#I am enjoying it though

[elliottexists]

i dont ship alec and ellie whatsoever right however i cannot stop spotting fanfic tropes in their relationship

like ellie somehow "lost her booking" for their seperate hotel rooms and so they got the last free room and guess what, there is one bed. CHRIS CHIBNALL WAS READING FANFIC WHEN HE WROTE THIS I AM TELLING YOU-

[herearedragons]

Hiya! Just saw the relationship asks, so maybe for good, mentor, and exit for Kyana and Neilar? c:

OC asks: relationship edition

Thanks for the ask!

Short summary because this is LONG: I list some small (and not so small) kindnesses from the DAO party to Kyana; Neilar's parents are great; I take a look at Irving's and Kyana's relationship; Neilar's apprenticeship with Heir had unexpected consequences; I talk about two people that Kyana and Neil parted ways with.

For Good: Is there anyone in your OC's life who had an undeniable positive impact on who they are as a person? How did knowing this person improve your OC's life?

Kyana: I already have an entire post series dedicated to analyzing how her interactions with people in DAO help her become a better person, so I think I'll take this chance to list some smaller things/ones that didn't make it into a post for some of the DAO crew.

Zevran:

teaches her poison-making and some basic rogue/assassin skills (how to avoid drawing attention, how to track a target in a crowd, stuff like that)

helps her regain some mobility with her injured leg; I imagine that making the best use of your body, even wounded, is something that Crows are either taught or learn the hard way

is willing to take their relationship very slow, letting Kyana figure out what love and attraction even means to her

Sten:

helps her learn proper Tevene

is one of the first to recognize her strategical thinking; hits her with surprise hyphoteticals of combat scenarios every once in a while and they argue until they arrive at a solution that both consider good

Leliana:

they have a rough start, but I think eventually Leliana either realizes that Kyana's aversion to her comes from Kyana's belief that the Maker (if he's real) can't possibly approve of her, or Kyana tells her outright. Leliana then reiterates that she believes that everyone is worthy of the Maker's love, yes, even you, Kyana, even with what you've done (in part Leliana is saying this to herself as well, but Kyana probably doesn't know that yet)

Neilar: honestly, his parents? He owes a great deal of his resilience to the fact that he was raised in a loving family, by parents that helped him a way to deal with whatever happened to him and find a way to keep going. And I know I tend to talk kind of judgmentally about the choices he makes in Inquisition and how he deals with some things, but here's the deal, he keeps making choices. There have been countless time where he could have broken down completely, where he could have given up, but he literally never does. Even when things seem hopeless, he just keeps trudging forward, and it's because he was raised with the idea that there always is a better time somewhere ahead.

Mentor: Does your OC have a mentor? Have they ever reached out to anyone for guidance or teaching, or been taken under someone's wing? How does your OC get along with their mentor?

Kyana: for the longest time it was Irving. When she just arrived at the Tower, she wouldn't speak and barely communicated in other ways (due to shock, mostly); he just happened to be the one who figured out a way to connect with her, and then got attached to her in the same way one gets attached to a pet project. He noticed that she was naturally good at magic and academics, and used that to form the base of her confidence, which was supposed to make her resilient to possession and later able to stand her ground in debates against fellow enchanters (somewhere along the way he definitely started thinking about inviting her to join his fraternity once she's an enchanter). To a degree, that worked really well; Kyana grew into the kind of person that would refuse a Pride demon's offer out of genuine belief that she's too good for this, literally out-Priding Pride. It also, however, left her with barely one (1) friend, and even that wasn't the best relationship.

Still, Irving underestimated that relationship - or maybe overestimated Kyana's loyalty to himself; it's hard to tell. Either way, the moment it was clear Irving intends to take Jowan away, Kyana immediately turned on him. I guess that's what happens when you intentionally raise a child to be selfish and unempathetic and then threaten one of her few sources of comfort? Still, it didn't matter that much, since at that point he was already planning to send her away with Duncan. Which is probably why Irving never tries to salvage their relationship, barely even acknowledging her when she shows up bloodies and barely holding it together at the end of Broken Circle.

The question is, though, does Irving's plan pay off? Does he gain anything through Kyana? Honestly, that depends on how she feels by the end of DAO and whether she decides that asking for independence for the Circle is a good idea. On one end, she definitely doesn't trust templars as much anymore, but she also doesn't trust Circles that much. Does she believe independent Circles will create more or less blood magic? I guess I need to play to the end of DAO to find out.

Neilar: I have to talk about Heir. I already did, in the tags of some post I can't currently find out, but Neil's apprenticeship with her is a huge turning point for his character.

He's initially drawn to Heir because she's Dalish, but never gets any information about her clan from her. He asks her to teach him to be an assassin, and hopes that is will make him more ruthless, more capable of doing whatever it takes to ensure the Inquisition's success, while still following the traditions of his people.

This isn't what Heir teaches him. Heir teaches him how to, briefly, stop being a person and become an instrument. She teaches him how to see the path of least resistance to victory, and disregard everything else. She teaches him how to silence his inner voice and just act.

She makes him a better fighter, for sure. Unfortunately, she also makes him that much of a better vessel for the Sorrows.

Still, despite the brutal (emotionally more than physically) nature of his apprenticeship, I do think Neilar holds a deep respect for Heir and she holds a deep respect for him. They never have a proper farewell; she just disappears one day, with nothing but a note left for him, and he never sees her again. Somehow, that feels right. A couple of years later, he will disappear from the Inquisition as quietly as she did.

...I swear I'm trying not to make every Neil fact about his eventual possession, it's literally a connection I just made.

Exit: Has your OC ever had someone important leave their life in a way that was unremarkable, unintentional, or clumsy? How do they feel about it? Is there any chance they'll meet again?

...funnily enough, I did kind of cover that in the mentor section for both of them. I'll do another short answer for each of them, though:

Kyana: she comes to deeply regret the way she treated Lily and the way they parted. I did mention (again, in the tags of some post) that post-DAO Kyana has two obsessions: one is curing the Calling, and the other is finding the location of Aeonar.

Neilar: on a more lighthearted note, let's talk about his first crush - which, as I mentioned in the "two truths and one lie" game, was a guy he met at an Arlathvhen. I don't know whether we have concrete dates for the Arlathvhens that happened over the games, but let's say that Neil attended exactly one Arlathvhen, and it was in his late teens. His scout squad was hanging out with similar groups from other clans, trading stories and tips, and he ended up developing a crush on one of the people they talked to. I think he did confess and they did spend time together, but as the Arlathvhen drew to an end, it became clear that it wasn't such a deep love-at-first-sight connection that one of them would abandon his clan for the other. Neilar was, at the time, heartbroken at the realization that they might literally never meet again, but they exchanged gifts before they parted (specifically, they swapped their hunting knives), and somewhere along the way the encounter transformed into a treasured memory that makes him feel happiness rather than regret. He still has the knife, too.

[aslaughterofonesown]

I think Tender Is The Flesh might have broken me. Someone told me Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke was over the top and shocking for the sake of it. Having just finished the first story I disagree that it was pointless, but also it didn't really get under my skin. It's good, it just didn't bother me on a visceral level. Maybe I can't claim to be squeamish anymore? Have I become the person unphased by gore?

[frankendeth]

I just started watching Soul Eater (just a few years late yeah) and lord i am not used to watching anime anymore

[egophiliac]

bring your son to work day

[lilybug-02]

Pain is a great motivator…

Part 26 || First || Previous || Next

—Full Series—

Meanwhile Toriel:

(Loud noises don't wake her up usually.)

Artist note: I’m so proud of this :))) I know it’s a lot of dialogue and reading, but dialogue is grueling work for me. I’m glad with the art and for the amount of pages I made in such a relatively short time span -w- page 5 was super fun to work on. A lot of blood, sweat, and hours here... :) The backgrounds were a big bore tbh, but I finished them! Yippie!

[hawberries]

emilie cultivars

[erinaceina]

Finally watching Everything Everywhere All At Once and oh god the tax stuff is stressing me out.

[wardingshout]

Zelda goes mushroom girl

[manyrepulsivethoughts]

that one post comparing ruin's and LN2 endings altered my brain chemistry so now have this

[cobaltfluff]

started the metaphor refantazio demo and I cannot believe this is my experience (I love it)

[gaydexvocaloid]

vocaloid whatsapp..

[mizgnomer]

Two different versions of the Rivals Tony Baddingham promo photo

...for Tennant Tuesday (or whatever day this post finds you)

[verflares]

collection of some loz origin au stuff i've been chipping away at for awhile now ^_^ with a healthy amount of dunmeshi insp for good measure LOL (the ooccoo isnt relevant she's just here for size comparison purposes)

feat my beloved good friend @linkvcr's hylia design also. because i am obsessed with her and you should be too 🫵

[hauntingofhouses]

Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.

And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.

And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.

Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.

This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.

And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.

Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.

So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.

It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.

Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.

These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.

Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.

Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.

And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).

But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.

Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.

On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:

"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."

Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.

And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.

Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.

So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.

This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.

In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.

To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.

[lovesickeros]

zhongli and neuvillette fighting over their reader 🤭🤭

scary dog privilege wherever you go, draconic courting gestures that would scare any regular person, they send each other deadly glares the moment you turn away,

stealing your clothes to just get a whiff of your scent, marking their territory all over your house - making it a battlefield basically, neuvillette (in my hc) is cooler and zhongli is warm so the cuddles are always so comfy ☺️😍,

they give you anything you want - you don't even have to lift a finger, they make you travel between the nations a lot though 😒 sooo clingyyy, extra gentle in their dragon forms as to not squish you, don't even get me started on the size difference 😍😍

just a little thought 🤭☺️

- 🐈‍⬛

Neuvi being colder is so real and canon. I see him as being colder + a lot more lithe, kinda lanky with smaller but sharper canines versus Zhongli who's warmer and a bit shorter then Neuvi + bulkier with bigger but not as sharp canines.

They've also got very different habits – Zhongli is very prideful not just of himself but his nation. He'll personally give your a tour and purposely drag it out as long as he can. Complimenting Liyue is basically complimenting him, checkmate Neuvi. Especially if he convinces you to try on some local Liyue fashion. Harmless and just a nice gift to anyone else but Neuvi sees it for what it is (since your wearing something from Liyue, technically wearing something of his. He loves his technicalities when it comes to staking a claim over you). Adds salt to the wound by touching you in totally innocent ways like to adjust you towards something he wants to show you or accidently brushing against you when he takes the bags of spoils he's practically drowning you in but really he's just making sure his scent sticks. He's just a sweet, nice gentleman with absolutely no ulterior motives trust.

Neuvillette does love Fontaine, but his habits are more about himself then the nation. He'll take you around if you ask or if the idea strikes him, but you'll probably stay around the making city area or the opera house specifically. He enjoys more personal time with just you and him then anything else. He values the immaterial to the material. Zhongli spoils you with gifts, but Neuvi tries to offer quality time irregardless of physical gifts (though he still gives them just not to the extent of Zhongli). He'll take you to see different operas if that's to your fancy, or leverage a bit of his authority to maybe see a few films since those seem to be hitting off in Fontaine recently. Bet that creaky old archon doesn't have those huh. He feels awkward if you want to watch a trial, but he'll reluctantly agree because. well. it's you. just don't wave or anything he's trying to work and he just Really wants to see you smile at him like that again and it makes him lose his train of thought. gets custom clothes designed by Chiori to replace your clothes from Liyue because they smell of Zhongli and it makes him sulky + he likes to match.

G-d forbid these two are in the same room as you because it's a war of attrition at that point. Constant accidental brush of the hand against your shoulder or elbow but it's just them trying to get rid of the others scent. they are side eyeing each other behind your back while being all smiles whenever your looking. If it's hot and you lean into Neuvi more he's practically GLOWING. not even smug he's just absolutely smitten and happy to be of service. immediately takes off his gloves and presses his hands to your face asking if your okay and if you want to go back with him. if it's cold out and you seek out Zhongli more hes smug as hell beneath the calm veneer. Offers you his coat and stay as physically close to you as he can under the pretense of being worried you'll catch a cold if he doesn't warm you up.

don't even get me started on your house either because you probably have tons of gifts from both of them accumulated everywhere. if Neuvi sees you use a tea set from Zhongli suddenly he had a fantastic gift idea he thought you'd like. he even got some tea included with it so why don't you let him make you some? Zhongli sees you using a goblet Neuvi gave you (totally a coincidence it's similar to his) and suddenly you have 27 square cups in your cabinets that you have no idea where they came from. if the goblet is mysteriously missing oh well. who knows :]