That One Scene In The End Of Dhmis Made Me Start Seeing The Ship Of A Weird Red Guy And A Duck. Send

I've had enough of this year

rebirth of a tarnished legacy

super excited to share my piece for the aa spring swap!! for @folkdances, who asked for a piece about franziska & edgeworth :-D tried to go gothic, but i slipped into some paint buckets like adrian andrews and it got super colorful haha. hope you enjoy!

flower meanings for people with the same crazy i have:

forget-me-nots: remembrance, loss

red zinnias: familial ties, absent friends

tansies: resistance, hatred, declarations of war

white peonies: forgiveness, humility

white yarrow: purity, renewal, courage

i don't think i need to manfred-splain the stuff in the stained glass because that's more obvious. BUT. the cracked hole on vk's shoulder is my favorite part of the piece. that is all.

Did this a while back, I posted it on twitter first

Higuchi’s Unrevealed Ability

my theory on what it could be…

i think that Higuchi’s ability will be called “Takekurabe” (Growing Up/Child’s Play) after her most famous work, and i believe it might have something to do with reincarnation. here’s why…

in this official art she is featured with red spider lilies, which are symbolic of death, but are also thought of as a bridge between heaven & earth…a reminder of the “cyclical nature of life & death”

Takekurabe also explores themes such as how life is fleeting. & also abt being forced into a role that you didn’t want, or wouldn’t have chosen for yourself

(plus potential foreshadowing: in this official art, Higuchi is surrounded by pinwheels— which symbolize childhood, but also the cycle of life, & the buddhist teaching of reincarnation)

back to reincarnation…

after being told that Akutagawa may never wake up, she reached out to him & a glow appeared around her hand— like she was activating an ability— before pulling away bc she remembered that he didn’t want her (or anyone’s) help

but this means that she’s able to give help in this sort of situation

additionally, the fact that she almost always appears in official arts w Akutagawa indicates that she will probably use her ability on him at some point, which makes sense considering his terminal condition

(note the pulse in the background, his bright eyes, & her white suit)

because we have yet to see her use her ability, i’m assuming that she can only use it once, so she’d be giving up her life for Akutagawa’s (a life for a life— his reincarnation)

this would imitate irl Higuchi’s unfortunately short life— with her having died at only 25 years old. it also makes sense to give her such a powerful ability since irl Higuchi is such an important figure in japanese history— japan’s first professional woman writer of modern literature

now for a less likely, but fun theory…

i wonder if Higuchi’s sister has anything to do with her ability (in bsd she’s unnamed, but her irl sister’s name was Kuniko so that’s what we’ll call her)

according to Higuchi’s bungo episode, despite her literary genius, irl Higuchi was practically useless without her sister

Kuniko was the one who made what Higuchi did possible & kept things functional behind the scenes

so i think it’d be super interesting (& a cool irl reference) if Kuniko was involved in some way with Higuchi’s ability (i also just want to see more of her bc this sister duo is so cute :’))

bonus: when i watched this anime adaptation of Takekurabe, this was the ending scene & i wonder if it was harukawa’s inspiration for this official art 🥹

white lilies represent purity, & since they were off by the side of the road, they might have represented the character’s fleeting purity. white lilies are also used at funerals to represent a soul’s return to purity & its journey to the afterlife… which circles back to the reincarnation theme 👀

today i was reminded that mitsuba haters actually exist and now suddenly the world is evil and i have to kill people about it

Bfs and their matching death panels

and my other fav moments!!! god she's too real

AHHHHH I got to the part that made aoi my fav<3333 she's the realest ever<3

there is no more "never ask a milgram fan what happened on (date)" it's just "never ask a milgram fan what happened"

Our theme colors are merging together symbolically (and homoerotically) as we fight each other to the death btw. If you even care

we as a fandom completely glossed over this, *I* MANAGED TO COMPLETELY NOT NOTICE THIS BUT LOOK. TERU BACKSTORY PEEK

this is so sad... back then he was probably just like kou, not wanting to see supernaturals as inhumane monsters but if he doesn't do that he won't be able to protect his only family 😭😭

looking at the panel, it seems that the supernatural and the girl were probably friends but (maybe like mitsuba?) the supernatural tried to harm the girl and so teru had to kill them while hearing both the girl pleading and crying and the supernatural apologizing... even if he was persuaded for a moment he couldn't have gone along with it because he has a job to finish.

Teru's way of thinking is a DEFENSE MECHANISM. If he doesn't see supernaturals as inhumane beings, then he won't be able to protect his family. If he doesn't work hard enough, Kou would start doubting, Tiara might get taken to be trained as an exorcist.

His way of thinking isn't out of hatred, it's deep-rooted fear.

(And he himself probably hasn't realized it.)