#and it's been marinating in me for a long time

[ijustwannabepartofyoursymphonyy]

What 500,000,000 berries buy you

The wanted poster crinkled in your grip as you studied his face for the hundredth time: Trafalgar D. Water Law. 500,000,000 berries. The "Surgeon of Death" himself, with that infamous mocking smirk.

Including you.

You'd been tracking the Heart Pirates for three weeks, island to island, always one step behind. But this time was different. This time, you had him.

The tavern's dim lights cast long shadows across weathered wooden floors. You nursed your drink, eyes fixed on the door while keeping your presence subtle. Your reputation as a bounty hunter preceded you, but Law didn't know your face. That was your advantage.

The door creaked open, and your heart skipped. That spotted hat was unmistakable.

Law walked in, confident and unafraid. His nodachi rested on his shoulder. The legendary "Room" could split you into pieces before you could blink, but you had planned for that. The seastone cuffs hidden in your boot felt heavier than ever.

He sat at the bar, two seats away. Close enough to strike, far enough to react if things went wrong. Your fingers traced the rim of your glass, mind racing through the dozen ways this could play out.

"You've been following us since Saobady," he said, turning his gaze away from you. His voice was deeper than you'd imagined, with an edge of amusement that made your skin prickle.

Your grip tightened on your glass. "That obvious?"

"Only to someone who was watching for it." He turned then, golden eyes studying you with an intensity that made your breath catch. "Though I must admit, most hunters don't make it this far."

"I'm not most hunters."

His lips curved into that same smirk from the wanted poster. "No, you're not. Which makes me wonder why you haven't made your move yet."

You shifted in your seat. Every second could mean the difference between capturing him and ending up in pieces. "Maybe I'm just enjoying the chase."

"Or maybe," he leaned in, "you're realizing that not every pirate deserves to be caught." You could see the dark circles under his eyes."

"Five hundred million berries buys a lot of justice," you said, but the words felt hollow even as they left your mouth.

Law chuckled, a sound that sent an unexpected shiver down your spine. "Justice? Is that what you tell yourself when you hand people over to the World Government?"

His words hit harder than they should have. Your years of bounty hunting showed you. The world wasn't as black and white as the Marines painted it.

"Room," he whispered, and the blue sphere expanded around you both before you could react. Your hand flew to your weapon, but he was faster.

"Shambles."

In an instant, you were outside the tavern, pressed against the cold stone wall. Law stood before you, one hand planted beside your head, the other still gripping his nodachi.

"Tell me, hunter," he said, his face inches from yours, "what is justice worth to you?"

Your heart raced, but not from fear. The seastone cuffs felt like lead in your boot, forgotten. In that moment, you realized you'd been hunting the wrong thing. Those calculating eyes made it clear.

"That depends," you breathed, "on what you're offering instead."

His smirk widened, and you knew the hunt was over. But maybe, just maybe, something more interesting was beginning.

"Join my crew," he said, not a question but a challenge. "See what justice really looks like from the other side."

In a port town tavern's shadows, with five hundred million berries slipping away, you made a fateful choice. It would change everything.

Sometimes, the best hunts don't end in capture. They end in a different kind of surrender.

[queenerdloser]

arggggggh so the writing sample i want to use for my grad school apps is a portion of one of my novels in progress except that it's a portion that's still VERY rough and part of a novel that's still being drafted and i've been having SO MUCH trouble writing this stupid thing. and i'm like. okay maybe i SHOULD just do short story excerpts like i have some fairly polished short stories that will probably be stronger works. but genuinely i'm a novelist at heart and i don't plan to write short stories, i plan to write. this novel. in grad school lol like this is what i want to write as a project there. but i'm worried i won't have enough time to refine the sample and i really don't want to submit something half-done arggggggh

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I know those eyes.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[puppyeared]

i think the reason why im so drawn to spirit tracks and pkmn scarvi is that having the legendary/princess as a companion rather than a goal that marks the games completion makes me feel satisfied the way i would after helping a friend

my brother always teases me about how I still havent finished botw after almost 7 years bc "id rather be out picking flowers" which i wont say is untrue. and yes i know Zeldas been holding off ganon for 100 years, yes i can get some sort of idea what her relationship with link was like by recalling memories and going through her diary. ive always loved botw for its unique storytelling and setting which makes it stand out, because it lets you get to know who you're saving.

but because theyre memories, it only works if theres something for the player to investigate that already happened. its retroactive (but effective nonetheless)

on the other hand, spirit tracks does something similar but instead of having the player try to piece together memories and interpret them as a spectator, you actually have an opportunity to get to know zelda yourself by talking to her and working together. besides making it a gameplay mechanic, giving the player control over how they interact with zelda makes it so much more personable.

and I find that making the goal feel personal instead of an obligation gives me more of a reason to work towards it. I know what kind of person botw zelda was but as the player, shes still very much a stranger to me. but spirit tracks zelda? thats my friend!!!! she invited me to go to the beach after we get her body back!!! i dont want to whip her to make her move faster thats mean :(

you know how hostage negotiators are trained to introduce themselves and get to know the person theyre negotiating with because its harder to hurt someone when you know what their favorite food is? its kinda like that, because it feels like im helping a friend than being told or led to do smth

and although i havent played scarvi myself, i feel an attachment to koraidon and miraidon even just watching playthrough clips because its like!! thats my weird scaly dog!! it loves sandwiches and we're friends!!! you know!!!!!!

[xxplastic-cubexx]

you’re spoiling us so much with this amazing art thank you so much😭❤️❤️

of course my friend !!! thank you all for spoiling me with all the love and support ^^ !

[blasphemousclaw]

One personal theory of mine is that prior to the shattering Radahn and the redmanes lived with Rykard at the volcano manor, from the redmane knight armor description:

"When they were driven to defeat by Malenia's scarlet rot, the Redmane Knights burned the crest on the left breast of their armor to indicate their resolve.

"Alas, dear home, I shan't see you again! For our duty is to remain here, a bulwark against the blight.""

And if Caelid wasn't their original home, than the volcano manor seems like the most likely candidate considering the fire themes, it would also explain the prominently displayed painting of Radahn.

Thinking about Radahn, people tend to assume Radahn is loyal to the golden order and at odds with his carian siblings, mostly because of him stopping the stars and by extension stopping Ranni's fate.

But I think that's missing the very important reason as to why he stopped the stars in the first place, according to a sword monument:

"The Starscourge Conflict

Radahn alone holds Sellia secure

And stands tall, to shatter the stars"

So we know it was done to save Sellia, and if we analyze Sellia a bit, from the eternal darkness spell description:

"Forbidden sorcery of Sellia, Town of Sorcery.

Creates a space of darkness that draws in sorceries and incantations.

This sorcery can be cast while in motion.

Originally a lost sorcery of the Eternal City; the despair that brought about its ruin made manifest. "

And from the fingerslayer blade description:

"The hidden treasure of the Eternal City of Nokron; a blade said to have been born of a corpse.

This blood-drenched fetish is proof of the high treason committed by the Eternal City and symbolizes its downfall."

So Sellia was composed of the survivors of Nokron, a culture that was adamantly opposed to the greater will, and for their "high treason", was destroyed by Astel, a creature from the stars. Possibly sent or lured to them by the greater will, with that part about their proof of treason being a symbol for their downfall

And if the hidden night maiden we fight in Sellia was any indication, then Sellians were not just the descendants of heretics, but descendants that still secretly had ties to their roots.

Now consider that Radahn defended these heretical escapees against another threat from the stars.

It wouldn't even be a stretch to think this new threat was another one set up by the greater will, to finish what it started with the eternal city.

As for this action sealing off Ranni's fate, he might have simply not known that sealing the stars would prevent her fate being fulfilled? Even Ranni herself didn't know killing Radahn was the key until you tell her about it.

And when you're looking for hidden paths to an underground city, it's understandable that "slam a hole into it with a meteor" wouldn't be their first instinct.

The opening of the game also makes it pretty clear that Radahn was on the side besieging Lyendell during the shattering, fighting Morgott.

It's funny to consider that Radahn's tower was the most suspicious and heavily guarded divine tower in the game, even Mohg only sent the omen twins for his tower.

But blackflame monks shared his divine tower alongside redmane knights, with a godskin apostle guarding the old sword of their infamous godslaying queen.

For someone so clearly interested in godslaying, It would be weirder if he wasn't involved in the night of the black knives with his siblings.

It's no wonder that Morgott would lump Radahn as a traitor, all these suspicious or outright hostile activities aside, the only argument I've seen for him being loyal to the golden order is him sealing the stars.

But like I discussed above, his starscourge feat only seems loyal if you ignore all the context that surrounds it, when you take into account everything about Sellia, it's more an act of loyalty to the carians than anything.

Adding to that, one personal theory of mine is that prior to the shattering, Radahn and the redmanes lived with Rykard at the volcano manor, from the redmane knight armor description:

"When they were driven to defeat by Malenia's scarlet rot, the Redmane Knights burned the crest on the left breast of their armor to indicate their resolve.

"Alas, dear home, I shan't see you again! For our duty is to remain here, a bulwark against the blight.""

And if Caelid wasn't their original home, then the volcano manor seem like the most likely candidate considering the fire themes, it would also explain the prominently displayed painting of Radahn there.

I completely agree that people are too quick to assume that Radahn is loyal to the Golden Order (and by extension, that he was acting in opposition to his siblings)! You’ve provided a really great summary of a lot of Radahn’s anti-Golden Order connections, and I think your summary of Sellia is especially spot on.

A crucial point you brought up that I didn’t even realize myself is that Iji does not even consider that Radahn is the obstacle in Ranni’s way until he has to think about it… here is his full dialogue:

“Oh, no, wait... How did I not see it before? I ought to retire as war counsellor for such a gross oversight! Let me explain. The fate of the Carian royal family is guided by the stars. As is the fate of Lady Ranni, first heir in the Carian royal line. But General Radahn is the conqueror of the stars. Who stood up to the swirling constellations, halting their movement in a smashing victory. And so, if General Radahn were defeated, the stars would once again resume their movement. As would Lady Ranni's destiny. Perhaps, even, revealing the elusive path. That leads to Nokron.”

The fact that Iji is just now coming to this realization suggests that there was never any significant feud between the siblings, and that Radahn had other reasons for challenging the stars. If Radahn had acted against Ranni and was a major obstacle in her plans, wouldn’t that problem be more than an afterthought to them?

Regarding Radahn halting the stars, the telescope item description is the main piece of evidence that people cite as evidence for his loyalty to the Golden Order:

“During the age of the Erdtree, Carian astrology withered on the vine. The fate once writ in the night skies had been fettered by the Golden Order.”

Though the logic makes sense, that interpretation always felt a little off to me, since the description doesn’t even mention Radahn and it feels like such a nonspecific statement… as if what it means is to make a generalized observation of how the Erdtree’s/Golden Order’s prominence has diminished Caria’s power (which is demonstrably true!). Furthermore, as you say, there aren’t really any other significant pieces of evidence that indicate that Radahn halted the stars out of Golden Order fanaticism. And as I’ve explored in previous asks, Radahn is not so much an Erdtree fanatic as he is a Godfrey fanatic (no tree images anywhere… just lions!).

As you have alluded to, the biggest piece of evidence that Radahn is A) not loyal to the Golden Order, and B) not working against his siblings is that the presence of Abductor Virgins in Caelid and at Redmane Castle means Radahn was almost certainly working with Rykard — the Golden Order’s most prominent traitor and blasphemer, who explicitly intended to destroy the Erdtree! Rykard in turn owns a portrait of his brother above his fireplace, indicating that he loves and respects him and probably has a close relationship with him — if Radahn was a defender of the Erdtree and stood in opposition to Rykard, then one would not expect Rykard to hold his brother’s image in such high regard. The fact that Rykard displays these two paintings in his manor simultaneously is speaking to me…

This brings me to my personal theory: that Radahn didn’t give a shit about the Erdtree being destroyed, and perhaps even encouraged his siblings’ plans to do so, because he wanted to be able to LARP as Godfrey in the ensuing power vacuum… similar to Godfrey’s string of conquests during the Crucible era. Radahn doesn’t need the Erdtree to play out his Godfrey power fantasies! This would explain why at least he and Rykard seemed to be on good terms during the Shattering.

[savage-rhi]

Magenta kinda?

[animecreator3000]

Every time I rewatch some episode of Boueibu HK I wonder again how the staff even planned this season. Like. Almost nothing meaningful happens with the characters

TLDR the characters with the most developement in HK are the monsters

Kyoutarou is there as a complete contrast to Yumoto while keeping the battle speeches so his characterization doesn't make much sense. Nanao is mere fujoshi bait. Taiju and Taishi have random bits of dialogue that hint at possible arcs for s2 but not enough to tell us what it really is. Maasa has an unfinished arc in his episode, where supposedly he's putting fatty butter in his cookies to make everyone else overweight because he resents Ichiro not defending him when they were little, but then his friends tell him it's fine and then he can move on??? This would work with Ichiro's theme of not wanting to be immature or dense anymore, except they only ever used this theme as a gag (misunderstanding the meaning of whatever the others have said) or to straight up humilliate him (ep4) and continue treating him like a stupid baby. At the end of the season Maasa and him have made peace somehow and that's it. Ata gets in my opinion the closest thing to a complete arc, even if it's just staring angrily at Kyoutarou for ten episodes, then explaining his problem while fighting him and finally getting his apology and reconcilliation. At least it's something. And poor Ryouma is just there to be the butt of a few jokes about how he lets Nanao and Kyoutarou use him, be in a couple of cute shippy scenes, and also for Ata to completely dismiss him from the flashbacks to the point where if they had first met in high school nothing would've changed.

The relationships barely have developement either. Love had anime episodes and manga chapters dedicated to the different close friendships solving their conflicts and becoming closer. There were also many instances of seeing how close the Hakone brothers-defense club and Beppu brothers' relationships were, and even though they didn't have any conflict between themselves, they made them strong sides for the final fight. Yumoto didn't get a character arc but through the entire anime he was revealed to be strong, considerate, forgiving and mature, willing to kindly befriend the Beppu twins for his brother but not let them walk all over him; contrary to how he was presented in the first episodes, like a stereotypical magical girl protagonist. Anyway in HK there's no meaningful conflict between any of them besides Kyoutarou and Ata. Taishi and Ichiro argue constantly but don't show to genuinely like each other after all like IoRyuu or EnAtsu did. Ichiro and Maasa never make any progress to be together again, Maasa hints once at liking Taishi and nothing comes from it, and Nanao and Taiju have the most artificial friendship in the cast that I just do not understand. They just ran an ice cream shop once with again unexplained success and make sassy remarks at each other ever since. And I guess Karurusu and Furanui had a bit of developement thanks to Kyou and Ata in ep12. Idk about the aliens, this time it's like they didn't do it completely well but also not as bad as with the rest of the cast. Maybe bc they didn't appear as much as the humans in most of the episodes

I'm realizing now that a few of these complaints are related to Nanao acting weird

Idk where to put this but I'd like to point out Kinshiro's principles of halting the fight with the Battle Lovers as soon as he finds out that the s1 conflict was set up for a reality show and actively defending them from an attack because they're Binan students, despite still not having received his apology from Atsushi. Ata might've done the same if the HK finale's events had gone in the same order (travelling to Honyalaland to fight Wao, then Kyoutarou apologizing to Ata), but he doesn't feel as a character as deep as Kinshiro in that sense bc they didn't really show him to be in other ways.

Love feels more like an actual group of people while HK feels like they were filling in friendship group roles or something

[thebeautifulfantastic]

<3

[birdboy-blues]

think of these thoughts as nefarious

(idk what the rest of the lyrics should be so you do them /musi)

lawa la ike mute mute a!

insert the rest of the start if the heart acoustic except it's just mute xhowever many times you need and an a is appended at the end if needed to fit the syllables

choose / to / sit / safe / ly / out / of / the / sun

mi / a / wen / e / su / no / a / la / la

NOW I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT OKO LI PONA ALA PONA.....

ok so let's use oko

i originally said mi moli bc i figured being blinded by the light was a more flowery way to say mi die but THAT IS NOT TRUE and becoming bad isn't true either and i could say mi pakala but that isn't true either why do all of these sound ableist

oko is a lot of specification and more syllables and i already have too many syllables. this could be fixed by replacing kalama with mu but HEART WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT IT'S INCONGRUOUS TO THE TONE OF THE SONG

a / way / from / rays / so / blind / ing / to / the / eye

o / ko / mi / li / i / ke. / mi / wi / le / a / la

wile ala = i don't want, so i don't do that, makes sense but like. he's already blind tho. question mark. but isn't that why he's avoiding the rays? bc they r blinding? CHONNY STOP USING METAPHORS I CAN'T TOKIPONIZE THIS

WAIT IS IT JUST A STUPID ADJECTIVE???? BUT LIKE. OKAY. HE SAYS "SAFELY" IMPLYING LIKE HE AVOIDS THE SUN BC IF HE STAYS IN THE SUN HE WILL BE INJURED OR SOMETHING

[hoardingwordslikeawhore]

Hey gang more nsfw questions/vent(???) Idk uh. Any tips? What do you do for solo aftercare?

FUCK ok this is only the second time its ever happened but it still makes me nervous so uhh for the girlies what do you do abt pcb aka some blood after sex/masturbation

Logically I know its just from being a little too eager and that I should be fine and probably wont have to get it checked out but uhh. Idk. Fuck it this is tumblr dot com why am I being shy. Srsly. Anyways so I went too rough solo and its been a few hours but now I feel kinda small and nervous and ive been gentle w myself but I'm still slightly bleeding and yeah. :/ tips?

[whoarethegirls]

takeshita is like if they cooked a wrestler in a lab for me

[kavehater]

Those quotes being like every I can do it myself girl needs her I know you can but let me help you anyways man (sorry I cringe but anyways) is so funny to me bc I’m the type that’s super incompetent yet I still also am the type to lie through my teeth and insist I can do it when I’m pissed (when I’m having conversation arguments in my head that I can never voice aloud)

[floral-hex]

tl;dr: some science dorks poorly wrote a book about an interesting study but I’m too tired and grumpy to read it, much to my therapist’s chagrin

told my counselor I only read around 30 pages of a book he lent me to read for therapy. I’ve just been so overwhelmed with moving and depression and I just don’t feel like sitting down in my free time to read a book I don’t really have any interest in. Feels shitty, like I’m making excuses. I guess they are excuses. That’s not really a bad word, just a word that usually has negative connotations. Whatever, anyway, he kept telling me “there’s also an audiobook.” THEN LEND ME THE AUDIOBOOK! I’m not gonna pirate this book! I dont want to go sign up for a library card right now(I mean, yeah, I need to, just… ya know… takes a chunk of time I don’t feel like dedicating right now). Just… blegh. Definitely an insignificant problem in the grand scheme of things, but still annoying and still makes me feel like a failure.

It’s an interesting book, but the way it’s written feels so… basic. Like reading a high school english paper. I dunno, it just reads very amateurish. Really cool info and quotes, but just packaged so blandly. By-the-numbers sentence structures, like a student learning how to compose their first essay. “And then this happened. And then this happened. And then…” filler filler filler filler. Not that filler is bad, you gotta connect the info in a congruent way, but this is asbestos level filler! You’re padding it out with bad stuff! It’s making me sick! I told my therapist it was bland and he said “well, it’s a published study, so…’” and did that face like “what did you expect?” Listen, it’s not presented as a standard study! If it was just the facts with no flavor, I could understand that, I’d honestly like that a lot, but this book is presented as a self-help book wrapped in a (to me) very interesting story about the lives of multiple generations of seemingly random people, from adolescents to old age, and what they’ve learned about happiness along the way. You can make nonfiction books engaging, my dude! You’ve got this cool, generations long study on what it means to be happy, you’ve got a goldmine of compelling quotes and stories, and they still write a book that reads like a middle school text book! Bland flavor! Like plain mayonnaise! There’s no zazz! They needed to hire a ghost zazzer!

Also, not a fan of self help books. No matter how helpful, my brain just always lumps them into the category reserved for being told “just go for a walk,” “try to think positive.” Yeah, all good info, but it never clicks with me. Like the the quote, “there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” My therapist even says I don’t react to being told this stuff, that i actually have to experience it and learn it first hand. But still… he hands me a 300 page self help book 😕 ah well, whatever…

Anyway, I’m probably wrong in my review and I’m a fraud and secretly, unknowingly, actually hate books 🤷🏻‍♂️

[drop--pop--candy]

looking through the stuff in my old childhood bedroom like i'm mourning myself

[hotdyke-hardstyle]

💞new year new blog makeover💞