#i don't know who the asura is ;_;

[forbiddenredjollyrancher]

super late sketches from the February NA Art Party. I’ve got more but i’m not sure if/when i’ll finish them. Q-Q

[iviin-855]

Bisclavret (werewolf tale) zoro au

In the tale of Bisclavret a nobleman close to the king who is a werewolf tells his wife about his condition and disturbed about it she hides his clothes after a transformation to trap him in beast form. (She was also cheating on him so it's not just shock driving her) the wolf finds his king on a hunt who is shocked to find a wolf so intelligent and loyal and tame to him until they come across his ex wife who he attacks. The advice of wise men and some torture later the king finds out the truth and they manage to turn back the loyal knight into a human.

Maybe zoro turned in a bounty to a greedy devil fruit user who didn't want to pay him and have the fame for the capture for themselves turned him into a beast (maybe a tiger, the Icelandic adaptation had the knight be an ice bear) or he already had that curse and that person managed to trap him. Rika was attacked by Helmeppo's pet dog as in canon but here she tried to scare it off with a knife and when it attacked her it ran itself into the blade and died. Helmeppo was about to kill her when a tiger previously hidden in an alley walked up to him and sat down docile as a housecat. Happy about his new and impressive "pet" he left not thinking about rika. Biding his time until helmeppo forgets about his previous pet zoro stayed but didn't exactly obey so helmeppo tried to train the tiger by tying him to a pole not feeding him until he listens, the rest however goes down like normal. He still carries wado ichimonji in his maw but 3 sword style has to wait until he has hands. Luffy calls him his swordsman which everyone thinks is ridiculous (that is a tiger?! With a sword in its mouth that it knows to use somehow, but still a tiger!) but he is insistent and the rest of the crew stop arguing when zoro shows his skills (they call him demon since luffy heard rumors of s demon tiger) but the real reveal comes after they recruit chopper who can understand zoro and together they find a way to turn him back (either they find another way, sail back to east after alabaster to find his clothes or the marine who trapped him went to the grand line with the clothes as a souvenir (maybe his headband is enough) and they fight them taking them back). He keeps the ability to change shapes because it is neat but he needs to be careful not to loose his clothes or let them get destroyed or else he can never turn back so turning into a tiger isn't exactly risk free.

[sylvariance]

Catri had a strange encounter with a fascinating cryptid during the fight for Tarir recently, and a guildie informed me that they actually have a Tumblr presence, so I can share and tag appropriately! GG at Tarir, have fun in Tyria! @moth-tea-merchant

(Many apologies for buzzing around like a crystal gnat trying to get the right angle for a screenshot, but it was worth it I think 😅)

[sylvaridreams]

Inhales. You know what gets me when I think about Heart of Thorns. The anti-sylvari sentiment in-universe was SO real for a while there. During the period of time where the whole world of Tyria learned the secret that Wynne had died to protect, that sylvari came from the jungle dragon, that they were made to serve it. Everyone turned on them. Friends, lovers, commanding officers, it didn't matter anymore. They COULD turn mordrem at any time, so you had to assume that they would. You couldn't trust something that belonged to a dragon. Even Laranthir (of the Wild) right after the crash, being held captive by his own people, waiting for him to go feral and tear their throats out. The sylvari Commander was granted a little wiggle room, a little space to walk around freely, but it's all very conditional. Prove you're a good one, that you won't fall to the dragon. There's the event in Verdant Brink where they round up all the sylvari in a camp and ask you to interrogate them, to break them down until they confess to being mordrem. And inevitably a few of them are hiding among the camp, but an equal number of sylvari run from you in fear, more afraid of you and the Pact than the certain death of the jungle beyond. The other innocents that stay don't have a choice. It's keep your head down and don't say anything or be killed, one way or another, while the Commander that you've worked under for the past couple of years interrogates a crying novice, asking if they've heard a voice. And who hasn't heard the voice at that point? The Commander admits to hearing it too. Canach likens it to a buzzing fly. Irritating. Nothing more. Strong willed sylvari don't stumble when Mordremoth speaks. But even that's not true; maybe not everyone's played Heart of Thorns on a sylvari Commander, but the closer you get to the dragon, you start to falter, to black out and lose time. In its domain you actually do fall to it. Briefly. Just for a while, you forget who you are and what you're doing there, and mordrem start giving you killing orders. And you snap out of it and never tell anyone, never. They can't know how close you got.

But what GETS ME is that after the dragon is dead, no one talks about it. It all returns to normal. Like the tension was never there in the first place. I'm sure there might be some loaded quips about sylvari in Living World Season 3 right after, but the next time I actually can recall it coming up is in Path of Fire. Right as you get into Desert Highlands; Canach says something about "I always knew this whole human/gods arrangement wouldn't work out" and Kasmeer shoots back "This coming from someone with a DRAGON in their family tree." And that's that. No one actually really discusses it in-game. They all moved on and don't care if you're a dragon minion or not.

Which. Augh. WHAT!!!!! NO ONE CARES? I'm sure it's a better end-user experience than if everyone you encountered as a sylvari player was like "OOOOOH I DON'T TRUST YOUR TYPE... YOU WRETCHED DRAGON PLANT FOLK" but narratively it's a little boring. At least in the sense that it doesn't feel finished. There should still be tons of anti-sylvari sentiment in Tyria and propaganda spread to force them out of parts of society and stupid hoops to jump through to be considered safe. Just as I think that sylvari should still hold anti-asura sentiment--you're telling me their small second generation had a huge group taken away and tortured to death and there's no ingrained fear of it happening again? I want my sylvari commander to have met Gorrik in LWS4 and been like haha. uh. 😥 (do I really have to work with this guy. An inquest...) (and EVENTUALLY come to like and trust him!) instead of the game plowing over it like oh yeah don't worry about it n_n the facility exploded and all so he doesn't work there now don't worry n_n NO I'M WORRIED!-- again I'm sure that the smoothing over of Everything is a better end-user experience. rather than everyone you meet being rude to you or vice versa. However----💥 (I am killed by a sniper from a long distance so that I stop talking before I begin delving into the prejudices that are already baked into the narrative)

[beaulesbian]

i'm caught up with end of wano, so here's some parallels from one piece that could be or don't have to be connected, but are still pretty cool.

long post ahead & wano spoilers

protecting new era:

rayleigh protecting zoro at sabaody from an attack by kizaru, ch 511

luffy protecting law from an attack by doflamingo, with same move as rayleigh above, dressrosa ch 782

at the end of wano, ch 1055, shanks telling ryokugyu a similar thing as rayleigh above ("don't pick the buds before they sprout. their era is only just the beginning"),

shanks "when the new shoots that just changed pirating history are exhausted, (..) are you that afraid of the new era?!"

---

zoro king of hell

same page as luffy protecting law - with haki clashing against doflamingo, the panels after that talking about supreme king haki - qualities of a king,. in this context for doflamingo, ch 782

at amazon lily ppl reacting to luffy using supreme king haki, while he doesn't know he just did, ch. 519. "that's the haki of the chosen ones' only one in millions has that spirit!"

vs, zoro unknowingly unleashing haki of supreme king for (possibly) the first time, ch 997

and later during his rooftop fight against kaido, (and still denies/ doesn't know what they're talking about, which is very interesting). ch 1010

then during his fight with King, unleashing haki, which makes others around fall unconscious (as mentioned above to doflamingo is a sign of supreme king haki), ch 1033

and some more chapters later, claiming the title of King of Hell (funny in this context it was told to doflamingo he was chosen by the heavens, and for zoro he became the king of hell. smth smth about the character work there).,

and as always - connected to luffy and his dreams!. ch 1036

then there's the asura figure surrounding zoro's powers,

and i find it so interesting that on wikipedia about asura (which zoro's sword and fighting styles are also based on with hindu and buddhist religions) is mentioned they're "considered enemy of the gods"

i like how it's the same phrase as we also heard in the manga before form law's flashbacks about corazon, ch 764

this is in the context of the people with the D. name, and then mostly used for law himself, and luffy and how far he's come to truly wreck the world government, as well as them being a threat to the celestial dragons.

luffy and nika:

from point above, i like how the "enemy of gods" being applied to people with the name D. is also interesting in the context of luffy awakening his devil fruit powers, which are named sun god nika. (i know that in the phrase "enemy of gods" mean gods as the celestial dragons, but it's still interesting)

which doesn't take away from luffy's character as i was a bit worried at first.

he's testing the new skills and powers, and he sees how he can reach the new limits he couldn't before. it might have been the devil fruit that chose who would eat it, but it's luffy and his dream that make the decisons., ch 1045

and ch 1049

luffy in ch 507 & 1053, his core ideals are still the same

---

not fighting someone

shanks not fighting the mountain bandits, and luffy not understanding it, ch 1

jaya arc, luffy and zoro not fighting against bellamy, and nami not understanding at first, ch 225

and ch 1054, momonosuke telling yamato not to fight the navy guy because he wants to be able to protect wano, and let yamato go to the seas as he wants to - it's just that similar energy that luffy has when he tells someone not to fight (or when to fight), without almost any explanations.

also loved this usopp moment!, - could be paralelled to his whole character arc. ch 1036.

he's so real for saying this to kin and kiku (and samurai in general). he's always scared and sometimes can be acting like a coward, but he always, always, stands up for his crew and fights to live through whatever hell luffy puts in front of them.

-- wano was so good and there are so many thoughts about one piece in my head now, about each of the characters and their development/meanings/themes! OTL

[witch--btch]

Discussing Negai no Astro - Chapter 4

Religion - Buddhism/Asura

Both Kuran and Kou have half of Asura tattooed on their forearms. The Sanmenroppi security branch’s logo and Ikebukuro headquarters are also a resemblance of the demigod.

I did some research, and came across this line of text I find very interesting, regarding Kou, and the inferiority he feels when compared to others.

In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called Devas and Asuras. Each Asura and Deva emerges from the same father, share the same residence, eat together the same food and drinks, and have innate potential, knowledge and special powers in Hindu mythology; the only thing that distinguishes "Asura who become Deva" from "Asura who remain Asura" is intent, action and choices they make in their mythic lives.

"Asuras who remain Asura" share the character of powerful beings obsessed with their craving for wealth, ego, anger, unprincipled nature, force, and violence. Further, in Hindu mythology, when they lose, miss, or don't get what they want (because they were distracted by their cravings) the "Asuras who remain Asuras" question, challenge, and attack the "Asuras who became Devas" to loot a portion of what the Devas have and the Asuras do not.

In Buddhist mythology, the Asuras are said to experience a much more pleasurable life than humans, but they are plagued by envy for the Devas, whom they can see just as animals perceive humans.

Take that text of information as you will. I hope you can understand my point without me having to explain further than this lol.

Does Kuran have a Astro?

Personally, I’m thinking he either does not have an Astro, or he doesn’t want to admit he has one.

Astros are given to people who held onto something precious, and made a wish. Kuran doesn’t really seem like the type of person who makes wishes, or gives into sentimental notions like that.

If he does have an Astro, he’s probably keeping it a secret so he doesn’t have to use it on Kou. When Kou challenged Kuran to fight for branch leader, had he known Kuran also had an Astro, he would surely make him use it so he could win in a ‘fair fight’.

I definitely think Kuran let Kou win for multiple reasons. 1, he doesn’t want to seriously hurt his younger brother, he’s too kind for that. 2, as an older brother, he’s kind of just letting Kou do and have whatever he wants for the time being. More below lol.

Relationship between Kou/Kuran

As a big brother, I think Kuran feels it’s his role to support his younger brothers, not fight with them.

He doesn’t think it’s right to ‘put them in their place’ or anything like that. Instead, he thinks it’s better if he supports them, forgives their misdeeds, and protects them if they get in over their heads. Even when Kou says dehumanizing things, like calling Kuran “my little security robot.”/ treating him like a winnable object; Kuran doesn’t take it personally, since Kou finally has confidence in himself …

I think Kuran might spoil Kou because he knows how insecure Kou is in being the youngest sibling, with nothing to his name.

Kuran understands that Kou is becoming power hungry, but he doesn’t see a harm in it as long as he is still around to pick up after the messes.

The Lighter that Kou made his wish with. This can be speculated as headcanon now, but I think Kuran gave Kou this lighter, encouraging him not to give up on becoming stronger, even if he feels weak now. It just seems like a good older brother thing that Kuran would say to ease his little brother’s insecurities.

And just as he said, Kou did become stronger. So to encourage Kou into realizing he isn’t the same weakling he was before, Kuran purposefully lost to him. Beating Kou would only crush his confidence and put Kou right back to square one:( as a supportive older brother, Kuran simply can’t do that.

That was pretty much the bulk of what I wanted to say about the most recent chapter; if anyone would like to add anything, go ahead! ^.^

[0lshadyl0]

Hi would it be alright to request yandere romantic hcs for Naruto please with a female reader if possible maybe she was part of his team in his younger days ; love to see what you come up with ^-^

I love this question, especially because of the concept of being a teammate, basically being the third member of team 7, since I think that another female character should have been the tri-lead and not Sakura (It's not that I dislike Sakura, in fact, I feel that she is a character with a lot of potential but undervalued by her author who only went out of her way to develop Sasuke. Sakura is a wasted potential like almost all the women in the series, which It makes me think that Kishi doesn't know how to write women… or he's lazy because they aren't Uchihas or Sasuke)

In fact, I am thinking in the future of making a fic with a team 7 made up of Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata, since they are the respective reincarnations of Indra, Asura and the descendant of Hamura, but that will be for another post

yandere Naruto Romantic Headcanons

Well, here I am going to develop Naruto in his early age, that is, Naruto from the first part of the series, it does not include shippuden, the last and I will pretend that Boruto does not exist (don't ask me questions about Boruto, I didn't see the series and I am not interested beyond the concept of Boruto's visual power but only because it would be a development of the byakugan not because I am interested in the character), so here we will see the child version of a twelve-year-old yandere Naruto (if I remember correctly, that's how old he was at that time) until he leaves the village with Jiraiya, keeping this in mind, let's continue

We all know the sad story of Naruto and how painful his childhood was, without parents, hated by the entire village, without friends and all that drama

The important thing is that from all that negligence and lack of human interaction, the need was born in him to attract attention in any way possible

basically what I want to say here is that he would turn yandere for literally anyone who pays him the slightest bit of attention and above all, this is key, who treats him well

I'm not talking about great charitable gestures or kindness, I'm talking about treating him with cordiality, basically the first principle of a decent human being (yes, that's how badly he's been treated)

He would trust you 100% if you approached and proposed to be his friend (let's remember part of a flashback in some filler chapter where he went into a dangerous forest to look for a kunai from an enemy ninja of the village just because some stupid and very bad-hearted children said that they would be his friends if he brought said weapon, basically sending him to die if it weren't for Iruka-sensei)

Another thing is that Naruto is tremendously obsessive, just look at how he behaves with his teammates, that will not compare to the obsession he developed with you.

and we must take into account, here Sakura does not exist in his head, you are the prettiest girl in the village and he has made his intentions very clear to you that in the future he wants to be your lover (boyfriend, in a innocent way since he is a kid)

He will not see mistakes or defects, he will fight with Sasuke or Kakashi if one of those two scolds you or disrespects you

he will not like your friends, not because he is jealous or that he thinks they are going to steal you from him, but it is more because of his insecurity and fear of being alone again, that is something you can repair If you make your friends also friends with him

He is clingy to the extreme but not very observant in the sense that he won't always remember your favorite color or food, but at least he remembers special dates.

your enemies are his enemies and he does hold grudges against people who hurt you

He will also see you as someone above him and everyone, he is like a worshiper (remember how he thought well of Sakura? It's the same but amplified) you are a being incapable of making mistakes in his eyes

His beloved's opinion is very important to him, so much so that it is above anyone else, above his teacher, Sasuke, Iruka, the ramen guy or even the Hokage.

At this stage he will be a little annoying, irritating and clingy, but nothing dangerous, a child in love, the most dangerous thing about his yandere side would come out later when his crush stops being childish.

[ratasum]

I'm in immense amounts of pain this morning but I just want to ramble about something that doesn't get talked a lot in the community and I wish people would consider because it's one of the most tragic and fascinating parts of asuran lore, and that's the fact that their culture is cobbled together from the bits and pieces of what they could carry brought by refugees who fled a home overrun by monsters hundreds of years ago.

I feel like the norn have similar issues, but with their tradition of oral storytelling, it may be less prevalent. (On the other hand, who knows how many skaalds they lost when they fled the north.)

The asura have their technology. Some of it came with them during the exodus. But they lost immense amounts of knowledge, huge chunks of their own history, and unfathomable cultural practices that just couldn't survive while they were trying to stay alive themselves.

I honestly think it may be one of the reasons they come off a little insular as a culture. They've lost so much and have had to fight tooth and nail to rebuild what they have now. And then they lost some of that again, to the very organization that had been formed to preserve their history and knowledge, in the Thaumanova disaster.

Like. I don't think it gets talked about enough. It's significant that the asura are a race of refugees. They do not belong here. They are painfully aware of this. Hell, it's in the opening crawl when you make a new asura.

We are the asura, lords of the deep domains that are now denied to us. Overwhelmed by numbers, power, and brute force, we have been forced to this open sunfilled world and forced to recreate our civilization. That we have succeeded is a testament to the indomitable spirit and innate intelligence of our people.

They lost nearly everything when they fled Quora Sum. Who knows how much they truly lost. And that eats away at me so much you have no idea.

[torasplanet]

there's nothing more kuran hates than when you come to club asura.

he doesn't like you being around all those rude ass guys who don't respect anyone, certainly not women. he also doesn't like kou being around you because kou's worse, he flirts with you sometimes and it annoys kuran so much but he can't do much about it. even though he tells you this, you keep coming because he's always at the club and you always want to see him so you just end up sitting on his lap or cuddling up to him while he does whatever he needs to.

but other times, kuran manages to sneak away and bring you with him to one of the rooms in the club for a bit of alone time.

kuran is nasty taking you from behind, your hair is suffocating in his palm under his tight grip as he pulls your hair back. his other hand is gripping the fat of your ass as he relentlessly pounds into you while you try and conceal your moans as you know how he feels about other people hearing them. he's possessive and he doesn't want anyone to hear those precious things that should only be for him.

you grab hold of the pillow in front of you and bury your face into it choosing to moan into the plush of it. "so good, doin' so good." kuran mutters deeply under his breath. he throws his head back closing his eyes while breathing heavily. it seems like it feels better when he knows he's not supposed to be doing it.

"kuran..." the moan comes out high-pitched as you turn your head to be heard. "i-" "kuran, where the hell you at!?" The sudden voice made your eyes widen, kuran grunted in annoyance before grabbing the blanket close and throwing it over you covering your body completely but he didn't stop not even when the door swung open.

kou stood there and kuran looked back at him, once seeing the movements beyond the blanket and hearing your small whines poking through the air, he smiled and walked out closing the door behind him. "please...do i still have to be quiet..?" you moaned out grabbing the headboard so you wouldn't hit your head against it but when the white-haired male brings your head back up pressing his chest against your back, there was no need for that.

"no, only i should hear them." a loud and long whine released from your mouth at his words and another when he pulled at your hair "understand?" he asks.

"mhm."

a harsh slap is delivered to your thigh making your body jerk forward but he wasn't so quick to let you fall forward until you corrected yourself. "yes kuran."

©torasplanet .ᐟ reblogs and likes are very appreciated! pls do not repost!!

[arctic-scorpio]

thinking about 对手 . my chinese isn't *that* good & my knowledge is full of gaps and holes but the way dfs says it right at the beginning has so much in it.. 这世上再无对手啊。李相夷之后，这世上再无对手了。只可惜功力尽复，我又能找谁战个痛快？

there is no one who can match me in this world. not after you.

the way 不是[X]的对手 means you are no match for [X]. I don't know how to capture it with english words "rival" or "opponent" which don't have the same history and usage vibes

(also, theory: dfs has been under the impression / "known" that li xiangyi "died" after their battle for many years already, while he was in seclusion in the cave. the way he talks about him sadly and wistfully doesn't sound like someone who just found out, but more like remembering an old ache, fond memory..)

also thinking about why li lianhua smiles that delighted, fond smile when he sees child form!dfs do anything. he does that when he sees him use his qinggong to jump up; he breaks out into another (completely insane, to the viewer) smile when dfs uses his inner energy to attack ge pan.

honestly it also drives me insane; why is he so fond?

maybe it's that he's finally seeing beifeng baiyang back in action and somehow that triggers fond memories (of fighting dfs before donghai?). dfs holds back there; he doesn't actually hurt ge pan badly, it's just a warning.

before, when he saw the hole in the cliff, llh said it was 一模一样。 the same as other times things got destroyed by beifeng baiyang?

was he happy to see that dfs is the same as ever, and back to, well, 60% of his previous power? was he admiring dfs's skill, as one martial artist admires another at the top of their game/art/craft/sport, despite himself?

how was llh planning to get dfs to tell him where shan gudao's body was, anyway? he couldn't have known in advance that there was asura grass in the tomb... or could he? could he have made an educated guess (since it was the nanyin princess's tomb) and just as dfs said, planned to trick him right from the beginning? i guess that's likely.

i kind of want to see more dfs being absolutely insane in his interactions with regular people, lol. 背着一把大刀的小孩，发着臭脾气 - he really didn't care lol, just stabbing someone's hand & saying 滚 to avoid talking to them, starting fights everywhere, saying 你算什么东西，也配跟我说话？

more feral / unhinged di feisheng, more loving di feisheng; this guy is so hard to get down lol

[satoshi-mochida]

Some games that are currently stuck on older consoles that I hope get rereleased in some way, Part 6:

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7

Rule of Rose

Comic Party(preferably based on the Dreamcast version that has a new character's Route)

Fate/Unlimited Codes(for those who don't already know, we actually DID get this localized on the PSP, though only digitally, and the license has long since lapsed.)

Infinity series(Never7, Ever17, Remember11, 12Riven and Code_18)

Asura's Wrath(and not have the true end be behind DLC again, darn it)

Ninety-Nine Nights

Muramasa: The Demon Blade

The Galaxy Angel visual novels/SRPGs

Valkyria Chronicles 2 and 3

Sol Trigger

E.X. Troopers

Burning Rangers

Mana Khemia series

Trauma Center series

Stella Deus

London Detective Mysteria

The rest of the Langrisser series(since the first two already got remade)

The Guided Fate Paradox

The Awakened Fate Ultimatum

Princess Crown

Survival Kids series

Kid Icarus Uprising

Farland Story RPG series

Burai series

Xak series

Wild Arms series

Baroque

Enemy Zero

D2(The first D game is already on Steam)

[fantasyinvader]

Part of the discourse, I believe, is rooted in Byleth being Schrodinger's Player Character. Who is Byleth supposed to be: their own character or an avatar for the player? Byleth's a silent protagonist, much a Link, and while we can't customize their appearance we can change their name and birthday. However, that birthdate is fake and Jeralt's journal gives Byleth's actual birthday separate from what the player gives them (unless the player puts in that date themselves). Likewise, it's also implied that whatever name we give Byleth isn't the name they were given at birth, Rhea's the only one who could actually give them their birth name.

In a way, the identity we assign Byleth is just whatever false identity Jeralt gives them.

The game makes Silver Snow the natural progression of Byleth's story, that Byleth would reject working with Edelgard and her allies at the end of White Clouds. The decisions that unlock Flower instead are framed as “changing the story” within the game itself. As the story is meant to progress, Byleth wouldn't abandon their teaching duties to go to Enbarr at Edelgard's request. Hell, Byleth gains a paralogue by have a support level with Rhea and loses it if they turn on her. Regardless of class taught Byleth being a teacher is shown to be good for them, allowing them to actually experience emotions, and at the end of every White Clouds Byleth's would turn their sword against Edelgard unless the player has them act out of character and do things that change the story. They go from a mercenary who cuts people down without feeling a thing, with Hopes making it clear they don't enjoy such a life, to someone who wishes they could peacefully solve things unless they side with Edelgard and abandon Byleth's character.

Rhea though Byleth was an empty vessel for Sothis, only to learn they were their own person. Yet players treat Byleth as an extension of themselves, their own empty vessel to shape Fodlan as they see fit while complaining you can't “betray” Dimitri like you can Edelgard (never mind the devs said she betrays you) or that Claude doesn't go after the Church. People talk about how your choices matter in Fodlan, but the first choice you get is simply which class to teach which includes two routes without any real variation to them, and the third class has it so that the player can either stick to the script or join the villains. What kind of sense does that really make if that first decision will lock me into supporting the Church over Edelgard before I get to know anyone or anything about the setting?

Instead, our choices only seem to matter when we go against the story and side with the people we were supposed to fight and in the process kill/exile the heroes. Despite the clues that indicate how out of character it is for Byleth to join Edelgard, how they regress as a person, this is held up as a good thing because it seemingly validates not Byleth's choice but that of the player's. They see Byleth not as a character, but as an extension of themselves and therefore want Byleth to fight the Church despite all of what Edelgard and TWSITD did during White Clouds because the player believes they are the bad guys. The devs even said that Flower was thematically tied to having different beliefs... in a world built to support Silver Snow's story. Even when Edelgard is shown to withhold information or spread lies to her allies, people still choose to believe her and think that's okay because this path was their decision.

From a Buddhist perspective, their “self” has ended up leading them astray, yet they believe their “self” should be celebrated because they misunderstood the setting and acted based not on what the story was telling them but what they believed instead. Going even further, this way of thinking is pretty apt for the Asura path. It's the path of the Agarthans.

[kingsandbastardz]

@bbcphile asked about Di Feisheng and neurodiversity and it's something that's been on my mind for awhile, so here we go.

100% thought DFS was on the spectrum when he first popped up on my screen. Cue Leonardo_DiCaprio_pointing.gif I related to so, so many of his behaviors.

Trauma/ptsd can often create symptoms similar to autism/adhd/etc due to how it fucks with your brain

Autism/adhd/etc are often co-morbid with ptsd and trauma due to abuse, bullying, increased sensitivities and higher risk taking behaviors that lead to impulsive decision making which then leads to higher rates of death.

Thoughts regarding why I think so:

1. Hyperfixation/special interest being his obsession with fighting only LXY

2. Extremely high masking - as in almost 24/7 except when alone, in front of Wuyan and possibly LLH. He doesn't have any of the perception, motor skills or speech issues some people on the spectrum have. This means he can fine tune his social skills as much as needed. He's incredibly opaque through the entire drama. His behavior is completely different from how others perceive him, how he portrays himself, what information is known about him. There's a solid disconnect between himself and what is revealed to the rest of the world. I strongly suspect he's the type that makes scripts for every social interaction he has with others and behaves based off that.

Masking at that level for so long means it's basically you. Until it's not. It's internalized. It's hard to differentiate between the you that is a mask vs you the unmasked weirdo that wants to sit on the floor all day in your underwear because it's grounding and limits sensory input.

Masking is also exhausting. He runs off to be by himself as soon as he is able. He stays in locations where he can be alone and limit sounds.

3. LLH's behavior with DFS: Yes, it is due to closeness, past history, and also unexplored emotion, but that doesn't explain the bonkers level of accommodation and lack of vitriol toward a man he spends many episodes believing killed his brother. Yes he was emotionally burnt out after 10 years. He could have been playing along to get DFS to work with him (which he didn't need to because he soft-poisoned him with asura grass - the stuff that doesn't have weird side effects like killing a person. Contrast that with wuxin huai JLQ and SGD use)

But that isn't all there is to it - he fully believes DFS wouldn't try to kill him seriously. When arguing or trying to convince him of anything, he doesn't hide the truths he hides from everyone else. He barely exhibits anger toward him beyond that one early "Do you still refuse to admit it?"

Imo he's like this because he knew DFS well enough to know that being angry won't work; he believes DFS thinks differently enough he there may be a disconnect in understanding the source LXY's anger. Considering how happy and clingy DFS was when he first showed up, I don't blame LLH for thinking this way? DFS certainly didn't share any information regarding his suspicions. More on DFS' style of logic later. He communicates with DFS a certain way because he knows:

DFS is very good at spotting lies. This is both autistic or trauma-related behavior in ppl who are very good at masking. He's hyper vigilant to begin with and pair that with him likely being very experienced at picking apart micro expressions, context vibes, logic holes, etc at high speed -- high masking individuals that create personal scripts for their interactions will often do this as a defense, to create a convincing enough set of behavior to 'behave like a person' with the rest of the world.

DFS will so strongly act on decisions based on the information he accepts that it's imperative he has as much of the needed info as possible. This speaks on a lot of experience interacting with DFS. LLH behaves this way because he doesn't want what happens when he doesn't.

4. Sensory issues: Specifically pertaining to sound/noise and food. He complains repeatedly about how noisy FDB and Su Xuayong were. In the women's mansion arc, the signaling beacon was making enough noise that it bothered him so he goes and pulls it out.

Using other preferred sounds: His preferred locations of the waterfalls or the top floor of the Lotus House makes me think of ambient noise machines where people play certain nature sounds to drown out other sounds and relax to. (again, grounding and sensory control)

He was very likely lying about his sense of taste to LXY to avoid rudeness, but there are multiple scenes implying some form of disordered eating. And there is also a scene where he comes in randomly and takes FDB's bowl of rice and walks out without taking anything else. It implies he may actually have certain food preferences even though there are other cases where he eats fine like at the grave robber banquet where he pretended to be someone else. So imo one partial possibility for this, aside from trauma, is autistic eating issues: not being able to eat in certain locations, having preferred tastes or textures, not wanting to combine their foods, eating very little. One common preference is for carbohydrates or processed foods - aka bread or rice. I know someone who's Special Food was chicken. They wouldn't have a problem having it very meal - but as an adult, understood that wasn't something they could always do.

5. Logic that makes perfect sense to him but not necessarily to others:

looking for LLH by flying to and investigating every single mountain peak until he found him (in a savant level display of power and skill)

end goal of wanting to be with LLH and fight him repeatedly forever (special interest, desire for repetition and a routine)

kidnapping QWM for LLH is totally not a bad thing since he wouldn't hurt her and is strong enough he can guarantee her safety

he doesn't communicate with LXY about his suspicions regarding Shan Gudao's death - which most sect leaders would have lead with. He didn't see this information as important to share until a purpose for it popped up later on.

his special interest takes priority over everything else: handing over control of the sect to JQL in favor of the Guyin map, Dongahi battle full of death and destruction and all he thought about was the dual

well, until his priorities change. The entire drama is his single-minded quest to heal LLH -- but it's still linked tightly to his special interest of fighting with LXY.

also "my only rival is LXY, let's fight fight fight fight"= "I only want to fight LXY" but framed in a manner that people of jianghu will immediately understand. But that's not actually what he wants. Here is a prime example of a communication issue where he's created a presentation of this strong fighter - he walks and talks like one perfectly - so LLH and everyone else is of course convinced he wants to be number 1 swordsman. That is the language he's using to present himself. And he wants to know this because, why wouldn't he want to measure himself against a benchmark? However his end goal isn't just to be number one. He wants to be able to fight and win and lose and win and lose against LXY and only LXY.

possible: won't kill women or even engage with them seriously if he deems them too weak, but will still fill his organization's leadership with them and give them huge amounts of power --- this logic doesn't make sense to me, but clearly does to him??

6. He shows love by allowing people in his personal space (LLH, Wuyan, etc) or sharing his hyperfixation (fighting). So him doggedly trying to get LLH to fight him? Well. Also whining to Wuyan every day for years about LXY? He's... sharing his special interest! Wuyan, feel loved! Also, another common form of showing love for autistics are doing things for people -- and dfs' love language is clearly acts of service.

7. One can argue he's a bit on the savant level of skills, but without typical disabilities. Also he's high masking enough that any disability he does have, you wouldn't see it at all. -- ok this might just make him a regular genius, then.

8. DFS' strict adherence to his own code of honor regardless of what anyone around him is doing

9. Need for routine or repetitive behavior - one can argue that martial arts being a special interest of his would actually make a ton of sense because it's about training over and over and over again until it becomes instinct. Daily training for years and years. You never stop. And you do it in quiet spaces away from people or places that can cause sensory issues.

10. Argument for some form of alexithymia: This one is a reach - as there's no evidence of this. But as it's often co-morbid with autism, I think could be an interesting internal reason for his ability to mask. As in, unless it's a very big feeling or a very large event, he may not recognize his own trauma as trauma. His bar for what is 'bad' is somewhere in the basement of hell, and every other traumatic event are just things that happen. He may not actually recognize fear. He chases happy things because at his age, he knows what anger, sadness and happiness are -- because they have easy to parse physical manifestations.

EDIT: I wasn't very clear up top - but I consider severe trauma to be a form of neurodiversity due to the long lasting and sometimes permanent changes it makes in a person's brain (especially when young and the brain is still being formed). So when I say I think it's possible for dfs to be neurodiverse, I'm referring to a range of things. Autism is very difficult to separate from ptsd/trauma for the reasons above, and will often manifest in the exact same ways with overlapping patterns of behavior. Any one of these things or many of these things collectively can exist without someone being neurodiverse.

Anyway this is just off the top of my had. I have this under a cut so I'll add more later as it comes they mind. (I think this gets called moral stubborness? Something like that?)

[melonteee]

I think the thing that’s both odd and interesting about Zoro (especially when compared to the other Straw Hats) is that I think he’s the SH other than Luffy that I find the most difficult to articulate and map out the trajectory of. Like every other Straw Hat I feel like I can point to specific panels and go “That. That’s their damage.” But with Zoro… it’s not that he *doesn’t* have those moments, but it feels like a lot of his thematic character beats are buried in a lot subtext; and like there’s a lot of gaps.

Like I find it curious that Zoro’s the only Straw Hat whose arc didn’t take place in his home (or in the case of some later crew members a symbol of it), but he’s also the only one who has flashbacks throughout the story. Yet, even then, we still don’t know as much about him as we do others. With everyone else, you can easily answer where they slept or ate and what the relationship with the community at large was like growing up, but Zoro? The snippets we get don’t extend beyond the dojo - and the recent revelations about that only raised more questions. I can’t be the only one who thought it was weird of Oda to drop that nugget that the blacksmith in his childhood village was a pirate (or at least wanted by the marines) and then died not long after that. Or that Zoro doesn’t seem to know that he’s related to Kuina’s family at all (Zoro didn’t even know the blacksmith was her grandfather until after he died) despite only being 2 generations removed from the founding of the village. What could have possibly happened in the time between Zoro’s grandparents and parents that means Zoro - who had to have been an orphan in the flashbacks we have seen - is so far removed from his own family and the village history?

I think the other thing that’s odd about his relationship with Kuina/her death (and I think a big reason the theories that Kuina was murdered, secretly Tashigi, etc. continue to persist no matter how many times they’re debunked) is that the circumstances of her death kinda rub against other parts of the series. For instance, if you consider that “the weak don’t decide how they die” to be a through line in One Piece (not saying I do) then Kuina’s death feels like a direct counterpoint in the same way Katakuri telling Luffy “people don’t die because they didn’t want to live badly enough” does. But then, even though Zoro’s flashback on her death (which I love in the manga for how that’s Zoro’s life flashing before his eyes) ends on “humans are fragile” but then this very idea is immediately countered by Luffy the rubber man deflecting bullets; then later Zoro kinda rejects that concept of fragility in Arlong Park altogether when he declares he can’t allow himself to be killed by anything that would kill a normal human. Not to mention how in-universe there’s only theories as to what his Asura form is, which is about as far from Kuina’s mundane human fragility as you can get.

Honestly how Zoro’s character arc is laid out made a lot more sense to be when I heard Oda’s original outline for One Piece was a five year storyline. It might just be me, but it feels like there’s a few missing puzzle pieces, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Oda is saving some of those gaps in information for a specific moment.

I really appreciate this long ask and you've clearly thought a lot about it, but I don't think anything is missing with Zoro at all. Because, first off, his story does take place in his home - his home is in the East. That's like saying Nami's story doesn't take place in her home because Bellemere found her as a baby on a different island. The east is still Zoro's home, nothing says otherwise, and it's explained with Zoro just being an orphaned boy who was running from village to village looking for a challenge.

Usually you'd ask where the orphaned boy was from, but we know One Piece is just a world like that. He has a full name, his face is on wanted posters, and no one has looked for him or said they know him apart from as a Pirate Hunter. His Roronoa name wasn't known in Wano at all, and apart from his very minimal connections to the Wano family, there's nothing there that matters.

Also, all of the Strawhats stories are kinda only presented in flashbacks dfghjkdf

Oda put Zoro's story in an SBS because, to me, he's stating first and foremost Zoro's past BEFORE Kuina does not matter to Zoro. It feels Oda just made that SBS as an Easter egg people could have fun with. If Zoro were told of his parents, or his origins, why would he care? He didn't know them, it's not like he ever thinks about his mother nor seems to even remember her - unlike Usopp, Robin and Sanji. If you told Zoro he had a mum and dad, he'd probably be like Luffy and say "?? okay? so what?"

Zoro's story, first and foremost, is about the future. Because the monster trio all parallel each other in this regard. Sanji is about the past, Luffy is about the present, and Zoro is about the future. The only time Zoro's past ever matters is with Kuina, and that's because Zoro's story IS Kuina. We see it clearly with Wano, the only reason the blacksmith matters is because it connects him to Wado, which connects him to Kuina, which lets Zoro know where KUINA was from and why WADO is such an important sword to her family - and now to him.

"The weak don’t decide how they die" is a quote said by Law, that is taught to him by Doflamingo - an insanely cruel person. Law THOUGHT this was the case, but this does not MEAN it's the case. Same with what Katakuri said, we are encountering different people with different lives and different experiences. Kuina's own death, in my opinion - WHILE possibly being a murder or suicide - was meant to show Zoro that no matter what you do, or how strong you are, the world will be cruel enough to take those you love away. There's a tragedy in that simplicity, and that's all we need to know about Zoro. To me, there is no other mystery in the way he acts or the way he fights - it's all right there within Kuina's promise and death.

When Zoro learns things about the past it's about his swords, it's about Kuina, and it's never his OWN past - because, again, he is a character about the future. I cannot see him caring about parents he never knew, nor seems to even remember, nor caring about his social life around the dojo when he had one set goal in mind - which was to become a master swordsman.

Luffy was the one who introduced him to the power of bonds and love, along with the rest of the crew as they grew around him, and he grew to love them back. I don't really see any other setup for Zoro, because again, why would he care? How has it affected him BEFORE Kuina? We simply have no reason to see that, and Zoro has no reason to care about it either. The only piece missing, in my opinion, is WHY Zoro cared so much about PROVING his strength as an orphan. But that could easily boil down to...because he was an orphan, and had nothing better to do as a rowdy kid lmao.

Zoro's life is filled with coincidences, that's true, but I'd be shocked if they mattered at all? Oda also connected Otama to the Kurozumi family, but he said it didn't mean anything, it was just a coincidence.

I'm not totally opposed to Zoro having MORE backstory, I am just unsure why it'd matter when...there's nothing to answer. We HAVE the answer for why he's an orphan, and it's because pirates raided his village when he was a kid. It's pretty standard stuff, and that's all it has to be. Because Zoro only looks forward, and that's the only place he'll ever look. He's not being chained down by his past, he's being pushed by a promise, so he will run towards the future if it means fulfilling that promise.

[donotstealoc]

Blorbo Spotlight: Commander Pepa

Today in the spotlight we have a character from Ellie @hawkepockets (he/him.) Ellie has been playing GW2 since Season 1 and draws cartoons. Go check out his blog!

(art by @hawkepockets)

Who do we have the pleasure of speaking with today? 

The Commander. Pepa.

What's your background? Where do you come from?

Rata Sum, same as anyone! Statics was home for a while. Then the Priory - 17 years as an Explorer! But you know what we asura say, time's an underground river. Fast, cold, hard to see ahead, and always liable to plunge you into a long lightless, airless tube with smooth rock on every side. I guess it's been rushing me along from place to place for a long time now!

What are some important relationships in your life? (romantic, platonic, familial, etc)

Oh, I'm lucky enough to have a few. Taimi, my protege - don't let her hear me call her that. My partners, Teek and Tarakk. Gorrik is... hm. I guess that's up to Taimi. Don't let her hear me say that, either. And of course, the whole guild is really dear to me. My family is still out there in Rata Sum, too! ... I should comm them, shouldn't I?

Have you done anything you'd like to brag about?

If you're asking the Commander? Nothing you haven't heard before. If you're asking ME? Well, I try to stay humble about it but Taimi let me write a foreword to her treatise draft! Or, she let me put forward a draft for her consideration. I think she asked some other asura too. Ones who've been more recently involved in academia. I bet Zojja wrote one. I bet she liked Zojja's... Drat.

What's your profession? What does a typical day look like for you?

I'm a spectre, obviously. Haven't you read... Oh, you. You mean like a job, don't you. Well, I'm. You know. I'm the Commander.

What are some hobbies you enjoy?

It's been a long time since I raided Stone Summit tombs and lost ratas for the Priory, but I still love collecting artifacts. Things that tell you about the habits and priorities of long dead communities. It sounds sad, but some of the toys, tools, and adornments I've found make me smile whenever I handle them. So many millions of people came before us. And now that the Cycle is ended, I know there will be so many after. I also like that human game, tennis.

(Note from the creator: Teek is @pyroengi's OC, and Tarakk was co-created with @antariies!)

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That's all for today! If you're an UWU guild member and would like to put your character in the spotlight, use this form!

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

still trying to work out out how I want to stylize Commander Ruju; he's definitely WAY off model now but screw it we infinity ball

miscellaneous design detail notes:

literally catches on fire and/or snorts flames when angry

just on fire most of the time anyway tho. dw about it

has one false capped tooth that always sticks out

streak of gold-dyed hair straight down the middle

hair is scruffier and fluffier than the in-game model

weird little nose like a cat/bat combo abomination

perpetual :3 mouth with a little indent in the middle

HIGHLY expressive. you will always know what he's thinking

more stuff under the cut because I am too invested now

other little notes for any interested parties:

smug little shit until one day he's Not (uh-oh!)

BARELY passes at academics. prefers hands-on work

was a major bully in his college years until his childhood friend Sylffa very FORCIBLY dragged him off of that path

actually EXTREMELY insecure deep down. overcompensating

has a tendency to accidentally blow up golems with his magic. this has been useful to him exactly one time in his entire life

Taimi refuses to let him touch Scruffy for this exact reason

highly impulsive and physically incapable of resisting a dare

kind of a thrill seeker. goes absolutely BONKERS in battle

absolutely HATES heights though. he's not scared of them he just thinks asura like him belong very firmly planted on the ground

this will not stop every expansion from putting him in the sky

by the time of EoD relates concerningly well to Ankka's 'lots of people want to kill who they were, the parts they hate' bit

might actually double-die on the spot if anyone flirts with him

will bite you violently if you try to take his food (don't do it)

yes this includes things that definitely don't qualify as 'food'

actually a really good cook somehow tho. nobody knows how