#weirdly together for my standards

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

hii 📓

Okay so the thing is that I wanted a “the Zenin raised Megumi instead of Gojo” fic but the thing is that I’m absolutely convinced that if the Zenin were the ones that took Megumi they wouldn’t actually take tsumiki too. The fandom consensus I’ve personally seen has been that she would have been taken and mistreated by zenin for being a female non sorcerer but I personally think they would have just straight up left her behind.

They only bought Megumi. They keep non sorcerers and women as servants in their compound but all of them are Zenin themselves. Tsumiki isn’t related and I couldn’t really see any reason why they’d want her. Which turned this into a fic where Tsumiki loses her brother, but she’s trying to find him again, she swears. I think of it as my “siblings doomed by the narrative desperately try to write a new one where they can be together” fic.

The thing is that Tsumikis mom was one of those people who thought love and consumption were synonymous. She had a habit of getting caught up with assholes and just… having both of them chew on each other for a while until it turns into this horrible fucking bloodbath.

Tojis just another loser her mom got caught up in, but he’s Tsumiki’s favorite out of all the losers, because he gave her her brother. Her mom marries this random guy she barley knows and Tsumikis pretty sure she does it so they can both ditch their kids twice as much, secure in the knowledge that there’s supposedly another person checking in. It works out great for them, because they both stop coming entirely. It’s fine, because Tsumiki has Megumi and Megumi has Tsumiki and they don’t need anything else.

It’s one of those things where they were in really unhealthy circumstances and it made their relationship a little bit unhealthy but not necessarily bad. They both had to grow up way too fast and deal with way too much too soon and become codependent on each other because they are, in the most literal way possible, dependent on one another. Neither of them know how to love in a way that doesn’t involve sacrificing themselves for their sibling, mostly because they don’t have a way that doesn’t involve that.

They’re in a sinking ship and tsumiki knows it. Their parents aren’t coming back. The money is going to run out sooner or later. Their problems are stacking up.

Megumi has confessed to her that he sees things that no one else does. When she asks him how he knows no one else sees them, he explains that they’d say something if they did and won’t say anything else. And she doesn’t know what to believe but she refuses to call him crazy. He tells her that monsters cling to her back and he fights them off for her. She patches up his bruises and cuts and tells him he’s brave and tries to figure out if she’s just imagining that her back feels lighter after. He tells her that there are dogs that only he can see that have started following him around, and she tells him she believes him and can never remember, later, if she meant it or was just saying it.

The last time Toji came by, he left them more money than tsumikis ever seen in her life, took them to ice cream, told them that he was sorry he was so shit at this and that the money was Megumi’s share in a payment. It was for something he was going to help daddy with later. Tsumiki and him were to use it to take care of themselves and be healthy, because Megumi couldn’t help him later if he wasn’t. And tsumiki was always afraid of what he meant by that, but in the end, she let it slip her mind. After all, Toji hadn’t been by in ages. He probably wouldn’t come by at all.

And he didn’t. But others did. Two men she’s never met before are waiting outside their building one day, and when they see Megumi, they laugh. But the thing that Tsumiki can never get out of her mind later is that she swears they weren’t looking at Megumi directly. They were looking at his dogs.

Tsumiki basically tries to get Megumi and powerwalk past them, but they’re a lot bigger and a lot stronger and there’s nothing she can do, really. They have a brief conversation about whether they should take her too, before one decides that Toji only sold him his kid and to leave the other behind. This makes both of them try to run, but there’s nothing either of them can do to overpower the men, and the men say that “Naobito would go ballistic if they left the ten shadows behind” so they take Megumi and leave her.

They put Megumi in a car and shove Tsumiki to the curb outside of it, and she tried to hold onto his hand, she swears. She grabbed at the car door even when the car started moving, and she banged on the windows, and she watched as Megumi kicked and punched and screamed inside, until one of them hit him and he went still. She ends up falling and hitting her head when the car picks up speed, and when she wakes up again, the cars gone and she has no idea where it went.

And it becomes a foundational moment for who she is. I think she was just intensely lonely before Megumi and poured a lot of herself into this idea of a family together. Tsumikis never able to shake the moment of her being outside the car and Megumi being on the inside, and not being able to get into him. She can never again get what she felt in that moment out of her head.

She goes to the police and tells them that it’s her little brother, his dad sold him but she wants him back, and they’re like “…”. The issue is that apparently her mom can pick up the damn phone if the police call and she shows up, spins some lie about how her and the stepdad split up and he took the kid with him, they never adopted each others kids so it was within his rights, Tsumiki was taking the separation hard and acting out. She lies, basically, because toji hadn’t kept up his end of the deal and dropped in to check in (neither had she) and his kid wasn’t her responsibility, he could do what he wanted with him. She doesn’t want the police poking around the way she lives. Just let the kid go because he’s probably dead and not her real brother anyway.

Tsumiki refuses to give up on him. They were both kids who no one cared about but they cared about each other and that had to be enough. But she’s seven with no support and zero idea on how to find him. She starts skipping school to look for him in random streets, puts up flyers, can’t go outside without looking for him. She gets held back a year in school because of how much she skips and she can’t bring herself to care. She buys him gifts on every birthday and writes him letters she can’t post because she’s going to find her brother and she’s going to prove to him that she never once stopped looking for him. She just. She needs him to know that she never stopped looking for him. She needs to find him and be able to honestly tell him she never stopped trying.

One day her mom comes back in clothes she can’t afford and comes with movers they shouldn’t be able to afford and announces a move they definitely can’t afford. Tsumikis absolutely opposed to going because if her brother comes to look for her, she needs to be in their old apartment so he can find her. She doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. They have mysterious new benefactors who are setting up a trust to take care of tsumiki with a very generous stipend for her mom but they have to move to Sendai as a stipulation of getting the money.

It’s not until the attorney who’s managing her trust hands her a set of glittery blue butterfly hairpins that tsumiki realizes her mom sold her brother a second time.

The thing is that tsumiki had this one cheap set of butterfly hairpins she’d always stopped to look at in the store when she took Megumi to go grocery shopping. Shed never buy them, because they couldn’t afford it, but it was the thing she wanted most openly in front of him. She was always secretly really insecure about her hair, because they were the kind of poor where bar soap was a luxury they could only sometimes afford and kids at school made fun of how her hair was dirty and frayed. Megumi was the only one who ever saw how badly she wanted those stupid hair clips. If they had to give her a set of butterfly hair clips, it’s because he demanded that they did.

It’s basically implied that the Zenin are the ones paying for her care and upkeep due to an unspecified deal they cut with Megumi, but when they approached her mom with it, they added the caveat that Tsumiki had to be moved to a new city entirely and there could be no forwarding address left anywhere.

The zenins stance on tsumiki is, effectively, that she’s a weakness Megumi needs to be weaned off of. They honestly assumed he’d just like, forget she ever existed and he. Did not do that. He actually pitched a total bitch fit. Tried to scale the compound walls. Bit multiple people including the clan leader. But he’s got the ten shadows, he’s heir to the clan, and he can’t be caught up on some random non sorcerer who isn’t even a Zenin. They end up agreeing to pay for her to live very comfortably if he starts cooperating more but they want to make sure that he can’t ever find her again if he does ever succeed in running away.

Tsumiki is at once full of hope and hopeless, because on one hand, the butterfly clips prove that Megumi still loves her and remembers her, at least in her mind. But at the same time, she’s being moved to Sendai and doesn’t know how they’ll ever find each other again. She doesn’t honestly know if they’d recognize each other if they saw each other again. She wears the butterfly clips every day, even when she gets too old for the style, because she’s more confident about her brother recognizing them than her.

The thing about tsumiki is that she doesn’t understand hate. She just doesn’t. Her mom and toji always got caught up in these perceived slights and revenge and never once let go of the past. They’d destroy themselves if it meant taking down the people they hated with them. She never wanted that. She wanted to live with the people she loved and she’d happily turn around and forget everything, all the pain, all the searching, if it just meant she could go back to being megumis sister.

This isn’t about hate. This is about that moment outside the car, where her brother was inside and she couldn’t get in to him. This is about how helpless and small she felt when they shoved her to the curb and ripped megumis hand out of hers. She needs to make sure that when she finds Megumi, she can take him home again. So she decides she needs to learn how to fight.

Itadori Yuuji has the constitution of an ox and the strength to match it, and he is known for getting in fights with bullies and trouncing them so thoroughly that it’s never a question of who wins when the fight starts. He’s insanely physically capable and can hold his own in a fight with ease. He’s also nice and kind and Tsumiki’s comfortable enough asking him to teach her how to throw a punch or two.

She is bad at it.

So fucking bad at it.

But she never gives up, and Itadori is nice enough to keep teaching her despite how embarrassingly horrible she is at it all. He always asks her why she wants to learn so bad, she doesn’t seem to like it all, and she never answers his question honestly.

In their last year of middle school, their class has a trip to Kyoto. She, Itadori, and the rest of their group walk into some random restaurant in the city and have barely sat down when someone comes inside, starts searching every booth in the restaurant while shouting Tsumikis name.

And oh. They could recognize each other after all.

She looked for Megumi in every crowd she was ever in, but she didn’t consider that he was doing the same. Or that he would see her first.

Her brother grew up without her seeing it. Hes older, dressed in strange, expensive clothes, has a slightly bruised up face and split lip, but his eyes are the same, and he looks like the brother she remembered.

But a lot more nervous than Megumi ever was. He was a tiny, stoic child who didn’t take any shit and never showed fear, even when there were monsters that only he could see. But he’s nervous when he tells her that she probably doesn’t recognize him or remember him, but when she was a lot younger, he—

Megumi. He’s her little brother. Of course she remembers him. She’s been looking for him everywhere.

Megumi didn’t smile much as a child, but he smiles at her then. He tells her he doesn’t have a lot of time and she tells him that they can leave out the back, and he never let her hold his hand as a child but he takes her hand so easily in that second. And just for a second, she’s his sister again, and it’s everything she wanted.

They never make it out the back.

Two men come in. Megumi calls one of them uncle, and he goes stiff and flat the second he sees him. His uncle apologizes for his nephew, tells everyone that he always makes scenes when they’re out in public, tells him to apologize to the nice people and leave. Megumi was mistaken.

Tsumiki tríes to keep ahold of his hand. Really, she does. She tries to tell people to call the police. But megumis “uncle” steps towards her and Megumi slams him into a table, and then suddenly Megumi’s the one insisting that they leave immediately. They can go. It’s fine. They’re leaving. She loses ahold of his hand.

She tries to follow, but the other man restrains her. She learns that she’s better at slamming plates into peoples heads than she is at punching, and at this point itadoris Friend In Danger Override has been triggered and he fucking tackles the dude, which gives tsumiki the clearing that she needs to chase outside after her brother. She gets out just in time to see him be pushed into a car, and she’s had years to think about the last time this happened and figure out what to do differently. She throws herself in front of the car and refuses to move.

See her entire stance is that she’ll sooner get run over and killed in the street than let them do this a second time, but she also can see Megumi trying to fucking punch the drivers head in from behind because he’s about to hit his sister. His uncles trying to restrain him, and just for a second, she sees his hands make the shape of the shadow puppets he used to show her as children. Something invisible slams her out of the way just as his uncle knocks him out.

She picks up a rock and tries to smash in the fucking window with it, and itadori has to pull her out of the way to keep her from getting her feet run over when the car finally tears out of the parking lot. She goes ballistic on him for stopping her because her brother was right there and she lost him again and she didn’t even get the license plate. He was right there.

The police basically do jack all again. There’s no license plate, no names they can follow up on, and they’re still half convinced this is a settled custody issue even though tsumiki insists her brother was sold by his dad and is very plainly getting hurt wherever he is. Itadori is now a devoted advocate of finding tsumikis brother and reuniting them, and both basically kind of end up becoming really close to the other? He’s taking care of himself and his grandpa alone, she’s alone while her moms awol again, and they both become the others support system.

At one point, there’s this random girl and boy who doesn’t speak who shows up to their school for indeterminate reasons. The girl is bored and twirling her glasses in one hand while the person in a suit that they’re with asks the principal questions, and when tsumikis eyes catch at the right angle, she sees an invisible monster clinging to a classmates back through them. She realizes it’s exactly what Megumi always talked about and still remembers that the people who took him could see his dogs. She corners the two others in a room and tries to demand information about the invisible monsters or see if they know her brother or the people who took him, and immediately gets blown off. The fight escalates until the girl tells him that actually, yeah. She knows tsumikis brother. He is a very special person to some very powerful people, and the only way she can ever help him is to tell him that she’s let go of him and that he needs to do the same to her. That’s the only message that the people who have him would ever let get through, and his life would get a lot better as soon as he got it.

The people who have him would give him anything in the world, except for her. He could be a lot happier and healthier than he is right now if he just agreed to stop trying to find tsumiki. If she really wants to help her brother, then she needs to let him go.

Tsumiki nails her in the back of the head with a milk carton when she tries to walk away. It sloshes out on her. Tsumiki did not intend this. She cannot admit that fact. There are some actions you just have to own when you do them. She tells the girl that he’s her brother and she’s never letting go of him. She’s going to find him. They can’t keep him from her forever. She doesn’t care how long it takes her.

For a second, tsumiki really thinks this girl is going to kick her ass, but she doesn’t. She wishes her luck and tells her she’ll need it, and it’s only later that tsumiki realizes she slipped the eyeglasses into her pocket.

And as it turns out, her brothers monsters were real all along.

There was a knife that toji left in the frame of his bed. Tsumiki confiscated it from Megumi as soon as he found it, and it was odd and strange and gave her bad feelings when she held it, and it can kill the things that gather on her back. When she follows Itadori to their local high school and joins the occult club in an attempt to find more people involved in this world of invisible monsters, she wears the eyeglasses and keeps the knife hidden in her bag.

It comes in handy when her senpais are trying to open this thing and suddenly there’s like a fucking portal opening and Actually Let’s Not Oh Too Late Let’s Run Let’s Fucking Run.

They run.

Meanwhile at the hospital Megumi found out in very quick succession that his sister has fucking sukunas finger and also that there’s a very over enthusiastic himbo who is the self appointed vice president of the Find Fushiguro Megumi And Bring Him Home Club who absolutely fucking refuses to leave his side. Sorry who are you. Why are you so enthusiastic about finding him. Megumi sort of was the one doing the finding there was a whole tracking situation and him waiting dramatically in the shadows like they just did it.

Anyway they run very very quickly to tsumikis school where she is dodging she is serpentining this is a fuckton of monsters oh holy fuck is that her brother?

The fight goes bad.

Tsumiki manages to follow itadori and her brother out at a much slower pace because she’s not a freak of nature like itadori and shows up just in time to see her brother shouting at itadori to not eat the fucking finger while itadori is absolutely trying to eat the fucking finger.

She chucks her shoe at him. The finger goes flying.

Then the monster eats it instead.

Tsumiki: :o

Yuuji: :o

Megumi: fuck

Now there’s a bigger monster and the fight goes even worse. There’s a lot of shouting. Itadori ends up with her knife. Then he ends up getting eaten and they’re down both a knife and itadori, who’s probably fucking dead. Then megumis insisting she run and she’s insisting he shut the fuck up because it’s sort of taken a decade to get this close to him again and she’s not fumbling the bag now because of a monster on the rampage. Have a sense of fucking priorities here.

Then itadori bursts out of the monsters stomach with the knife like the fucking Kool Aid Man and the fight is suddenly very over. Good job, team.

Gojo rolls up to his most stoic and eternally pissed off student having a dramatic and emotional reunion with his sister.

Yuuji, in a very bad whisper: no no so like she’s been looking for him for years but he saw her in the restaurant

Gojo: :o go on

Yuuji: and then he got caught by like, I don’t know, he said he was his uncle or something but the dude acted so weird and creepy and they put him in a car and Tsumiki tried to stop the car but they got away

Gojo: *gasp* what no

Yuuji: I know! Anyway then I start helping her look for him but we can’t find him anywhere until I’m at the hospital and he just walks up to me right?? And I’m like “dude I have been looking everywhere for you” and he’s like “I have no idea who you are, I’m here about that fucked up demon finger” and I’m like—

Megumi, really trying to have a moment here: we can both hear you

And megumis like “this is uh. My new teacher. I guess. I am his only student. And he is uh. Enthusiastic. Do not linger in conversation with him.”

Tsumiki is lingering. She needs fucking intel so he can’t disappear again. Where does he go to school and can she transfer there. It’s fucking wizard school? Will they take her even though she’s not a wizard? She cannot emphasize enough that she will study any fucking subject they want so that way she can be close with her brother again she does not care if it’s applicable to her education or life. She can throw things at people itadori tell the man tell him how enthusiastically she will throw things at monsters for their weird fucking wizard school.

Itadori: she hit me in the face with her shoe like five minutes ago

Tsumiki: see???

Megumi keeps trying to forbid her from wizard school but she’s technically the older sister so she has override rights. She will go to wizard school. How does she get wizard school to accept her.

And Gojos just really weird and off and keeps looking at Megumi and saying that he “didn’t know he had a sister.”

He really didn’t know that Megumi had a sister he wanted to stay with.

And then suddenly it’s like a switch is flipped and he’s back to his normal self telling them to leave everything to him, because he’ll make sure tsumiki can come back with them. And uh? Itadori? Weirdly physically capable kid who will apparently eat anything? Is he going to be good getting home after all this?

Itadori: actually if it’s not too much trouble can I go to wizard school too my grandpa sort of died half an hour ago and I don’t have plans for the rest of my life. Tsumikis kind of my best friend and I’d like to make sure she’s all good at wizard school. I’m a really good fighter and I stabbed the last monster so like can I come too because you know. Dead grandpa. No family or future to speak of. Haha.

Gojo:

Megumi:

Tsumiki, softly: dude

There’s more after they make it to jujutsu high but this is already really long so we leave it here

#ask games #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #continuing my streak of becoming obsessed with minor background characters #other highlights include itadori trying to platonically wingman for tsumiki with her brother (because it’s been like a decade and she knows #nothing about him and he knows nothing about her and she’s terrified he won’t like her once they get to know each other again) so that way #itadori can be the one asking the get to know you questions and tsumiki doesn’t have to admit out loud that she and her brother know nothing #about each other only the inherent problem is that her brother is actually unfairly pretty and has a sort of dry wit and is reserved but #when you get to know him he’s such a genuine dude and oh fuck oh no he’s in trouble this is his best friends long lost brother he has to be #violating some kind of code here. Kugisaki stop laughing at him this is a crisis. #gojo basically backed out of teenage fatherhood when he saw Megumi walking around with the divine dogs because it’s one thing to butt heads #with a major clan over an outcast member it’s another to do it for their most sacred technique #he thought that Megumi would be better taken care of than anyone else in the clan as the person with the ten shadows and that he’d probably #be better off than with an emotionally broken seventeen year old who works at least 28 days a month and has no idea how to raise a child #he never realized that Megumi had a sister he wanted to stay with who the Zenin separated him from #he tells himself he would have intervened if he had known because he’s been secretly worried and guilty about not taking in Megumi after all #since Maki showed up and said some worrying things about the clan heir and his standard of living and got the confirmation when he met #tsumiki and realized that he could have kept them together all those years ago and didnt. megumi and tsumiki kind of haunt him with lost #potential because not only could they have grown up a family but they could have grown up his family. megumi doesn’t know why satoru gojo #of all people is being so weirdly helpful and intense about about sponsoring tsumiki and keeping her close to him

[fantabulisticity]

Even more tags.

#i should be allowed to actually say no when people return non-returnable things. if you make an exception EVERY SINGLE TIME then you... #...don't actually have a return policy. if someone buys old multiply-marked down gummies from MONTHS ago and they're stuck together? #because THAT'S WHAT OLD GUMMIES DO? THAT'S WHY THEY'RE MARKED DOWN? #then i should be able to say 'sorry food is nonreturnable' and actually MEAN it. YEAH. THEY STICK TOGETHER. THEY'RE *GUMMIES.* #THEIR SHELF LIFE IS APPROXIMATELY FOREVER AND THEY SHIPPED DURING A HOT WEEK. YEAH. THEY'RE STUCK TOGETHER. #NO THEY AREN'T INEDIBLE. YOU'RE JUST A PICKY ASSHOLE. GO BUY YOUR GUMMIES FROM A FUCKING *NON* DISCOUNT STORE. #THIS IS A DISCOUNT STORE. OUR GUMMIES ARE DISCOUNTED QUALITY. THEY'VE BEEN MARKED DOWN AS THEY'VE SAT ON THE SHELF. YOU PAID $1 FOR THEM. #I AM NOT RETURNING DISCOUNTED GUMMIES BECAUSE YOU HAVE WEIRDLY HIGH STANDARDS FOR DISCOUNT STORE ITEMS. #if you tried on underwear and it didn't fit? i AM NOT taking that back. i am NOT taking back your underwear that you tore all the tag... #...off and destroyed the package and put ON YOUR GENITALS AND ASSHOLE. i am not taking that back. i am not touching your dirty underwear. #same with socks. if you took apart the package roughly and tried on EVRY PAIR of socks and wore them and sweated in them in your dirty feet #i am NOT taking them back. i am NOT touching your dirty nasty undergarments. i ALREADY work with the general public. #i ALREADY handle cash all the time. if you hand me a used item that is WET? no. absolutely fucking not. #keep your body fluids to yourself thanks. #also? don't cough/sneeze in your bare hands and then hand me items with those hands. #don't wipe your nose and then hand me cash. DON'T lick your FUCKING FINGERS and then hand me cash. #that is DISGUSTING. #we have hand sanitizer RIGHT THERE. if you need to wet your fingers to separate cash then you can use that. #or you can ASK. ME. FOR. HELP. I WILL HELP YOU. IT IS MY JOB TO HELP YOU. #it is NOT my job to touch your fucking body fluids. cough and sneeze in your elbow. use hand sanitizer. wash your hands after using... #...the bathroom. #and like. ACTUALLY wash your hands. don't go in there and get piss and shit and blood all over your hands and then put water on em and... #...walk out the door. that actually spreads MORE GERMS than not washing your hands at all because you are suspending them in FLUID... #...which is how most of them travel and survive best. they live IN the fluids. you are transferring them MORE when you do that. #WASH. YOUR. FUCKING. HANDS. WITH. SOAP. AND. DRY. THEM. OFF. #okay i need to eat something. and sleep forever. #i have ONE more shift tomorrow and then. and then i can hang out with my friends and dye my hair and eat pizza and get ready for our... #...road trip. and we are going to have a fucking BLAST!!!!! i am SO GODDAMN EXCITED!!!!!! #personal

[sirfrogsworth]

When I got to this photo in Katrina's collection of vintage family imagery, I was pretty stumped as to how to approach it.

There is a major problem when you zoom in to 100%.

The paper it was developed on has little micro bumps. When it was scanned, the light from the scanner caused a highlight on one side of the bump and a shadow on the other. This causes a pattern which is nearly impossible to eliminate using traditional techniques.

The easiest way to fix this is actually quite clever. You scan it once, then turn it upside down and scan it again. The second pass reverses the side the highlight and shadow appear on, so you can combine the images in Photoshop and blend them together, essentially canceling out the bumps. It's weirdly analogous to noise canceling headphones.

But I don't have access to the physical copy of this image.

So... now what?

Enter Fast Fourier Transform or FFT.

This is a filter that uses extra fancy math to recognize patterns in the image and eliminate them. There is a pretty good filter for Photoshop, but it does not work easily with newer Macs with Apple Silicon. I really did not want to figure that out, and I also was too tired to go downstairs to my PC. However, I learned that a Photoshop competitor, Affinity Photo, has this filter built in. So, I downloaded a trial copy and started the process of trying to figure out how to fix this image.

It was amazingly simple. It brings up these star patterns and you just paint black circles over every one but the center. It literally felt like magic. (Full screen with sound recommended)

So once I did this process I ended up with this...

The paper still had a rough texture but it was much easier to work with using traditional techniques. I started with a black and white conversion and meticulously went through the photo zapping scratches and flaws and balancing tones and sharpening facial features. All of my photo restoration tricks were needed.

I eventually landed here...

I then thought maybe I should match the sepia tone of the original print, so I got to here...

I think the black and white looks nicer in this instance, but I always like having options and this is the most faithful representation of how the photo originally looked.

But there is something else I have been playing around with lately. Photoshop has these experimental neural filters that use cloud processing to do various tricky enhancements. Most of them are in beta and they can be very quirky. But they have a colorizer that tries to detect people and things and adds color to them. Not every black and white photo is a good candidate. I have found these professional portrait photos work decently, but the filter is very hit-and-miss. And there are tools within the filter to help you make a miss more of a hit, but often I have to accept the photo isn't going to work.

But I decided to give it a shot with this one and surprisingly, the colorizer got me most of the way there.

I can work with that.

The one thing it does well is skin. Manually painting color onto skin is tricky and requires more skill and knowledge of traditional painting techniques than I have. But if a filter can do that part for me, I can do the rest.

So after my touchups, I got the image to here.

All I have left to do is my standard color enhancements to make them a little less ghostly and a little more human.

And I present to you where I started and the finished product. I encourage you to flip back and forth.

I'm not sure how, but I was able to go from an image I thought was impossible to edit to a beautiful colorized memory for my best friend's mom. I cannot wait to show her.

#long post #photography #photo restoration

[ravcns]

Runaway

Batfam x batsis!reader

info: growing up in the spotlight does some damage especially when you can’t catch a break, reader was adopted by bruce and this takes place in the last year of highschool

F/F/P = favorite food place

part: 1 2 3 4

Four girls walked together being escorted by a few staff members, flashing lights from students holding up their phones went off. The tallest one shielded the shorter girl’s face from the cameras until they arrived at the principals office. “Thank you Marie.” The girl smiled, “No problem. Is your dad coming or is he in some fancy conference?” She asked you, causing a laugh to escape from you. “He cant even make it to dinner I doubt he would make it to this.” You told her as the four of you sat in different chairs. “I wish my parents were chill my mom is going to kill me.” Camilla said, hugging her legs to her chest. “You’re so lucky that your dad never bothers you Y/N.” You forced a smile, “Yeah.”

Time seemed to move slow in the office. Nobody spoke to the girls, making them more nervous. The secretary that everybody knew was hooking up with their principal even though he was a married man would give them dirty looks every few minutes. Her name was Cheryl and she was one of the people who always managed to get your friend group in trouble, trying to get into the principal’s good graces. Eventually one by one each girl was called in until it was you. Your heart broke at the sight of Loralei coming out crying and her mom dropping a smile, immediately yelling at her in french. The secretary came out “Y/N Wayne.” She called your name with distaste. “L/N.” You said standing up and following her to the office.

The principal, Mr. Anderson, sat at his desk with a grim expression. “Take a seat Miss Wayne, you can leave Cheryl.” The old door creaked as it closed. “Miss Wayne-” “L/N.” You corrected him. “Miss L/N, are you aware of the trouble that you are in?” Then he continued, “Here at Gotham Academy we have a reputation to uphold. It seems you continuously try to tarnish that even though you come from a good background.” “Just because some rich dude adopts a kid does not mean they had a good background.” You said those last two words sarcastically. “Your father hasn’t answered any of our calls. Do you have a second contact that we can inform of the situation to come down here?” Mr. Anderson asked. You didn’t want to call the golden child but your first option was legally dead. “Dick Grayson, I’ll write down his number.” You tuned everything out when he called your brother.

Three knocks rang out before Mr. Anderson spoke, “Come in.” “I have Mr. Grayson here.” Cheryl informed him. You wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. The uniform you had on felt suffocating. “Mr. Anderson, Hi.” Dick greeted, taking the seat next to you. He looked at you weirdly which you couldn’t understand why until you inhaled the scent on your clothes.“Thank you for being here on such short notice.” Mr. Anderson shuffled some papers in front of him. “Y/N was among a group of girls who were caught by a staff member skipping classes in the girls lockeroom.” “Don’t you guys usually give detention for these things?” Dick asked, hoping you weren’t participating in the activity that caused the smell. “Mr. Grayson this isn’t her first offense. That’s not all they were also smoking the female staff member who walked in caught your sister with this.” He took your cart out to show him. Dick sighed, “What’s the punishment?” “We can kick her out of the school and this will be on her permanent record. It would make it quite difficult for Y/N to attend another school up to these standards.” He paused for a second as an idea crossed his mind, “$200 for this incident to be erased and for her to keep attending. This deal will be void if she manages to break the rules again during the last three months of school.” Dick took the deal and grabbed your arm, dragging you out of your seat.

The ride home was quiet until he parked in the driveway. “How old are you now?” He asked sarcastically, resting his hands on the steering wheel. “18.” “You need to act your age I don’t know what’s going on but what you pulled today was stupid. What would have happened if he wasn’t greedy? You wouldn’t be able to get into any colleges with that on your record.” You stared out the window at the suddenly intimidating house, “I’m getting suspended from patrol aren’t I?” You knew it was pointless asking, once Bruce heard about what had happened today you would be lucky if you were only suspended for awhile. “Just go inside.” Dick said, not meeting your eyes. So you did what he told you. As soon as you were out the front door you saw him through the windshield looking upset then he pulled out the driveway, quickly speeding off.

The house seemed empty you just locked the door and went up to your room, finally checking your phone. There was an active facetime call in your friends group chat so you joined. They all greeted you then Loralei asked, “So what happened?” You took a seat at your desk before speaking, “That greedy bitch wanted a bribe and my brother had to pay him.” “So that’s why he said it was taken care of and wouldn’t be on our record they had you pay.” Camila stated, clearly disgusted. “Way to take one for the team.” Marie joked. “I don’t even want to be here right now. When Bruce finds out what happened I am screwed.” You were afraid of what could happen then again how does somebody go from being an unwanted 17 year old in an orphanage to some famous potential heir to a company. Suddenly the group chat with all your siblings started going crazy. Then a phone call from crowbar chomper came in. “Hold on my brother is calling me.” You accepted it, “Hello.” “My dear sister it seems that you have gotten into some trouble.” Jason said. The sound of wind could be heard in the background so you assumed he was on his motorcycle. “Yes it appears that way.” He laughed, “If you want to lay low for the weekend come to my apartment. I already spoke to Roy he’s cool with it.” The offer was tempting so you took it. “Sounds good, I’ll pack a bag.” “Roy will be there in ten minutes. We planned to kidnap you if you didn’t say yes.” Jason informed you, causing a smile to grace your face for the first time that day. “Love you too.” You said. “I’ll see you later Cliff jumper.” He said then hung up. The name came from the amount of times you have been thrown off of a cliff or just even high places in general. You finished packing your bag then grabbed your backup cart.

Time passed quickly and soon Roy called you. “I’m out front.” He said. “I’ll be down in a sec.” You hung up then left your room. However on the couch downstairs was Damian. “L/N, making your escape?” He words held distaste, which was new. You and him got along pretty well since he was only a year younger than you. “Yes and I would appreciate it if you don’t tell Bruce until he realizes it.” You explained, hoping he would agree. “Okay.” Damian looked like he wanted to say something but just went back to looking at his phone, probably texting Rachel. You quickly walked out the front door, jumping in Roy’s car. “Wanna stop and get food? We have to go grocery shopping tomorrow morning.” He told you. “Sure, can we get something from F/F/P?” You asked. “Sounds good.”

At the apartment you two sat on the stools in front of the counter, talking about the most random things. The topic of father figures came up. “Does it ever get easier?” You asked him. Roy took a sip of his drink then answered, “Sometimes, other times shit can happen. You can still fix things you know? You haven’t even spoken to Bruce yet.” “He is always in some fucking meeting even when I finally see him he just suspends me for a week or two. It’s like I’m just something he quickly tries to deal with and then ignore it until there is a problem again.” You explained to him. “Kid you still got years to figure this stuff out, but you will.” He took a bite of his food then spoke after he finished chewing, “And hey maybe the family dynamic just isn’t working, it’s not your fault. The Batgirl mantle can become something else.” Suddenly you weren’t interested in your food anymore. “I can see it but that’s the problem, I don’t know who I am if i’m not her. Everyone else who had the title did so much but I keep making mistakes.” Roy had this knowing look on his face. “Your 18 now I say let Bruce suspend Batgirl, pick up a new mantle, and figure it out from there. Or you could start a regular life who knows, it may do wonders.”

The front door opened and Jason walked in, taking a seat across from you. “So what are we talking about?” He asked. “I think it’s time this bat flew the cave.” Roy said. “Now that sounds like a plan.” Jason stated, stealing some of your food. You picked up your phone to see the time, they would all be out on patrol right now. You took the time to update your friends, choosing the larger group chat first; arkham escapees. They thought you faced the wrath of Bruce. Once being informed of what happened Eunwoo complained, “Who’s going to set me up with her hot brother now.” When asked who he meant the junior replied with, “All of them.” But then also added how he hoped you were okay and didn’t get sent off to some reform school upstate New york or some rural midwest one. You sent a quick text, “guys i am ok i didn’t see bruce yet i’m staying w my brother at his place 🫡.” Then you checked the news. Jason and Roy talking to one another while you scrolled. Texts came in from your friends Kim, Callan, Thalia, Jake, Evan, and Naomi. “next thing you know they got her on the news as a runaway.” Naomi joked. “#FREE Y/N 2023.” Jake said. “retweet” Thalia replied. “Ok but what if the news actually does coverage on this?” Eunwoo asked. “Don’t speak that into existence smh.” Kim told him.

Suddenly your phone started ringing and you threw it down on the table. Jason took a look at who was calling and said, “Just answer it they can track your phone so they know your here.” You turned you phone off, Taking out your personal one that you have under an account with a fake id. You texted the other gc they had with this number. “ou she’s on her burner phone guys.” Camila said. “it’s an iphone 12 pro goodbye.” you told them. “Since when did you have that? Jason asked. “Around six months after I moved in.” You replied.

It was 11:00pm and you were growing tired. Jason noticed and said, “Take my room I will take the couch.” “No it’s fine I can sleep on the couch.” You said. “Y/N, I will put you in there and board up the door. There’s enough granola bars to last you a month and the bathroom is connected to there so you will be good.” He joked. “Okay Okay I’ll take the bed. Goodnight.” You got up and grabbed your bag and went to the room. It was very clean which surprised you but then again, they usually were sleeping at their safe houses or on missions somewhere. The group chat had a call going for an hour or two then you told them goodnight and left to try and sleep. Unlike other things today, sleep came easy for you.

Someone was banging on the front door. You texted the group chat to see who was awake. “bitch someone is at my brothers front door knocking like crazy.” Evan responded immediately, “prob eunwoo tryna get his man.” “I know I thirst over her brothers but keep in mind me and Drew are dating plus we both do so it’s okay.” His text was followed by a picture of him and his partner together on the couch, Drew holding up a picture of Tim and Dick. “tim is literally 20 and dick is even older also how does this help nobody seems to have woken up do i go check.” You texted. “everything aside i think your family probably sent the search party by now.” Drew said, they were being realistic so you decided to get up to go check. “wish me luck.” You sent your last text.

The apartment was dark, dimly lit by the street lights from outside and the moon. You kept your footsteps quiet and checked the peephole. Out of all people you did not expect him. You texted the group chat, “speak of the devil and he shall appear it was tim guys.” “Then who’s place are you at? I thought Dick lived in Bludhaven.” Drew asked. Time to play sibling roulette. You typed up a response, “at dukes place with his friend.” The knocking started up again. This time Jason woke up asking, “Who’s at the door?” “Tim.” You told him. “I’ll answer it go to the room.” He told you, instead you stood in the hallway by the two bedrooms out of site. Roy opened his door, rubbing his eyes, “Do you know what time-” You shushed him, “Tim is here keep it down I wanna eavesdrop.” Jason opened the door, “How much coffee did you drink that you had to come here at four in the morning?” “Y/N didn’t come home and never responded to our group chat. I know she’s here.” Tim said. Jason pretended to be annoyed, “She left yesterday a little bit before midnight, sorry.” He went to close the door. “So you wouldn’t mind if I took a look around?” The younger one asked. Roy came up with an idea, opening his bedroom door so you could go in then he normally walked up to them. “What’s going on I’m trying to sleep.” You could tell Roy stayed here more often based on the state of his room. “Jason I’m tired and don’t feel like playing games, where is she?” Tim asked again. Roy started talking and trying to sympathize with him by saying, “I understand how worried you all must be. I’ll shoot Y/N a text seeing if she wants to hang out to see if she responds.”

Two figures stepped out, one on each side of Tim. Dick and Damian. Dick pushed the door further open and walked inside, looking around. The other two followed. “Tim stay here with them, Damian check Roy’s bedroom I will check Jason’s. It sounded like people were getting closer and you looked around. There wasn’t much hiding space and you knew you were being irrational at this point. You just did not want to go back there right now so you hid in a stupid place, the closet. Footsteps could be heard in the bedroom you had accepted your fate by now. The closet door opened, “You know you could have left through the window.” He said. “Wanna do me a favor?” You asked. “No, father is actually extremely upset about the stunt you pulled in school.” Damian told you, grabbing your arm to get you out of the closet. “Sorry.” He said.

The three men in the entry way looked up when Damian and you came into view. “Thought she wasn’t here?” Dick sarcastically questioned. “Can we go now? I want to sleep.” Tim stated. Jason and Roy looked at you sympathetically as they your siblings escorted you out and to the car. After being on the road for awhile in silence Dick spoke up, “B said he will talk to you after the gala tomorrow.” You had forgotten all about that event. Once again when Dick dropped everyone he sped away very quickly. When you all walked in everyone parted ways. They didn’t even look at you. In your room you changed into fluffy pants and a hoodie then left to go to Cass’ room. Reaching the outside of her room the door opened sometimes you are still surprised by how easily she senses someone being there. She let you in and you cried in her arms. There were many nights like this where your sister comforted you even without saying much, “It will be okay sleep now.” You were almost sorry that you planned on leaving once school ended but decided to push that thought away, falling into a dreamless sleep.

#dc comics #dc imagine #batfam imagine #batfam x batsis #batfam x reader #batfam x batsis!reader #batsis!reader #dc x reader #jason todd x batsis!reader #damian wayne x batsis!reader

[komorim]

itoshi sae as a boyfriend is full of promises. he’s the type to look at you weirdly if you ask if he’d want to marry you when you’re older, replying with a “hasn’t it already been decided?”

itoshi sae is the type to try to remain strong and cool in front if you, mainly out of habit since he’s used to the people around him looking up to him. but overtime the false facade falls and he decides to give it a rest, sometimes even getting teary in your arms when it gets far too hard. (he hasn’t wailed nor sobbed yet, give him time).

itoshi sae who is ridiculed for being a hypocrite by the u20 team (mainly sendo) after he was found out being lovey dovey with you.

“unlike you, gravure loving idol brat- my significant other helps with my football career. and don’t you dare compare those gravure idols to them: it’s insulting”

sendo defends that he is now aiming fr hollywood actresses, but to his dismay, sae remains nonchalant:

“same thing. still insulting.”

itoshi sae who once internally freaked out after a particularly nasty fight about him never coming to see you after you left and slammed the door. tried to win you back by sending flowers. he won you back.

- 🐨

NO BECAUSE YOU’RE SO RIGHT >:( you’re officially on my list of favorite people just for this. my first confession goes out to koala anon :x

‣ itoshi sae hcs ⋮ part two !!

cw // nothing ??

itoshi sae probably sees his love for you as something that’s completely reasonable and logical; it should be common sense. so every time you feel insecure and ask him for the reason he chose you out of everyone, he just replies with “because i did,” as if he was explaining something as simple as 1+1=2

the beauty standards vary between person to person, and when one of sae’s teammates back in spain mentions how he doesn’t see what’s so special about you, itoshi sae is not the type to become mad in this situation. he simply responds with a “not everyone understands perfection.” it’s insulting, but his teammate can’t exactly argue with sae over this.

itoshi sae is the type of athlete who doesn’t care. he doesn’t care for his public image, nor does he bother with how the media and others might view his and your relationship. he doesn’t understand why the opinions of irrelevant people should influence the both of you, and always brings this up whenever you speak about your worries for the media.

itoshi sae struggles with expressing his emotions, often resorting to giving small gifts and doing things for you in order to convey his love. he probably has never said the three words albeit however long you’ve been together, and you get the feeling he might never be able to say them in front of you. though you don’t mind, he does enough things for you to know that he does indeed love you.

if you’re ever insecure in your relationship, sae would be there, patiently responding to all of your “what-ifs” without ever thinking you as a bother. in fact, he probably secretly enjoys hearing all your worries, since that just shows how much you trust and care about him.

itoshi sae, who has the heart to be a memo boyfriend who keeps all your interests and likes in his memo app, but doesn’t. why? since he doesn’t need it. you’re one of the few people he genuinely likes, so it’s not difficult to be able to memorize every little detail about you. it’s probably seen as the bare minimum in his eyes, so when he sees how happy you are about it, he doesn’t understand. but he still gives a small smile because you’re smiling.

itoshi sae, who’s the ideal boyfriend and husband.

do not copy or repost my works. likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated.

#[🎐]. mail #[🎐]. works #i love being delusional #bllk x reader #bllk imagines #bllk x you #bllk sae #bllk itoshi sae #bllk headcanons #itoshi sae #sae itoshi x reader #blue lock sae itoshi #itoshi sae x reader #sae itoshi #blue lock #blue lock imagines #blue lock x you #blue lock x reader #blue lock x y/n

[adobe-outdesign]

have you done the beedrill line yet :>?

I already did Weedle over here, but as for the rest of the line:

Kakuna is pretty much just your average cocoon Pokemon. I do like how the body foreshadows Beedrill a little, with something resembling a striped abdomen and two arms clasped together, and the linework and detailing on the body works well. It's good for what it is, just nothing that has a ton of personality compared to all the other cocoon Pokemon out there.

Weirdly, one of its RG sprites shows it with the "arms" in front extended like Beedrill's limbs, which I kind of like just as something different, but that seems to be almost exclusive to this sprite.

Beedrill itself is honestly kind of underwhelming. A wasp (not a bee, despite what the English name wants you to believe) with drills is a decent enough idea, tying back into their stringers, but Beedrill just feels like a first attempt that never got refined. It's literally just a bipedal cartoon wasp with two large drills (or spears, according to the Japanese name) on each of its forelimbs. It's not really bad looking or anything, don't get me wrong—but for such a cool premise as a drill wasp, this just feels so weirdly bland and almost kind of generic somehow. I do really like the overall head shape and the wing patterns, but that's about it.

Mega Beedrill is, in my opinion, one of the best megas out there. It does exactly what it should—it takes a weak 3-stage Pokemon with a fairly mediocre or otherwise bland design and improves upon it across the board, making it stronger in the process.

The design of the mega really fixes all of the issues I had with the base design. The generic body design has been changed, with the abdomen itself now taking on a shape very akin to a drill or some other kind of power tool with the distinct thin abdomen of a wasp. Not only is this great visually, but it also comes with a functionality bonus—those ridges allow it to slot its bottom set of limbs in to form one giant drill! Love that. I also really like that the stinger is now separate from the body to match the drills (I do wish it was white instead of light yellow, but that's my only nitpick).

In addition to this, it takes the lower legs triangular and striped while the upper ones sport extra-large drills. This feels much more natural than the original design, which just had the drills stuck onto the ends of the limbs in an an unnatural and awkward way.

Finally, the head has been changed to have to have the eyes wrap around it (this is more accurate to actual wasps), more black has been added to really make the form pop, and the wings have been given a more unique shape that invokes industrial equipment. All of these changes are fantastic—it makes the design bolder, it expands on the original concept, and it doesn't look overly busy or complicated.

So overall, Kakuna is fine but pretty standard for a cocoon Pokemon, and Beedrill is a bit too underbaked and bland for its cool concept. However, the mega does everything it needs to and expands on the design considerably, improving it across the board. @ gamefreak please put this one in Z-A I'm begging

#kakuna #beedrill #mega beedrill #pokemon #pokemon reviews

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you think Twilight could have happened in a place other than USA without changes? Your post about lack of parking lots made me think about it. In my country you legally cant obtain a license until you're 18, and most people finish school at 17, so there aren't any school parking lots. In many countries there aren't blood taking days, in some people can't pick and choose their classes or their seat arrangements in class, or they have solitary tables. Could all these small things add up to not having Bella dead or undead until her natural end? /well, except for "Bella lives in Iraq and gets married off at ten" scenarios

Twilight's very American.

Being American myself, it's hard to judge, so @therealvinelle should probably weigh in with her non-American opinion. Or perhaps regale us with a Norwegian version of Twilight.

(Though for the record, I never did blood testing in class, though I also did comparatively little Biology and only did basic cell things. So perhaps it's standard and I just didn't go advanced enough.)

But yes, I imagine changes would have to be made. Whether they're changes we'd call in any way "significant" I doubt. Most of those things you mentioned are just plot devices used to give Bella information and to move the story along.

Bella nearly being hit by the van in the parking lot makes Edward reveal his supernatural abilities. If he hadn't done that, then Bella wouldn't have as much reason to question him/eventually question Jacob and believe him when he says "lol vampire". The blood testing was to give more clues, Edward purposefully avoids the class on the day they're doing it, knowing in advance and knowing it's a bad idea, and also reveal that Bella smells super extra delicious to Edward specifically. It got Bella and Edward talking after the van incident when Edward had been trying to avoid her and helped make "vampire" sound less silly.

Bella's taking gym as a required class is mostly so we the audience can laugh at her sympathize. It also reveals she's stupid clumsy which has plot relevance in that she will never ever win a fight ever. And she never does.

The prom is just so Edward realizes he has rivals and so at the end we get Bella in a hot outfit dancing with Edward in an equally hot outfit.

But they can all be replaced easily with other things.

Instead of a car, a light fixture can nearly fall on Bella's head, but Edward pushes her out of the way in time when he'd been across the room. For some reason, no one else noticed. The blood testing bit can be dropped altogether and be replaced with Jasper staring weirdly at someone's split lip. Bella on grilling Edward about what's up with that says something very vague and enigmatically mysterious. We can drop the upcoming dance and just have boys asking Bella out normally, and her avoidance of it becoming increasingly ridiculous to avoid drama, which intrigues Edward of course. And we can replace the Quileutes in the know with pick your group of people who are very insular/have a poorly recorded history/and are somewhat separate from the place Bella's in who can get weird about the Cullens.

The important thing is not necessarily 'what' happened but what it enabled and how it affected the characters. If the cultural is similar enough to America 2005 that Edward and Bella can get together in a very similar manner, then it's green lights go.

I can't think of a single thing that can't be replaced and keep the heart and soul of the story, every major plot point, intact.

Now, culturally, Bella and the Cullens as non-Americans could be significantly different, but Edward's mysterious hot charm would probably be culturally universal to Bella. And non-American Edward would still be Edward underneath the hood, he just has different cultural trappings.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #bella swan #edward cullen #meta #headcanon #opinion

[tiasreadingnook]

FAVORITE AUTHORS AND WHY

[ A/N: These are based on my opinion, standards, and experiences only. The writers in this blog are those whose blogs I read religiously. I weirdly have a high standard on what fics I can read without cringing and these writers are the ones on the top of my list. This is also for those new readers that are still kinda confused about where to start and where they can find writers with extensive and quality master lists. This is a continuously growing list and I will add more when I encounter others.]

This list are blogs that mostly make fanfictions of the characters Chris Evans, Henry Cavill, and Sebastian Stan plays.

Please read the individual warnings, rules, and tags in each of these writers' blogs or fics. Minors dni.

@littlefreya - "The Eve"

When I was lost and new to the Henry Cavill fandom it was her stories that were the final nail to my coffin that will bury me 6 feet under the fandom. Her master list is everything and more -- smut, ddlg, dark, fluff, domestic -- whatever you want it's there.

@onsunnyside - "My Sofia Coppola"

Sofia Coppola is my favorite director when it comes to imagery and aesthetics -- that is why I consider Sunny as my Sofia because I SWEAR the first time I read Tarzan!Steve fic it was like a movie and none of her stories have ever disappointed me. I still can't believe I read her stories for free.

@evansbby - "New York Times"

I've said it once and I'll repeat it, I check her blog every day like it's the morning news. I am so obsessed with her stories it is unhealthy. She writes the most delicious and varied Chris Evans and characters fics which makes it exciting but also comforting at the same time because at the end of the day -- they're all daddy.

@kinanabinks - "Spicy Shakespeare"

I actually took a lot of inspiration from her in one of my series -- she is that good. She writes the most delicious smut with the perfect splash of angst, tragedy, drama, and smut that will satisfy that itch in your head when you're looking for a bit of drama in your p*rn.

@comfortcap - "Guilty Comfort"

My daddy issues FLARE TF UP when I'm reading any of her (ddlg) fics. Such a sweet writer with the sweetest, fluffiest, and sometimes smuttiest fics that makes me feel guilty and comforted at the same time ;3 I love reading her stuff after a long and overwhelming day.

@junipermuses - "Lizzy Grant"

Lizzy Grant -- aka Lana del Ray -- is how I imagine her fics would be if it was a person. Sexy, effortlessly cool, and so put together. The subtle but easy-to-digest plots builds up the smut so much that it's so satisfying to watch it all unravel in the end.

@buckycuddlebuddy - "hey god ... me again"

Her fics immerse me so much that she has me giggling and kicking my feet as I read them. She is one of the few "x reader" fic writers that makes me want to cry and scream and beg whichever god is listening to move me in the alternate reality where I am the "reader" / main character in her story.

@sillyrabbit81 - "Mother Nature Called"

I swear every time I'm on my period you will find me vicariously scrolling through her master list because the way she writes the daddies (ESPECIALLY SY) are so comforting, dominant, and caring that it just turns my heart, womb, and coochie into mush.

@angrythingstarlight - "Pandora's Box"

Once you open her master list you will read nothing but her works for days (trust me I've been there) . She has an extensive collection of works that are a top quality. Her works can range from sweet to downright nasty to the fluffiest domestic scenarios that will have you grinning at your screen at 3 am.

@hansensgirl - "The Witch"

I forget feminism when I'm reading her works. I cannot believe I'm giggling over a man bossing me over and controlling my entire life?! And she somehow makes it work and that's how I've come to the theory that she pulls some witchcraft shit when she writes her stories but hey ... I'm not complaining.

@pellucid-constellations - "All Too Well (10 minute version)"

She writes the BEST angst and that's coming from me whose comfort film is "Love, Rosie". If you're looking for a well-developed plot, characters, and story arcs that end with a lot of groveling, comfort, and a happy ending -- look no further.

#tia's recommendations #author recommendation

[delta-orionis]

top five favorite nebula?

Ooh this is a good question.

5. The North America Nebula

I just like this one because it looks funny. I mean, look at this and tell me it doesn't look like North America.

4. The Ring Nebula

This is a basic answer, but I like the Ring Nebula because it's very easy to find. It's easy to spot almost perfectly between two stars in Lyra, which is easy to find by looking for the Summer Triangle. It's a good beginner-friendly nebula for observing.

3. Barnard's Loop

I like this one because it's out of the ordinary. It's much bigger than typical nebulae, it covers the entire constellation of Orion! Capturing it requires astrophotographers to take many smaller images of Orion and stitch them together, which takes a huge amount of time and effort.

2. The Dumbbell Nebula

Okay, this one comes with a story.

Back in college, the astronomy club and I were working on getting our club's CCD camera to work. It was kind of a piece of shit if I'm being honest. I think we got it from a guy online who just… made CCD cameras as a hobby? I don't know, it's not important. (Doing an astronomy lab course has taught me that a surprising amount of the technology used in the field is just made in Some Guy's garage. Again, not the point of the story.)

Anyway, this CCD camera was extremely hard to use. It was built weirdly (it was cooled by external fans that didn't have any sort of protection around them? While setting it up once it sliced my finger, presumably giving it a taste for blood), and it ran on some non-standard janky software that no one knew how to use.

Long story short, just getting this damn camera to work was a whole ordeal. A small group from the astronomy club had gathered in the club's observatory late one night, and we were all huddled around this tiny laptop screen in the dark next to the telescope where the CCD camera was attached, with dozens of cables hanging off of it that surely didn't pose tripping hazards.

We were trying to take a picture of the Dumbbell Nebula, but weren't able to find it. We knew we were in the right ballpark, but it just wasn't showing up in the field of view.

Thus began the mind-numbing process of adjusting the telescope a tiny bit, then turning on the CCD and then waiting for the minute-long exposure to finish so we could see if anything showed up in the shot. (There are much better ways to set this up, but we were a bunch of extremely tired college students and were not making the best decisions.)

We stood there in mostly silence for what felt like hours, repeating this process and looking at a field of black until eventually, something fuzzy showed up in the field of view.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone cheer that joyously in my life. We were elated at seeing this blurry piece of shit show up in the camera. Was the picture good? Hell no, but at least we had something to show for our efforts. (I sadly don't have the picture anymore, otherwise I'd show it.)

The Orion Nebula

Probably the most basic answer, yeah. But you have to love this nebula. It's easy to find, bright (for a nebula), and is home to an interesting star cluster as well. You can even see it with the naked eye if you go somewhere that's dark enough.

I'm pretty biased because Orion is my favorite constellation, and the Orion Nebula is the easiest nebula in Orion to spot. But I love it anyways.

#asks #girlfriendsofthegalaxy #ty this was fun. have genuinely never thought about this before #space

[fyjjong]

lyricist and host of mbc fm4u's starry night radio, kim eana, focused a post on jonghyun on today (november 18th). kim eana is a well-known and respected lyricst who has worked with shinee on "hello" and "if you love her". a translation of her post can be read below. please make note that there are references to december 18th at the start and end of the post. (source)  

[note from translator: i did my best to have her poetic writing make sense in english, but there may be inaccuracies.]

i'm the type to talk about jonghyun easily on broadcasts without hesitation, but since a few weeks ago i've been getting choked up, making me think, "it's that time again."

that time when i miss jonghyun deeply all of a sudden. today, when i was listening to <breathe> at the radio (station), i got choked up and thought my voice would become distorted. let's try to enjoy this longing (for jonghyun) together with people who are experiencing these (same) symptoms, who make arrangements for times like these!

1. by my standards, the all-time legendary live video. as someone who officially become a fan through <y si fuera ella>, i don't know how many times i've watched this live video that was filmed at the peak of emotions. was he was so overcome with feelings that he strayed off-path, or did the camera shake because they lost jonghyun's movement? he must have been moving completely different from rehearsals. since he seemed like a person who poured his sincerity excessively (into things/performances), my heart aches, but that's why it's a video everyone needs to see more.

2.  i saw this stage through a livestream. it was a stage they did before their title song during their comeback, but possibly because there was something with his mic, you see him fumbling with his in-ear and putting it back on. since it's put on weirdly, he looks like piccolo [t/n: a character from dragon ball with large pointed ears.] so it's funny, but meanwhile he sang the intro perfectly; indeed, shinee's legendary stages are recorded whenever there's some small incident. the precious members are all so young and fresh.

3. an unforgettable stage that i saw in front of my nose. the stage for sugar man was unusually close to the gallery seats, plus the participants would sit in the first row, so most of the participating singers said it was quite burdensome. but of course, our lovable attention seeker jonghyun showed off his charms even more in these conditions. even now when <only the words "i love you"> is requested (on the radio), i often play jonghyun's version and remember this day. this video even captured me watching in awe, so it's personally very meaningful. hehe [t/n: "attention seeker" is "gwanjong," so she combines it with his name as "gwanjonghyun." she's using it in a positive way here lol]

there are emotions that you don't want to face so they float like a hot-air balloon. the emotions from the night jonghyun left are like that. those feelings are hard to sort out and have gone on for a long time [t/n: literally "have a long tail"].

however, i think it wouldn't be bad for these feelings to float a bit more. it's a kind of sadness mixed with annoyance anyways; i believe there will be people who know what this is. i'm the type to not really count which death anniversary it is. it's kind of a feeling of staying in a vacuum state of time related to jonghyun. #/shineejonghyun

#shinee #jonghyun #kim eana #221118 #translation #e: superstar

[hiddengenshinfan]

“The Overprotective/Protective Dragon’s Gaze”

Major Implications Of Kidnapping/More Sinister Neuvillette

Romantic Neuvifuri, With Tons Of Fontaine Characters

Sum - Furina awaken in a lavish mansion with no memory of how she got there. But she starts to get very suspicious once she realizes Melusines are involved….

Prologue - “Delicious Food At The Cost Of My Sanity Almost Sounds Like A Good Deal!”

It was just supposed to be another day in Furina De Fontaine’s life with her waking up in her new bed that she was still unfamiliar with even after months. Through that was expected she spent 500 years in very samilar high fashion and high quality beds that the more standard one she has now felt so unfamiliar but she was trying! ‘I swear I’m trying!’ Then she’d just eat some macaroni for breakfast then for lunch…..then also for dinner……but different sauces each time of course! Never the same don’t doubt her diet!

But today something was wrong she felt something was greatly wrong and most times her intuition did not fail her in that regard. So when she slowly opened her eyes and looked around she wished she could close them and hide from reality. This was absolutely not her home, not her bed not even the same style of architecture. She was definitely kidnapped…..kidnapped?! Why was that her first thought?! It filled her with a sense of dread and sick humor, at least this place looked very nice for a hostage situation.

Man she really needs to develop some form of self preservation instincts because she was now just hiding behind the weirdly fancy and comfortable sheets on the bed that she had found herself in. Maybe she could surprise her kidnapper by pretending to be asleep she definitely heard about that working once or twice! Then she heard footsteps and every single ounce of confidence evaporated from her body like the puddles of rain in the sun, and she was now shaking slightly.

‘Get your act together Furina! You’re a vision holder now get a grip!’

A voice in her head shouted at her, those seemed to stick with her even after her time as Archon. Sometimes she really considered talking to someone about that but she doubted anyone would help they probably all secretly hated her for her failure as a archon so she’d eventually deal with it on her own like always! But the voice was very correct this time at least she had a vision now she could at least try to protect herself, so she needed to act right. She took a deep breathe and calmed herself and closed her eyes and pretended to sleep quite convincingly in her own personal opinion!

She toke note of the sound of the footsteps. They had stopped and turned now that the person was seemingly coming towards the room she could tell a bit more from sound alone it was definitely a very small person almost childlike. Her kidnapper could not be a child, please archons tell her she isn’t weak enough to get kidnapped by a child!

But the ‘child’ knocked on the door gently then spoke with a rather feminine voice “Lady Furina are you awake?” The voice spoke diligently not skipping a beat. That was not a child but a melusine……why would a melusine be involved in a kidnapping especially for someone of her- former regard! She still pretended to sleep through now that she knew it was a melusine she doubted it would work but still who knows this might all be the work of a master manipulator trying to get her to lower her guard! She would never not as the a- former archon she would never allow it!

But regardless of her resolve to pretend. The melusine opened the door and came in and headed towards the bed she was in. Then seemingly just looked at her waiting for her to react or respond, this melusine seemed unsure of something maybe about how awake she was which was why she was just watching? Furina couldn’t be sure melusine were literally built different and had different senses she knew that for sure, but even spending centuries with melusines that very much varied between each one, and she simply didn’t interact with enough (especially recently) to really figure out how far each ones perception went. Especially with sensing such a weird thing like if someone was awake or not why would that ever be useful?

The melusine after waiting for a few long silent moments chose to try and touch Furina. Of course Furina let her and then the melusine simply said “Please wake up Lady Furina we really miss you!” Now that sounded odd to her, she wasn’t suprised at the missed you comment she hadn’t really went outside much even through it had been months from her trial and since the ‘Little Oceanaid’ she mostly kept too herself through she got many letters in the mail about jobs, she’d mostly only do those she could do remotely she didn’t wish to be in the spotlight but behind the scenes but she never wished to be forced on stage again. So she simply never went near it mostly mailing advice or instructions back in response most showed thanks in but some showed disappointment. But she simply decided she needed time but it was in her nature at this point to always be willing to put her c- fellow fontainains before her own well-being. But even she had her limits and the stage for now was one of them.

She decided to end this little act due to the sincerity in the melusine’s words, melusines were always quite genuine and honest especially to her. She trusted them greatly and now she simply hoped that her whole kidnapping theory was wrong. How could she the great- Furina think for even a second that a melusine meant harm! How dare she even think that…..somebody definitely put them up to this through. She slowly started to move from under the sheets, slowly stretching and finally getting from under those sheets that honestly were very comfortable. She yawned and looked around like she had just woken up in a sort of haze. Inside her own mind she was complimenting her own acting skills, she personally thought she was doing great!

Then after looking around for a second she all of a sudden shot up seemingly afraid and simply exclaimed “W-where am I!?” She spoke looking around with a look of pure shock and panic man she was so used to overacting and in an unfortunate twist of irony in a sense her 500 years of torment was helping this lovely performance. Then her eyes met the melusine’s with a frantic look, with her eyes softening. “Lady Furina!” The melusine exclaimed back with a look that looked like a mixture of curiosity, joy and a rather strange one slight distrust. The melusine stared at her for a second not breaking eye contact until she finally seemed to realize how upset and fearful Furina looked, this melusine might not have been around humans a lot and she doesn’t remember her at all as well so that made the little creature even more interesting to the former god.

Another melusine peaked through the door probably due to the noise. Huh so there’s mutiple here…….she’s starting to suspect who her kidnapper might be she just hopes not otherwise that dragon better have a very good explanation for all this! “Lady Furina are you alright?!” The second melusine spoke in a very caring manner but quickly ran to Furina’s side seemingly trying to help her out of the bed,or at least help her calm down. She didn’t recognize either of the melusines which she herself was unsure of if that was a good or bad thing. The first melusine ran over to the other then and finally assisted Furina out of the bed that felt way to damn comfortable.

She almost fell once her feet actually hit the floor. She might have just been in her socks but still her legs felt so weird almost like they were still very much asleep unlike the rest of her body, but she caught herself before actually falling. She couldn’t let the melusines see her weak it was almost a tendency to try to appear at least somewhat refined. Through she was slowly losing that habit around most the melusines were a hard exception for mutiple reasons one being the simple fact they cared so much even after the lies she told, whenever they saw her they always beamed and asked how she was doing! (They were probably the only ones who didn’t hate her….) It hurts her heart to make them concerned in the slightest so even in these strange circumstances she’d hold strong knowing they themselves had no ill intent.

Once she finally stood straight up she let out a deep breathe. Finally calming her nerves then one of the melusine spoke again letting go of Furina “Lady Furina it is a delight to meet you!-“ Then the melusine stopped holding her hand. Then put it towards her mouth for a second seemingly thinking of what next to say. “If you need help freshening up just ask! Actually if they’re is anything you need just ask! Any of us would be very willing to help you Miss Furina!” The melusine said with a smile that was just beaming. The melusine seemed to be excited and was trying to wake her sister from whatever daze she was in due to her just staring at Furina.

“We need to let Miss Furina get dressed come on!” The melusine said dragging the one who was staring out the room and shutting the door. They were probably just waiting in whatever was behind the door, but still it made her slightly more comfortable. Readjusting herself she finally looked around the room in its entirety, it was a rather lavish one with big windows which appeared tinted in a slightly blue color with artwork near the edges hidden behind curtains. It was beautiful craftsmanship which made her suspect that dumb dragon even more. There was a mirror neatly placed beside the bed right next to the window she looked at her reflection with a small sense of pride and relief.

Finally seeing herself fully, there were very few things different from how she remembered them being out of place. She didn’t have her hat or shoes on obviously she was sleeping apparently and no extra marks of any kind through there was two things she distinctly noticed, one her hair was slightly longer like the lowest point other then her bangs were at the her nape. It was a very small thing but as someone who hardly changed her hair and pretty much constantly made sure it was to her liking it was very noticeable. Then there was another…….where was her vision?! The bow was there, with the gem identical to the one she used when she was the Archon. But her actual vision was no where to be seen! Did her kidnapper take it off her person?! She heard rumors that if someone was far from her vision for too long they’d……

Urgh! If this really was Neuvillette she’d scold that dragon till the day she’d die! She thought while running her hands through her hair. Nothing else mattered not looking around not nothing! She thought while grabbing her hat roughly putting it on her head then frantically putting her shoes on. She had to get her vision back! It was not optional! Maybe those melusines could help! Maybe they knew where it was! She thought jolting to the door and swinging it open.

One of the melusine jumped back a tiny bit seemingly shocked. She’d hate to scare the poor thing but she really was on an adrenaline rush at this point. Then she noticed something the other melusine the one who stared and was the first one in the room was not there with only the one who came in later being there. “Lad-dy Furina are you alright?!” The melusine asked slightly anxious due to her rather rash behavior a couple of seconds prior. She tried to calm down but it felt like the fear of the consequences of being without her literal will embodied were weighing on her psyche it was tough. She truly wished she had a nicer way to put it but this was far too urgent for her. “Where. Is. My. Vision?” She tried to calmly say the words but due to the way she was breathing it sounded like each word was instead accentuated.

The melusine looked up to slightly concerned “Uh it’s with Monsieur Neuvillette like always!” Why did Neuvillette have her vision, and why did she say that so casually Luke that was always the case?! “Where is the Iudex if I may ask?” She said finally calming herself down….he was probably in here somewhere! “Oh probably The Opera Epiclese! He said he had a really tough case today!” Okie so from what Furina saw through that Window was definitely not the Court Of Fontaine meaning that Neuvillette was archons knows how far away! Archons she was definitely going to scream at him later but she probably can’t change the fact he isn’t here at this point of time.

So samilar to her time as Archon she’d put it off until she had a solution in sight. Then she simply smiled down at the Melusine and said “You said you would help me with anything right?!” She asked in a rather playful tone a rather strong 180 from her behavior just a couple of minutes before, but that was what Furina was known for as her time as archon. The melusine simply nodded seemingly waiting for a request “Hm! Well! I Furina De Fontaine, would love to be escorted around this lovely place! Could you show me around?” She asked with a of course dramatic accent, she had to up her acting game. If she was going to act in front of Neuvillette, honestly she was confused and sorta scared. Why a companion of 500+ would kidnap her? Neuvillette always seemed rather amenable, and relatively calm and collected but a caring person. So this felt out of character on mutiple levels and she was ready to act like her life depended on it if she had to. She was still so unsure of how Neuvillette’s powers coming back had effected him, maybe this has something to do with them?

Through she didn’t like the thought, she was silently terrified still of the consequences of being without her vision even while she walked so cheerfully behind the melusine guiding her around. Until the melusine stopped in front of somewhere, looking within the room it was a rather casual but refined kitchen with some top models within it. She honestly was wondering why they had stopped here until she looked back and saw the Melusine directing her towards the refrigerator. “Monsieur Neuvillette left tons of food for you! I just thought you’d humans would probably be hungry around this time?” Hm interesting she didn’t know that Neuvillette was that much of a cook. Most times they were simply prepared things by staff and the like, through she wasn’t quite suprised. Neuvillette always seemed a lot less reliant on others fitting for someone of his nature and position. He was good at seeming like the vastly more competent one during her years as Archon.

She opened the refrigerator and all of a sudden most of her mixed feelings towards Neuvillette faded. All of her favorite foods ripe for the taking, stuff she enjoyed while she was a archon that she had assumed had long since been lost to time, stuff she liked as a human that was much more casual but still decorated in a weirdly professional way. How could someone possibly have any malicious intent if they were so welcoming!

Through parts of her brain said that was a distinctly stupid thought. (She herself argeed….) But she just wanted to not be scared or anxious within her own mind for a second. Let her enjoy the food that was literally made for her! She picked out some of her absolute favorites from the stuff in the fridge, being a macaroni salad with pink sauce and delicious looking slice of cake decorated in flower petals that she assumed were edible. She simply ate diligently savoring the taste for every single second trying to find even the slightest reason to not absolutely be petty to Neuvillette over all this. She couldn’t, even once she finished and started walking once again with the Melusine until she actual stopped. Making the melusine look back at her with slight confusion. Furina had stopped in front of a room of the second floor that she stared at the door too for a second then asked a question even she didn’t truly know why she asked “Is there a pool in this room?!” Her eyes lit up, she didn’t know why but she liked the idea of fooling around in a pool at this moment.

“Hm why yes it is! Please be careful! This building structure is very new so tell me or any other Melusines if you have a problem!” The melusine said while opening the door to the room for Furina. Before Furina could even stop herself she had jumped into the water, it felt so familar so warm…..so calming! It made her feel all sweet inside! She hadn’t realized until she saw the  Melusine’s frightened form trying to reach and tag at her that she was probably down there for too long by normal standards at least. But she didn’t feel a thing wrong even as the Melusine dragged her up to the surface.

“Are you alright Lady Furina!?” The melusine asked looking terrified. How long could she have possibly been in the water for to get a MELUSINE scared for her safety. It had felt like only seconds, maybe the melusine was just being careful. “Im entirely fine! I was once the Hydro Archon you know! I can handle quite a bit of hydro!” She said pridefully attempting to calm the others fears. It seemed to work with the melusine looking happy even “I didn’t know any human could stay under the water for 30 minutes! You are truly special and amazing like my sisters say Lady Furina!” The praise was certainly appreciated of course, but the amount of time was offputting. Even as a Hydro User now her record at best for staying under was about 10, she wasn’t even sure the maximum but 30 minutes sounded extreme regardless.

But she would not mention that to the Melusine. She also just wished to sink into the water once again until her head started to ache. Then the Melusine shot up for a second looking in a specific direction that wasn’t towards Furina. “Aw! That was quicker than expected! Mr Neuvillette is truly a master of justice!” Hm that probably meant the melusine could sense Neuvillette near by. She also got up and then felt the melusine tag at her hand. “Come on let’s go! You do have to retrieve your vision from Mr Neuvillette right?” The melusine was correct through, she was still in slight pain from the headache to fully register it.

By the time they had reached the first floor and started heading towards the front door. (The place was absolutely massive! She felt like she could get lost in this place even, with its size. Neuvillette always acted so efficient and practical. She was sorta suprised by this place’s size was it really fitting for someone like Neuvillette in any way. Actually when was this place even built it looked like it would require months at least possibly years at most? How long was she out?) There was practically an army of Melusines all waiting for the door to open. She had seen some of them during her tour around the place, but she had also recognized some of them as people she used to work with. What were they doing here? Didn’t they have jobs to do did they volunteer to help around this place. There was already zero doubt in her mind this was Neuvillette, but now she was wondering how he got so many Melusines in one place that wasn’t Merusa Village.

When the front door finely opened painfully slowly in her opinion. She locked eyes with Neuvillette and they seemed to have started a staring contest of sorts. His piercing eyes were so cold and sharp but she would not yield! She needed answers! Until she realized the Melusine were helping him take off his long jacket, then her resolve sharply flattered to the floor. Was this a normal occurrence?! It now felt embarrassing to stare! Even through they had spent literally 500+ years together she had not actually seen the sight of him without the long jacket that she herself at one point made him wear for probably more then half of those.

She didn’t realized that she looked flustered or was blushing hard until Neuvillette started to approach her slightly chuckling with a warm simple smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Are you alright Lady Furina?” He asked feeling her forehead. How- how dare he! First he does such a blasphemy thing! (That Furina silently enjoyed but only the deepest part of her subconscious would admit that one.) Then he acts like he doesn’t realize why she was bright red! So shameless!

“I am perfectly fine Neuvillette!” She said angrily, while still blushing profusely. The sight to Neuvillette was the most adorable he had seen from Furina for sovereigns knows how long. It definitely delighted him that Furina was back to her old self again. “Ne-“ He bluntly interrupted what Furina was about to say, knowing it was probably something unpleasant. “Lady Furina would you like to have dinner with me? I am sorry I couldn’t be back sooner. The trial toke longer than expected.” How dare he first of all ignore what she says! Then he asked her to do something, the absolute gull! Hm but maybe she could use this to talk to him maybe?

“Fine sure! But you better answer my questions you stupid- Iudex!” She was not hiding her anger fully because she planned to possibly guilt trip Neuvillette. Anything to get answers as well as her wishing to simply be petty. “Of course Furina.” She really hated how Neuvillette seemed to only say what was necessary or was rather blunt. She was the one who had to carry the flowery words for both of them during her time as Archon, for negotiations or just even talking in general. He never really seemed to truly understand how Fontainains themselves were never anywhere close to blunt and samilar to herself seemed to throughly indulge themselves on the art of acting in even the simplest ways.

She just hoped Neuvillette was handling his new solo leadership of Fontaine well. She had never asked…..wait a minute why was she being so caring! This was time for questions not being concerned about her literal apparent kidnapper! Sometimes she wondered if she was too selfless for her own good and not selfish enough.

“Neuvillette why am I here?! The last thing I remember was attempting to make myself some macaroni! How did I end up here?!” She said trying to see how Neuvillette reacted while they were walking. He just looked so nonchalant like she wasn’t assaulting him with questions. He calmly answered or at least partially did she didn’t preceives it as much of an answer honestly “This is my new abode Furina. I hope you enjoyed the decor?” He seemed to ask the question and Furina only nodded waiting for him to continue to actual give answers to her questions. But that ‘answer’ was the only one she received even when they started eating together no more words were shared a strange silence surrounded them and the melusines were just looking on from the distance.

It was one of her favorites from back when she was a archon that they were eating together. But she could find literally no joy in eating it due to the strange silence. Until she looked towards Neuvillette who sat across from her at a rather small table, at least for someone of Neuvillette’s size. Why would he have a table like this anywhere in his own home? I mean it was perfect for her but that didn’t matter, this was his abode why would it have a table that looked so uncomfortable for the owner. Then she looked towards the area she was unfamiliar with…..his chest he looked rather good with the white ruffled shirt. It was embarrassing to think like that through total blasphemy, but then she noticed something in his breast pocket it was only slightly visible only slightly pointing out. But it was something rather peculiar with the way it seemed to lightly shine and the casing….it felt so familiar……wait a minute.

“Uhm!” She spoke seemingly expecting immediate attention which she received. “I was actually wondering! Where is my vision? One of the darling melusines said you had it, and I would be greatly pleased if you were to give it back to me Monsieur~?”  She added just a hint of playfulness to the end just for an extra flare. “Aw. I was expecting this conversation.” He said pulling the item out from his breast pocket, it was indeed her vision and put it across the table setting it down gently. “Thank you Monsieur!~” She said with a fake smile with a giggle holding her vision close to her chest she was happy to have it back. For now she simply slid it into one of her pockets

“Furina if I may ask. How do you feel about my abode?” It was a sudden question that he seemed to immediately ask right after she had started to eat again. “Uhmmmm I like it well enough! Oh actually Neuvillette! I greatly enjoyed the food you prepared for me!” She said with a smile and giggle finally finishing off her meal. She had to be faster to get the best amount of time to gather information of what all this was about. “So Monsieur~ Can I ask when you had such a lovely abode built! I am quite curious I do not remember you talking about it at all?” She said attempting to act aloof, through it seemed Neuvillette only gave half answers and the like at the moment unfortunately. “Aw. I thought It was rather unimportant since we no longer worked together, and I could simply always visit you. It was built in a temperate environment near a lake and nearby and in front of tons of flowers. It seemed rather fitting and calming for myself.” That was an answer at least. Sorta sounded like a a half answer but she’d let it slide she felt like she had more of an idea where her location was and that was all she desired.

“Would you like dessert Miss Furina?” Why did he pick back up the honorific she has no clue but before she could even send a signal to her brain she was nodding. She was a very dessert person it was practically one of the only good things she remembered from her years as the archon. He left the room for a bit, archons this is really tiring. She wasn’t able to get any answers from him at all! He reminded her startlingly about how she usually used to lie to him using roundabout answers, sometimes just avoiding the question and such tactics. She hoped he didn’t pick up all of her tricks from the last 500 years that would be quite troublesome.

By the time he had come back with a whole cake decorated samilarly to the piece of cake she ate earlier. It looked absolutely delicious there was no way she wouldn’t be able to enjoy it Neuvillette could not ruin this for her! “Thank you so much Monsieur!” She said with a genuine smile for once, when the cake had been set down. She reached over to grab the knife that was strangely far from her considering she assumed it was for her. Once she had grabbed it however before she even knew it nails were sharply going into her skin….it hurt. “Monsieur….that ugh!” He pierced her wrist even more all she could do was stare at her hand. “Neuvillette! You’re-Your- hurting me!” She said slightly tearing up, then all out wailing, even when she heard the knife drop to the table, even when she heard Neuvillette rush to her side even when she felt him embrace her even when he apologized profusely. Even through he sounded so honest like the Neuvillette she had known for 500+ even when he looked so distraught. She couldn’t stop her self from crying.

Maybe it was the stress maybe it was the fact that Neuvillette wasn’t answering her most important questions, or maybe it was because Neuvillette was hardly acting like the Neuvillette she knew for so long. Or she may have just needed a long hard cry, this wasn’t a farce this wasn’t close to a farce she actually really wanted to stop. She really did but it was simply not working out just like at the Opera Epiclese she couldn’t stop tears from falling no matter how much she tried.

‘Why did Neuvillette hurt her like that?’ Was a question that decided to literally crave itself into her psyche. It was different before the pain was needed otherwise Fontaine would flood all her hard work all her people dead was a far more painful thought then the pain she felt then. But this pain felt primal through it was just her wrist it felt like he ripped out her heart. Not even she understood why she felt so upset, before she knew it her consciousness faded. Did she really cry that hard? How many tears had she held back was it even fully Neuvillette’s fault, or was it hers?

When she finally woke again it looked very dark, and she could hear a tempest outside….was Neuvillette really that upset? Was he upset at himself…? Then she finally registered that Neuvillette’s arms were wrapped around her in a comforting manner. Was he…..? Was he cuddling her?! All of a sudden she turned red, then accidentally threw herself into his chest.(Was it really a accident through?~)Which seemed to stir Neuvillette and made him utter some words. “I’m so sorry Furina.” Then he held her closer to himself. This did not help her embarrassment! Not at all! How dare this dumb dragon man, make her cry then cuddle her! That was the definition of mixed signals! Her poor human heart! (……….)

She’d ridicule the dragon later! She promised herself she would! But then she started to nuzzle into his chest and fell back asleep. (Do you think she’ll actually…)(No not at all!~)

Tomorrow would be another day maybe she’d get some actual answers…..?

#furina #genshin impact #focallett #neuvifuri #fanfic #artwork #sketch #digital illustration #neuvillette

[theaologieslibrary]

Okay, some acftl opinions under the cut, since I was asked. By no means all of them and they’re… a bit critical. Not here to ruin anyone’s day, please love it if you loved it, but I’m feeling kind of weird about this one

Obviously the HEAVIEST of SPOILERS FOR A CURSE FOR TRUE LOVE

Nothing was tied up except EvaJacks being together. Like! Good for them! But even that wasn’t even… satisfying. Luc? Done. Marisol? Gone. Castor out just MASSACRING PEOPLE. LaLa, neutral toward Dane. The Valors? Just out and about now after like a thousand years of everyone just knowing they were dead for sure. ALL of House Fortuna massacred and basically no one blinked an eye. Jacks apples? Who gives a shit.

Is Jacks mortal now? In theory yes but it was never… really remarked upon? He shouldn’t have his powers anymore, he shouldn’t be a Fate, he shouldn’t be immortal… but not a word of this was mentioned.

What… was the point in mentioned Lysander having the ability to mess with memories if he had nothing to do with any of this? Did Aurora like… distill his powers? Unlikely, as it feels truly unrelated. This is something Jacks, Castor, and LaLa knew- why did none of them bring this up in an effort to restore Eva’s memories? Lysander’s ability, if I’m not mistaken, was not mentioned at ALL in this book, despite it revolving around Eva not being able to remember anything

You want backstory on Jacks? NO. Was Jacks from a Great House? Literally any information on who he was pre Fate besides trying to help people? No. Nothing.

LaLa deserves her revenge against Aurora. No joke. Aurora not being punished whatsoever besides still not getting to be with Jacks (called everything about Aurora no joke). Aurora’s actions were UH kind of the worst by far. Especially when it’s turned around that Aurora didn’t even love Lyric? Y’all.

I know a lot of this ties into the happy for now idea but it was just TOO much. Stephanie Garber has talked about this being the last book in the world for the foreseeable future which drives me NUTS after the ending. The whole book felt so rushed and so weirdly all over the place? With a handful of awkward walk backs chalked up to “well the story curse” and clumsy dropped plots?

“Where do we go now?” “Wherever you want” uh, no, 1) what. What kind of ending is that? After all this? 2) I mean. So long as that doesn’t include the Meridian Empire, I guess?

Idk, I’ve got more, but being left with FAAAARRRR more questions than answers bothers the hell out of me. I’m in the process of listening to the audiobook post reading it and I’ll probably physically read it again when my standard edition from faecrate comes in but for now. Hm. Gonna let this stew for awhile. I will say though it gave me the drive to write the fairytale book I’ve been wanting to lol

#bookblr #acftl spoilers #a curse for true love spoilers #acftl #a curse for true love #ouabh #ouabh spoilers #once upon a broken heart spoilers #ya books #fantasy books

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - a new #1 for me from Thailand

Nov 2022 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 1&2 of 11 - Apparently VIPs get the next episode early. So I watched both. It’s a good story and a great set up and it opens with one of my favorite under appreciated Thai actors: Plustor (as Vee) in a side bartender romance with younger Game. Sunshine bisexual himbo + older tsundere = YES! Gimme! Main character, Mum, is your bog-standard player. (I weirdly love how they translate clubs & bars as “pub” in Thailand - and yes, I get that it ties to the history of the area.) Kinda fun street fight. NO SINGING. Game is BL’s new bisexual king! I will brook no arguments on this matter. Omg kisses already? This is a well paced story! OhmFluke man, can’t knock the visuals, their eye connection and sympathetic chemistry work is good. I never believe they wanna bone but I do believe them falling in love. ALL HAIL QUEEN MINT. 

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 4 of 12 - This is such a fantastic show. I’m so glad they got OhmFluke back to play sides and support roles, it’s really making the found family aspect shine, especially in contrast to Win’s real family. This one is very complicated and deep and kind of modern. Very much the opposite of UWMA but in a good way. WATCH ALONG HERE.

My School President (Fri YT) 1 of 10 - it’s Love Sick + Korea and Japan's influence. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but this is me: I never met a high school BL I didn’t want to grant a fair shake. At the very start we get self with a whistle and NO SINGING. Yay! Fantastic beginning. Our tiny music club president/idiot is definitely giving me Noh vibes & our suave student president definitely giving me Phun vibes - bonus this time no girlfriends! It moves this out of Love Sick arena, which was all chaos bisexuals, and into just completely gay. I’m happy with that and I like the dancing and the marriage on his mind. New candidates for one braincell friendship group from GMMTV (they love this archetype). Tinn is already pining and so completely gone. On a completely different aside, I really want a lesbian romance between Gun’s maa and the principle. I have a tiny ship sailing off to one side. 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI)10 of 12 - holy crumbs outta nowhere, Batman. Lots of relationship chat not enough shirtlessness, but since I’ve been binging Oh! My Sunshine Showering Night it’s no problemo. Also yes, Nahi does look and act a lot like Joanan, Ai totally ended up dating his mother. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 8 of 12 - Champ’s storyline is dull, although I like the actor. Yay, JaFirst got together!! Cute line, “can we skip being friends and just be in love instead?” LOVE THEM. Please can we take Mean out of that wig now? Why are the straight’s so boring? The Name stuff continues to upset me. 

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 3 of 12 - When these two are sweet together, they are really very sweet and I actually kind of like it. I think Noey uses ter because he’s younger, and doesn’t want to use phi. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 9 of 12 - while 609 and Between Us are v good, this is currently my favorite BL airing by a mile. The conversation between the young one and the bar owner made me hoot with laughter. “Are you trying to speak the language of adults?” probably one of the BL’s best put-downs. All the dialogue really: “Are you gonna make him tie himself in a red bow and send himself to you?“ “That’s nice. Can I choose another color?” It’s so fucking cute. The courting with food, and everybody taking photographs of how happy the dentist is. I can’t even with this show. Add the cutest smiles kisses, this is GREAT. I did in fact clap. 

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 9 of 11 - Man, this show really makes me laugh so hard. Especially the cat character. I love how they called out the fact that they actually have customers for a change. Jealous Milk made me cackle so hard it scared the actual cat on my lap. How are they going to end this happy? In Strongberry we trust. Just repeat the mantra ABL, just keep repeating it. 

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Thurs Gaga) 7 of 8 - It takes me a lot to work up the courage to watch this show on Fridays. It’s so sad and traumatizing. But it’s also so good I can’t stop. I have to watch Tooth on either side of it to comfort myself. All that to say, it’s as we all expect: Michan is holding so hard onto Koichi that he has anchored him from death through shear force of will. Also… SWITCHES? Although, does it count if it’s necrophilia? Asking for a friend. 

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Thurs Viki) 1-2 of 8 - This has a very JBL feel (including the title), don’t get mad if I get confused. Anygay, this is a very silly show that acts like it comes from a very silly yaoi. Out gay younger seme (we stan) pretending to be tsundere is smitten by chaos bi uke puppy. And they gave us a very interesting new take on crash into me. It’s racy but in that way Korean does racy, like Love & Leashes. Cheeky racy. 

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga) 3-4 of 8 - This is such a complicated show about profession, ego, reputation, safety, and trust, but not much about romance. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to Leo portraying evil (see most of his guest MV’s and half of VIXX’s) but I can’t trust his character, and I’m not sure if I’m meant to. Is that the romance? Or is this a romance about an editor’s love for a writer’s work? Or for the writer himself? And is there a difference? Meanwhile, I’m getting a bad feeling about the ending of this one. And yet... How much did I love the dialogue around love and possession? So much. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

2 Moons 3 (Thai Mon ??) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

Love Bill  (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid) 

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) 10 eps - ?

Why You... Y Me? (Thai Weds YT) 10 eps - It's not primarily a BL, but another meta show about BL shipping, with side BLs. @heretherebedork is watching it, ask them about it. 

In Case You Missed It

To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai (16 eps) seems to have ended HAPPY! This is a soap opera so next time I have a day off I may binge and trash watch.

GAP the series (Sat YT) is a classic office set romance. WATCH IT! It’s GL and this studio needs our support! I’m enjoying it but not chronicling my journey. (Also, the stairs are back!)

I decided to binge watch Oh! My Sunshine Showering Night. What a wild ride. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Dec 9: Semantic Error movie (Viki) - the repackage, rumored to have some added footage

2022 still to come?

Dec 19: Chains of Heart (movie? theaters?) trailer Suspense thriller about a forest ranger, smugglers, memory loss, and lost love. Stars Haii (Cirrus in TT2) and Poppy (Porpla in YYY). Adapted from a Y-novel of the same name by TJ Tommy. I don’t know if this is still releasing or if C19 impacted it. Delayed until Feb 2023.

This Week’s Crimes Against Fashion

Between Us punishing their crumbs. 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I LOVE HIM. (609) 

I love them! (Between Us). 

Magic crumbs (Ai Long Nhai) 

Truth (Ai Long Nhai) 

Cats.

Me.

Also me. 

(last week) 

#this week in BL #BL news #BL gossip #upcoming BL #best BL #new BL #BL reviews #Thai BL #Korean BL #Taiwanese BL #Japanese BL #live action yaoi #Rakutan Viki #gagaoolala #GMMTV #strongberry #in strongberry we trust #VIXX #VIXX leo #Happy Ending Romance #Eternal Yesterday #Eien no Kino #Choco Milk Shake #My Tooth Your Love #I Will Knock You #Oh! My Sunshine Night #Ai Long Nhai #My School President #Love Sick #Plustor Pronpiphat

[ofallthingsnasty]

at home

Pairing: Merman x F!Reader Tags:  teratophilia, breeding, oviposition, age difference (reader is over 30 but merman is… pretty old according to human standards), size difference, reader is implied to be chubby, very soft with bits of condescension Word count: 1.5k Summary: You’re finally ready to start a family with him.

Note: Minors DNI! This is weirdly soft for this blog. Born from a very intense dream I had. Pwp with a lot of feelings… Very soft but ONLY smut. I’m working on some sketches with him, so keep your eyes peeled haha. (Due to work I won’t be able to show you these until next weekend-ish though!) Don’t think too hard about this - it really is just a smutty dream I had. Request are open!

He smells like sun and brine.

You're nestled into the great expanse of his body, clawed, blue-ish hands gripping the fat of your belly while he holds you up, your bare chest exposed to the morning sun. His grip is tight on your waist, the muscles of his arms working while he moves you up and down on his cock, his hips chasing after your cunt with every upward motion. The brisk temperature makes your skin prickle- his soft stomach is the only source of warmth against your back and his rough skin moves in waves against you. He’s slick with water and sweat as he slowly fucks up into you, labored breaths wet and hot against your ear. The feeling is unbearable. Your legs are spread wide, feet moving lifelessly against solid stone as they’re rattled around by his thrusts- although he’s gentle you feel like you’re going to lose your mind at this point. He’s simply too big not to completely wreck you, any preparation be damned. At almost twice your size, he could easily tear you apart. "I can't take it anymore-", you sob, speared on his tapered dick. You mean it.

He has the girth of your closed fist and the length to match. It’s all you can feel in this very moment, the sweet and prickly pain of being stretched to the limit is maddening. 

"You can and you will, little one", he says, his brogue so soft and caring, yet relentless.

He has been nothing but kind so far, stretching you on his fingers before slowly splitting you inch by inch, bit by bit- always a sweet word flowing from his sharp-toothed mouth into your ear, always pausing when you beg him to. But he never stops. Not that you want him to. It’s the sweetest kind of torture - so full of him until it hurts, so lost in the sensation that there is only him, him, him in this very moment. The world could end this exact second and you wouldn’t notice. How many times have you been in this position? Too many to count. It’s so familiar, yet different- now there's a rough determination in his thrusts, in his whole demeanor. He fucks you like a man starved and it makes your brain short-circuit.

"This will be one of my last seasons, sweet thing", he murmurs against the shell of your ear before gently biting down, sending a shiver through your whole body. It’s not like you don’t know that - you’re very much aware that this could be his last shot at having children with you - but the fervor of his words makes you cry out regardless, desperate to receive his eggs this time. He’s old by human standards- at least thrice your age. Physically, you’d say he looks like he's in his late 40s - and he hasn’t aged a day since you met him, roughly ten years ago. But even so, he ages like the rest of earth’s living, breathing creatures. Ever since you started your courtship, he has been nothing but patient. You not only needed time to adjust to your unusual relationship- but to enjoy your freedom. You wanted kids, yes, but not after a year of being together. It had been strange to him, his customs so different from human ones, but he had accepted your decision. Now that his window is closing, he has grown restless - luckily for him, you’re finally ready. “Please-”, you choke on your words when he strokes over your g-spot. “I want your eggs, so bad-” An approving rumble leaves him in response. “Keep talking like that and you’ll carry them in no time, little one.” A kiss is pressed behind your ear and he starts to fuck deeper into you, rattling you in the process. You whine and sob as the pressure builds, the familiar feeling of being so close that it almost feels like you have to pee is almost painful by now. You know he isn’t anywhere near reaching his peak, but having an orgasm is supposed to make this easier for you, according to him.

He's just so big. You feel dwarfed by him, especially when he coils his tail around you, 

shielding the two of you from prying eyes. His hand easily sprawls across your belly, his thick fingers long enough to reach deep into you when he splits you on them. He doesn’t, now - but he presses into the soft skin of your lower stomach, the pressure electrifying and just right and- You finally cum. It rolls over you in one large wave, makes your toes curl around nothing and your head bends into your neck until you can stare up at him. He gently fucks you through it, calloused hands gently massaging your tits as he hums into your hair. “There you go”, he mumbles tenderly. “There, there.” Finally, your full weight is settled into his lap. He’s no longer holding you by the waist, his hands have started to twirl around your shoulders in gentle touches instead. Your orgasm has made you so sensitive that the tip of his cock still sends fluttery sparks through you, even though he’s not moving anymore. It borders on uncomfortable but you’re too spent to complain. “Ready now?”, the fingers on your skin go from gently to heavy as they dig into your skin. You stare up at him for a moment, at his gentle eyes that study you from above. They swim with love and arousal for you, icy cyan pools you could get lost in for all of eternity. A nod is the only thing you can manage in response but it’s enough for him. “Alright”, he smiles before he paws at your waist again, fingers weaving themselves into your soft fat. You’re tipped over just so - body forward and ass pressed  into his lap and he starts to move again, slowly this time. It’s not for pleasure, it’s to stimulate something else entirely- You feel it before he can warn you. Something round and hard, as big as your curled thumb, slowly travels upward. It’s a strange feeling, especially through his skin. He grunts with exertion above you, hands turning into iron around your body, but not for long. It only takes a few more seconds until you can feel a distinctive snap within you, then something hot and wet - and Blue relaxes. A moment of peace, then he ruts upward and you gasp. The egg is nestled against your womb, its gooey shell hard and warm. It pummels its way through your cervix slowly and without mercy and it hurts. It’s encased by slime that sticks to your walls, almost gelatinous in nature, but it doesn’t help with the sheer force needed to pry open your deepest point. “Blue”, you press out through clenched teeth, scared and hurt. His fingers dig into you in response, a try at a reassuring gesture. “Shhh, I know, I know”, his voice is gentle and low as he strokes over your belly, soothing your tears. It does very little for you but you try to breathe through the pain anyway. The first egg takes minutes to finally slip into your womb and you sweat and cry your way through it. Blue shushes you through the process, peppering your slick skin with kisses and encouraging nips - it doesn’t really help, but still you lean into his touches. “No more, please, Blue”, you roll your hips away from him after the first one is inside, a fruitless attempt at getting away from him. His dick is sheathed too deep within you and his hands are like iron around your wrists. He tuts at you- a noise that distinctly reminds you of someone chastising their lap dog. “It’s okay, sweet”, he says, ignoring your squirming. “The second one will go in easier, just bear with me.” As if he’s trying to give his words more weight, he settles deeper into you, so close to your cervix that it sparks sharp pain that makes you clench involuntarily. “It’ll get better. Just wait a little. I promise.”

#terato #merman x reader #monster x reader #monster x human #monster boyfriend #monster fucker #OC: Blue #I wanna write more terato in the future especially darkfic but inspo hasn't really struck me yet... so let's pray for more dreams lol #tw.monsterfucking #tw.breeding #tw.oviposition #i hope the formatting isn't fcked #oh btw i had to delete a lot of backstory bc this is just a pwp #so if have more questions/want me to write more send me an ask!! #love ya *kith kith*

[themanwhomadeamonster]

prefacing this by saying i love dd2's soundtrack and i have some of it downloaded on my phone already. but i recognise that it gets a lot of criticism (for good reason too imo) and i am going to explore why that is without trying to sound like a hater 😭 also slight spoilers because i talk about the end credits theme

tl;dr: main title screen theme fucks up perception of the rest of the soundtrack because it's so musically disconnected from everything else

i think the problem with dd2's soundtrack "lacking a (recognisable) leitmotif" isn't that there lacks a leitmotif because there's actually two main ones, both of which stem from the end credits song. this generally isn't a bad thing, though just one is usually standard, there are sets out there where more than one leitmotif is used. the thing is though, in dd2 most of the in-game soundtracks use variations of the chorus melody (cyclops, griffin, some story cinematics, etc.) and quite recognisably too imo which makes sense!, but the (main) title screen uses the melody from the verses.

(side note: before anyone argues that even the chorus leitmotif isn't present in the generic combat soundtracks either, that wasn't the case for dd1/da either (except for the low intensity dd1 combat track) so i think dd2 can be excused on that front. i also think it's good that they didn't use it everywhere in either game because it would get annoying very quickly)

nobody remembers the theme of the dd2 title screen (don't lie, i don't either and i had to crank my brain to recall it when writing this) because you barely hear its leitmotif in-game until the very end during a handful of cinematic cutscenes. i think even the trailer music uses the chorus melody. so you have two competing leitmotifs, and on top of that, the one which SHOULD be memorable because it's the title screen theme is actually very rarely heard in-game. you wouldn't piece this together until the end of the game, AND that's if you even stick around for the credits to let it play!

in ddda, the title screen theme already plays in the first cassardis cinematic AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, in a scene that was emotionally significant early on. those who hand down the story as an ending medley works because it's of two already strongly established themes (cassardis + eternal return). this didn't work with dd2's end credits theme because the two leitmotifs were not established as cohesively by that point. dd2's chosen leitmotifs should've recurred more regularly and in emotionally significant points in the game - even melve by itself and not anywhere else until the end would've been a good opportunity to use the verse motif because it's at the start of the game to hook the player + let them be able to connect it to the main theme, and it also lines up with the end credit's verse's lyrics

so musically i think the dd2 soundtrack is fine. catchy enough and imo memorable that it's an earworm. though i miss the rock/jazz/flamenco elements from the first game, the theme of dd2 as being very high fantasy instead of classic medieval low makes the folk/orchestra/occasional dungeon synth hybrid an appropriate choice to me, and this proves itself as a strength imo in its ambience. the lowkey ethereal dungeon synth of seafloor shrine and ancient battleground soundtracks + post-game ambience is atmospherically amazing. on top of that, i think its identity this time around lies more strongly in the folk instruments style for both vermundian/battahli ambience/combat music, which establishes the high fantasy folk vibe strongly.

unfortunately, the title theme does not reflect this at all LOL being a purely orchestral arrangement only - no folk instruments. into free was weirdly jpop but at least the rock elements did have some place in the soundtrack. as a COHESIVE soundtrack, it sounds very confused with its direction and that in itself is understandably more than enough to fundamentally turn off fans despite the positives. ultimately i think its musical identity would be stronger if the main title theme was changed tbh 😐 (and it did later, but by then it's too late + it only matches post-game vibes not the other 90% of the game). there's a thematic disconnect (conflicting theme/leitmotif until the end credits) as well as stylistic one (in-game folk music vs classic orchestra) which skews expectations of the rest of the soundtrack

additionally, i think due to the wack difficulty scaling - somehow worse than dd1 RIP, the side effect is that we end up hearing the low intensity soundtracks for most of the game and further ng+'s which of course are meant to sound less complex in comparison, which further perpetuates the weak soundtrack perception

#i do appreciate the variations on the eternal return leitmotif in the vermund and cave ambience tracks that's a nice easter egg #i wrote this at 5am sorry if im not clear ahdjsndn #but yeah....... oof the music in this game is so ?¿?¿?¿ #dragon's dogma #dragon's dogma 2 #dd2 #dd2 spoilers