#fortifier

[j-august]

Money is a great fortifier of self-respect.

George Gissing, New Grub Street

[crypto101bylauriesuarez]

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[the-spirit-of-yore]

Porte fortifiée, Abbaye du Bec-Hellouin, Normandie, France

[realtacuardach]

One of my favorite takes on Frodo, and why I value him so much as a character: unlike so many central characters in fantasy, he was not a Chosen One.

Instead, he was the One who Chose, and that made all the difference.

[heartstopperthoughts]

Sarah Nelson inviting the Spring family to dinner as a buffer between her and her shitty ex-husband

[cauldron-of-oddities]

Ekko kisses Jinx crown or forehead as his little acts of affection/greeting.

Jinx, in turn, kisses Ekko's chin and nose as her little acts of affection.

Ekko is sometimes met with good-natured sniggers and a gesture to his nose from the other firelights.

The hourglass's paint has smudged again. (no one tells him she does it deliberately). It leaves him a bit bashful and chuffed; who wouldn't want their girl to shower them with affection

[snakeguy999]

[abirddogmoment]

Pink tones 💗

[throughtrialbyfire]

i love you uesp. i love you uesp. i love you uesp. i love you uesp. i lov-

[existennialmemes]

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

And by "sugar" I mean Little Treats.

And by "medicine" I mean The Horrors.

And a spoonful may not actually be enough. Let's start with a truckload and see how it goes.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

Alhaitham referring to kaveh in ways which acknowledge his skill, and kaveh perceiving it as sarcasm, even though alhaitham refers to kaveh in the same ways when kaveh isn’t present is driving me a little bit insane - especially what this prompts the player to question!!

When we first meet kaveh in the archon quest the relationship between him and alhaitham is presented to us as “terrible” (courtesy of npc geoff who introduces kaveh’s return to sumeru city), and the cutscene in the house of daena demonstrates what this entails, being that the two cannot see eye to eye, and, seemingly don’t hold each other in high regard.

Alhaitham seemingly refers to kaveh’s genius in a sarcastic light and kaveh claims to despise talking to alhaitham because of his arrogance.

Looking to kaveh’s hangout, however, when the player has a one-on-one with alhaitham, the player gets a glimpse into alhaitham’s personal understanding of kaveh, and with this, his own views on kaveh.

Within this exchange between him and the player, Alhaitham uses Kaveh’s title without sarcasm, sincerely praising him and his skills, elevating him over ‘less skilled’ architects and asserting that Kaveh should have more confidence in his work.

The reason that Alhaitham does not openly praise Kaveh is stated here, being that “admonitions” will serve no purpose due to people being prone to fall into “similar pitfalls”, and that people should have the right to lead their own life, rather than have it interfered upon by others

The reading here is that even if Alhaitham did openly praise Kaveh, no difference would be made in Kaveh’s thinking. Yet, by refraining from praise, and instead goading, by this logic, this also makes no difference. Therefore, the question is raised, ‘why can Alhaitham praise Kaveh to the player, and not to Kaveh himself?’

When Alhaitham praises Kaveh’s work within Kaveh’s hangout it is through there being no record of issues in the reconstruction of port ormos, which is something kaveh states first - in this context, alhaitham notes the work as an “impressive achievement”, which kaveh assents to, as there is no standing in which this can be debated. Kaveh cannot resent a compliment steeped in fact, even from alhaitham

The problem, then, is rooted in alhaitham’s delivery, which relates to their core issue of miscommunication. Referring back to their exchange in the House of Daena, it is observed that Alhaitham uses similar descriptors of Kaveh to Kaveh, similar to the descriptors he uses to the Traveler in Kaveh’s hangout, however, Kaveh perceives these words as sarcasm.

This highlights the miscommunication between them and can aid in answering the question why Alhaitham cannot be open with Kaveh, as he will be misconstrued.

​Through Alhaitham’s repeated elusions to Kaveh when he is not present and his open esteem of Kaveh and his work to the Traveler, Kaveh’s assertion that Alhaitham holds him in a negative light is proved incorrect. This serves to highlight the miscommunication between the two, causing the player to question why they hold such contrasting views of the other.

Clearly, there is a reason why Alhaitham cannot openly express his regard of Kaveh to Kaveh, but this reason is obscure to both kaveh and the player.

In terms of queer subtext it’s pretty interesting that alhaitham’s high regard for kaveh is shown within the surface text and yet the reason for this secrecy is never made explicit within the story’s surface and is only to be inferred from alhaitham’s and kaveh’s character stories.

In terms of the two functioning as mirrors, the fact that the knowledge that alhaitham cannot outright compliment kaveh 1) is not only due to their past argument and lost friendship and 2) is also due to his awareness that kaveh cannot accept goodwill, is only obtainable by reading both kaveh and alhaitham’s character stories shows how intertwined they are as characters - you cannot fully understand one without the other

(Update: For more analyses like this, the essay this is taken from is now uploaded! It can be accessed here and here as as a pdf <3)

[burnertracfone]

オリジナル衛士 ディアーノチカ・ジェルトワ大尉 by 松吉

[crypto101bylauriesuarez]

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[illustratus]

An Italianate landscape with a view of a fortified town by Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld

[crabsnpersimmons]

Dear Crabsie,

I have brought thou a gift to defend thyself against any fishy thoughts, especially those which bringeth with them sadness and disdain, have these items to fortify your mind :

Okay have a nice day 🫂✨💕💥‼️

Dearest Starrie,

I was so thrilled upon receiving your notice of such a thoughtful gift that my joy rivalled that of my passing exam mark! However, I was simply aghast to discover that your gift had fell victim to the capricious nature of my postal service! I was looking forward to disrupting the tender tranquility of my housemates with my sweet kicks, but alas, the universe deemed this gift too powerful—too dangerous on the wrong feet. I am unworthy of such a gift. I only pray that whoever has received such a paragon of personal footwear will give them the honour and care that they deserve.

Your Humble Jestie,

Crabs

meanwhile...

but where did the other shoe go?

[cauldron-of-oddities]

‘Kiss it better’

Jinx gets phantom pain in her missing finger. It feels sore, and itchy and of course, not there. So there's nothing she can really do.

Because there's no outlet or any real relief, she has little bouts of frustration and angrily clenches and / or shakes her hand, hoping to get some.

Ekko, seeing her frustration, gently catches her hand gently in his warm, larger ones and then kisses the skin of her knuckle, and then each mechanical joint and the tip of her finger. And somehow, between the warmth of his palms holding her hand and soft lips, she somehow can still feel,she just feels that little bit better.

Now, when she gets like that, he will see and repeat the gesture, or she will come up to him and ask “Kiss it better?”