#but yet apparently this is not a common conclusion for the people around me xD

[minimoll7]

One of my favorite things sending Slime Rancher pics and gifs to people that don't know much about the games is that most think chickens are slimes

It gets me every time

[lairofsentinel]

Do you think Oskar Fevras the artist whom you can buy in any way mirrors Gale? His story reminded me a bit of Gale’s in the whole hung up on your first love thing

Hello there!

Let me explain you how I understand Oskar Fevras. I think that may be an important key to see what I'm going to be concluding.

Oskar has the pretence of being a noble, and likes too much wealth and fame. His patron is his betrothed: Lady Jannath. The Jannath are a  family of wealthy mine-owners in BG, who, according to the Main Char's "gossip" knowledge, have been passing through a scandal when they realised that Oskar was a commoner. Apparently Oskar is known as the runaway groom for this.

I'm not so sure to believe that the problem in all his drama is his commoner past. But he doesn't clarify it in a very explicit way. We only have this information from the narrator and it's like a "rumour", something you picked in the air in the city's gossip, so it can be slightly different.

He clarifies that the date of the marriage was never set... but clearly the intention was there. What happened? "Complications", he adds.

Oskar tells you that before his fame as a painter and his affair with Lady Jannath, there was another woman he wanted to spend his life with [which make me assume he was with her until the last moment of the proposal] but when he was offered marriage with Lady Jannath, who gave him a better future because her wealth, he thought "important to tell her about his past".

These lines are a bit inconsistent in their logic, no? You love a woman you want to marry, but then another one very wealthy, asks you marriage and you consider to tell her "you are a commoner" [if we assume the rumour is true].... There is no much connection with the concepts... unless Oskar is saying other thing in his vague way of explaining this story.

In my opinion, he is saying:

I was with this woman I wanted to spend my life with. But on the other hand, I wanted to be famous and wealthy, so I started a serious afair with a person who would support my art: Lady Jannath [it's implied he became her lover without never telling her he was with the first woman]. All was done in order to have fame and wealth. Then Lady Jannath proposes him marriage, and he considers it's reasonable to tell her about "his past" [his past as in, there is another woman, there was always another woman]. This scandal triggered, and because we are talking about a noble family in BG, we know they can control rumours, so they preferred to make it about his "commoner" past instead of his double-cheating.

When he explained his past to Lady Jannath, he was "forced" to escape and think about who to "choose". He doesn't know yet. "Fame and wealth suit me very well." But when he thinks in his first love... he hesitates. He says all this with a very light tone, yet, he makes of this a big dilemma, almost a performance of drama: to choose between true love or wealth to develop his skills.

I may have taken all this a bit more serious if it weren't for the last line he says. If something I've learnt by reading a lot of books of narrative and how to write narratives, is that professionals don't put useless lines in the character's mouths to be wasted. They have meaning.

When the rescue is finally done, he asks for money to fight the "discomfort of the road", and, unless this has been changed in this last patch [I don't play BG3 since patch 2 or 3] he says something that makes you understand that he is going to spend this money in alcohol [he says something along the lines "well, I should endure the road sober then"]. So this last bit showed us that he is not really a very trustworthy person, he hides the truth just to take some extra benefit of the situation [we don't see a real struggle in all this, more like a performance of a struggle].

It's true the situation is a bit vague and this interpretation may be wrong, but Oskar is not exactly an honest char. He has his love for over-dramatisation and present himself as the victim in situations that are not thaaaaat bad.

Now, how all this is similar to Gale? I'm afraid I don't see much similarity, sorry. You can stretch things a lot to make Lady Jannath to look like Mystra [Mystra is the one who gave Gale the deepest connection with the Weave, which is something that brings him joy and sense in life to Gale. She is a kind of "patron" for Gale? It's too stretched, Mystra is a goddess of particular behaviour in her lore] ... but you also can connect her with the first woman by using the weak link of "being Gale's first love". Where the Main Character fits in all this analogy? How all this situation has a relationship with Gale, his abandonment issues caused by a powerful, immense entity as Mystra, and how he made dire mistakes to get her attention again, like all devotees do in this crazy Faerûn? I don't see it, sorry. Gale's first love was Mystra, the most powerful goddess of the pantheon of Faerûn. Oscar's first love was a mortal woman. I'm afraid I can't see much to relate there beyond the fact that "people have first loves" that imprint a strong effect in a person's life [which is true for almost all humans in real life].

I'm not sure if maybe this question is motivated by all those terrible takes that Gale receives in this fandom. I think a lot of people have serious problems with the fact that Gale has an ex. For this, people are a mixture of being offended by that and also treat the party scene as if it were a "big" revelation, which is not?. Sure, he has an ex that inspires him complicated emotions but it's clear he wants to get rid of that event and move on.

Gale never plays two sides. He is always very clear about the fact of having secrets, about his boundaries [another thing that the fandom doesn’t forgive him], and how complicated is for him to speak about Mystra. If you get nice rolls, you can even tell Gale that he is dreaming with Mystra [like, the game makes you AWARE of it XD]... And he also tells you that the tadpole dreams are about power and desire... I mean, if the guy says that, and then dreams with Mystra....why some people are offended/surprised after the party!??? haha. The biggest mystery in this fandom.

Sure, the scene is not handled in the best ways, there are some weird lines, everything looks so high-school cheap drama. I get that... I don't know, we have to blame it for being Early Access and for Gale not being Larian's fave.  But well... Gale has an ex. It's a fact, and one can know that very early if the fucking game couldn't be soooooo shitty bugged with his char.

Here is one of my videos [very old patch as you can see] where we can see the second dream: He says "These dreams are about desire", I pick the option of Mystra. "Yes, I dream with Mystra". You know by your own dreams that these dreams are very sexual in general... So, conclusion? Gale has an ex.

Oskar is playing with two women at the same time in the worst case scenario. In the best one, he abandoned his first love to follow wealth. Her first love [that, let's be honest, how much he loved her that he had no problem to cheat on/abandon when it comes to fame and wealth?] was put aside in favour of this noble. Then he leaves the noble one because he is unable to choose. He was the one who abandoned [or cheated, we can't say completely because it's vague] two women, not the other way around... Plus, to make things even more different, there is this small detail that the fandom always seems to be blind about because most of them only know Dragon Age lore: Mystra is the most powerful goddess in the damn pantheon xD Gale was a plaything in her grasp [this is the worst case scenario; I have a secondary interpretation, more kind to her, focused on Mystra's point of view]. But there is something very strong here that make these comparison too out of any frame to compare: She is not a normal woman... her power is not even compared with Jannath's. She is a Goddess.

So, in short: I'm afraid I don't see much in common. XD I mean, everyone has exes, every person with some age has a past even in Faerûn. Sure, this is Faerûn, so exes can go wild, I get it. XD And having exes is not always a "finished business" [specially when that comes with abandonment issues], but more like a WIP: something to deal with unresolved emotions from past partners that you want to move on, and sometimes a new partner may help you [or make everything worse]. I always read Gale that way.

Thanks for the ask!

[baragakiscans]

Firstly, sorry for losing the post to your ask! Tumblr shitty UI stuff happened and I accidentally deleted the draft TvT (they should make an option for asks to reappear if the draft answer got deleted or sth smh)

Secondly, IM SO SORRY FOR THE EXTREMELY LONG POST AAAAA

I tried to keep the explanations short like I did for Saraba (even that was pretty long) but then the more I tried the longer it became, and in the end what was supposed to be my take on like 2 pages of this book became this extremely long in-depth analysis of the entire book  _(´ཀ`」 ∠)_  But I mean, I’ve agonised over the translations for this book for almost half a year and I have Lots of Feelings about it because GOD I LOVE THIS BOOK

Anyway, Makkura is another one of those books with a lot of hidden layers that can be unpacked from the story with multiple rereads. Unlike Saraba where some things were intentionally left open to interpretation (I think), though, this book is slightly more straightforward, and I’d like to offer my take on the story.

Long post and Makkura spoilers below the cut!

At the beginning of the story, Gintoki and Hijikata were already dating (secretly-but-not-so-secretly). They’ve clearly been dating for a while now; Hijikata coming over to Gintoki’s place to stay the night (though he’d usually be gone by morning), mayonnaise in the Yorozuya fridge, etc… Though their displays of affection were rather subdued, to the onlooker (and everyone else around them) these two idiots were so obviously crazy in love with each other 💕💕 However, there is something that seems a little… off about their relationship, and this something would have continued lurking in the shadows…

The beginning of the end…?

…Had Gintoki not lost all of his memories of his relationship with Hijikata. Gone was the man who would become agitated at the mere thought of his beloved going into danger; the man before Hijikata now barely knew him, and the thought of dating the Demon Vice Commander would never have crossed his mind.

Imagine waking up to find out that your boyfriend has forgotten all about his relationship with you and makes THIS face at the mere thought of shacking up with you

What Hijikata did next may seem illogical at first (and don’t get me wrong, it really is), but it makes a bit more sense once you realise what exactly was off about their relationship.

You see, Hijikata didn’t think that he was good enough for Gintoki.

If you’re familiar with Syaku’s works, you may have noticed a particular trope being rather common: Hijikata and/or Gintoki falling in love with the other, yet not taking the step forward because they were afraid of getting in the way of the other’s creed—to protect.

Looks familiar? ;)

In Makkura, they did manage to take that step forward (regardless of who made that step first), but even so, there’s always been a niggling doubt somewhere in the back of Hijikata’s mind that maybe—just maybe—Gintoki would be better off without him. Hijikata would do everything in his power to protect the Shinsengumi, and he knows that Gintoki would do the same to protect those he holds dear. It just didn’t occur to him that he was one of them, too. Instead, he was afraid of Gintoki straying from his path because of him.

Gintoki losing his memories was like a wake-up call to Hijikata, that his relationship with Gintoki was too good to be true—and if it will all come to an end eventually anyway, then he should be the one to pull the plug first, especially since the perfect opportunity to reset everything to a clean state has presented itself. He pretended that nothing happened between the two of them. He told Gintoki to “Forget about all this. Everything.” He tried to convince himself that he should make a clean break and completely remove himself from Gintoki’s life, and be content with merely watching from afar.

Maybe Hijikata thought that since he and Gintoki never confirmed their relationship, the people around them will just shrug it off, or won’t notice the change in behaviour. But needless to say, everyone around them immediately noticed that something was wrong. And they even had Hijikata’s inner thoughts all figured out.

The Shinsengumi members know their vice commander too well XD

Even Gintoki himself had managed to put two and two together, but he just couldn’t figure out why he fell in love with the man with whom he always fights like cats and dogs. And since Hijikata himself was so adamant on nothing happening, all he could do was watch as the man-who-is-apparently-his-lover-but-he-somehow-forgot told him to stay out of his way. That’s why, it’s up to everyone else to restore Gintoki’s memories and get these two idiots back together.

While the Yorozuya kids were scrambling to find the antidote, Hijikata opted to go down the slippery slope of self-abandonment by meeting the pervert Bakufu official despite knowing full well what might happen to him. He thought it was all for the sake of the Shinsengumi, but seeing Gintoki down the hallway jolted him back to his senses and made him realise just how wrong he was. He realised the reason why he was actually doing this—to see if Gintoki would come to his aid, to see if Gintoki was still the man he knows and love. He realised that he doesn’t want to give his body to anyone anymore—anyone else, that is. He realised just how truly madly deeply in love he was with Gintoki.

What indeed…

By the time he realised this, though, it already seemed too late; it didn’t seem like Gintoki was going to save him. So, he resolved to keep his memories of Gintoki as a happy dream, and was ready to succumb to despair—when Gintoki finally comes to the rescue! (Not sure if Yamazaki didn’t press the button on purpose here) Of course, Gintoki was pissed off that Hijikata would do something this reckless. So he told Hijikata, “You should treasure yourself more…” (BTW, the original Japanese really only had “You should _______ more…”, I had to fill in the blanks) That’s when Hijikata realised that he was right all along; Gintoki hasn’t changed, even without Hijikata’s memories. And that’s all he needed to know.

And over in this exhibit we have the exact moment when Gintoki fell in love all over again

Right when Gintoki was about to profess his love say something to Hijikata, the kids finally arrive with the antidote! And Sougo even figured out that Gintoki doesn’t really need the antidote anymore since he’s in back in love with Hijikata XD But of course Gintoki wants to remember. Of course he wants to remember all about his time together with the man he now knows he loves. He drinks the antidote—

Ohhhh boy shit’s about to go DOWN

—And we arrive at the emotional climax of the story. Gintoki’s furious—Of course he would be; his lover just tried to erase himself from his life, thinking that it was for his sake! Gintoki thought that Hijikata had underestimated him—in a way, he’s right; Hijikata had underestimated just how much Gintoki needs him. He knew that Gintoki loves him, but he also thought that Gintoki should forsake him for the sake of those he wants to protect.

That’s why Gintoki let Hijikata know just how much he means to him. He has already come to know all of him, so he can’t ever bring himself to let him go. That’s when Hijikata started to realise that he was wrong about Gintoki, and wrong about himself. He meant much more to Gintoki than he ever thought he did.

This led to the one exchange that I wrote out this entire analysis for—

Did I really write 1800 words just for this? Yes. Yes I did.

If Hijikata really meant so much to him, then does that mean Gintoki would have tried to erase himself from Hijikata’s world for his sake, too? Gintoki doesn’t think so, but that’s after everything that has happened so far. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do it if their positions really were reversed at the beginning of the story? They both know that, because they both hold on so dearly to the same beliefs, the same pride.

That led to Gintoki throwing the question back at Hijikata—does that mean Hijikata would fall in love with Gintoki again even without his memories, just like Gintoki did? In asking this, Gintoki was telling Hijikata that, even if he were to do the same, deep down, he would still want Hijikata to fall in love with him again. And that’s when Hijikata realised—it was the same for him, too.

At that point, the two of them came to the same conclusion—neither of them can live without the other anymore. Yet, even if their positions were reversed, they would still have done the same. And even if that were to happen, they would still arrive at this same conclusion. They both love the other too much to let go; yet, they both love the other so much that they’d be willing to let go. Now that they both know this, their bond has become truly unbreakable.

Hijikata’s reply was therefore an affirmation—

“Even so, you’d have done the same. Even so, I’ll still fall in love with you.”

That’s just the way both of them are.

And so, at the end of the story, we now have Gintoki who wants Hijikata to know just how much he loves him (maybe becoming more possessive in the process?), and Hijikata who now knows just how much Gintoki loves him, and has come to forgive himself for loving him. Their relationship is one full of contradictions, yet no matter what happens, they will both find their way back to the place where they belong—in (or should I say on?) each other’s arms.

Look at the how much love there is in Hijikata’s eyes just LOOK AT IT AAAAA

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Makkura is one of my top Ginhiji doujins of all time! I really really hope that my translation managed to do it justice, and I hope my ramblings were coherent enough TvT 

If you’ve managed to read this far, do give Makkura a reread and you just might see it in a different light ;) Of course, my interpretation might be different from what Syaku intended to present, so feel free to come up with your own interpretations as well!

Also, halfway through writing this I found an analysis by @mugimarumaru over in the MRM comments section, so do check it out as well :>

Thank you for coming to my TED talk and hope you have a nice day~

(I wish I’d put in this much effort in my college essays)

- JJ

(P.S. The REAL question here: if their roles were reversed would that make it a Hijigin book 🤔🤔🤔)

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

This chapter was almost the end of me, ok. We have established that I need to get Wei Wuxian to turn me into a fierce corpse to survive the rest of the story.

Chapter 57: Poisons (Part 2)

“All of a sudden, Lan WangJi’s tear-streaked face, reflecting the firelight, flashed within his mind.”

;-;

that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

“We’ve got so many sects. Can’t we join together and…”

Just you wait! It’ll happen! Man, all this foreshadowing...A nice move, actually, because this would be foreshadowing if we had a linear narrative. Too much foreshadowing as you go along the story has a tendency to make the plot look too forced and everything contrived, but in this case it it’s not really foreshadowing since we have known the outcome for ages already.

“Shixiong!!! You’re alive now!!!”

“Wei WuXian, “What do you mean I’m alive now? I’ve never died to begin with!”

This reminds me of that one meme. That “Stop talking about me like I’m dead!” one.

ah, kids. it’s like ‘lol don’t go killing me off!’

The shooting kites day in and day out part gives off a ‘trapped in limbo’ feeling really well I have to say.

“If I went out, Madam Yu’s gonna whip a whole layer of skin off me.”

You’re too good at foreshadowing, Wei Wuxian. Too good.

On the other hand, we can totally see yet again that everyone in this world exaggerates corporeal punishment but you can never be too sure of when they’re actually serious!! how nice.

Ah, more martial problems...please get these two some marriage counseling. and family therapy for the whole group.

“What a shame that our swords don’t have that much spiritual energy yet. If they could sheath themselves, then nobody would be able to use them.”

“Jiang Cheng, “If you cultivate for another eighty years, then maybe it’d be possible.”

UH. THIS IS INTERESTING.

Suibian apparently does this after Wei Wuxian dies which is how Jin Guangyao outs him to everyone. According to Jiang Cheng, this shouldn’t be possible unless you cultivate to a very high level, so it must not be very common.

Wei Wuxian’s sword actually manages to do this though!

“Don’t let them hear anything we say that could be used to hold against us.”

Funny to hear these words coming from you, Wei Wuxian. See, he can be serious! When he was younger, he was especially more impulsive and carefree with his words.

“Wang LingJiao, “Of course. I didn’t have the time to come have a seat inside the last time I came to give out orders. Please.”

I kind of want to know what becomes of this woman. But I also want the satisfaction of reading her death for the first time, if the story tells us outright. Hey, at least we know who survives this conflict or not right?

I don’t know if I could survive a straight through narrative not knowing which of the secondary characters would live and which would die horrible deaths (and which villains made it out or not).

“last time I came to give out orders” though. like, damn. ultra level of disrespect.

“Sure, then, why don’t you go inside?”

I love Madam Yu’s responses. We may not have many ladies in this story, but at least we have badass ones like Madam Yu to make up for it!

“JinZhu and YinZhu stood behind her, both wearing light smirks on their faces.

YinZhu replied, “There is no tea. Get it yourself if you want any.”

And her maids! Awesome battle maids who apparently always wear armor.

I guess there really are no servants in the Jiang clan’s immediate household to serve tea lol. Jinzhu and Yinzhu sure as hell aren’t going to do it, and neither is Wei Wuxian xD that’s all they’ve got. (i’m sure they have others we don’t see. I wonder if this is a thing or they’re just saying this to spite Wang Lingjiao)

“As the person saying this, you’re a servant as well, aren’t you?”

I’m glad we get Wei Wuxian’s commentary still even though he isn’t running his mouth.

“Madam Yu, however, seemed to deeply understand the phrase ‘servants should be what servants ought to be’. Glancing at Wei WuXian, she happened to concur, responding loftily, “That’s right.”

She really does not like him. xD

“Shooting down such a kite is actually implying ‘shooting down the sun’! He wants to shoot down the sun!”

Youngest shidi, you will be immortalized and your sacrifice will not be forgotten!

remember! The war against the Wen sect is called the ‘campaign to shoot down the sun’ aka “Sunshot Campaign”. And the game that the kids in normal villages play is the same shooting down the kite game with the symbol of the sun on the kite, imitating the Sunshot Campaign.

on a more serious note, I know people who draw these wild, conspiracy-theory level conclusions from something very innocuous and it’s actually quite scary. They can’t be reasoned with, either. Just gotta roll with it unfortunately.

“Seeing that such a woman dared to make up stories of Jiang FengMian right in front of them, flames bursted from within Wei WuXian, “You…”

I actually don’t have many reactions to this part because I was just screaming silently at this part and it continues throughout to the end lol.

Ahhh, Wei Wuxian was going to defend him, but then he gets hit.

“Zidian had turned into its whip form, sizzling between her hands of cold jade.”

Remember how just using Zidian around Wei Wuxian’s leg caused a burn in the early chapters? Apparently this damn whip is nothing to scoff at and a really powerful weapon, and he gets hit so many times with it, too!

you understand why she’s doing it. At the same time, you can feel that she’s not 100% reluctant to do it either and it’s kinda scary.

then you also really feel the kids’ panic. Jiang Cheng who can’t do anything to stop it, but also of course really really wants his mom to stop whipping Wei Wuxian! and Wei Wuxian who urges him to get away and not get involved so nothing happens to him, too.

it’s just a really messed up scene and ARGH

“In the past, although Madam Yu had always come at him with harsh words, she had never truly been cruel to him. The most that he’d been through were two or three strikes and being grounded.”

This little bit is important!

But it also doesn’t give a clear answer, which really gives these characters some realism.

Madam Yu, for all her yelling at him, never hurt him badly (this is exactly where Jiang Cheng gets his parenting skills from I’m dead bye). But Wei Wuxian doesn’t have negative or resentful feelings towards her even though she has never accepted him for as long as he has been there, so he is an unreliable narrator.

Then we get this scene where it seems like she has no hesitation in whipping the skin off his back with a really powerful weapon ok. What you can’t tell (since this is from Wei Wuxian’s pov) is the degree to which she means it. She could be a good actress, at the same time she could have been lenient before because of Jiang Fengmian (who always came to let Wei Wuxian out of punishment early). Or she could have been like Jiang Cheng to Jin Ling later and scream about beating him without ever actually meaning it (lol though Jiang Cheng has never hit Jin Ling, still, can you not threaten to break his leg).

We do know that she isn’t cruel enough to enjoy it, though, and there is a limit to what she deems acceptable (cutting off hands is obviously not acceptable)

“Young Master Wen is kind. He wouldn’t do something as cruel as chop off both of his legs. If only his right hand is chopped off, then he wouldn’t ever care about this again.”

see, like, this is why I’m glad we already know the outcome of these events broadly. xD

if you think about it from the characters’ perspectives, this is really fucking scary!

What! Cut off his hand? And if you don’t...? they’ll probably try to wipe out the whole sect or burn it to the ground like the Cloud Recesses!

“Jiang Cheng fought out of the arms of JinZhu and YinZhu. He crashed to his knees, hovering over Wei WuXian, “Mom, Mom, please don’t…”

oh, Jiang Cheng...I have feelings about this guy omg. no wonder he gains an inferiority complex and then as sect leader becomes a ball of Extra and anger issues who won’t stop until he catches Wei Wuxian!

He’s always second best, feels like his father doesn’t love him because of Wei Wuxian yet it’s not like he hates Wei Wuxian either. Then, through neither of their faults, Wei Wuxian is the brave one and Jiang Cheng gets to do the leg work. And when things turn serious, there is nothing he can do at all to save Wei Wuxian who he does obviously care about. for all the ‘you’re going to be the next sect leader, act like one!’ stuff, when it comes down to it there wasn’t anything he could do.

“Fabricking? What’s fabricking? And he suddenly realized, It’s abricating!”

this was nice to lighten the mood a little. only a little though.

“JinZhu, YinZhu, quick, go close the doors. Don’t let the others see the blood.”

see what I mean by ‘you can’t tell if she really means it?’ and the glory of a limited third person narrative done right: based off the description of her actions, it’s difficult to tell.

If it means saving the sect, I think she would absolutely cut off his hand, but only with a greater threat hanging over their heads. Well, this is because she sees him as a servant, of course she would never so readily, no hesitation or lack of composure, do the same to her son.

“Wei WuXian felt fear arise, Don’t tell me that she really is gonna chop off one my my hands?”

One of the times he does show fear!

However, this is where his sacrificial side which is really damn worrying comes in.

“Let it be, then! If it’s in exchange for the peace of the sect… a hand is just a hand. Fuck, if worst comes to worst I’ll just practice the left-handed sword from now on!!!”

It’s probably part of his personality somewhat to be self-sacrificing, or at least be willing to put himself in harm’s way to do good or the right thing. But it’s also highly tied to his upbringing/view of himself. As he states in the last chapter, he doesn’t see himself as Jiang Cheng’s equal. On this, he agrees with Madam Yu: he sees himself as their servant. A servant who is very close to them, yes, and super casual borderline rude, but he doesn’t see himself as Jiang Cheng’s brother.

On a subconscious level, this can really mess with you. He values his life and wellbeing, of course, as most people do. But it also allows his sacrificial nature to rear its head and for him to rationalize that it’s okay to allow himself to get hurt but not others.

Of the things that seem to get Madam Yu to stop/snap, mentioning Jiang Fengmian is one (It was all fine until he had mentioned Jiang FengMian.)

The supervision office is another.

And this is the final straw: “But seeing how obediently you followed my orders and how your personality suits my taste, I’ve still decided to give this great honor to…”

Madam Yu is a lady with a lot of pride. She endured it up to this point, kept swallowing her words, but finally she just snaps. It’s an accumulation of all the stuff that happened, not one thing in particular.

“You look at its owner before you hit a dog! You barged into my sect, and you want to punish my person in front of my face?”

Here’s the last part reveals something more about her true feelings here.

So, here we see her pride, which extends to her servants and not just the two that have been with her since she was young. She doesn’t like Wei Wuxian, she always thinks he should be disciplined more (or at least she says she does), but in the end of the day he is her servant and what right do others (especially another servant) have to punish people of her sect?

“Then let me teach you what superiority and inferiority means! I am the superior, you are the inferior!”

but, man, at the end of the day 57 chapters was worth the wait to finally get such a strong female character like Madam Yu.

This damn chapter was such an emotional rollercoaster omg.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

← back・onward →

[theramseyloft]

Take Home Lessons from the National Young Bird Show:

Taking a brief break from questions to discuss some mistakes I made at this year's NYBS so that I can hopefully prevent them being made by any one else.

1. The YOUNG bird show is a bad place to research adult size...

This one should really have been common sense. XD

Buuut it wasn't.

I looked through the show pens to research the adult sizes of the breeds I was interested in.

Some of the larger breeds take more than 6 months to reach adult size...

2. Time crunches ALWAYS throw your decision making ability askew.

It is VERY hard to make sound decisions in a rush.

And even if you have nowhere else to be, there IS a time crunch in the sales pens.

ESPECIALLY if you are trying to confirm research and that is the oportunity you have to see the breed in person.

Other people who either know exactly what they want or care a lot less than you about checking the health of the birds will be competing with you for what's available.

So, when you enter the sales pens, you have to know EXACTLY what you are looking for and be assertive in your specificity.

THAT impulse is an easy one to follow.

The harder part is knowing when to back out.

When you are in that assertive, certain mind set, trying to select from the stock available not only the birds with the best stock potential, closest to the standard, in the best physical health and condition, among multiple other people trying to do the same...

It is incredibly difficult to pull back enough to reconsider whether or not you've really taken everything into account that needs to be.

3. Keep your known limitations in mind.

In a pigeon show, I am more focused on the birds than the crowd, so the risk of anxiety attack is low in that specific type of venue.

I have a pretty good handle on my distractability.

I am aware enough of my impulsivity to generally work around it.

But my spatial reasoning is TERRIBLE!

And I do NOT have an in-the-moment work around for that, yet.

Story time, now.

I came to the show with two specific birds to get as well as one huge breed slot and three moderate breed slots open.

I needed a mate for Neylan and one for Anthony (and possibly his mother).

I was delighted to find all three, with all the traits I most wanted to improve in my respective studs*.

I knew for certain that I wanted a pair of Show Type Racing Homers and Chinese Owls.

How big the Show Type were would dictate whether getting both breeds left me with a huge slot and a moderate slot still open, or two moderate slots.

I expected that the Show Type would be Moderate size, and finding cocks between the ages of three and five years in the sales pens confirmed.

That left me with a huge slot and a moderate slot open, so I went to look at my potential large breeds.

The West of England Tumbler was top of the list to put hands on, and I found them immediately.

They were not as large as I had expected. Most only slightly taller than my COF.

Most of the photos I have seen of the breed featured moderate length muffs, but the birds in competition leaned more towards full length flight feathers, which is not something I'm super ok with.

So I decided against them.

I was only willing to consider breeds I had researched, and when I came across the Lahore section, the biggest of them were not much bigger than the young Wests and their muffs were of much more moderate length and composition.

I have admired them and been asked about them for years, so I took the time to ask the apparent Club Secretary to help me confirm the truth and clear up the false information.

After having come to the conclusion that they were physically sound and had the potential to have a companion temperament, I decided I would get a pair.

Moderate breed down, so I went to look at the BIG breeds.

The Giant Runt was top of the list, of course.

But even these 4-6 month olds were WAY too big for two of them to be comfortably housed in even the 3x kennel!

So, I went to see the Giant Homers.

And they were glorious!

Big, muscular birds with a big enough frame to support their mass and a face sharing much of the smoothness of outline and reasonable beak length that made the Show Type so attractive to me.

The same guy I bought Riff from had a pen full of Giant Homers.

And next to the Giants, among so many other huge breeds, four-year-old Riff looked as small as the other Lahore on the show pen.

So I got him and picked out my pair of Giants.

11 birds packed in hand, Mike and I returned to the hotel room.

With our focus so cautious to keep them separated, we did not actually get the oportunity to really compare them until we got them back to GA. and settled them into quarantine.

It was then, among my smaller breeds, that I realized my mistake:

Riff's body size, tail length, and wing span are actually damn near identical to those of Vergoldet, my Frillback hen.

6 month old Gwen, one of the largest Lahore in the show pens, is significantly smaller than Riff.

I needed to bring home one new large breed and three moderate.

I ended up bringing home two large breeds and two moderate due primarily to a miscaltulation of their sizes relative both to eachother and the available enclosures...

The Giant Homers, though tall and bulky, have WAY shorter tails and wingspans, and may actually be comfortable in the large kennel.

But if they are not, there is no question about which breed will be staying: The Lahore.

Mistakes have been made, but learned from.

Hopefully, the Giants will be comfortable in the large kennel.

But if they are not, some one who loves big, heavy breeds will get a healthy pair, free of parasites and pathogens.

*In the context of breeding pigeons, a Stud of birds refers to the breeders entire population of a single breed, where a flock encompasses all birds of all breeds on the property.

[bloodroyalsrpg]

CONGRATULATIONS, JEN!

You have been accepted for the role of ISLE OLLIVANDER. ”she was no earthquake, she wasn’t even a rock unless you needed someone to lean on” sold us one thousand percent. From start to finish this application was absolutely beautiful. We love all the way that you expanded on her personality, her values, and especially on her relationships. There’s a common misconception that kind, introverted characters are boring but your Isle’s quiet resolve, artistic empathy, and conscious effort to see beyond the blinders of her own privlidged upbringing are thoroughly and undeniably fascinating. We look forward to seeing how she grows into her own over the course of the game. Please look at the CHECKLIST for next steps. Welcome to Blood Royals!

♕ I: OUT OF CHARACTER ♕

NAME / ALIAS: Jen

♕ II: CHARACTER INFORMATION ♕

FULL NAME: Isle Hemera Ollivander

Isle – a diminutive of Elisabeth which ended up being something of a compromise between her half-German mother and British father when one wanted a classic name and the other wanted a name that would be remembered other than just her surname.

Hemera - the primordial Greek goddess of daylight and her mother’s name.

Ollivander -   means ‘he who owns the olive wand’, suggesting a Mediterranean origin.

FACECLAIM: I’d like to change her fc to Laura Harrier please!

DATE OF BIRTH: March 14th, 1952, Pisces

Pisces are selfless, they are always willing to help others, without hoping to get anything back. Pisces is a Water sign and as such this zodiac sign is characterized by empathy and expressed emotional capacity.  Ravenclaw Pisceans spend so much time dreaming or reading books of legends that it’s a wonder they ever come down to earth. Care must be taken that they do not neglect their material needs, including those that involve sleep, food, and drink. They are quiet students, not always the best in their classes, but tend to be brilliant at subjects which they are personally interested in. Shy and nervous, they are easily bullied or intimidated, and need some looking after by more assertive students.

HOGWARTS HOUSE & YEAR: Ravenclaw, 1963 - 1970. Isle was a hat stall, with The Sorting Hat torn between Hufflepuff for her soft heart and longing to belong, and Ravenclaw for her natural curiosity and fascination with just about everything. In the end it took her own decision into account with her hoping that a house that challenged her more might help her reach the heights her parents hoped for.

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Isle identifies as female and uses she/her pronouns.

SEXUALITY / SHIPS / ANTI-SHIPS: Panromanic, demisexual. Isle has an almost whimsical nature about her at times, the idea of romance something she holds very dear to her heart when it was always so lacking in her parent’s lives. Her soft heart means that she finds herself getting easily attached to people and she has more than a knack for finding something good and worth admiring in almost everyone she means. This means that she is almost constantly drifting in and out of love (in all its varying forms) with those around her but she can never quiet allow herself to be so free with intimacy when to her it should be something special and far from gratuitous.

My main ship for Isle would be her with chemistry (although the idea of her and Corban is so interesting to me and so much could be done with that. Opposites attract is my kryptonite so I have a lot to say but don’t want to babble or get ahead of myself XD I also think her feelings for Royalle could go either way as well) and of course that means that my anti-ship for her would be no chemistry.

OCCUPATION: Wandkeeper and assistant wandmaker to her Great-Uncle at Ollivanders.

ALLIANCE: Neutral. She’s doing her best to remain balanced between the two groups, avoiding too much talk of the war and its sides even if she is more sympathetic towards the Order.

POLITICAL VIEWS: Her parents are immensely proud of their pureblood status and what it means for them in their society and some of that pride rubbed off on Isle at an early age. It wasn’t until later that she started to question just what exactly made her apparently so much better than those who weren’t members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. But even now, their lessons are hard to unlearn and she finds herself having to apply compassion to ensure that she’s seeing the situation for what it is rather than what she’s told to see. But for the most part, Isle tries to distance herself from politics when it’s such a divisive subject and there doesn’t seem to be an answer that two people can agree on to any topic. So while The Order might tug on her heartstrings more, Isle is determined not to take sides when everyone she knows seems to be being pulled in different directions.

KNOWN FACTS:

Despite being something of a wallflower, Isle rather enjoys all the balls she’s encouraged to go to due to the fact the her natural delicateness lends itself rather well to being a good dancer.

While his uncle is renowned for his wandmaking skills, Isle’s father Gerrell Ollivander chose not to pursue the same career and instead forged a name for himself in the Wizengamot. His known to be a hard man to appease when he feels as though the law has been broken but there’s whispers that he is far more sympathetic to those who share the same level of blood purity as he does.

Her mother has one of the finest personal collections of wizarding antiques in Great Britain and perhaps Europe. It was a tradition started by her mother and some of the pieces date as far back as Medieval times. The collection is her pride and joy and it’s little secret that she speaks more fondly of it than her own daughter.

Isle is making something of a reputation for herself in the wand-making trade with her designs gaining in popularity with each one she completes. She might not be able to match the speed of her great uncle but the wands that she creates are so beautifully and intricately carved that it’s almost obvious that each is a labour of love.

BOGGART: Ollivander’s burning, all of her hard work and the one place she felt she truly belonged being taken away from her.

AMORTENTIA: first scent is warm, rich and comforting - hot chocolate with smooth undertones of hazelnut. She smells pine - fresh and clear - reminding her of cool autumn days and hours spent in amongst wands. The last scent is dark and smokey, heady and intoxicating, out of place yet soothing all at once. It almost makes her want to abandon the other two familiar scents altogether.

PERSONALITY TRAITS: At least four detailed personality traits

Trusting and naïve - her ability to seek and believe the best in people is both one of her greatest assets and biggest weakness. Gossip is something she hears but rarely pays any attention to, preferring to instead to make her own decisions about whether a person is good or bad. Despite being empathetic and sympathetic, she tends to take people at their word and at face value, making her very easy to deceive and lull into a false sense of security.

Adroit and hardworking - Her natural understanding of wands is perhaps something that it could be argued she inherited but Isle prefers to see it as a combination of natural talent along with her desire to learn as much about it as possible. Once she starts working on something, she’s almost always adverse to stopping until it’s finished and keeping people waiting. As far back as her time at Hogwarts she used to pour all her time and energy into studying and her own personal research with little concern for anything else. Even now she has a habit of losing herself in her work, time passing without her noticing and all other necessities forgotten about.

Compassionate and selfless - there’s no other way of putting it, Isle is just softhearted. Other people affect her deeply and she without fail will always want to help them with anything that’s troubling them. She will always make herself available to those who reach out even at the expense of her own time and even health. It’s where she feels most at ease around other people and she’d by far rather be the listener than the sharer.

Artistic and imaginative - her designs are truly something to behold, sketches coming to her at all times of the day and night as she find inspiration in the smallest, simplest of things. She has a tendency to be a dreamer, to let reality slip away just enough so that she’s living in the ideal world where tensions aren’t rising and everything is at risk.

Shy and unsure - while Isle doesn’t necessarily think lowly of herself and knows that she has her strengths, she struggles to believe that they lend themselves well to life or success in the society that she was born into. With her own parent’s disinterest, she feels as though everyone else might eventually come to the same conclusion about her and it makes her hesitant in conversation in the hopes to delay their decisions a little longer.

Curious and inquisitive: might have struggled to always perform well under the stress of tests but there’s no denying that the young woman still has a thirst for knowledge. It might not be for anything particularly academic but if it catches her interest then without a doubt she’ll have bought two books on the subject within the hour. She has an almost constant sense of wonder at the world and feels as though her interest curiosity will never be sated.

SPECIAL SKILLS: While Isle will be quick to claim that it’s nothing but a simple indulgence in her free time, she’s quite a talented piano player which dates back to lessons that her parents used to pay for for her and a love of music that quickly followed. Though perhaps not the most clinical with her technique, her light touch and the feeling that she pours into each piece make up for what she might lack technically.

BIOGRAPHY:

Born to two proud Slytherins whose ambition and need for advancement seemed to know no bounds, Isle never quite possessed the same iron-hearted will that they did. Instead she inherited her mother’s looks and took her father’s name but remained all together more soft than they had hoped for. A difficult childbirth meant that she was to remain sibling-less and though she never failed to do everything she could to please her parents and be the pureblooded princess they wanted her to be, they grew more and more disinterested and distant with every bird she tried to save or poor soul her eyes filled with pity for. Their high hopes would never be realised and for that disappointment alone they threw themselves into their work, leaving their daughter either in the care of family - mainly her great uncle where she spent hours enraptured by his work with wands- or the house elves.

With every year it became obvious that she’d never have the qualities needed to shake up society and progress to the very top. She was no earthquake, she wasn’t even a rock unless you needed someone to lean on. Instead the daughter of Hemera and Gerrell Olivander’s daughter was more like water, calming and soothing but with hidden depth most people never saw when her quiet demeanour was only the surface. But just as it became more obvious to her parent’s that she wasn’t what they’d wanted, Isle herself began to see that neither of them were truly happy. Their marriage was one of convenience, two like minds joining together to conquer what they could, and while they knew how to put on a good face as much as the next Pureblood, behind closed doors it was painfully obvious to her that even if they accomplished their goals they’d never be truly happy or satisfied. It seemed like a hollow way to live any way.

Vows were made to her younger self to not become the shadows of people that her parents were, to keep some sort of love and hope to light her life and prevent her from following the same path that they did. From the moment that she entered the Great Hall, Isle was almost convinced that she’d end up in Hufflepuff with her parents convinced of the same thing and almost despairing of the idea that their offspring had fallen so far away from them. Except she managed to surprise them all when her quiet intelligence and natural curiosity earned her a place in Ravenclaw. From that moment on her parents stood a little taller when they claimed her as theirs and began to take some sort of interest in her once again which she welcomed though was hesitant to let herself become too reliant on their attention.

The rest of her time at Hogwarts was characterised by her unassuming way of going about her work, the hours that she used to have to spend in the library to keep up with her peers mostly going unnoticed. She kept herself under the radar - despite her parents urging to put herself out there more - but still managed to garner herself something of a reputation for being the best listener and shoulder cry on, always more than happy to be there for anyone who needed her. But as her final year approached, she found herself worrying about what she would do with her future. It wasn’t until she spent the Easter break working with her uncle as she had taken to doing since she was fourteen while her parents jetted off elsewhere, that an offer was made by him for her to come and work with him after she finished her studies.  With that weight off her shoulders Isle was able to focus on her final year and achieve the grades that she wanted. The day after her last day she had little hesitation in going to see her great uncle and she’s been working there ever since with long says surrounded by wood and cores only broken up by the events her parents still urge her to go to unless one of her friends pulls her away to have some fun every once in a while.

CONNECTIONS:

Royalle – the other woman is a force to be reckoned with and Isle almost envies her that ease within herself but she’s never been one for negative feelings so instead all she has for the other woman is admiration and a sense of love. While Royalle seems to rely on her for support, Isle relies on her for company, though she’d never voice it out loud. There are days when she doesn’t know what she’d do without the other girl who helps her feel more at ease in her own skin and she’s always thankful that she chose her to be her friend.

Corban - his reputation means little to her when she’s always liked to make her own mind up about people and never judge until she knows them. Almost deaf to the rumours, Isle is instead draw to him for reasons she can’t explain. There’s more to him than meets the eye, of that much she’s certain, and it peaks her curiosity and empathy enough that she’s been unable to forget their interaction even if she’s far too hesitant to think of starting up a conversation again.

Garrick Ollivander - he’s the man who gave her a place to feel as though she had some sort of calling in life. Something useful and endlessly engrossing so that she could make peace with the idea that she was never going to follow in her parents’ footsteps. But she’s still able to stick to her family’s roots, just not with the inheritance most expected but it’s a chance she’ll always be grateful for.

♕ III: FREESTYLE ♕

I’ve created a mockblog here that has a few of these things on it as well as a few inspiration posts!

[bemused-writer]

Dragon Age Day!

Ahh, I completely forgot about it, but I figure in celebration I'll take a moment to talk about my main playthrough a bit and the impressions I formed of my characters and their LIs along the way (plus pictures).

The Warden

Mahariel wasn't my first warden, but she was the first one I played to completion and is therefore my main. She's a Dalish rogue. The above image is how I always think of her: intimidating, strong, prepared to get things done even when it's unpleasant. It's a little strange because she generally did things the "right" way and got along with all her teammates. She wasn't about to sacrifice anyone, so there was a certain naivete there as well.

The impression I've always been under is that she started out a little more optimistic and became more jaded/worldly/self-aware by Awakening after defeating the archdemon. In other words, while she was leading in Origins, she became a real leader in Awakening.

Throughout Origins, she knew they were fighting a losing battle, but vowed not to lose anyone the way she lost Tamlen ever again and wasn't entirely sure of her own leadership. It was kind of thrust on her by Alistair after all, and she wasn't used to being around humans. All of that led to some initial difficulty for her, especially when it came to figuring out what to even do about the archdemon. Having Morrigan, Alistair, and a mabari makes for a difficult first party. XD Two of them disagree on everything and the third doesn't have an opinion.

She romanced Zevran and the two of them made for a pretty great assassin couple. I like to think that he helped her adjust to the world outside her clan and that she helped him open up about who he really is, both to her and himself.

Even though they have very different backgrounds, they have similar opinions on a lot of things. I actually really enjoyed Zevran's romance because it has a lot of layers. You think it will go one way, but it actually ends up surprisingly sweet, much like Zevran himself. I think these two are a good balancing act. They didn't always make for the most balanced party, though. XD All those rogues were squishy and I had a nightmare of a time defeating Branka.... Still, totally worth it.

Mahariel and Zevran are still traveling together (despite all the constant bugs these games give Zevran), and hopefully they'll make a reappearance in one of the future games. Someday.

The Champion

I played a blue-line mage Hawke on my first playthrough with the default appearance.

The impression I've always had of Hawke is that it's family first with her. Everything else is secondary. How else can she have a mansion in Kirkwall while atrocities are happening just a little ways away? In fairness to her, she does a lot to set things right, but I always found her to be just a bit ... aristocratic, and possibly detached from others. And yet, she's also quite cunning and extremely persuasive. She can get just about anyone to do as she wishes. Quite a dangerous person beneath the pleasant veneer.

Maybe that's an odd impression of Hawke and it might sound negative too, but I really do like the character and I really respect all she does for her family. That's why it's so cruel that her family is torn apart anyway. Her sister, mother, and father are all dead and her brother left her for the templars and didn't stand beside her in the end. Talk about a rough conclusion to things. ): She also didn't totally succeed with her friends either. She had to convince Fenris to help her against Meredith and Isabela completely ditched her.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that my first playthrough with Hawke was kind of a rocky ride. XD Even though Mahariel had way worse circumstances (fighting a war she'd never signed up for is pretty bad) things ended up way better for her at the conclusion of the story. Hawke doesn't appear to have a home at the end and her friends split up. Only Varric and Merrill keep in contact with her.

And speaking of Merrill, she was Hawke's romance in this playthrough.

Merrill is such an awesome character in my book, which is why it's always a shame to see the fandom (and kind of the game...) act like she's totally naive and incompetent. Why is this such a common opinion?

But anyway, Merrill has an incredible knowledge of history and of the elven people and she isn't completely opposed to blood magic, so we were destined to get along, but there were times when I really felt like Hawke just ... didn't get Merrill and that was such a bummer for me. XD Even the nice options sometimes sounded a little patronizing. I suppose that's where a lot of my opinion on Hawke came from. Hawke just isn't worldly. Honestly, Merrill isn't either (she'd never really left her clan before), but there's a more open, willingness to learn vibe than what I get from Hawke. If I had to choose the worldliest person in the game I'd probably go with Varric or Fenris, to be honest.

Merrill also misses Mahariel quite a bit and I really wish those two could have a reunion of some sort. I would love more of that particular story. The impression I always got was that they were really good friends and that Mahariel might have been the only person who really understood where Merrill was coming from. Her clan wants nothing to do with her anymore, so it would be nice if she could have a reunion with one person who might get why she did what she did.

The Inquisitor

I went with a mage Trevelyan for this playthrough.

As a mage, Trevelyan was pretty iffy on her role as inquisitor. She definitely didn't think she was holy and the whole thing seemed absurd to her, but she understood that someone had to rally the people. Still, I think there's some frustration there. She's definitely a mage sympathizer. She kind of has to be as a mage herself. She gets why Anders did what he did and even if she's stuck dealing with the aftermath. She figures it's a chance to better her people's lot. She has an aristocratic background, but hasn't had any contact with her family (as is the norm for anyone who grew up in the Circle), so she doesn't have as much upper society know-how as she might have otherwise. This might explain why she did such a bad job in Orlais. 8D I really didn't enjoy that party, you guys....

But she does believe in diplomacy above all else (the only reason she accepted being the inquisitor in the first place) and as such she found a good match in Josephine!

The romance with Josephine was something of an accident if I'm totally honest. XD I went into this game having no idea who I wanted to romance and so I hit the heart option with a couple different people. I was starting to lean towards Josephine because, out of my advisers, she was the only one whose suggestions really made sense to me. If I could have assigned her to everything, I would have. Anyway, I apparently hit the heart option with her the most because suddenly the game thrust me into things and I was being threatened by Leliana, so I figured, "Probably should stick with this one."

I'm so glad I did! They have a very natural romance. I even got to duel a guy who very respectfully left when he realized what we had was true. She also took me to see an Orlesian play with fireworks, so that was pretty awesome. I think these two probably have the smoothest relationship out of all my Dragon Age romances. I don't think they ever had difficulty communicating or any real awkward moments, so kudos to them!

Out of the Dragon Age protagonists, I think Trevelyan had it the easiest. Sure, she didn't want to be part of any of this, but she had a ton of resources, tons of support, a nice romance without trouble.... Compared to the Warden and Hawke, it was easy going. XD Still, things couldn't go that well forever. If she's the protagonist for the next game, she's going to have it rough. Things with Solas went ... badly, to say the least. She hasn't given up on the guy (she's an optimist), but he's pushing it.

And that's how things have gone so far. I have a lot of fanfiction ideas for all these characters, some of which are already written. I have a lot of other characters set up in Dragon Age as well, so at some point I'm definitely going to be playing through again. ^^