of a first post huh?#yeah well expect more bozos #daisuke jigen #goemon ishikawa #fujiko mine #hey guys sorry for like the INSANE amount of pixelization of this art btw.#i couldnt post it on my tablet so i needed to download it onto my phone first #so now its just soo crunchy for what

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aro-attorneys · 1 year

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I remember watching Bleach for a while in high school and I ended up rly liking Ishida? And then I told my friends and they all went "no he sucks, he's mean and pretentious and not even cool" or some shit.

Anyway whatever right bc I didn't get past the bounto arc (ofc) and dropped the anime.

Years later I (re)watch Bleach w my roommate who is one of those friends who said Ishida sucks.

And he realised he really likes him now.

I was right all along. I saw that autistic freak and knew even though I didn't have the words to express it.

#same appeal as kakyoin #Bleach #same goes for innoue. although i expect adults would still dislike her #some adults*#i really like innoue. now that im older it's easier to pick apart the layers #innoue is so kind and people see that as a weakness. but she's actually so strong for being kind and trusting #because despite her trauma she still chooses to be the best version of herself #and she has resolve! im still mad she didnt rly get to shine in the arrancar arc #innoue also has autism btw #ishida is super likeable to me. it's so clear he's gonna have development from the very beginning #ALSO HE'S 15. every 15yr old goes thru their emo phase let him have it #also same appeal as miles edgeworth but in a shonen anime kinda way

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tanyapiankova12 · 6 months

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The Ultimate try not to pee dice challenge!

Rules: role a dice and match up the number to the category. Then in that category role again and find out what you have to do. You can end the game when you get told to do so or by simply wetting yourself. There is a punishment for peeing and leaking (for which you will role too). BTW the category worsen is basically really hard challenges or new rules. I’d recommend reading first then trying. You will need water and probably a timer!

Categories:

Drink

Wait

Exercise

Challenge

Worsen

Relieve pressure

DRINK

Drink 1 cup of water

Drink 1/2 cup of water

Unlucky! Drink 3 cups of water

Drink 2 cups of water

Drink a diuretic (tea, coffee, soda)

Drink a diuretic and a cup of water

WAIT

Wait 5 min

Wait 10 min

Wait 5 min completely still, no moving even if you start peeing (you’ll have to stop the stream by yourself teehee)

Wait 20 min

Wait 30 min

Wait 40 min

EXERCISE

Do 30 jumping jacks

Do 15 squats

Squat for 1 min

Jump in place 40 times

Stretch and spread your legs for 30 seconds

Do 10 sit-ups

CHALLENGE

Listen to water sounds for 3 minutes

Sit on the toilet fully clothed for 2 minutes

Press on your bladder for 30 seconds

Stand still for 4 minutes

Run warm water over your hands for 2 minutes

Put on tighter clothes or take off all of your clothes altogether.

WORSEN

You can no longer cross your legs or hold your crotch.

You have to put on tighter clothes or just layer them

Put a piece of ice on your bladder, don’t continue until it melts

Listen to running water sounds for the rest of the challenge.

Between rounds, drink 1 glass of water.

No potty dancing!

PRESSURE RELIEF

Release for 10 seconds in the toilet. If you go over, you have to drink 1 glass of water.

Release for 15 seconds in your pants. If you go over, you have to wait 10 min.

Put on short shorts or a short skirt and leak for as long as you like, but if the stream touches the ground, you have to do this challenge until you completely lose control.

Get a bottle cap and pee in it. If you overflow, drink a glass of water

Instead of relieving the horrible pressure like the others, listen to water sounds for 2 minutes.

Pee! Or not. If you want to keep going with the challenge, then skip this and roll again. You can pee right now in your pants, or run as fast as you can to the toilet. You’re freeeee!

PUNISHMENTS FOR LEAKING WITH PERMISSION

Tape your undies to you (you can’t take them off for the rest of the challenge)

Double the water and waiting time.

Nothing!

Half the water and waiting time.

Go to pee.

Drink 1 glass of water.

PUNISHMENTS FOR PEEING

Stay in your clothes for an hour.

Try this challenge again or with a a friend

You can’t use the toilet to pee for 2 days. You have to pee yourself. You can go in public and stuff, but you can’t pee in the toilet. It has to be an accident too, like you have to hold it till your breaking point.

You can only pee when you start leaking for 2 days. You have to hold it till you basically start having an accident. You have to relax and start peeing your pants, then without stopping the stream pee in the toilet for 15 seconds. After 15 seconds finish in your pants. If the stream stops before you can take off your pants, start over.

Try not to pee for a day. Just straight up not pee. Hold it until you just burst.

Nothing you’re lucky.

#pee kink #omorashi #bladder control #pee challenge

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ccarrot · 6 months

Note

what made you fall for chuuya?

LOADED QUESTION

let's go through this step by step

1.) his design. there's so much to talk about there!

One thing I really appreciate about harukawa's costume designs is that despite the series taking place in 2010ish, the main cast's outfits have a very old fashioned vibe. like they're from the mid-20th century. very fitting considering that the bsd world is just recovering from a World War event. So we always get a really interesting mix of different time periods when it comes to the fashion in the series.

So i like the classy, timeless aesthetic of the design as i do with most of the characters but i also appreciate how ... punk it its? Like the gloves, the belts, the tie with the buckle, the hat, the FREAKING CHOKER. let's remember that chuuya was a teenager during the 2000s and then look at the edgier elements of his fancy executive outfit

so many layers! so many accessories!!!!!! there's so much happening here but it doesn't look like too much. But the hat especially, it's a really fun call back to the namesake poet but it's such a good identifiable part, instantly makes his silhouette interesting. The big cape/coat too, and to a lesser extent the gloves and cuffed sleeves are really cool features for his silhouette. shame they got rid of the belt and hat chain for the anime. i'm also a weirdo who finds drawing the hat fun

Overall I like his color palette. i'm a bigbigbig fan of warm tones and red/orange color schemes, and chuuya's is that but darker and muted. very nice to look at. I like his hair especially, I like that its long but not really long like when harukawa draws it. I like that he has a weird haircut. I spent a lot of time staring at it to figure out the mechanics of it but settled on 'it looks nice!' I like the color harukawa uses for it the most, a really dull red, bordering on light brown. it's so nice.

2.) his personality!

He acts so cocky, and overconfident. It's fun that he's so expressive. you'd think that a person in his occupation should maintain stoicism (which he can! he's so good at deception if 15, sb and meursault have shown us anything) but i think it's so interesting that he chooses to be more emotive with his expressions.

I think it's interesting that he chooses to be honest and try to play fair against his opponents even though it would be easier to just decimate them without talking things out, (even though that has seriously put him at a disadvantage. i'm thinking about how much easier it would have been for him if he just bust down the hospital and had his squad rush the ada in cannibalism instead of giving them a chance to negotiate). it's cool how he uses earnestness to trick people into thinking they've got an upper hand over him, like in 15-stormbringer. (on that topic though it is rough that he got matched up against ranpo in cannibalism LMAO)

I like how childish and snarky he gets with Dazai. i like how he tries to put on a totally cool put together energy infront of his colleagues (and kenji who's a fan). i like how he looks so done and ever suffering when he's with mori. i like how when he tries trying to put on a neutral face hoshikawa and harukawa draw him looking a little tired and melancholy. just a little extra on the eyebags

Stormbringer chuuya's probably the most compelling to me. If there's one thing that you have to understand about chuuya's character, it's that he's at his core a deeply sad person. <-His ability is called "for the tainted sorrow" after all (delightfully edgy name too btw. it's so dramatic.)

I think a lot of misconceptions about his character come from the fact that despite seeming to be relatively straightforward outwards, he's full of contradictions. If he's happy he'll play it off as aloofness, fear he'll turn to anger, when he's really angry he'll choose not to act on it, and he'll push down his sorrow and grief and make it seem like he's fine and everything is fine. Stormbringer was like an insane crash course in compartmentalization and chuuya went from being consumed by his hopelessness to 'ah guess it doesn't matter.' like damn bro, you actually doing good or are you just saying it?

bonus but i think it's really under talked about how easily he puts on masks. especially cheerful ones because he's got that too. the parallels between him and dazai are insane...

i think about the arcade confrontation scene in the fifteen manga and the tunnel fight too much.

Anyways here's some more chuuya expressions from the mangas because he's got so many good ones and ilovehim

2.5) fun entrances and his not-quite-villainy

I know asagiri has totally abandoned the idea of the Port Mafia being actual villains, but as an antagonist, Chuuya is,,,,,,,, he qualifies because he's in the Port Mafia, i think.

Every time he shows up, he's usually only there to help the ada in a terribly roundabout way (usually on mori's orders). The only time he was genuinely a threat to our heroes was cannibalism . . but he seriously dropped the ball there lmao XD Even though he's a criminal and enjoys a good fight it's nice how killing people and overpowering his enemies isn't really his first option, even though that'd be so easy for him. this one exchange of him and mori is so funny for that reason too, chuuya is so alarmed

another thing i really really find fascinating is how during the Guild Arc, Atsushi got the idea of teaming up with the Port Mafia because he saw Chuuya and Black Lizard defending the streets of Yokohama. It's like Asagiri was literally waving to us and saying hey hey hey they aren't the bad guys and you should want them to succeed.

i hope chuuya and atsushi can meet. they're my favorites.

Overall i think despite him having a limited pagetime, I think it's all used very very effectively (except in cannibalism. but that's a different story). A lot of his actions ultimately aid the heroes more than anything, which is cool for a character who's apparently a key member of the enemy org.

anyways.

3.) his BACKSTORY. strap in.

context time!!!!! when i was first reading bsd (reading bc I started with the manga) i was still mainly hyperfixated on Evangelion and this is very very very relevant.

Neon Genesis Evangelion IF YOU DON'T KNOW (why are you following me if you didn't actually) is a psychological horror disguised as a scifi-mecha anime. It focuses a lot about grief and depression and messed up interpersonal relationships. but it's story is about child soldiers, government exploitation, war trauma, human experimentation etc and the likes. And so to put it REALLY SIMPLY, Chuuya's reminds me of Asuka and Rei and that's one reason why i really hooked onto him. I've joked that he could be a strayed Eva pilot but i am being genuine.

So now that THAT's out of the way. Fifteen & Stormbringer are a very very well crafted side story/prequels that gives a lot of insight to the BSD universe and really narrows in on some of the horror of this world. And I think Asagiri did a very good job with integrating this overarching lore with Chuuya's story arc, and also pacing out these releases. So.. lemme give you a play by play on how I got through this

Chuuya I think was set up from the very start to have a lot of mystery surrounding him. When we first meet him he's a cocky little shit but you're also wondering, "He's dazai's ex-partner? what did that entail? what did they go through?" And then the Lovecraft fight happens and now you're thinking "what the FUCK is corruption and WHY the fuck is corruption?" So you're casually making your way through Bungo Stray Dogs not really seeing much of him until you realize that the light novels exist so time for Fifteen!

And honestly the twist in Fifteen really DID get me too because at that point I started reading Chuuya kinda like. kinda like Naruto, lmao. The "I am Arahabaki" moment was wonderful. But there's something actually horrifying about that scene as well, the way his entire face becomes blacked out when he confesses that he's the one they've been running around looking for for the entire book. the way he completely rejects his own humanity, the way he fights with his hands in his pockets because it puts him at a disadvantage? the way he really does think he's nothing but his powers and the singularity inside him.

^^ something that's really really interesting is that despite being so strong, chuuya sorta sabotages himself a LOT. I do think some of that is intentional but hmmm different story but the abridged version is that even though he feels like he needs to have control over himself, I think he does want others to take that control away from him. And also Chuuya's loyalty , which is his key trait, is really rooted in who takes care of him. So he lets the Sheep take advantage of him, because they took him in, and he chooses the Port Mafia bc they gave him stability and defended him. He 'forgives' Verlaine because Verlaine wanted to do what he thought was best for him. He trust's Dazai with his life because Dazai validated his humanity. ,,

okay so anyways. nothing can begin to explain the sheer brain rot i got over Storm Bringer. Genuinely the most insane thing i've ever read in my life. Especially the lab parts with N, fundamentally altered my brain chemistry. I literally cannot think about chuuya without thinking about it. It's like, psychological horror story and a buddy cop story and a tragedy and a coming of age and the most sci-fi that bsd has ever gotten and it's so much. it's so so so much. wat?

Fifteen-Stormbringer is what REALLY got me hooked on Chuuya's character. Like he was intriguing for me until this, and I'm a weirdo who doesn't always latch onto characters based on vibes alone so i needed A Reason to like him as much as i do and i found it soooooo

4. conclusion! but not really i'm GOING to keep rambling about him in other posts lmao ;D

Chuuya might be a side character but he has SUCH a presence. I have a huge soft spot for protagonist type of characters, i'm a little basic like that but most of my favorites from a lot of fandoms are usually the main characters. And Chuuya might not be the protagonist but he is definitely the hero of another story in a way...

I think i kin him a little bit. maybe a little i can't really tell. Not self aware enough for that 🤔 you tell me.

Asagiri and Harukawa really hit the jackpot with him though

#this is an appreciation post and meta analysis fusion monstrosity #anyways I love lovelovelovleoleobloelboeooeooeoe LOVE CHUUYA NAKAHARA BUNGO STRAY DOGS #ask #bsd #yeah i took this anon as an excuse to ramble about chuuya #bite me or whatever.

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rollo-rolls · 6 months

Text

How To Convert Eyelashes

I was asked to make a tutorial on converting eyelashes. Well, here it is. Dirty, badly explained tutorial by Rollo. I'm assuming you know how to work with required programs, it won't teach you the basics, just a process of converting eyelashes from ts4 to ts3.

Requirements:

S4Studio

s3pe

TSR Workshop

Sims 3 Pack Multi-Extracter

These files (full credit goes to @gruesim)

Graphical program that works with .dds files

Let's go:

Open the desired lashes in S4Studio. Export diffuse of the ones you want to convert (you only need the black ones). You can also export the thumbnail. Close the program.

2. Unzip the folder that you downloaded from this tutorial. You will find a .dds files called "sclub eyelash". Open it up in the graphical program. Make a black layer above it and hide it for now.

3. Now open up your ts4 eyelashes file. Start from the upper eyelash, crop it and go to the sclub eyelash.

4. Paste it, click ctrl+i, it will make ts4 eyelash white.

5. This is the worst part. You have to make the ts4 eyelash fit to the sclub one as close as possible. Use every method possible!

6. Unhide the black layer and see if your eyelash look alright. It may need some sharpening.

7. Now crop the bottom eyelash and follow the exact same steps as for the upper eyelash.

8. It should look more or less like this. Bottom eyelashes are always harder to adjust and may need even more sharpening.

9. Merge your upper and bottom eyelashes, duplicate the layer. Click ctrl+a, ctrl+t, then right mouse button and choose "Flip Horizontal".

10. Voila. You should have a complete set of your new shiny eyelashes! Save them as .dds. You can close the program. We're moving to TSR Workshop.

11. New Project -> New Import. Import Eyelashes AFBase from the downloaded folder.

12. Name your project, name your file and click "Next".

13. You should see this. Go to Texture tab and click "Edit" on the Transparency Map.

14. Import your eyelashes and click "Yes" when asked.

15. You should see your lashes, yay! But this is TSRW, they won't look exactly the same in game, as they look here. If you want a set of eyelashes, add more presets.

16. Now this is important. If you want to see your eyelashes in Accessories, go to Project tab, Clothing Type and change it from eyeliner to glasses. You also have to do this if you have more than one preset in one file. They won't show up in Eyeliner section. If you want to have set of eyelashes in Eyeliner category, you have to make each preset into seperate file. Also, eyelashes are recolorable ONLY in Accessories section. Don't forget to check Categories section to see which outfit has the eyelashes available.

17. Now you're ready to export your file! Export -> To Sims3Pack. Use the Sims 3 Pack Multi-Extracter to convert your sims3pack to package file. We're moving to s3pe.

18. THESE STEPS ARE ESSENTIAL! Open up your shiny new package in s3pe. Click on the GEOM with the right mouse button.

19. Click Replace and choose AUID.simgeom from the downloaded folder. AUID is for adults, CUID for kids and PUID for toddlers. We have one more step to do.

20. Now click on the CASP normally (left mouse button) and click Grid on the bottom of the program.

21. A small pop up window appears. Scroll to the very bottom and find a line called OverlayPriority.

22. Change the 8 to 2. This will make eyelashes not being visible through hair that's covering eyes.

23. Save your package. You're ready to test your converted eyelashes in game!

Here they are. Nothing fancy, it was a quick conversion :D They're also compatible with S-Club eyelash sliders ^^

Btw, you don't necessarily have to convert both upper and bottom eyelashes. You can have upper or bottom only. Play with the lenght, not all eyelashes have to be very long. Convert it for males, kids, toddlers. You just have to remember to change the options in TSRW and replace the correct .simgeom file in s3pe. There is a lot of possibilities and you'll probably get better in this than me :D

Good luck! ♥

#s3cc #ts3 tutorial #ts3 #rollo's tutorials

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devilfic · 2 years

Note

Hii <3 Can you make a Bruce x Surgeon reader?. Love your work btw.

❝right place, right time❞

parts: next plot: you took the hippocratic oath. you swore to help those in need. you didn’t sign up for a man crawling through your apartment window bleeding to death, but you’ve unfortunately seen worse. pairing: battinson!bruce wayne x gn!reader. cw: surgeon!reader, secret identities, slow burn, meet ugly but it’s kind of cute, vigilantes breaking into medical professionals’ houses but it’s not because they don’t heave health insurance, bruce wayne is a masochist, mentions of blood, bullet wounds, and surgical stitching. words: 4k. edited: 2/28/24.

a/n: I struggled a bit with this idea, but I ended up really liking the outcome! hope you enjoy.

Contrary to what your mother believed, you had started looking for a new apartment. You’d stare at newspaper clippings stuck to your fridge and imagine yourself living in those nicer buildings and say “I’ll call them on my lunch break” but never did.

But it wasn’t your fault, you just got busy. And busier. And you liked this place. Since you’d enrolled in medical school, it hadn’t done you wrong. You might as well have had lamb’s blood over your door the way the angel of death never came knocking.

And technically that was still true. He had to have been there before you slipped in, the stove clock reading 11:15 in neon green just a minute before you noticed his sinister silhouette outlined by your window. It had been a long shift, but you definitely weren’t just seeing things.

A chilly breeze shuffles his cape. He shifts and you realize the window he was blocking had been pried open. It’d stopped opening for you years ago. His body shifts (sways) again, saying nothing.

“What are you doing in my house?” He hears you. There’s no way he can’t hear you, the distance between the front door and the window mere feet in between. He shifts one more time, hulking forward with the ears of his cowl resembling bull horns, and you grab the doorknob in fear that he’s about to charge forward and trample you... but he hits the floor.

Slowly, you open your front door again, hallway light illuminating the body on your living room floor. Completely still. You stand there for perhaps a few beats too long just looking at him. Then, extra slow, you let your door shut and flip on the overhead light. In the time it’d taken for you to collect your thoughts, a small pool of blood had begun to stain the carpet underneath him.

Your shift had been long, and this definitely wasn’t the first time today you’d seen that much blood, but you’d been prepared then.

“Shit, shit, shit,” tossing your things to the side, you all but throw yourself onto the ground next to the Batman’s body. You note with increasing concern that he doesn’t react at all, “do not die on my carpet!”

He doesn’t react to that either.

It takes your eyes a moment to adjust in your flurry of thoughts, relieved to see that his back was still rising and falling with life, but the blood soaking the floor and eating up your security deposit didn’t leave you feeling very confident. Tucking his cape out of the way does nothing to help show you his injury, and you realize that you’d need to move him and remove the layer of armor in your way if you wanted to stop the bleeding.

Even splayed on the floor, it’s clear he’s a mountain of a man. There was no way you could flip him all on your own. “Hey,” you call, “what happened to you?”

There are slits in the cowl where his eyes should be and black paint spread around his eyelashes that do not flutter when you speak. Careful, you take your thumb and peel one eyelid back to reveal a brilliant blue eye staring back at you—or rather, your direction—unresponsive.

There’s a neat protocol for this. You’re a professional with over a decade of training under your belt and over a hundred different emergencies that hadn’t made you flinch or falter. You know what to do and how to do it right, but you really haven’t got the time.

Winding your hand back with just enough force, you bring the palm of it down onto his exposed cheek, startling him awake instantly.

The victory is short-lived when he suddenly arrests your hand in an iron-clad grip, stunning you with the sheer strength he puts behind it. That was a good sign, at least. He wasn’t quite seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet. You’re quick to get your words out before he can fling you across the room in a rage, “I need you to roll over so I can get your suit off.”

You kinda feel bad for the guy. His eyes are slow to follow your hand’s movement, brain even slower to process what it is you’re asking. He can barely lift his head off the ground to assess his surroundings. You watch the way he struggles to focus on you, frantic as you are, and his nose twitches at the idea, “No.”

“No?”

The labored breathing isn’t a very good sign, “I can’t.”

“I need to get to your wound. I can’t do that with an inch of Kevlar in the way.”

He musters some of the strength he used to take you captive to push himself up and over onto his back. Still, he refuses to move any further, “I got the bullet out. Just stop the bleeding.”

Sure enough, the material around his wound had shattered open from the impact of a bullet, no doubt holding up for as long as it could under a barrage. His entire suit had taken a beating. You cringe at the blood still free-flowing and remove your cardigan, bunching it to press against the wound. “You’re an idiot,” you hiss, forgetting yourself and who you’re talking to, “you probably agitated the wound doing that. You need stitches. You know that, right?”

“Just... stop the bleeding.”

You’d handled legions of mafia goons, clowns, and freaks, but Batman was shaping up to be your most annoying patient. “I can’t if you don’t let me stitch you up. I can’t stitch you up with this armor in the way.” He even has the audacity to doze off a little while you talk, coming back to only when you give his cheek a few more taps, “You’re not dying in my house. If you want to bleed to death, get out. Otherwise, let me help you... please.”

If you were in the operating room, maybe you could’ve cut the thing off him by now, but you’re in your mediocre apartment with tools only a little more helpful than the average first aid kit. What stands between you and the grim reaper is an exposed identity. You were a little alarmed that he was still deliberating on which was worse.

His eyes stare down at you, eyelids drooping by the second. You hope that’s not another bad sign, “I’ll blindfold myself.”

“Tell me how bleeding out is worse again.” At least he had a sense of humor about it.

You laugh because it’s all you can really do with that, “I’m a pretty good surgeon from what I hear.” His eyes flicker to your scrubs as if he had just noticed what you were wearing, “It’s just this upper part, right? You have to take your cowl off to remove it. So I’ll blindfold myself. Then you can put the cowl back on and I can work. I promise.”

Batman watches you with those haunting eyes, rimmed with blackness that makes the blue look like it goes on forever. Then, his hand slips down to the place where his breastplate meets his belt. His fingers make quick work of loosening the latter. That’s all you need to get moving.

You retrieve your first aid kit and meager surgical tools from the bathroom, and there’s a scarf from last night’s shift on the arm of your couch that you quickly tie around your eyes, listening for movement as you kneel by Batman’s side. You hear grunts of pain and the shifting of fabric, a breathless whine and sigh. You feel him shift in front of you, cringing when you realize he’s sitting up now. Reaching your hands out to help him, he grits through his teeth to dissuade you, “It’s fine.”

“You’re gonna tire yourself out.” Your voice is much gentler this time, a reward for his compliance, and you let your hands feel for where his own are hooked under his armor. You think you hear him suck air through his teeth at the touch. “Let me.”

He doesn’t use his words to reply. His hands engulf your own and it’s your turn to gasp now as he moves them into position, hooking your fingers between the Kevlar and the fabric underneath. You feel his body flex with the effort as you heave the top off him, your fingers brushing over wisps of hair as your hands pass over his head. It thuds somewhere off to the side.

The sound of him falling back against the floor is none too comforting, though his voice confirms that you can look again.

The fabric of his under suit is easy to cut open with scissors, and once you’ve got a good vantage point, you begin wiping around the wound to prepare. “There’s no anesthesia here, sorry. You’re gonna have to tough this one out.”

The Batman keeps his gaze on your ceiling with his jaw clenched. With your needle prepared, you steady your hand against the warmth of his skin and begin stitching.

He’s good for a few minutes and you watch his face for any signs that you should stop, but every time he meets your eyes, you force yourself back to work. You’re just in the homestretch when he stutters out a pained breath, grasping at your bloodied cardigan for something to distract himself from the pain. You spread the hand that isn’t stitching him up against his torso and begin brushing your idle pinky back and forth, attempting to comfort him, “You’re doing great. I’m almost done.”

Your touch makes him stiffen and you wait for him to tell you to stop, wait for him to pry your fingers from his skin, but he does nothing of the sort. “You said you’re a surgeon.”

You make another loop, pleased that he’s more alert now, “I’d say you must be pretty lucky for breaking into my place, but you’re also the one that got shot.” His shoulders relax the minute you tie off your thread and snip off the excess. The gauze and tape is the easy part.

His eyes shift from you to the window he’d crawled in through, blood dried on the white wood. You think he’s cold and are about to get up and shut it when he speaks again, a little gentler, “Why here? You could live anywhere.”

“Be careful. You sound like my mother,” you joke, “I just haven’t gotten around to it. 16 hour shifts take precedence.”

To your surprise, his eyes flash with remorse. “I was looking for somewhere to hide. I wasn’t going to stay.”

“But you did.”

“I’m usually more bulletproof.”

That gets a laugh out of you. You think Batman even quirks a smile, however faint. “I’d hope so. I’d like you to stick around a little longer.” Batman’s confusion is obvious this close up. You continue, “Long shifts, you know. Get a lot of casualties. It’s really... gruesome stuff. They don’t sugarcoat it in residency, but when you’re really out there, seeing it every night... anyway, it’s been different since you came along. People sleep a bit easier. Me included.”

You don’t tell him that he’s part of the reason you hadn’t up and moved to a better city yet. It feels implied.

The clock now reads 12:32, a warning of how late the night had gone on, “Well, are you sleeping on the couch or the floor? I prefer the couch but you seem like the masochistic type.”

Batman brushes off your dig a little too easily, “Neither.”

“I’m not letting you leave after all that, if that’s what you’re thinking. You narrowly avoided death.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks to you.”

Oh, oh this man. Was your heartfelt confession not enough? “You won’t be fine if you get up and leave.”

“I can’t stay here.”

“You will if you want to live.”

“I’ve been through worse.”

“I will tie you to a goddamn chair before I let you ruin all my hard work. I’ll keep you here all night.”

He sits up again, more confident now that his wound is handled, and you’re quickly reminded that even unconscious, he’d been too strong to manhandle. With him looming over you with purpose, you wouldn’t stand a chance.

Your eyes discreetly rake over the heavy, sturdy planes of his body. You weren’t much in the way of him. Your last-ditch effort is a little pitiful, “Please. You obviously do this vigilante thing for a reason. You don’t have to stay the whole night. At least rest for a few hours. There are a lot of people who need you here tomorrow... again, me included.”

Your puppy dog eyes are a little rusty, you know. The sincerity works for you. Even when the Batman feigns undecided, you can tell his choice by some of the tension leaving his body.

You just wish he wasn’t so stubborn.

You scramble to hold him when he starts pushing himself to stand, your arm linking around his almost naked waist. The fabric clings closely to the dips and curves of his hip, and you press closer to tuck under his arm. He must be more tired than he lets on because he barely resists you.

You’re thankful that he can shoulder most of his weight on the slow, stiff walk to the couch, and your worry overpowers your smugness when he drops to the cushions the second you get close enough. You’re gentle checking the gauze for any red that might seep through, but the stitches remain intact. “If you eat something, you’ll heal a bit faster.”

“I’m-” He catches himself before he adds on a “fine”, “water would be... good.”

The bottle you retrieve remains unopened until you put it in his hands, “A few hours, okay? At least two.” Batman frowns at you, jaw pulling taut at the thought of staying still for that long. His mulishness would be endearing if he wasn’t playing with life or death. “I’m gonna be in that room at the end of the hall. I’ll keep my door cracked in case you need me.”

“You shouldn’t do that.” Batman warns, a strange edge of concern to his voice, “With strangers in your house.”

You laugh, “What? You mean you?”

His hand takes your wrist but gentler this time, “Three hours. And you’ll run next time someone breaks in.”

You’re kind of stunned. Not because you didn’t think he’d care, but because, in all this commotion, you hadn’t really paused to think about what would have happened if it hadn’t been him at your window. You’d been lucky for this to be the first time anyone had ever broken in, but what if tonight had gone differently? It’s a simple, reasonable request. “Yeah,” His eyelids flutter closed a little at your agreement, “Three hours.”

You’d worked shifts longer than a day and they’d never exhausted you this badly.

You know you should be putting on a better face for the day, especially with who you’d be meeting in less than an hour, but you’d barely slept a wink with your guest only feet away from your bedroom door, no monotonous heart monitor to fall asleep to. What little sleep you did get only came after he’d left—true to his word, he’d stayed for three hours—and then worries of whether he’d made it home safely had consumed you.

That was the thing with masked vigilantes, you supposed. This was your first after all.

“You look rough. Long night?” You recognize the voice as one of the pediatricians, Emily, who had been handpicked alongside you for the day’s special event. She looked far more alive in comparison.

“You’ve no idea.”

Emily sidles up beside you, radiating excitement, “I could barely sleep either. I’ve never met a celebrity before!”

You muster up enough energy to laugh, humorless as it was, “CEOs don’t count as celebrities, Em.”

“Yeah, they do. Elon Musk hosted SNL. Only celebrities do that.”

And thank God that wasn’t who you were meeting today. You weren’t that good of an actor.

It had been between you and one other general surgeon in your department for the day, and though you’d remained adamant that it should be literally anyone else but you representing your department, your boss had nominated you.

That’s why you were standing here on only an hour and a half of sleep, second coffee in hand, waiting by the front doors of Gotham General for the fanfare to start. They’d be here any minute.

For every second you weren’t agonizing over what you’d have to say (”Thank you for your generous donation, we really need it in a city that implodes on itself once every afternoon”) or buzzing from the caffeine, you were checking local news for any sightings of the Batman. It had gone from curious to obsessive in about a few hours, and now you were doing everything in your power not to sneak your phone out and check again.

Just as your fingers begin to itch over the mouth of your pocket, a sleek Rolls Royce pulls up beneath the porte-cochère. It’s obvious who it belongs to. No one who owned a car like that would make Gotham General their first choice for healthcare.

Your boss materializes out of thin air, running outside to greet the greying man who steps out of the passenger seat first. You’re confused, wondering if they’d sent a representative instead, only for that same man to open the backseat door a moment later, and out steps the man of the hour: Bruce Wayne.

You’d never seen him in person before. “Have you ever seen him in person before?” Emily asks, bouncing up and down beside you. “He’s more handsome up close.”

She... wasn’t wrong.

Bruce Wayne looks a lot like his pictures, but there are subtle differences. His height, for one, cannot be overstated. He hovers over the man who’d come with him and your boss easily. Though you’re separated by glass doors, you’re able to make out the sharp point of his nose and squaring of his jaw. He looks every bit like his father.

It’s only when the three of them make their way into the lobby—where you are—that you notice his eyes.

You weren’t like Em. The Wayne tragedy had been just that: a tragedy. Summers weren’t for the arrival of Bruce Wayne back from boarding school, every tabloid and teenager with nothing better to do scrambling to get a picture of the sole heir. You couldn’t even say if his hair was black or brown. You’d never cared past the statue in the courtyard dedicated to his father. So you had no idea just how blue those eyes were. So... familiarly blue. You hadn’t seen eyes that blue for the last eight hours.

It doesn’t help that as soon as Bruce spots you, he stumbles in his walk behind your boss. You swore he looked like he knew you.

“...and this is Dr. Emily Madison, one of our pediatricians here. These two are extraordinary and a big part of why Gotham General is the trusted facility it is today,” your boss is all smiles and glamour, cutting his eyes to you, “why don’t you say a few words to Mr. Wayne and Mr. Pennyworth?”

Right. Your script. The one you’d written more like a joke because you couldn’t focus on anything other than- “Thank you so much for your generous donation, Mr. Wayne,” you step forward to shake both hands in order, “the Wayne Foundation will help so many of us in the field working tirelessly to serve Gotham, as I know your father was very passionate about.”

“Yes,” Bruce sounds a little breathless, “he’d be very proud of the work your team has done so far.”

Your mouth dries up a little. You had to be exhausted. Your mind was running away from you at the timbre of his voice. You’d heard it before too.

Emily’s voice is petering off into white noise as she shares her own gratitude, Bruce focusing on her instead, and suddenly you’re looking at every detail, fitting your thumb in the space between his eyelid and brow in your mind and wondering if that had been the same eye you’d peered into last night.

You haven’t slept at all, you remind yourself, thoughts forming faster than your logic could bat them down, you’re not thinking straight. It’s just that... you swear that...

Suddenly the group is moving, your boss at the forefront. His voice trickles back into your ears as you come back down to earth, “Well, shall we take a look at the new wing? It’s still under construction, but we’d love to show you what we have so far.”

You follow far behind as you approach the grand staircase in the middle of the foyer, eyes following the silhouette of Bruce. You’re comparing shadows, legs, shoulders, cheekbones, finding more similarities than differences. If he feels your eyes burning into him, he isn’t acknowledging you.

He’s barely taken five steps up the staircase when you notice the awkward tilt in his walk. The few glimpses you get of his face as the group begins to ascend looks strained, every step looks painful. Before you can stop yourself, you reach out a hand to grasp his elbow and stop him in his tracks, “Are you hurt?”

You’re just as shocked as he is. The instinct to grab him had been faster than your logic.

He’s got this wide-eyed, almost hysterically doe look as he flits his attention from your hand on his sleeve to your eyes. Seconds later, a more weathered hand pries you two apart. “Apologies, but I’ll have to ask you to refrain from touching Mr. Wayne without-”

“No, Alfred, it’s fine.” “Alfred” releases you at the behest of his employer who hasn’t taken his eyes off you, “I should be the one to apologize... I overexerted myself these last few days at work and believed I might be able to tough it out. If anyone were to notice something wrong, it would be a skilled professional such as yourself.”

His response is corporate and clean, and just as quickly as his shock had appeared, his face returns to professional distance once more.

Emily looks sympathetic over the PR statement. Your boss is quick to scramble back down the stairs, only a little hurt when Bruce waves away his arm to help him back down, “Mr. Wayne, you should have said something! We can take the elevators instead. The last thing we’d want to do is make you uncomfortable. Please, this way.”

You find your way to the back of the group again, now thoroughly embarrassed at your behavior, and begin plotting excuses to step away in the middle of the tour. Emergency surgery, maybe? You had friends in the ICU who could ping you for a false alarm. Maybe then you could sneak in a well-needed nap back at your office-

“I should thank you.”

Bruce had materialized beside you at some point on the trek to the elevators, not as keen on hiding the stiffness in his walk after being exposed. Once his words catch up with you, you stumble out a response, “Wh- oh no, that’s not-”

“Alfred often has to remind me to take care of myself, but it’d be unlike me to not give him a hard time.” Bruce offers a smile, genuine enough that you’re kind of pleased he’s not playing up the friendliness for business. You hate that his smile is the only thing that sets him and Batman apart in your exhausted mind.

You return the smile as you all wait for the doors to open, “He seems very protective of you. And he’s right, you should take better care of yourself. There are worse places to get hurt.”

You’re about to look away, about to follow Emily and your boss and Mr. Pennyworth into the elevator, but you’re a second too late and catch a glint in his eye as soon as you finish your sentence. It’s gone before you know it. “Maybe.” Is his only reply. His smile remains genuine.

taglist: @yikes-buddy @alexxavicry

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne scenarios #bruce wayne imagine #bruce wayne one shot #bruce wayne #batman x reader #batman scenarios #batman imagine #the batman #battinson x reader #battinson #mjwrites #bw; rprt

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spookysspoons · 6 days

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HEY GUYS I NEED HELP!

I recently came into the possession of a giant millipede, multiple small millis, and twenty or so (probably more...) isopods. About 10 of them are giant canyon isopods. PLEASE HELP ME LEARN HOW TO CARE FOR THEM!

If you have any care tips pls lmk!!! I'm very new to taking care of insects and such but I have done much of my own research on how to care for them.

Currently I have all of these guys in a 15 gal tank, a heater pad is attached to one side, the soil is at an angle, lots of leaf litter and a good amount of moss, some cork and rotting wood bark, a little cork log, and a shallow water source incase it gets too dry.

I also have a humidity and temp reader I got from Runnings. I've been giving them ground up egg shells for calcium and some potatoes peels and a cucumber slice for extra nourishment.

The layers in the tank are as follows:

- some small pebbles for drainage

- coco coir

- mixture of peat-based substrate from the store, some work casting organic fertilizer, and more coco coir

- leaf litter and moss

This is what it looks like ^^

It's placed in a generly dark area.

The millipedes name is Cranberry btw!!

(tw sh scars)

And these are the little goobers:

QUESTIONS I HAVE:

- How many insects can I put in one 15 gal tank?? How many isopods? Are there issues between them coexisting? I heard eggs might get eaten and if they aren't fed enough calcium they will try to eat eachother.

- Am I grinding up the egg shells enough? Are the peices too big? When I have the money I might just get cuttlefish bone but it can get pricy.

- How often should I clean??? I heard somewhere once a month but if it's a terrarium and not a singular creature and it's more of an ecosystem should I leave it alone other than feeding and spraying water n stuff?

- Can/should I put earthworms in the terrarium? What about snails/slugs? Would they be harmful or helpful?

UPDATE 5/11/24:

- I found a tiny spider guy in there. Is he chill??

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leoniestarlee · 4 months

Text

Illyrian Assassin (16)

Pairing: Azriel x OC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warning: past trauma, slow burn

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

(let me know under this if you want to be on the tag list! I do post at random times and sometimes spam a few chapters within an hour, btw.)

Word still hadn’t come from the Summer Court the following morning, so Rhysand made good on his decision to bring us to the mortal realm.

Daisy and Willa would stay here with Mor and Amren, being cared for in the townhouse. It was agreed last night that I would join Rhys, Feyre, Cass, and Az to the mortal realm. During my absence, Amren decided she’ll try to figure out why Willa is having these weird dreams that are continuing to drain her. My poor sister was barely sleeping, and when she did, it never lasted long.

“What does one wear, exactly, in the human lands?” Mor said from where she sprawled across the foot of Feyre’s bed while I sat up against the headboard.

“Layers,” Feyre said, riffling through the clothes in her armoire for something the both of us could wear. I tried looking for something through my own clothes earlier, but she’d said she would just find me something instead. “They…cover everything up. The décolletage might be a little daring depending on the event, but…everything else gets hidden beneath skirts and petticoats and nonsense.”

“Sounds like the women are used to not having to run—or fight,” I said, picking at my nails. “I don’t remember it being that way five hundred years ago.”

“Even with the wall, the threat of faeries remained, so…surely practical clothes would have been necessary to run, to fight any that crept through. I wonder what changed,” Feyre countered, pulling out an ensemble of turquoise with accents of gold—rich, bright, regal for our approval.

Mor and I merely nodded, and she went on, “Nowadays, most women wed, bear children, and then plan their children’s marriages. Some of the poor might work in the fields, and a rare few are mercenaries or hired soldiers, but…the wealthier they are, the more restricted their freedoms and roles become. You’d think that money would buy you the ability to do whatever you pleased.”

“Some of the High Fae,” Mor said, pulling at an embroidered thread in the blanket, “are the same.”

Feyre slipped behind the dressing screen as I laid on my stomach beside Mor.

“In the Court of Nightmares,” Mor went on, that voice falling soft and a bit cold once more, “females are…prized. Our virginity is guarded, then sold off to the highest bidder—whatever male will be of the most advantage to our families. I was born stronger than anyone in my family. Even the males. And I couldn’t hide it, because they could smell it—the same way you can smell a High Lord’s Heir before he comes to power. The power leaves a mark, an…echo. When I was twelve, before I bled, I prayed it meant no male would take me as a wife, that I would escape what my elder cousins had endured: loveless, sometimes brutal, marriages.”

I looked at my best friend with pity and sadness as parts on that year flooded back into my mind.

“But then I began bleeding a few days after I turned seventeen. And the moment my first blood came, my power awoke in full force, and even that gods-damned mountain trembled around us. But instead of being horrified, every single ruling family in the Hewn City saw me as a prize mare. Saw that power and wanted it bred into their bloodline, over and over again.”

“What about your parents?” Feyre managed to ask.

“My family was beside themselves with glee. They could have their pick of an alliance with any of the other ruling families. My pleas for choice in the matter went unheard.”

“A bunch of pricks,” I mumbled.

“The rest of the story,” Mor said as Feyre emerged, holding out a pastel blue gown toward me, “is long, and awful, and I’ll tell you some other time. I came here to say I’m not going with you—to the mortal realm.”

“Because of how they treat women?” Feyre questioned as I thanked her for the dress and slipped behind the dressing screen.

“If that was the case, then I can assure you that Rhys wouldn’t let Rory anywhere near the realm,” Mor snorted as I laughed, changing out of my tunic and pants. “When the queens come, I will be there. I wish to see if I recognize any of my long-dead friends in their faces. But…I don’t think I would be able to…behave with any others.”

“Did Rhys tell you not to go?” Feyre said tightly as I slipped into the gown with more skirts than I’d ever worn.

How do they manage to walk in this?

“No,” Mor said, snorting. “He tried to convince me to come, actually. He said I was being ridiculous. But Cassian…he gets it. The two of us wore him down last night.”

Feyre’s brows rose as I snorted, walking back over to the bed with the gown on and restricting more movement than I’d like.

Mor shrugged at the unasked question in Feyre’s eyes. “Cassian and Rory helped Rhys get me out. Before he had the real rank to do so. For Rhys, getting caught would have been a mild punishment, perhaps a bit of social shunning. But Cassian and Rory…” She looked at me, taking my hand in hers. “They risked everything to make sure I stayed out of that court, especially Cass. And he laughs about it, but he believes he’s a low-born bastard, not worthy of his rank or life here. He has no idea that he’s worth more than any other male I met in that court—and outside of it. Him and Azriel, that is.”

Feyre opened her mouth, but the cloak chimed ten, meaning it was time to go.

I stood up as Mor let go of my hand.

“I’d like my sisters to meet you. Maybe not today. But if you ever feel like it…” Feyre said to Mor as I softly smiled between the two of them.

Mor’s mouth tightened and she blinked a few times.

Feyre went for the door but paused with her hand on the knob. “I’m sorry if I was not as welcoming to you as you were to me when I arrived at the Night Court. I was…I’m trying to learn how to adjust.”

But Mor hopped off the bed, opened the door for her, and said, “There are good days and hard days for me—even now. Don’t let the hard days win.”

“I think I prefer you better when you aren’t wearing mortal clothes,” Cassian mused at me as I leaned against the wall, looking up and down at his fighting leathers.

“I think you don’t know how to compliment a female,” I shot back with a sweet smile while adjusting the white coat around my shoulders.

Azriel snorted across from me, his shadows swirling up his arms. “Even after five hundred years, you both still act like legitimate siblings.”

“I swear they came from the same mother sometimes,” Rhys chimed in with a smirk on his lips.

I flipped them both off as we fell to a silence, waiting for Feyre to say something as she glanced around at us.

I took a step toward Azriel, knowing Rhys would winnow us two off the coast, right to the invisible line where the wall bisected our world. There was a tear in its magic about half a mile offshore—which we’d fly though.

He gave me a small smile that I retuned, but it quickly wiped off my face and I snapped my head to Feyre as she said, “I’ll fly with Azriel.”

Slowly, slightly baffled, I looked back to Az who held an apology in his eyes as he looked at me before merely bowing his head to Feyre, and said, “Of course.”

Cassian cringed, glancing between me and Az. The three males knew if I’d ever need to fly somewhere, it would be Azriel who took me. But now, he’s taking Feyre and I’ve got to be fine with that. I mean, I was fine with it, but I also didn’t like it.

“You drop me, and I swear I’ll cut your balls off,” I warned Cass, walking toward him.

“If I drop you, then it’s Willa and Daisy who’ll attack me,” he grumbled, scooping me into his arms as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Rhys laughed, grabbing Cass and then we were surrounded by black wind and the townhouse was gone. Blinding sunlight, and roaring wind surrounded us as Cassian plunged down, down—Then we tilted, shooting straight.

“I missed this,” I said, looking at my bastard brother as he chuckled.

Below, ahead, behind, the vast, blue sea stretched. Above, fortresses of clouds plodded along. I felt the wall as we swept through. Felt it lunge for me and then we were out. Cassian banked, veering toward the coastline, where Rhys was now sweeping over the land.

I stood between Cassian and Azriel as we stood behind Feyre—glamoured. The glamour didn’t keep out the damn cold though. I desperately rubbed my arms, trying to warm myself as Cassian chuckled, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his body heat.

The door opened, and a merry-faced round housekeeper squinted at Feyre. “May I help…” The words trailed off as she looked closer at Feyre’s face.

“Oh, she knows for sure,” I whispered, pressing myself more into Cassian’s side.

“I’m here to see my family,” Feyre choked out.

“Your—your father is away on business, but your sisters…” She didn’t move. Her eyes darted around Feyre. No carriage, no horse. No footprints in the snow.

“We should have planned this better,” Rhys said to us, knowing the glamour keeps our voices hidden.

The older lady’s face blanched and I looked at Rhys, raising a brow. “You think?” I sarcastically retorted.

“Mrs. Laurent?”

I felt everyone stiffen at the sudden voice from the hall. Hell, even I stiffened.

Feyre backed away a step, making Rhys step forward. But I grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him back between me and Azriel.

“Are you insane?” I whisper-shouted at him. “If you comfort her now, then you might as well waltz in there and announce your presence.”

“I could easily wipe away any memory of us,” he stated.

I slapped him on the back of the head, sending him a disapproving look.

A mortal female’s face appeared over Mrs. Laurent’s round shoulder. Soft and lovely, like a summer dawn. Her golden-brown hair was half up, her pale skin creamy and flushed with color.

The mortal lifted a slender hand to her mouth as her body shook with a sob.

“Elain,” Feyre said hoarsely.

Footsteps on the sweeping stairs behind them, then—“Mrs. Laurent, draw up some tea and bring it to the drawing room.”

The women merely gave Feyre a look that promised death if she harmed her sisters as she turned into the house, leaving Feyre before Elain, still quietly crying.

But Feyre took a step over the threshold and closed the door. None of us said a word until a minute passed and I exhaled.

“This should be fun,” I groaned. “I’m freezing my damn ass off out here though.”

“You’re an Illyrian,” Rhys deadpanned. “How are you cold?”

“When was the last time you stayed in those mountains?” I raised a brow at him, and he rolled his eyes as Az and Cass quietly chuckled at us.