#ROA spoilers

[sophieswundergarten]

"No one in the world suffered so much as Kate Wetherall from not moving as fast as humanly possible whenever the occasion allowed. Driving at this moderate speed was requiring a heroic effort on her part."

Riddle of Ages, p. 225

[biscuitscheesebiscuits]

Reading physical copies of The Queen's Thief series for the first time and realizing that the maps in them are inconsistent???

[rekhyt-of-arcadia]

House invading the TARDIS: Your dog keeps biting me

The Doctor: I don’t have a dog

House: *looking at the large black dog with glowing red eyes* …What

[sunflowerrboyy]

*BANGING POTS AND PANS* TOUR DOC TOUR DOC TOUR DOC

[nyanmao]

i want to talk about this whole scene because it's so. So important for shima's character im(very honest)o

((so, for an easier read im going to give a number to the 7 pics: 1 is top left, 2 is top right, 3 is middle left, 4 is middle middle, 5 is middle right, 6 is bottom left and 7 is bottom right. there should be no confusions now.))

OKAY!!!! so before this scene, we see mukai and shima talking about feelings, about how shima sees people and how he sees love/lovers as not important. he brings up the fact that his father had an affair and things were rough in his household because of that (we can also see a bit of it during some of the flashbacks we get of his childhood too), so his perception of love is stated to not be the same as everyone else's.

now, why do i bring this up? well, well, well, my friends, we all know that shima here is having a bit of self discovery, and while everyone suspects it's because he has had Thee realisation that he may like mitsumi back, i think it's a bit more complicated than that.

you see, in pic 3, we can see how every action of mitsumi's has affected shima in some way. he's been shown kindness in actions which he has probably never received back. shima doesn't trust anyone besides maybe chris and rika, and even then his relationship with rika is fucked up because of the mistake of trusting someone else in the past. so for him to begin trusting mitsumi only for her to like him romantically as well is quite a hit. he tries to save it, make it easier for her but he isn't in it and mitsumi notices and she would rather a happy and comfortable shima than an uncomfortable one so she breaks it off.

in pic 1, we see a glimpse of his guilt for not being a good boyfriend to her even if he didn't want to be one in the first place. he should've played the part, didn't he? it almost feels like déjà vu... it was a special thing, just like his child actor days, filled with laughter and fun, but shima had to go and ruin it with his feelings for the ones who were actually having fun, no matter how uncomfortable he felt about it.

but he knows, mitsumi is different than them. she's... better, in some way. she still hung out with him, gave him gifts and bought him free food (pic 3), teaches him how to hold crabs (pic 4) after they broke it off. with her, shima is different. himself, maybe. it's like all of his fears are watered down, slowly dissolving with the sea water as he gets bit by a crab because he failed to hold it right (pic 6). there's no judgement, and it goes both ways (beginning of the chapter + pic 5).

the pinch hurts, sure, those crabs are little assholes, but it brings shima to this conclusion: love, like the crab's pinch, hurts. (and it begs the questions:) but isn't it beautiful when you hold it between your hands and give it to someone else's open hands? isn't sharing the beauty of nature with someone the ultimate language of love? (pic 7)

still, love is confusing, and shima has a long way before he does anything with his new found feelings of affection towards mitsumi, but i'm very excited to see how it goes from here!!

((tag urself im mukai bc same))

[evilbalwan]

Speaking of Sevens, Zexal references were literally the best (though Yuka vs Romin was way better than Yuka vs Roa), but damn, I'm missing some serious stakes in this anime 😭

I had to go back to Arc v to watch Shun vs Sora just for some real drama.

[mipywomp]

[oflightningandstars]

Feeling Emotions about "These days she's more of a utility-belt-and-secret-pockets kind of weather machine" (ROA page 4)

[graceintheshadows]

Lucky ones - Part 2

[see @lordaeronslost for part 1]

The dagger gleamed on the coverlet, polished gunmetal with the smallest hints of blued steel showing through, like stars in the night sky.  The moonstone in the pommel glowed dimly, like Elune set high on a winter night.  The pieces that matched it were laid out to either side and she stood at the edge their bed, staring at the weapons laid out across the blankets.

“Roiya.”

She nearly flinched at the gentleness in her husband’s voice, wondering how many times he’d said her name before she’d heard.  The distraction—no matter the source—that had swallowed her whole was unforgivable.

I’ve gotten soft.  Perhaps dangerously so.

Of course, that had been by design.

“We’re sure they’re safely settled?”  She half-turned toward Keydyn, her brows knitting.  “That nothing will—”

“Siryn will be with them this time,” her husband said, setting aside his whetstone boot dagger.  “And Lord Sam and Lady Mina will be there, too.  They’ll be fine while the rest of us—”

“That’s what we’ve said a dozen times,” the priestess said with a deep sigh.  “More than that, even.  And sometimes it hasn’t been that way.  It hasn’t been fine.”  Her lips thinned slightly as Keydyn’s hands settled on her arms.  For a moment, she squeezed her eyes shut.

“What’s really bothering you?” he whispered.  “It’s not as if you’re actually capable of staying retired.  You’ve tried three times and it hasn’t stuck.”

“This could have been the time,” she said with the barest trace of wry humor.  A lump built in her throat and she stepped closer, leaning into his chest and inhaling the scent of woodsmoke and leather.  “I just thought—I thought it would be different.  This wasn’t in my plan.”

“What was?”  Keydyn rested his cheek against her temple, wrapping both arms around her as her head settled against his shoulder.  “Were you intending to go out hunting for—”

“Yes,” she whispered.  “No.  I don’t know—maybe I was.  Maybe I was going to make a request of someone to—to do it.”

“We knew that something bad was going to happen,” he said softly.  “The minute Jude got that letter, we knew.  I suspect you knew sooner than that.  Did he...?”

She nodded slightly.  “He did, but the warning wasn’t as stark.  I don’t know why.  Maybe he expected me to be able to glean more information from what wasn’t in the note than I did.  Perhaps he thought Elune would grant me insight.  Damned if I know.”

“Do you think he’ll join us?  Be called up like we are?”

Roiya took a slow, deep breath and shook her head.  “I don’t know.  Based on everything I know, I’d assume that he has duties that will keep him closer to home and considering that we don’t know exactly what kind of situation we’re going to be walking into...no.  No, Keydyn, I don’t think they’ll be calling him up soon.  Not unless he comes as a volunteer.”

“While the rest of us are voluntold.”  He shot her a grin and pressed a kiss to her jaw, then feather-light one to her lips.  “At least we get to go into this with family.  Speaking of, are you ready to eat?  I heard a rumor about one last big meal tonight before we have to finish making ready.”

“A last breath before the storm,” Roiya said softly, glancing back at the weapons laid out on the coverlet.  “Hopefully they’ll be able to see us off from Stormwind.”

“I’m sure that arrangements are already in the works,” Keydyn said, squeezing her one more time before he released her.  “Does she know?”

Her eyes fluttered shut and she sighed.  She knew who he meant.

She shook her head.  “No.  But by morning, she will.  Would you like me to...?”

“I’ll have something to send with yours just after dinner.”

Roiya nodded, letting one hand trail down his arm until their fingers wove together.  “We’ll make time,” she said softly.  “To make up for it.  The three of us.”

“And then the five of us,” he said softly, fingers tightening for a moment.  “This time, you’re stuck with me, Roiya Shadowpaw.  Whether you like it or not.”

The ghost of a grin curved her lips as she stared back at him.  “Bold of you to assume that I’m the one stuck, Keydyn Silverstag.  I am far more of a handful than you are.”

The ranger laughed and dragged her close again, slinging his arm across her shoulders.  “We’ll see about that.”

“Will we?”

“Certainly.  And so will any damn spider that tries to come between us.”

“Hell.  Any fate that tries to come between us.”  She reached up to run her fingers along his cheek and jaw.  “I love you.  You know that.”

“I know,” he agreed.  “And you know the same of me.  I came back from the dead for you.”

“You came back from the Dream for me.”

One corner of his mouth kicked up into a smirk.  “A little bit of both.  At least that’s how Nikus explains it.”

“Speaking of—he’s coming with us, isn’t he?”

Keydyn frowned, glancing toward the door.  “That’s the impression I got, but you know him.”

“I certainly do.  We both do.  But this—”

“I know.  We’ll have to see.  Have to find out.”

“Yes,” she said softly.  “Yes, we will.”

She didn’t like the idea of the druid staying behind.  They’d need both he and his daughter both in the field as healers at the very least, regardless of the magnitude of what they’d end up facing.  That was still an unknown beyond knowing that it would be nerubians.

To what end and what fresh war they were walking into, the priestess-assassin known as Shadowgrace wasn’t certain.  All she knew was that after three attempts at retirement, she was headed out again to war.

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

i’ll bite, what underage girl was made slightly less lewd and is now being called “censored”?

i actually dont even know for sure if it IS censoring but theres a 90% chance its one of two dark apostle forms for (SPOILERS) but the message doesnt actually specific if theyre removing or altering artwork or what so we wont know what the actual deal is with that until the book actually comes out

not that youd be able to really tell that theyre underage bc of the anime style based on if its the image im thinking about but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

as a side note, can we note that its kind of fucking hilarious that these edits arent for the actual GAME but...the artbook? like the game itself is not being changed from what it looks like, theyre just changing the paper? youd think thats way more effort than it's worth TAT

[estoult]

[Well, he won’t forget getting kneecapped.]

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Yuga being in sync with each of his friends

Edit: Forgot Asana’s picture. Woops.

[lazarusdaedlus]

something i just discovered about nasu’s work but i think is kinda neat is how he grew to like the uber autist believers whom are ready to sink it all in pursuit of their beliefs, because in earlier work he’d squarely slot them as antagonists, these almost selfish villians, so lost in their own thoughts, fighting a battle they’ll surely lose, never overcoming whatever they wanted, never getting over a fact of life (Like ROA from OG tsukihime and that one big guy from KaraNoKyoukai 5th movie) but by the time fate roled out he’d cast someone from the same mold as a tragic hero in the name of kiristugu emiya whod sacirface so many people and things dear to him just for a shot to end the endless wars, even ROA got humanized over the years and especially in the tsukihime remake 

[rekhyt-of-arcadia]

[self-loving-vampire]

One thing I really like about the iconic chair scene is how right after Shiki bumps into it he's like... okay?

He just blames himself and his exhausted mental state for not noticing the chair and is not remotely angry about it. He even acknowledges that it was out of the way and that anyone who was paying attention would not be bothered by it.

It shows what it's like to have your thought process overwritten by Roa, who is much more angry and hateful in comparison.

Roa is really just a pretty cool antagonist when he's more of a malevolent force possessing and twisting you like this than a physical threat that can be cut down.

Even a decent and peaceful person could have their will eliminated and be made to commit soul-killing atrocities as Roa's influence over them grows.

[nyanmao]

anya in chapter 74 🥺🥺🥺🫶🏻🫶🏻����🏻