#LOOK AT DURIN

[puppetgearing]

IM GOING TO KMS

[heart-select]

The Little Princes of Erebor (I also wrote a fic with this!)

[verecunda]

The sheer delight of Durin, child of Aulë, looking Sauron, erstwhile apprentice of the same, dead in the eye and calling him a fake bitch... unmatched tbh.

[elrondapologist]

ROP 7 spoiler

I still can't believe Elrond basically got called out for being pretty two times in the same episode. What a day to be alive.

[mrkida-art]

Just a little guy from Ravenhill

[kanonavi]

Spoilers for Simulanka Day 3

There's a conversation that I've had with friends from time to time about the fact that the world of Teyvat is, at its core, incredibly kind. Shockingly so, even for most fictional stories that aren't directed towards children. Even though the traveler has faced many antagonists on their journey, the people around them have always banded together to overcome those challenges. Even when people are hurt it's very rare for anyone to die, and many of the antagonists in question aren't pure evil and have their own reasons for taking the actions they take. They may not always operate on the same morality as the traveler or the player, and they might not be "good people", but they still believe that what they have to do is right, or at the very least necessary.

To put it more simply, Genshin is filled with characters that are made to be liked. Not every player will like every character, but very few of them are actively trying to work against you, and even when they do there's still something there to like. Except for like, Il Dottore, but he's likable for how unlikable he is (I have to say that or my Dottore enjoying friend will be sad lmao).

I got to thinking about this when playing the last part of Simulanka because it was a reminder of how, despite the kindness that they've been shown by Teyvat for the past three and a half years, the traveler's morality is still shockingly black and white in many situations.

We see this the most in how they interact with the Fatui. The Fatui, particularly the Harbingers, have cause a lot of damage in the past, but a lot of the grunts are just ordinary people following orders. the commission line in Mondstadt with Viktor, Golden Apple Archipelago 2 and The Chasm come to mind for times when we've interacted with Fatui grunts in a way that really humanizes them and shows that a lot of them really are just people doing a job. Some of them have just been surveyors or low-level guards, but the traveler and Paimon treat them like they're cartoon villains until proven otherwise (and sometimes even after proven otherwise).

The way that they acted towards Simulanka Durin before the party gave him their blessings also seemed to reflect this, especially in comparison to the other party members. Wanderer was obviously the most sympathetic to Durin, since his memories were like looking into a mirror for him, but Nilou, Navia, and Kirara all stepped forward to give Durin their support while the traveler was still showing doubts. They were thinking about how the residents of Simulanka might not forgive Durin, or how his form was too big and scary to coexist with everyone, which was an incredibly unsympathetic outlook even though they were ultimately able to change Durin's form.

It honestly reminds me a lot of how the traveler treated Scaramouche/Wanderer in Inversion of Genesis, like he was a person to be kept the company of only out of necessity as a means to keep him under control, even after Nahida said that she trusted him. Even though something did go wrong at the time, it still showed that the traveler's suspicion and distrust of Scaramouche was strong enough to outweigh their trust of Nahida, despite Nahida having proved herself many times to be wise and worthy of trust in the past. That mistrust and even disdain for him even carried over into when he reappeared with no memories, as the traveler was forcefully adamant that he needed to reclaim his memories and atone, to the point that it seemed like they were being a little bit mean about it.

It's arguable that Scaramouche deserved that treatment, since he was kind of a little shithead who caused a lot of harm in the past, but the traveler was also witness to how deeply he was hurt and manipulated in the past, and therefore would have some kind of understanding of why he turned out the way that he did.

Despite the traveler's usual helpfulness in Simulanka, Nilou, Navia, and Kirara all feel like contrasts to them. Nilou's whimsical outlook and positive mindset allowed her to grasp the magic of creation and even gave her the initiative to try and change Durin's form with magic in the first place. Navia is used to taking care of "the little guy", as it were, through the Spina, and was therefore willing to listen and empathize with the toy people who didn't want to undo the power of prophecy. (With those guys also being called "conservatives" or a "conservative radical" in English, that doesn't really have a good connotation depending on your political leaning, but Navia listened to them anyway). And with Kirara, while I haven't played her little sidequest yet, the description of her outfit described how the little cat burglar stole and returned the emotions of the cats that they hadn't been given when they were created, casting her in the role of someone who can understand the balance that anger, sadness, and pain bring to happiness.

The three of them, as well as the Wanderer, all carry Teyvat's fundamental kindness with them, and it was then coaxed out of the traveler only when all of them had already stepped forward.

It made me wonder if this is some kind of lesson that the traveler has to learn before reuniting with their sibling, that they need to be more willing to put their trust in people, or at least be more understanding of others. While the abyss twin hasn't divulged too much of what they've learned yet, they've made it clear that there are lessons that the traveler needs to learn about the world before they reunite. While that likely has a lot to do with various truths about Celestia and the sky being fake and all that, perhaps they're hoping for their sibling to learn that at least in Teyvat, sometimes people who cause harm to others are simply trying (or have tried and failed and lost hope) to find a path towards co-existing with others.

Since the abyss twin is supposedly born of Teyvat as well, perhaps they've already understood that part of this world from the very beginning and are waiting for their sibling to catch up.

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

I hope that Elrond and Isildur do get to meet at some point, hopefully this season, and they acknowledge that they are kin and form a bond that last until the end of the series, making what happens at Mount Doom all the more tragic.

[themistymountainscold]

dis: did you buy eggs like i asked?

kili: even better!

thorin: what the fuck did you-

fili: *holding up a chicken* her name is fluffy.

[taisha-san]

🌾🍂

I really didn't plan to post something today but I drew Fili :D 🧡

🍂Timelapse:

[rings-of-power-realm]

I'D DIE FOR HER

[steve-needs-a-hug]

2x08, 'Shadow and Flame'

[dragon-ashes1485]

Recovery after s2 ep7

Have an Elrond smiling appreciation post because this elf has the most kind smile and we don't see it enough.

Literally all the above are from s1. S2 Elrond deserves his smiles, please let him have some next Thursday.

Bonus: Galadriel smiling

We don't see it enough

FINAL BONUS

Is that a Camnir loose in the wild, I see? Nice to see him smiling too, let us hope he comes to no harm in ep8.

[spectraltenkai]

May we cross paths again, Simulanka...

Went to test making a piece using the CMYK color profile instead of the usual RGB. I think I did ok? The colors are definitely very different posting it here versus the other color profile, wow-- color theory practice I guess, except I have no idea how to color theory exactly, HAH! BUT STILL DID IT!

A simple piece, yet it feels nice. Simulanka was honestly very great and made my summer for sure, especially with seeing Wanderer's growth and making a friend with a dragon! Can't wait to see these two again-

[peasant-player]

"I am Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thor, King under the Mountain! I return!"

And the whole drawing

Dwarves have such a odd anatomy and he looks a little wonky but I really love his armor and dark hair look.

I know that the thorin from the books is already grey but hear me out - why drawing him old if I can draw him young and hot.

I'm personally very proud of the shield!

please ignore him holding his sword wrong. It's all the elvish design fault.

It was so fun drawing him. How could I not have fun drawing this for @tar-thelien ! I know she is working on a thorin and I hope that my thorin will motivate her to post her version ❤️

No pressure though

[mrkida-art]

Prince Balin of Durin's Folk

[appllelisa]

Sumerus best 24/7 babysitting/daycare service on the go - Bestowed by Alice herself

look man if you're gonna be associated with the hexenzirkel even SLIGHTLY you're gonna babysit klee at some point.