The edception is real

hey do you guys want some references. Because brother I have some fucking references for you.

Hehe

skk au where they actually develop telepathy but it happens after Dazai leaves and during the four years they don't see each other. Chuuya is washing dishes one night and Dazai's voice pops up in his head. "I wonder what the slug is doing right now? Judging by the time maybe he's washing dishes." Chuuya goes still, mouth hung open and goes "yeah I am mackerel." He hears a "what the fuck" ten seconds later.

TW FOR BL00D!! (only drawn but still)

ok but hear me out here . demiromantic pansexual valentino, and biromantic demisexual vox . i rest my fucking case

collab #2 with @xenole i was given a chibi yakumo and i.. i...... turned it into thiS

So I spoke somewhat about my thoughts on Emanator Sampo here, but I never really thought of it from a design point of view or what kind of powers he would have until just recently. But I actually kind of love leaning into it from a "stage hand" perspective?

Because like. Aha's body in THEIR official art is completely black, giving attention to all the fun brightly colored things around THEM. And that's so fitting for Sampo! He usually prefers to be a side character. He likes to act from the shadows. His is a much more subtle hand.

So I wonder if as an Emanator, a lot of his clothes are actually very dark? Not necessarily plain, still extravagant and needlessly detailed in things like cut and quality with lots of different fabrics and textures and ornamentation, but dark. Or maybe even his skin itself becomes blackened further down his body; his hands in particular are dark, as a sort of sleight of hand reference.

The motif of a lot of straps wrapped around him like in his canon design is still present, but they're all loose and flowing off of him like paper streamers now instead of restraining him or holding him together. He is no longer contained! Or maybe they're still a bit more rigid/heavy, but just draped more like red stage curtains!

And this is like. Fully self-indulgent, but I love inhuman designs, and there's nothing in canon to say I can't do this, so screw it! Go for broke!! Maybe it's not visible to normal people, but Sampo having a second set of arms would be really cool, as further sleight of hand reference. One set is almost normal looking, but his hands are a bright, attention-drawing white, and the other is dark, set almost in the shadows of the first arms, to act less noticeably.

He also has something of a broken heart design to him in canon (the front of his black shirt with its jagged shape down the middle; his coat looks like a full heart shape in the back), and I actually like him keeping that element as an Emanator, because I think it suits him. Sampo says his taste in aesthetics and views on Elation involve human dignity,

and the story he helps create in Belobog involves the long and winding road of resistance and survival and eventual triumph in the face of some very adverse, oppressing odds. (I'm pretty sure I heard he once called Wildfire "artless" though, plus the man acts like he thinks Shame is some kind of dessert, so like ndkdjzjskkd) But the point being!!

I think Sampo is someone who can appreciate heartbreak and angst and tragedy in a story, because it makes the victory at the end all the sweeter. And this would be another thing he shares with Aha, because I think THEY did bless the Mourning Actors partly just to be a little shit, but also because Aha does recognize tragedy as part of THEIR Path, too, and you can see it in some of the game. So a broken heart motif can still suit him, and I like him having elements of both comedy and tragedy. Like his clothing having a happy sun/sad moon (like the moon in Aha's art) or him having both of the traditional comedy/tragedy masks in his design.

And as Emanator, Sampo can maybe play with the stage settings environment, too. Like lights sometimes behave strangely around him, appearing blindingly bright to someone or dramatically dark. Sampo wills it and suddenly there seems to be a metaphorical spotlight right where he wants everyone to look. And when he doesn't want to be noticed, his face seems to be cast in shadow, he seemingly just fades into the background, no one notices or recognizes him and he sneaks away easily. He can create smoke or fog literally out of thin air without his bombs now, too, the air will just suddenly thicken until his stage is obscured, and Sampo can set the scene as he pleases or disappear without a trace.

And in line with being a stage hand, Sampo can direct attention like no other. He was already extremely good at this as a normal mortal, and becoming an Emanator only took it up to 11, past human limits. Sampo points, and all present feel compelled to follow his fingertip. He looks away, and they all follow his gaze. He can even affect the mood of an audience; he can influence everyone to be calm and placid or he can whip them into a feverish frenzy. Sometimes a crowd will start to become unsettled, agitation stirring until it boils over, until it incites a full on violent mob.

And in the middle of all that chaos will stand one perfectly calm figure, face cast in shadow, until they quietly slip away out of sight.

One little... Not even nitpick but just sad observation. This plotline they're setting up with Dinah and Cass trying to protect Babs from a future assassin looks very fun but I can't stop thinking about the conflict and drama it could create if DC let Babs be Oracle again, wheelchair most definitely included. It was a common character beat that the real Oracle Babs hated anyone seeing her as weak or powerless (Rightfully and understandably so because you know. Ableist society.) like it's a big driving motivation for her! Oracle gives her power and let's her control the narrative. People seeing her or even hinting that she could be weak and in need of protection, going above her head and treating her as a victim or a damsel in distress? Yeah she does Not react well to that. If she found out that Dinah and Cass, two of the people she loves most, were secretly trying to protect her, no matter how good their intentions are there's no way that doesn't blow up into at least one fight where no one is fully right and no one is fully wrong but it gets nasty and hurts everyone involved.

But with Babs in the Batgirl suit I just... Don't see any of that happening. My guess is they'll just let Babs in on everything right away and have very little conflict between the three of them. Of course I'd love to be proven wrong! I think there's a really good set up here for this plotline to do things with these characters and bonds that hasn't been done in a while. And fhey're slowly getting like 20% of Barbara's actual personality back instead of being The Smurfette. But at the same time, I've yet to see anything that makes me think DC would be willing to let a writer dive substantially into that angry, defensive side of Barbara. Because it's messy and ugly and also because it exists due to the trauma and ableism she suffered, and DC would rather print a million panels of her sitting in front of a computer with her legs crossed than ever let her be truly Oracle again.

mecore

who wanna be real life nightcord with me /j

Babysitter Vessel trying to get ii, iii, & iv to wind down, by reading them a bedtime story.

Yo dawg!

I heard you like Miko and Sari so I drew Miko as a miko and Sari in a sari. Sorry not sorry!

P.S. Miko would make a terrible Shinto shrine maiden tho...LOL

Thinking of an idea for an au? Maybe.

At the expense of John Dory? Absolutely.

soooo… i did another comic with geo (who of course belongs to @8um8le)! it ending up stretching the page quite a bit, so the rest is under the cut o7

and geo proceeded to win every single round of pool that night, the end, thank you for reading this far 🙇

i'm still not super confident in writing for geo, but i had too much fun with this to care ehehe 🥰 this is the year of indulgence, everyone!

edit: i just realized that I PUT THE CICUITS ON THE WRONG ARM! it's supposed to be on my right not my left, oh i'm so mad 😭💔

s/i: i don't get good morning texts from you anymore :(

f/o: ...we sleep in the same bed