#i love thinking about Rhine interacting

[midnight-arandombanana]

No this has been in my mind for such a long time every time I see this post I think about this with Rhine

But. We’re number one Rhine apologist/explainer in this household so

I’ve always imagined that Pierro and Rhine had some beef. Like some *beef*

To the point where he tried to kill her multiple times pre-cataclysm

So, in the hypothetical (and at this point delusional 😭😭😭) scenario that Rhine ever starts existing and interacting with the main group

And eventually the fatui

I would. Love to see this

Like her keeping up the apathetic facade to repress n stuff and then just loose it for a split second

Like here’s the bitch that makes this lady feel actual terror

Whump prompt:

The Team has been captured by Whumper who orders them locked away until further notice.

As the Team is being escorted away, Whumper suddenly stops the procession and points at Whumpee.

“No,” Whumper says. “Not that one. They and I are overdue for a conversation, privately.”

[cerastes]

Since you like talking about relationships, I've got one I've been rotating in my head but can't really figure out: Kal'tsit and Muelsyse. They're both extremely long lived and, judging from Mumu's song, it's a major source of pain for her. But their personalities, at least on the face, are so totally different. I imagine they'd take quite a while to figure each other's shit out, since neither seems inclined to speak clearly or trust anyone more than necessary, leading to a dynamic that evolves quite a bit, and for a long time, perhaps to the confusion of less observant peers.

With both being practically the urban fantasy equivalent of long lived archmages with aching hearts, as well as experts on their particular fields, there's quite a few parallels one could make between them and their interactions would be very fascinating indeed!

However, I think you touched upon something that I think is both important and a bit different from how you put it: A main difference between Kal'tsit and Muelsyse is, in fact, that Kal'tsit does allow herself to trust in others, while Muelsyse keeps her cards close to her chest, even among those who she supposedly trusts.

Kal'tsit isn't naive, but she does in fact allow herself to trust others... A whole lot, in fact. She believed and trusted Theresa, and still tries to carry out her goals, she trusts in Amiya, not just because Theresa chose her, but because she really believes she's got what it takes. She trusts Rhodes Island Operators so much that, even though she's a powerhouse herself, she doesn't handle everything that Rhodes Island has going on and even has some Operators she implicitly trusts enough to let them handle some seriously dangerous stuff either under her or by being her extension in other endeavors she can't be there for personally, such as Margaret Nearl and Elysium. Reluctantly, she trusts in Doctor's abilities and temperament, in part out of necessity, in part because love it or hate it, Theresa did trust Doctor quite a lot, and so she'll trust in Theresa's trust.

Muelsyse, on the other hand? Her 'trust' is hugely utilitarian. Her choice of joining up with Rhine Lab was born out of necessity, as she judged that Kirsten and company would be her very best bet to achieve her own goals, but that backstabbing environment doesn't particularly allow one to make good friends or trust anyone too easily. In fact, during Mansfield Break, Muelsyse quite literally couldn't compute why Silence would be helping Anthony (Mountain) without ulterior motives: The fact that Silence would do it first and foremost out of the goodness of her heart was unbelievable to Muelsyse, because it goes against everything she's learned, especially in Rhine Lab. In a way, one could argue this is where she started changing a little, and it brought to mind how Saria was legitimately trying to be there for Ifrit because Saria legitimately holds affection for her, which Muelsyse thought was a load of barnacles before, at least without any sort of further objective or ulterior motive. Hell, Muelsyse's character song is a perfect fit for her: Chipper and energetic, yet, the lyrics are very sad and lonely.

I think a dynamic between Kal'tsit and Muelsyse would fundamentally be very... Curt, initially. All business from Kal'tsit's end, because Muelsyse has yet to earn her trust, all plastic smiles and idle hands from Muelsyse, because unless Kal'tsit can verifiably be of use to her beyond being a bigwig at RI, she doesn't need to know her.

But Kal'tsit grows on you, you know? Doctor's not the only one with those people skills... Perhaps they are at another level altogether, given they can handle even the freakiest freaks and weirdos and wrangle friendship out of them, but to say Kal'tsit isn't formidable in the arena of trust is but a lie. She'd get in, I'm sure. Muelsyse would see someone akin to her in ways other Terrans simply could never achieve, and while they are very different in terms of demeanor... Well, so are Kal'tsit and Closure, and Kal'tsit and Warfarin, two good friends of hers. Kal'tsit can definitely deal with Muelsyse's antics, and I think Muelsyse would enjoy seeing someone so similar to her in so many ways that can also allow herself to trust others. Maybe Kal'tsit could be important in just that: Muelsyse allowing herself to trust more.

[arkiwii]

I'm so so not normal about Kafka Been trying to draw but I'm too tired to so instead I'll write a whole block of text about why I think this character is amazing and deserves way, way, WAY more love from the community

Starting with the looks. She's a little itty bitty sized gremlin jackdaw girl in an oversized gardening coat and a hypnotic rubisk's cube. How to not love her.

But of course where she shines the most is in her character. She's a Columbian orphan who became Infected and had to survive on her own, dealing with gangs and being part of one herself, fighting everyday to see the light of tomorrow. This way of life had her build a "mask", a new personality adapted to this environment; one that made her like she was unbothered by anything, as if she simply did not care, that she was unphased to kill someone or face these things. Of course, in result, many people became scared of her, but she couldn't care; this way, nobody would bother her. That's how she kept herself safe.

That's when she joined Rhodes Island that she gradually let this mask of her fall and show her true personality; someone who cares deeply. She loves to take care of plants, she likes to give gifts or play with children, she worries about the ones she's close to, she also has been seen befriending some Operators like Perfumer...

And this is (holds my owl like that Lion King scene) all thank to HER. Silence my absolute beloved. If she had doubts about if her efforts are in vain, Kafka is the proof that THEY'RE NOT.

Yes, Silence can feel bad that she pulled Kafka into this whole mess of a prison break, being involved with situations that were unrelated to her, but, does she even realize what she did? Maybe her goal was just "discover what the hell Rhine Lab is about with Simon Co", but the results are, she has brought Anthony, Kafka, Robin and Donna somewhere safe. Somewhere they can be appreciated and loved, and won't have to worry anymore about surviving.

Kafka wasn't that unsatisfied with her previous life, it was just all normal to her, but when she met Silence, she discovered genuine kindness. And Silence may be naive, she has a heart of gold. Kafka knows that and if she accepted to help her break Anthony, it's because she wished to return the favor to Silence.

Now our little gremlin bird is sure being an absolute chaos, but she's living a far better life. And she just worries for the one who changed this for her.

PLEASE HYPERGRYPH I NEED MORE OF KAFKA. IDK make a Mansfeld Break 2 or whatever, have Jesselton come back, but please I want to see Kafka again. I want to see my stupid bird interact with my tired owl and supporting her. They mean the world to me

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Myth!Loki's Hair Color: Common Depictions

Because the AI user that just annoyed me also claimed myth!Loki's canonical hair color is blonde and that's why they did that crappy blonde MCU!Loki AI art, and I am feeling spiteful cus fuck AI and that eyesore, and I need to wash that off my brain.

AND I KNOW this claim came from those people that interact with THAT ONE VERY obnoxious Sigyn stan that pretends to be a Norse mythology expert despite never providing proper citations or citing modern myth re-tellings and whines about children's story books not being accurate. Ask her to cite her claims and actually look at the sources, for the love of Loki!

LOKI HAS NO KNOWN HAIR COLOR IN THE MYTHS! THERE's NO SOURCE FOR THAT! Loki's also a shape-shifter! Loki can have their hair look like whatever the fuck they want. To my knowledge, the only gods that have confirmed hair colors are myth!Thor, who is said to a red-head, and myth!Sif being a blonde who gets a wig of magical gold to substitute her chorn hair. There's also a description of myth!Heimdall who is said to be the "whitest" god, implying blonde/white hair? Loki's only mentioned to be pretty, assumed to be Aesir -sized rather than gigantic, likely smaller than myth!Thor because myth!Thor can kick his ass and he can hold onto Thor's belt when crossing a river (Skáldskaparmál), and have scars on his lips due to them being sown shut.

Also from Gylfanning: "Loki is beautiful and comely to look upon, evil in spirit., very fickle in habit. He surpassed other men in that wisdom which is called 'sleight,' and had artifices for all occasions; he would ever bring the Æsir into great hardships, and then get them out with crafty counsel."

There's also the Snaptun stone, believed to be Loki due to the scarred lips, giving him a mustache.

The most common and widespread hair color depictions of Loki have red/ginger/orangey hair due to Loki mistakenly being thought to associated with fire because their name's too similar to the fire personification Jotun's name, Logi, because Richard Wagner fucked up in his Ring Cycle Operas and combined the two of them into "Loge". Arthur Rackham's illustrations based on Wagner's Ring Cycle are possibly the most influential in that regard because they're fucking awesome. Even GOW made their Loki depiction a red-head.

And here's a painting that looks like a ginger to me by James Doyle Penrose (1912):

The second most common hair color depiction is black hair, probably thanks to Marvel as it's most prevalent in modern depictions (e.g. Alan Cumming's Loki in "Son of the Mask", whom I fucking love).

There's also the Valhalla comics that started in 1979 (after Marvel, but I don't think that contributed AT ALL because Vallhala comics are way more myth-accurate and fucking awesome. I am just including it here because it's a black-haired Loki depiction).

There's also Eric M. Esquivel's Ragnarok n' Roll (have not read and I am not inclined to do so, but it kept showing up in my loki searches 10+ years ago and its existence was archived in my brain due to that). Is it me or does he looks like Cantinflas because of the mustache?

This is Cantinflas btw

There's also Jul I Valhall Loke (Thanks Scandinavian Twitter users for showing me this gem even if I can't understand the language. I am forever grateful.)

And surprisingly, Marvel was not the first to give him black hair. Marten Eskil Winge portrayed Loki with black hair in his 1863 painting "Loki and Sigyn."

Neil Gaiman has depicted Loki with a variety of hair colors, USUALLY as a literally "fiery" red-head (Sandman comics & American Gods book), whatever Johnathan Tucker's hair color is in the American Gods TV show, and black-haired (Norse Mythology graphic novel).

There's a brown-haired Loki depiction in Assassin's Creed (I have not played it btw).

And sometimes he's just some demonic thing with horns:

[brave-symphonia]

I think I may be realizing why I don’t like FGO events too much when compared events from games like Arknights.

Like, FGO has some events that push the plot forward, but it feels like a lot of their events don’t do a ton to flesh out the world and advance things, and it feels like the events are more comedy-focused?

Which might be pretty fitting since you can’t play them coming in as a new player, and it’s probably just a personal preference to me, but it does explain the difference I’m feeling.

Like, I was so excited about everything in Dorothy’s Vision, seeing the characters interact and show how they’ve grown since we’ve last seen them, seen Rhine Labs get fleshed out, learning more about Columbia. And even wondering about what will happen from here on with all the characters.

But, with the recent Amakusa event in FGO, I didn’t really finish it until a day before it finished, and it was nice to see Amakusa and the other Servants, and I think it made me appreciate Voyager a lot more, but it did feel very self-contained in its own world.

I feel like both have their strengths, but I’ve always liked connected narratives and the worldbuilding that feels like it shows itself more in the Arknights events.

I really don’t mean to knock FGO here, I really love the game, it’s just a difference where I notice that I enjoy Arknights more.

[m1d-45]

Okay wait a min! You know how like the abyss mages and the hilichurls are all like in the lore to be part of khanriah and in general they’re the ones to quickly recognize that the imposter is the creator and they protect us and stuff? So like does that people of Kahnriah has some special ability to recognize us? So wouldn’t that make kaeya, albedo, dainself to recognize us? (Sorry I’m absolutely struggling to spell kahenriah)

Also I had a thought how does our interactions with Dainslef go? Like typically in imposter aus he doesn’t seem to care much about the creator. But if he’s met with the actual creator would he protect them? But like personally I think he would hate them at first for what they did to Kahenriah but slowly comes to care and love them? Because he begins too see and realize this is truly the creator when they see how Teyvat bends to their will and stuff

(Also could I be 🦑 anon?)

YOU X2.

i know i’m guilty of this trope but in truth i never thought about it that much. i suppose i was operating under the assumption that it’s the same as the animals or the wind: they just Know. the people do too, but due to humanity having silly little things called critical thought, doubt, and generally more than one thought at a time, the acolytes don’t follow the slight buzz in their skin when they’re near you. if anything they assume it’s adrenaline.

but like. hilichurls clearly do have thought left—they have language and some sort of society, clearly… hm- you know how in the chasm quest it’s said they’re like eternally cursed or something-? let’s assume the creator lightens that pain, making their existence more bearable. this is something they know to be impossible except by the divine, and they don’t have loyalty to the false god, ergo you must be their god!

abyss mages are mages, so i’m gonna assume they’re a bit more tuned into their elements/the leylines/general auras or whatever. for this same reason i don’t think mona would join the hunt, but that’s for another day.

in addition! they’re affected by the abyss itself, which is just more “you lighten this impossibly heavy curse i have. hey god.” but like more reverent.

now. onto the more human khaenri’ahns.

dainslef is canonically afflicted by the Curse from before and i imagine he is more familiar with your visage/behavior/attitude/powers/whatever simply due to his age and all the time he must have spent studying holy books. also, though he is a Human Person—and hence suffers from the lifelong condition known as critical thought—he’s definitely more likely to follow his instincts. cokes with the territory of being the twilight sword, i suppose.

albedo is. hm. he’s not a child of khaenri’ah- it’s up for debate whether he’s khaenri’ahn at all, really. he was created by rhine, who was khaenri’ahn…. but he held no part in the calamity 500 years ago, and nor does khaenri’ahn blood run in his veins—he’s a child of alchemy, synthetic. he also isn’t canonically cursed. however, as an alchemist—and doubly so for a student of khemia—i’m certain he has a higher interest than average in the creator. whereas dainslef would know you’re you by your kindness, your speech, the way you talk and all your mannerisms, i think albedo would figure it out by how the world acts around you. the spike in leyline flow, the suddenly perfect weather, the way the wind always blows behind you, how the flowers and plants around you are the healthiest.

kaeya… is an interesting case. he’s khaenri’ahn by blood, yet isn’t cursed to my knowledge. i think, like albedo, he’s more likely to realize the difference in how the world treats you. he’s an observant and clever guy, i’m certain he can put two and two together. less on the technical side than albedo… but he’ll notice how the weather suddenly sours before one of the knights’ patrol, how their luck seems to be as bad as bennett’s when searching for you.

moving onto the second part of your ask,,,

because i want people to be happy i have somewhat… creatively interpreted what happened in khaenri’ah during the calamity. obviously every version of sagau is going to be different, but because i dearly adore both kaeya and albedo, here’s my version of events(copied and paraphrased off my post on the subject for ease of reading):

khaenri’ah was built entirely by people. they did worship you, but refused to allow you to meddle with their nation. you could have all of teyvat but you could not have their nation. they lived underground, away from your holy light, and in the dark of a cave with only the earth as their witness, they began to learn khemia. they began to learn how to create, how to mimic your power. theirs was more transmutation, less pure creation, but it was so close to it that rhinedottir let it get to her head.

that glosses over some details, but it’s enough for this discussion.

in my version of sagau, he would definitely protect the creator. he wouldn’t worship the one on the throne, nor would he engage in the hunt (because he knows both are lies), but if you happened to ran into him, you would be safe.

to reiterate: in my version, khaenri’ah collapsed under its own hubris. hence, dainslef would have no reason to dislike you. be awkward, yeah, he hasn’t had an intelligent conversation with another person since the traveller, and before that it was 500 years.

that being said, he could be a bit resentful, even if he didn’t blame you. after all, you didn’t stop rhine, you didn’t do anything to keep the calamity from occurring. yeah it’s because khaenri’ah staunchly refused to have you involved no he hasn’t put it together yet. give him time.

of course, though, this is all my opinion and carries no actual weight.

oh, and welcome!

[kuri-no-tani]

JVC Post #7

Moeagare! Moeagare! Moeagare! GANDAMU!

The 70s was a golden era for anime, and among all of the glittering jewels such as The Castle of Cagliostro, Galaxy Express 999, The Rose of Versailles, and of course Ashita no Joe, Mobile Suit Gundam is easily the most recognizable and certainly the most beloved. While I haven't made the time to finish the original series all the way through, I love Gundam. The series exploded in popularity after Gunpla took off and is now regarded as one of the most culturally significant pieces of media in Japan, comparable to Star Wars in the west according to Wikipedia.

Gundam also spawned the "real robot" genre of mecha, which is often compared to hard science fiction. This lead to anime like Armored Trooper Votoms, Macross, and Patlabor, three anime that really took the genre to its limits.

Gundam stood out among other mecha shows of the time in that it depicted the Gundam as a true weapon and a tool rather than a magical or wondrous robot (see Tetsujin 28-gou or Mazinger-Z). This realism in many aspects of the show, great character development and interactions, and the great mech designs helped Gundam become so appealing. It's certainly stylish.

The Anime Machine by Thomas Lamarre had been in my bookmarks for a while, but I had forgotten until now. The snippet we were provided was interesting. I didn't follow it entirely, but I think his connections from technology and the experience through it to the spread and formation of anime is interesting. I noticed that he does not mean machine in the traditional sense, rather in an abstract way focusing on the nature of and the input and output generated by the "animetic machine". The influence of Deleuze and Guattari on his ideas is apparent, but I can't go too deep into that because I don't know anything significant enough about them.

He does connect this primarily to the technology behind(?) the machine, it looks like. He seems to create the basis for this machine model technologically by pointing to the movement and depth in anime generated by the compositing process (the "animetic interval"). His Heideggerian point of view on anime and technology being much like the hydroelectric plant in the Rhine, transforming the very orientation one has toward the subject, is something I assume he expands on later in the book.

The train metaphor might have had something to do with this. Just like the silver chalice "arrives" when the silversmith's work brings it "out of concealment", the animetic machine forms the layers of animation through the apparatus (the animation stand, the train) and through the "traveler" within it (the producer(fan), the passenger). Here's something silly it made me think of.

The way that people experience through technology is seen within the autonomous "animetic machine" (working through both the animation stand and reflection) and thus within anime is definitely a very intriguing idea. As far as I can tell he is saying that anime, much like modern technology, is something that produces those that produce it, and that the animetic machine can be understood via both the technology it "thinks" and the audience within it.

[haljathefangirlcat]

I'll die on the hill that Wagner's Gibichungs are pretty interesting characters, when you scratch the surface. I mean, yeah, their role boils down to being Hagen's tools and obstacles in Siegfried and Brunnhilde's love story that will eventually, indirectly lead them to their doom. But, while I don't actually know much about opera (and consequently, about how to bring to life a libretto on stage and give its characters additional depth and complexity), I'm 100% sure that they could be made to shine in some kind of retelling, like a novel or a comic... because they're just about as fucked-up as everyone else.

Take Gunther. His very first lines are dedicated to asking Hagen whether the fame he's managed to acquire in the lands on the Rhine is worthy of that once gained by Gibich, the previous ruler and his dad, and establishing that if there's any treasure he still hasn't gotten his hands on, he needs to conquer it and the additional glory it would bring him. His desire for Brunnhilde, too, is initially stirred not by descriptions of her beauty, but of how difficult she would be to win and what renown winning her would bring him. Later on, his decision to consent to the murder of Siegfried, despite all the hesitance and sorrow due to the idea of betraying a friend and a blood-brother and his sister's husband, is couched in all this talk about shame and honor, with even Brunnhilde reproaching by telling him that his cowardice dishonors his bloodline.

As for Gutrune, despite showing her interest in Siegfried as soon as Hagen mentions him, she reacts to her half-brother suggesting Siegfried could actually become her husband by assuming Hagen is mocking her, suggesting Siegfried's likely already found himself a woman far more beautiful than her and assuming it would take a spell to make him fall for Gutrune... which is what allows Hagen to immediately propose just the right potion for the job. Which Gutrune does enthusiastically and unquestioningly agree to use despite being told exactly how it works, including the fact that, yeah, Siegfried might be already in love with someone else and the potion would force him to forget all about that poor other woman. Except that, right after she actually uses the potion on Siegfried, handing it to him with her own hands and actively tricking him into drinking it, there is (at least in the online translation I usually check when I'm afraid of misremembering something about the Ring, lol) this passage:

Siegfried (softly) Are good the runes that there in her eyes I am reading? (He seizes Gutrune's hand ardently.) With thy brother service I have sought: his pride refused my bond; wilt thou like him deny my prayer, if for thy grace I crave! (Gutrune involuntarily meets Hagen's look. She humbly bows her head and, with a gesture expressing her feeling of unworthiness, she leaves the hall with faltering steps.)

What is that "feeling of unworthiness" motivated by? Is she feeling guilty and regretting her actions towards Siegfried? Is she thinking back to that hypothetical other woman? Or does it all go back to her belief that, without the potion, she would never be of any interest to a man and hero like Siegfried? Does she feel inherently undeserving of his love, regardless of her own behavior? Or inherently undeserving of anyone's love...?

Yes. I am indeed woobifying the Gibichungs and casting Daddy Issues, Love-Starved Desperation, and General Awfully Low Self-Esteem upon them. And also a dash of Self-Serving, Questionable Morality of their own, because I don't really buy that Hagen is the only one who's Like That and the other two would be totally innocent if not for his manipulations. (... admittedly, I don't actually know how common that take on them even is. I know I have encountered it. Again, 100% Not An Opera Expert.)

And then, there's also their interactions with Hagen. Because, yeah, Hagen is devious, but his relationship with them sound pretty damn complex even outside of that. For example, let's get back to the Gibichungs' first scene: Gunther is quick to praise Hagen and his intelligence, and also to praise his mother for giving him and Gutrune Hagen as a brother, turning an illegitimate birth into something entirely positive and even something uniting, binding them to each other. But considering how Gunther will reframe his half-brother as the son of the Nibelung, himself and Gutrune as passive victims of Hagen's machinations, and Brunnhilde as his one true love in the conclusion of the final act of the opera, can we really say all of that was genuine? That he honestly admired Hagen and wished for a strong bond with him in the beginning and then he only changed his mind because of his understandable rage and grief, and that he wasn't trying his hand at a bit of manipulation himself in Act One, flattering Hagen to the point of claiming to envy him for his intellectual gifts despite Hagen being just a bastard acting as a vassal or courtier for him and Gunther himself being the king? And that's without even counting how we learn Hagen's true opinion on Grimhild during the night watch scene and, going from that, can only assume Gunther comparing him to her doesn't please him any more than Alberich comparing him to her... Hagen is a convincing liar and Gunther probably wouldn't know about that, all things considered.

Hagen himself says the people he's deceiving think of him as someone lowly and beneath them, and takes pleasure in knowing that for once, even if unwittingly, they are acting as his servants by doing exactly what he wants them to do... and personally, I think he's talking more about his siblings than Siegfried, whom he barely even knows, there.

That's not saying I don't think there's any space for more positive complexity to possibly be there, too, btw! My ideal Ring fic that I'll never write and will probably stay a series of semi-connected daydreams forever is about the Gibichungs being a dysfunctional but deep, deep down loving family with the potential for, like. Getting better through the fantasy, Medieval-ish equivalent of therapy, I guess? XD

Do you think that Gutrune is done a bit dirty in Gotterdammerung? You read about her in The Volsung Cycle and The Nibelungenlied and she's quite the character! And here she just dies of grief.

I'm kind of wishing that there was a production where she pushes Hagen into the Rhine or something like that.

honestly YES…the gibichungs usually get some kind of Concept™ given to them by any director, but it rarely makes them into interesting people as tangible characters. ok, they’re kind of written to be pale, manipulatable people, but even (or especially) gunther’s cowardice can be made an interesting trait. and gutrune’s greatest feat is piecing together that brünnhilde and siegfried were originally married, which…sad. would be nice to see her get more agency of her own.

[otaku553]

Hi! I'm dropping in to say I really really love your art! It's all so pretty and elegant!

Who is your favorite Genshin character(s) and Kirby character(s)? What do you like about them?

Please have a great day! You're awesome!

I’ve already answered the genshin favs, but I want to talk more about why I like them :D

For kazuha, beyond his design being imo the best in the game, I also really like the duality in his character where he is nice and gentle and writes poems but knows how to be lethal and ruthless when he needs to be. I think it’s definitely something that must come from his experience as a traveler and as being a wanted fugitive and being on the run. His character is such a good buildup of his personal experiences- the contrast between his formal politeness and brutality mirrors the contrast between his noble upbringing and his time as a vagrant wanderer running from the law :) I think a lot of people mischaracterize him as a soft boy which I don’t complain too much about but I really enjoy seeing the less nice side of him!

As for albedo, man. He has so much lore. He’s so formal and isolated but he so clearly enjoys the presence of friend and people, since he probably lacked those before in the strict guidance of Rhine. I think he’s just somehow a really relatable character when it comes to his social interactions- in that he distances himself from them but still loves them, in that he’s content just sitting aside listening to conversation. Not to mention the way he gains and loses interest in things and is an artist!

Homuncular nature is pretty much my love letter to albedo’s character lmao

As for Kirby. I’m gonna be basic and say it’s Kirby and Meta Knight.

Meta Knight definitely came first! I actually got into Kirby from trying out some smash fics and those brought up often Meta Knight being banned from brawl tournaments, and. Well. Who doesn’t like an overpowered character, yknow. Add on that this character seems deathly afraid of showing his very cute face and takes a mentor-like position to Kirby and boom, you’ve got a character archetype I really enjoy! (Characters with cuter appearances than they try to maintain who are powerful and wish not to be underestimated due to appearance)

As for Kirby it’s just really difficult not to like them. They’re very uplifting! At first it was just the way that they faced gods head on with a smile on their face, and then in my own interpretations they became someone with the responsibility of the universe on their impossibly small shoulders, who tries their best and must succeed.

I specifically enjoy these two characters together because in any configuration, they’re both usually good for each other and help the other heal. Kirby gives Meta Knight hope after all the devastating losses he’s faced, and Meta knight gives Kirby much needed training to hone and control their abilities, and supports them when they need it most. Anyways meta dad meta dad

[aresmarked]

I know that it's a one-off line but, god, the fact that Ifrit refers to Matterhorn as "Big Brother Matterhorn" to Dalia is so, heart-warming to me. That after all of what happened at Rhine Labs, she is now in a place where she is truly happy and is treated well instead of like a lab-rat. Sorry if this doesn't make much sense, guess what I am trying to say is that I love the fact that, even after all that suffering, Ifrit is now in a good place.

In my best encouraging teacher voice: you're making a very good point, just having trouble summarising it concisely! (which with everything we're feeling is v fair lol.) You're getting at a critical point of Rhodes, Rhine, and the difference between them.

Rhine seeks scientific progress in a very, 'ends justify the means' way. We can see shades of this in how Saria used to be, how she held the view that sentiment didn't really have a place in scientific research. While not everyone was as cool (cold cool) as Saria was then, you can sense a certain, detachment from the other Rhine researchers outside of our allies, mm? the fruits of the research take priority over any sort of ~creature comforts~ like ~mental and emotional health~ and well. ethics, bluntly.

But at Rhodes, for all the suspicion they get about the fact they have a huge combat department, is fundamentally about treating the Infected and trying to better their general quality of life. They seek progress in research for the sake of treating Infected, and not just some distant future 'oh people will thank us once we finish this research'. They are working with the Infected now, and in constant consideration of how to better treat those in their care.

This is a bit Ahead but we see in Hibicus' alt profile that the handbook for the medical department, one, gets updated by med folk as they grow, and two, gets this addition from her:

"The concept of medical care is not just about taking patients away from the danger of life in critical moments. Giving patients sufficient care to keep their bodies and minds in a healthy state to resist the invasion of diseases is also important in medical care. One link. This is a long-term job that requires a lot of care and patience, as well as genuine care for the patient."

In Rhodes there is, simply, care at every level, because there is care at the core. And that makes all the difference. If you've ever dived in on the social aspects of health--and even if you haven't, because it can feel like a very 'well duh' statement--you're probably familiar with how environment is a huge factor of health. Kindergarten (and other interaction with others in structured environments) is shown to be critical in a child's development in terms of things like social skills.

In Rhodes Ifrit not only gets actual treatment, but structure. Other people to talk to, learn from, learn to be with. Expectations, for her to grow.

...Just going to conclude this ramble with one small detail that I think best represents the difference for how Ifrit is seen between Rhine and Rhodes.

In Rhodes, we see teachers. We know the Doctor originally was one, we know there's homework from Ifrit's own operation intelligence. Hell, we even know one of the other teachers by name: Hypatia.

In Rhine, we see no teacher for Ifrit before her family comes into her life.

[heroineimages]

Roman table-top campaign

So playing Expeditions: Rome has occasionally gotten me thinking about what it’d be like to play an Ancient Rome AU tabletop campaign where the party are procursatores, exploratores or speculatores for the Roman army during one of it’s many conquests or on one of it’s many frontiers. I mean, each of these groups often broke into small scouting squads about the right size for a D&D party. And, frankly, any of the base D&D classes should work as legionaries or auxiliaries. Discussion and story ideas to follow. (And, coincidentally as I was working on this, I got an email notification that my copy of Age of Antiquity is on it’s way!)

As I mentioned above, any number of famous Roman campaigns should work nicely for characters playing as legionary special-ops. Caesar used scouts extensively in Gaul, while playing as speculatores during the siege of Alexandria could feature plenty of action and intrigue. Other options might include serving under Pompey during the Third Mithridatic War in Asia Minor, various conquests in Iberia, Germanicus’s expeditions across the Rhine, or Trajan’s wars in Dacia. On the other hand, playing as scouts or legionaries fleeing in the aftermath of a famous disaster like Boudicca’s destruction of Legio IX, Teutoburg Forest, or Crassus’s defeat by the Parthians.

Meanwhile, playing as exploratores or speculatores on any number of the Roman frontiers would provide opportunities for exploration, side-quests, npc interaction, and maybe even-dungeon crawling. The most obvious would be a party stationed at Hadrian’s Wall or the Antonine Wall in Roman Britain, with forts to defend, Pictish ambuscades to scout, and even Celtic ruins to explore. Similarly, a party might be stationed along one of the river frontiers, defending against the Germanic tribes along the Rhine, Dacians or Sarmatians along the Danube, or against the Parthians along the Euphrates. Or playing as legionary speculatores keeping the peace between Numidian or Berber tribes in North Africa again could create a lot of chances for combat, exploration, and npc interactions. Though, the option I really like is being stationed in one of Augustus’s garrisons along the Upper Nile to defend against incursions from Kush and other Nubian kingdoms to the south. I especially love the idea of scouting the desert and getting to discover and explore cursed Egyptian ruins filled with undead mummies and giant scarabs.

OR if you’re not into playing as the Romans, I think there’re a lot of similarly great stories to be told by playing against them! You could play as Britons attempting to smuggle weapons through a checkpoint at Hadrian’s wall, escaped gladiators training local Numidian tribes to fight legionaries, Parthian scouts feeling out Roman defenses, Suebi raiders sneaking across the Rhine to hassle Roman supply lines, or Kushite spies stealing info on legion troop movements. Skies the limit and I love a lot of these possibilities

[arkiwii]

In honour of Lone Trail approaching, what are your thoughts on a growing Ifrit and how she fits in with her guardians’ growth and dynamic? Sending this before you read the story in case you want to make an updated Ifrit post haha

Ok! Time to reply this ask I got before Lone Trail, now that it's out

My thoughts on Ifrit in Lone Trail? Sure, here they are:

IKLSKXKLSKCLLSKHXJDHJDJXJSJJFHD

Now with actually words

I am so proud of her. I feel like I saw my own daughter grow up. And damn those children do be growing too fast

She's so, so much mature. I'm so happy about her and what she did. She could have just listened to Saria and Silence, and go back to the Doctor's, just wait for it to end and be sorted out like a good girl... But she didn't. Sorry Saria and Silence, but your burnt heads raised this girl, of course she would be like you two; a strong person, ready to fight for what she thinks is right.

Her interactions with Silence were wonderful. When Silence tells her that whatever is between her and Saria is not her business, this time, instead of just keeping her head low, Ifrit just said straight what she wanted to say.

GET HELP. That's something Silence needed to hear, and even more from the girl she raised. These years at Rhodes Island, what Silence did was to work alone. Work all night long even. Overwork herself. Do a lot alone with the goal to stop Rhine Lab in mind. She did so much alone, kept the other Rhine Lab operators away from it.

Silence blames Saria for pushing to her limits, but she's so hypocrite because she does the same.

So if there's something they both need to do, it's to accept help. And they both are headed towards the same goal, they can help EACH OTHER.

Ifrit understood that they both need to work together if they want things to move on. They both complete each other's weaknesses. She understood that union makes strength.

And this while acknowledging that herself shouldn't be making it her business. This whole story with Kristen, Rhine Lab and such, it's too complicated for Ifrit, she doesn't understand and it can be too dangerous. It's alright, she understands it, but she wants her guardians to work together then.

Another thing I love on Ifrit is how kind she is. You think she would be some crazy feral kid burning down everything, but actually she made sure to not use her fire near the pipelines to not cause an explosion and harm the soldiers she was fighting, and then she even saved those soldiers from the explosion? That's impressive how much kindness it needs for this, and it shows that she can now control herself.

Conclusion; Ifrit is the best daughter ever and I am so so so proud of her. Look at her driving a car to save her guardian. Crying in the club

[cake-wlk]

Heyy I really enjoy your merbedo au! If you don't mind me asking, does he still know Klee or Sucrose in this au? And if yes, how did they meet? I'm so curious!

hello!! i'm glad you like it so much

as for klee and sucrose, yes! i managed to come up with some ideas with a friend a while ago.  i’m sorry if this is a mess, i have a habit of going off on a tangent

— klee is actually the first person albedo meets that he can properly interact with, without restrictions on physical contact. i can't remember if i mentioned it, but rhinedottir restricts any of her personnel from physically getting close, because of subject 2's past aggression.

albedo meets klee when he is coming back from a research expedition. klee, quite obviously, throws bombs at his tail, mistaking his tail for a really big fish. though, albedo is alright, his scales protect him. he ends up very interested in klee, given that he’s never really seen anyone other than his master and the other researchers. needless to say, he thinks she’s very colourful compared to them. klee’s also very interested in him! she found a mermaid! and, of course, she wants to be friends with a mermaid, especially because he looks a lot different to the ones described in her bedtime stories.

albedo is pretty conflicted about interacting with her because of the restrictions he’s used to-- although its not like she’s one of the facility’s personnel... so surely he wouldn’t get into trouble... right? before he knows it, he’s already absorbed by klee’s endearing personality. she even teaches him a lot of things that rhine hadn’t, like what family is and how to have fun. klee very easily sates the touch-starved side of albedo. — sucrose, on the other hand, works at rhinedottir’s facility, except she doesn’t dabble in the more... dubious experiments involving the creation of life. she researches marine botany instead. she is very much aware of what they do though, and knows about albedo. she has witnessed a lot of the times albedo has tried to bond with rhinedottir, just by chance, and over time she starts to develop the belief that he’s incredibly lonely and deprived of more friendly interactions. 

cue sucrose concocting a plan to sneak into his holding grounds one night. her efforts to slip in unnoticed go off without a hitch-- but now that she’s where she wants to be? she's a bit of an awkward mess, wondering how she should confront him. although, before she can figure something out, he's already breached the waters of his tank, which only succeeds in making sucrose panic. she very frantically tries to explain what she’s doing, given that she’s the one intruding. meanwhile, albedo is initially bewildered by someone from the facility wanting to get close to him, but it soon turns into a warm smile, as he rests his head on his arms and watches her.

sucrose eventually comes around though, her face probably going deep red when she sees such a warm smile on his own features. she’s also quite excited when she realises that her suspicions were true, because there are so many questions she wants to ask albedo about all the things (especially plants) he has encountered in the ocean! the two bond over their love for discovering new things. albedo makes an effort to bring extra specimens back for her, and she brings him plants from inland that he never would’ve seen otherwise.  he especially loves the cecilias she brings.

[burstfoot]

OPENS DOOR VIOLENTLY

Fandom: Arknights Number: 9 ("Which characters I think should have interacted more in canon")

Ship: Ptilopsis/Silence Number: 12 ("About three of the scenes that make me have feelings and (if available) find the gifs (well screenshots here lol) that underline my point.")

Character: Dorothy Number: 10 ("If I liked them immediately or if it took a while before I warmed up to their character. Alternatively, if I disliked them immediately or if they lost my trust as their story progressed.")

Thank you for the ask!!! And also thank you for including the questions with the numbers LOL I immediately forgot every single question as soon as i looked away from the ask game post Fandom: 9. Okay well first off I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention Fiammetta and Exusiai who have tiptoed around interacting for 4 years despite being in an event together and being both directly tied to Lemuen and Mostima, their dynamic could be REALLY interesting and I would love to see them both talk about how Laterano treated them. Why is Exu in Fia's skin btw. Who at HG put that apple pie there. Adding this on to the end because I dont want this question to be the Fiammetta show but she also should've interacted more with Mostima in Guide Ahead, their dynamic is the most interesting part of that event to me & I feel like it gets suprisingly little screen time compared to the angel boys I need Mayer to show up in the Rhine plotline to interact with Silence again and maybe Ifrit or Ptilopsis, I loved her interactions with Silence in Mansfield and it feels like she's sort of fallen to the wayside with all the new plot points and characters. As a whole a Mansfield follow up for the non Rhine Family characters would be greatly appreciated, I wanna see Robin and Kafka interact more too I also want Aosta, Broca and Chiave to interact with Vigil or Penance in whatever follows up on Siracusano, I really need to see the dynamic between those three goofballs that got kicked out of Siracusa and daddy's boy Leon and law-obsessed Lavinia And for one final crackship mention I think Honeyberry and Cantabile should get some screentime together.... I think Honeyberry helping Cantabile get over her trauma response to the metal crabs and All That which happens in her backstory would be really cute... Ship: 12: Well I would be remiss not to mention THE cutest moment in the manwha that everyone's seen

But also the moment of the two of them holding hands after the RL staff start insulting Joyce and Olivia for being infected & Saria steps in to defendd them

All of the moments of them being physically affectionate in the manwha are really precious to me and its really sad that we don't see either of them be that affectionate in the present timeline chapters... the Crisis really hurt them... Even before the Manwha I really like their interactions in Silence's operator record where we see how she met and started taking care of Joyce when she joined RL, this moment in particular

Also this section from DV literally makes me cry every single time I read it wehhh ;-;

Character: 10 I think I already had a predisposition to liking Dorothy because I started playing when Dorothy's Vision was in event limbo and everyone was posting about waiting for her and making jokes about her being CN-exclusive , so I was really excited for her event and saved to pull for her (I still don't have her D:) As I was going through DV though and the truth about her experiments was slowly revealed I started to lose trust in her and definetely started to dislike her for her actions a little bit but by the time it's revealed what her motivations are and her backstory of being from a pioneer family it really didn't take me that long to forgive her and go right back to loving her again (Her design is also really great thank you jackknife <3)

[cyborg-squid]

Kal’tsit, the Doctor, Theresa, the Lord of Fiends, and memories

Kal’tsit is so interesting and contradictory this Chapter (and Chapter 7) and I love it and it really goes to show complex her feelings are towards the Doctor and Theresa.

In Chapter 7, she whispers under her breath “If you really want us to breathe as one...” She says, to herself, that we can prove we were not the Doctor that was stuck in the past. “Why do you look in my eyes when you say that? There’s nothing to see in these eyes.” She is worried that she won’t be able to protect us. She wonders if we are worthy of protection. Even if we aren’t, she will protect us anyway. 

She has high hopes for us.  She hopes to see us "offer the world a chance to change, just like many kindhearted people before you did". She wonders whether or not it is too late to convince us to turn back from pursuing the truth. She thinks she should be happy at that, but she isn’t. 

Her attitude, she says she will do her best to hold back.

She would settle the score with us, if she could. She would take her revenge. She will remain forever furious. She will not trust us. She will never stop hating us.

She has high hopes for us. She believes in us. She will protect us. 

“If you really want us to breathe as one...” I believe this was part of the promise Kal’tsit made to Theresa, maybe it was Theresa’s dying words. To promise that Kal’tsit would not seek revenge against the Doctor for what they’d done. To not hate the Doctor, to try and find some sort of connection. But Kal’tsit can’t not hate us. We killed Theresa, after all. She was our friend too.

But Kal’tsit would protect us, and Amiya. She would, and will continue to, honor her promise. 3 years ago, she brought our body to the Chernobog Sarcophagus. Inside of it, we would be healed, we would be safe. We would be safe from harm, and the world would be safe from us, locked away as we were.

It is believed/said that Theresa was killed in an assassination attempt ordered by Theresis. And maybe that is true. But Theresis still lacks the power of the Lord of Fiends.  Amiya has that power. We see, through scattered images, Amiya by Theresa’s side as she dies. Theresa looks to maybe be stabbing Amiya, and letting her blood run down the blade towards Amiya.  From the Chapter 9 PV: "I will disappear in my ideals, and she... she will be the flames to burn away all the corruption." "I'll leave Amiya to you."

Perhaps the Doctor was a more direct part of it somehow, but it seems to me that either a dying Theresa, or Theresa killed herself in order to, passed her power, the power of the Lord of Fiends on to Amiya. I think then that, maybe, the Doctor took the fall for it. It is easier to believe that the Doctor of Rhodes Island, a ruthless and efficient being if there ever was one, sold out Babel and killed Theresa, rather than having Theresa’s death be by Amiya or her own hand. If that’s true, then even Kal’tsit was deceived, and you can see the Doctor being willing to bear the brunt of blame and hate, from both Kal’tsit, W, and the world, if it meant protecting Amiya. Perhaps this was one of Theresa’s wishes as well. 

Amiya is a worthier successor to the title than Theresis, but it makes you wonder if this was always the intent, to pass on the power to Amiya. Or was this a plan born out of a dying Theresa’s desperation? It doesn’t feel that way to me, given how much she “leaves behind”, so to speak. Like she had somehow orchestrated or intended for things to be this way. 

And we see from the epilogue of Chapter 7, that Theresis has not given up on obtaining the power of the Lord of Fiends, which he views as rightfully his as the King of Sarkaz. There is a weird box which has a Sarkaz very similar looking to Theresa in it. Maybe this was some sort of attempt to clone her or make some sort of homunculus to house the power, or maybe Kazdel recovered her body after her death. Maybe that container is another Sarcophagus! Kal’tsit said that the Chernobog one was found deep in some mountains and was believed to be ancient technology. It’s not a stretch to say that there might be others and that Theresis got his hands on one. 

The memory wiping, the amnesia, of the Chernobog Sarcophagus is said to be accidental, a side effect. What intrigues me is that the Doctor is not the only one at Rhodes Island with similar memory issues. Granted, that’s hardly a unique trait in a fantasy setting like this one. We have Whisperrain, who debuted on the same banner as Rosmontis at Chapter 8′s release (which makes me think she may eventually play a bigger role), whose memory issues stem from her unique Aegierian species. We have Rosmontis, whose memory was damaged by the Infected organ transplanted into her brain cell. The aftermath of the lab she was held in are remarkably similar to what happened to the Chernobog lab and scientists. This might just be a coincidence, might just be the fate of Unethical Science Experiments, but I couldn’t help but notice the similarities. And actually branching off of that, we have Rhine Lab and Ifrit, who is mentioned as being a kind of ‘artificial’ Sarkaz, was involved in the “Flame Demon Incident”, and while her records mention her hallucinations, the After Class Homework story makes me think it’s something closer to a ‘possession’, possibly. 

And here we get to the one I really want to talk about, Nightingale. A Sarkaz with memory issues. “A box of messy puzzles. The real problem is many pieces are missing.” Importantly, she is the wife tied to Shining, the Confessarius. Her memory loss is mentioned as being different from the Doctor’s, but also isn’t the result of Oripathy. “A sacrificial lamb of war.” Shining says both of them are guilty of the crime ”of starting the war, as Demons”. She has a sense of deja vu upon seeing Amiya, and wonders why the Doctor is in her memories as well. It makes sense now, given what we know about Babel’s/Rhodes Island’s involvement with the Sarkaz Civil War, and their interactions with both sides.  So with her ties to Shining and her memory loss, I wonder if she could have been a sort of ‘test’ of a possible Kazdel Sarcophagus, or something similar. Maybe she was intended to be a vessel for the Lord of Fiends power, or the memories of Theresa, or something like that.

I spent like 2 hours on this and branched off a lot from what I started talking about, but I hope y’all enjoy it, take the time to read it, and use it to help with your own theories! 

[jocia92]

...“It was a challenge on top of a challenge on top of a challenge,” the 38-year-old Stevens says about playing Tom. “It’s a very interesting, complex role for any nationality but some of the dialogue is, I think, even for a German, quite complicated.”

He was receiving intricate instructions from his director, interacting with the crew and then performing on camera as a robot – and all in a language that he studied long ago at school “and continued it a little bit at university” but spoke only on family holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia.

... Filmmaker Maria Schrader (star of Deutschland 89 and also the director of the Emmy-award winning Netflix drama Unorthodox) chose Stevens to play the robot not just for his charm and good looks but because, as she puts it, he “was not specifically known in Germany.”

However, his co-star Maren Eggert admits that, when she was pregnant, she watched every episode of Downton Abbey on German TV. She was so taken aback by Matthew’s death that she had to call her sister for solace.

In person (or at least via Zoom), Stevens is very like his character in the film. That is not to say he is robotic but he shares Tom’s fluency and easy charm. He jokes about the robot’s skin, insisting that Tom is not made out of cheap plastic but of “very high-grade silicone.”

He clearly enjoyed the technical challenge of playing a non-human. “It’s interesting that bridge between what he [Tom the robot] is pre-programmed with, the algorithm that has been calibrated by Alma… and then there is the Tom that must be learnt. In the inter-personal relations with Alma, he is improving or trying to improve. Each situation, it was looking at, well, is this a pre-programme he is running here, is this something he knows how to do or has to learn how to do?”

Ask Stevens an awkward question and he will parry it just as deftly as Tom bats away Alma’s inquiries about just what makes him tick. In the UK, fans and journalists have not let Stevens forget Downton Abbey. They still wonder why he was so keen to leave the series. Doesn’t he sometimes wish that he could exorcise the memory of Matthew Crawley for good?  

“‘Exorcise’ suggests Downton Abbey occupies some demonic status in my consciousness which it definitely doesn’t,” Stevens protests.

“There is no way I would wish to erase the memory of it. In fact, it has been the bedrock of my career and so I am very, very grateful to it. Very often as an actor, you have to explain [to people] what you have been in – and very often they haven’t seen anything. It can be a bit demoralising. It’s lovely to have something you can connect all over the world with people on.”

... “For me, I’m Your Man was just a delightful screenplay. I could see the playfulness with which it was written but also the big, big questions it was asking underneath. That, for me, is always attractive,” he says of the way the film deals with love, masculinity, identity and AI. Part of his preparation, he explains, was to watch old Cary Grant screwball comedies.  

Stevens didn’t bring his own “baggage” or “preconceptions” but tried hard to be exactly what director Schrader and co-star Eggert wanted, he says. The women were calling the shots with Schrader turning old sexist movie stereotypes on their head. Stevens is the object of the gaze, the eye candy, not Eggert’s Alma.  

The film offers a satirical, not altogether flattering, view of masculinity. Stevens confides that he used to have a postcard on his fridge at home which summed up the difference between the sexes. “[With] men, it was one switch and then [with] women, it was an entire board of knobs and dials and things like that,” he says. “I am not sure that my wife would want a robot version of me. I think if she was going to get a robot, she would probably go for something that was entirely alternative.”  

Portraying the robot, he adds, gave him new insight in how to treat women. “That’s a very, very important question and it has been in the zeitgeist really, how can men be better,” he reflects. Tom exists to improve Alma’s life. Whether that means ensuring she feels truly loved or tidying her apartment or making her a better cup of coffee, he shows the same dedication. “That’s why Tom was quite so fun to play because it was going between these big philosophical questions and the minutiae of the comedy.”

... Stevens takes his craft seriously. “Comedy is very, very difficult,” he says earnestly. “Performing comedy in a foreign language… I have to say, to make anybody laugh in a foreign language is an absolute dream. It really feels like a great achievement, to be able to bridge that gap and find humour.”  

Ask him the most important thing he learned from making I’m Your Man and he replies with even more extreme mock seriousness. “One lesson I took away, whether you’re a robot or a human, is regularly to update your software.”