#there’s probably some inconsistency here

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Jack and Joker - final thoughts

Since the takes in the tags are... quite all over, I just want to be open about how I approach watching QLs.

1. I'm here to have fun. Real life sucks immensely right now, and QLs are my happy place.

2. I'm very aware that I am a white woman from a Western country and that I am a guest in East Asian spaces. I have internalized biases because of my background, and I believe it's my responsibility to learn and grow and figure out how to be open to other cultures & experiences without jumping to assumption.

3. I love metaphorical storytelling. I love when people take risks and try something new. I don't care if there are some logical inconsistencies or issues with budget. I am here for how it makes me feel, and what I can learn from it.

So, all that being said...

I had such a good time with this show!

I'm still processing a lot about it, and I know I will be thinking about it for some time to come. But they did so much that I appreciated. I don't have the time to go into great detail, but in very broad terms - what I loved:

Of course Yin and War. What an incredible job they did. I know this was a really challenging project for them, and they took a lot of personal risks. They are so conscientious about harmful tropes and stereotypes, and deliberate in working to break those down. I'm so proud of them, and excited to see where they go from here.

The characters. From the leads to the sides, I just adored so many of them. Jack and Joke were both such imperfect and flawed characters, but that made them so interesting to me. I loved our little troupe of idiots. I loved Toi Ting. I loved Grandma. Everyone was so vividly portrayed. Hope and Save's devotion to one another. Tattoo and Arun gradually becoming boyfriends without either one noticing. The fanfics are gonna be fire.

The storytelling. Yin and War could have easily made a fluffy romance, and people would have eaten it all up (and probably complained a lot less, lol). But it wouldn't have really said anything. They wanted to do something more complex than that. They had a lot to say about being trapped in a political & economic system that is not of our choosing and that we have no control over, and what it means for individuals to try and live out their ethics and values while knowing the system is not going anywhere. Save being the new Boss isn't a perfect solution, it's not a "yay, it's all better now!". It's a "well at least this position that will be filled one way or another is filled by a slightly less shitty person now, so maybe we can live our lives without being beaten up this year". And the Four Horsemen don't go anywhere, because systems of power are fixed. We remain beholden to them. But we can still try to carve out our little pieces of a place to hold true to ourselves and those we love.

Overall, this show made me laugh, made me cry, and made me literally applaud alone in my apartment. It wasn't perfect, there were flaws, but damn was it an incredible experience.

[casual-praxis]

I have a new random "theory" that barely has legs to stand, but I'll share it anyway. Just don't blow on it or it'll probably implode.

Is it possible that Red could tell Shadow was impersonating Vio in the Tower of Winds? The only reason I started thinking about this was because of this line here, back in chapter 6, when Blue is trying to convince Red the other two are fine.

This may or may not just be foreshadowing for the actual scene where Shadow does impersonate Vio, but Red's note that the Vio they encountered in the Temple of Darkness seemed real is interesting. Mostly because he was right -- that was the real Vio. But did he actually have a way of telling, or was this just Red going through his five-second depression arc?

This got me wondering, so I went and checked the interactions between Red and Shadow during chapter 11 (just noticed chapter 12 is also listed as chapter 11 for some reason) to see what they were like and...honestly, I can't tell if this is even Red or not, but it would be the only dialogue spoken between them if so.

Why didn't they color the speaker in, literally everyone else in the panel is, but I digress. After staring up at the hidden person up in the corner and aggressively comparing the (wildly inconsistent) tunic coloring, I'm like 60% it's Blue trailing after everyone and Red who's talking to Vio. Could be completely wrong though.

Assuming this is Red, then he's checking in on "Vio" since he's acting off. The phrasing stands out a little to me since neither Red nor Blue was there when Green originally asked if Vio was okay, but the emphasis on "sure" could easily be Red affirming for himself Vio is okay.

But wouldn't it be funny if Red were just asking indirectly if "Vio" knew he was acting suspiciously?

This final image is completely speculation, but doesn't it kinda look like Red is staring at Shadow and not Vaati like the others are? Granted, if you zoom in literally none of them are looking in the same direction, and there's a good chance Shadow isn't even actually standing where Red can see him. But still. Interesting if it does line up.

Shortly after this, the real Vio appears and Red seems to run past Green to meet him. So it's possible Red was reacting to the real Vio appearing and not Shadow, which makes the whole theory kinda fall apart right there lmao.

Then again, Red running to the real Vio could also imply he knew the other was a fake? It doesn't look like his sword is out (from this angle), so he ran into stabbing range unarmed. What if this had been the fake? Literally what was he thinking, unless he just knew?

The absolute faith, I could never.

What say y'all? It could be a fun concept to play with if nothing else.

[chewycrunchytgirl]

Appearance:

Color intensity: 4/5 overall, not the most intense shade, but pink shades of variable darkness can be seen on all parts of the body because of the visibility of my blood vessels. This becomes most marked with my hands and wrists, which are noticeably more saturated with pink but still not more vibrant.

Tonality and shade: 3/5, not quite the red of rare meat but the saturation with pink looks similar in some places, which does look tempting on the surface. Still overall middling.

Transparency: 0/5, not slightly transparent.

Brightness: 4/5, parts that aren’t dark pink are very pale, and reflect any light it’s placed under. Because of the variance in shade, less than full marks seems reasonable.

Visual Phase:

Quality: 3/5. I could see myself being tempted to take a bite every now and then, but that isn’t necessarily high praise.

Appearance Closing Remarks: Information could be obtained only from an exterior view, due to the delicate nature of the subject.

Aroma Descriptive Parameters:

Intensity: 2/5, can only really be smelled from up close.

Coffee: 4/5, is the most prominent scent note by far.

Aromatic Herbs: 2/5

Spiced: 1/5, there but not easily distinguishable unlike the herbs.

Fruity: 0/5

Aroma Qualifying Parameters:

Intensity: 4/5, once actually within smelling distance the aroma is quite pronounced, with a strong body.

Fineness: 4/5. You have to get quite close to smell it but it’s a decently complex aroma that tempts me to take a bite right now, which considering that doing so causes me pain, speaks to its quality. The scent notes also combine together fairly cohesively.

Frankness: 1/5. The main drawback is the presence of several impurities in the scent which made the experience of documenting specific aroma notes inconsistent and difficult.

Aroma Closing Remarks: It occurs to me that I have just described my scent to anyone reading this. Thanks, Allie.

Mouth Descriptive Parameters:

Sweet: 0/5

Dense-greasy: 2/5, probably the only flavor actually here.

Spicy: 0/5

Alcoholic: 0/5

Aftertaste: 3/5, more prominent than the flavor itself and it just doesn’t end. Tastes like the Dense-greasy but a lot stronger, and somewhat like the scent from before. There’s also a note of something metallic.

Mouth Qualifying Parameters:

Quality: 1/5. This barely even qualifies as a flavor. The inside of my mouth is now just vaguely greasy and tastes somewhat like the aroma but also different in a way that I don’t think is positive. It also has some impurities in taste like the aroma did. It’s very uncomfortably greasy and it feels like that’s all it is. Straight olive oil would probably taste somewhat similar to this.

Persistence: 4/5, most of the flavor continues for a while, the grease especially being a feeling that will not end. The flavor doesn’t last an absurdly long time though, so it shouldn’t be purely ranked by the uncomfortable longevity of the grease.

Fineness: 2/5. It has remarkable clarity considering what it is, but the impurities in flavor are still there and do quite negatively affect the tasting experience. At least if it were pure grease I could be happy.

Fragrance: 1/5. The fragrance is well incorporated in the flavor, and that is precisely the problem. The fragrance and the texture do not mix together even slightly cohesively, and tasting the otherwise cohesive smell with what is otherwise a mouthful of grease is not a pleasant experience.

General Impression: 1/5. This is a flavor you should try once in your life because I want to be tasted, and then Never Again if your goal has anything to do with the flavor. I feel like I have to go rinse my mouth out.

Mouth Closing Remarks: You’re welcome to try it and see what you think, but I did not like the taste at all.

I hope I did this form right because I really don’t wanna do it again.

@chewycrunchytgirl

This says you taste okay with ketchup. Do you taste okay without ketchup or do you just like ketchup and it masks the taste?

[selsieeeo]

Give Me back my Son

Based/Inspired off of @llondonfog potion!au because I wail on the inside every time I think about it 🥲 I also can’t think of a good title rn. It’s 11pm rn I can’t think and wrote this quick out to get it out of my head. Probably some grammar mistakes

Lilia watched from the stands as Vargas introduced the start of the tournament that Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy held each year, switching the stadium from school to school each year. He would have watched with anticipation this year as Sebek was in the tournament this year but he couldn’t bring the heart to be excited at all.

Not without his son Silver…

No less than three months ago, everything was fine. He was happy, his son was doing well. Sebek still argued with Silver. Malleus talked to the Ramshackle Perfect about Gargoyles. It was all perfect and he was happy. Then his son disappeared.

It was the evening, he had been in the lounge, patiently waiting for his son to come back. He had assumed Silver must have fallen asleep again. No worries there, Silver usually managed to wake up and come back before it struck midnight.

It was past 11pm now. Silver wasn’t back. Strange. Lilia frowns and goes to search for his son.

He searches all over the places where Silver would most likely be at. He found nothing. It was as if Silver disappeared without a trace…

Lilia felt his stomach drop. How could Silver have just disappeared just like that? He alerts Malleus and Sebek about Silver’s disappearance and they assist Lilia in trying to find Silver.

It’s nearly 1am now. They still haven’t found a trace of Silver at all.

“Lilia…it isn’t like Silver to just disappear.” Malleus says. “He could have been…”

“Kidnapped?” Lilia finishes miserably. Malleus nods. Lilia didn’t want to believe it, but he knew it was the only possible option left. Who dares try to steal the former general’s precious son from him?

A week had passed by, news of Silver’s disappearance had spread like wildfire. Crowley had given Lilia, Malleus and Sebek permission to leave school grounds to search for Silver.

After going through the magic mirror they agreed to go to the Shaftlands first to search for Silver. They had searched for quite some time. Then Lilia managed to secure a clue. Fragments of an old kingdom were found in the north of the Shaftlands. They headed to the north.

Lilia had seen a brown haired human confronting them as the human asked what they’re purpose was so far in the north. Lilia took note of the insignia. The same insignia of the kingdom Lilia helped destroy…

Malleus had explained to the human that they were simply trying to find someone. A person named Silver. Something inside Lilia suddenly snapped. This guard…he remembered taking him down but not killing him before he found…Silver…

The brown haired guard was the one to take Silver.

Lilia remembered suddenly shouting at the guard in rage. Demanding him to give him his son back. He would have gone even farther to killing the guard if it weren’t for Malleus telling him to calm down as they needed the information. The sly guard had slipped away during the commotion.

Eventually, Queen Maleficia ordered Lilia to go back to Night Raven College as this kidnapping had happened close to her grandson. Though upset, he complied and returned to the college. He did know the queen did have a soft spot for his son and took a guess that perhaps she would help in one way or another to find his missing son.

Two months had passed since Silver’s disappearance. It was as if it disappeared from thin air without a trace.

Now here they were again. At the tournament. Lilia sat besides Malleus who placed his hand on his caretaker. “We will find him.” Malleus says to Lilia.

The tournament begins. The representatives for Royal Sword Academy come out. One of them made Lilia’s heart drop in an instant.

A 17 year old boy comes out of the tent fitted in Royal Sword’s uniform as if he always belonged there. He had silver hair tied up in a low ponytail and auroral eyes.

It was as if the world decided to drop his son back to the world.

His son…Silver…

Lilia wanted to get up and just fly over to Silver but his bats did it before him. They suddenly flew over to the RSA’s representatives, many of them shrieking and taking cover. He heard them muttering about this being a sabotage. He doesn’t care, all he sees is his son. His son with his bats who are happy to see him again.

It takes all of Malleus’s strength to hold Lilia back from jumping over the railing to join his bats. Malleus told Lilia that they can wait once intermission arrives upon them to see Silver. Lilia nods absentmindedly. All he can think about is that his son was back. His most precious son. The one thing that lights up his world. He hears about Sebek confronting Silver and that Silver didn’t seem to remember Sebek at all.

Lilia frowns at that.

What did they do to you, Silver? He wonders.

Intermission arrives and Lilia immediately leaves the stands to find his son. What a coincidence for him to run into him soon after.

“Ah, you must be the student that owns the bats.” Silver says. “I just want to help return them to you.”

Lilia smiles warmly. How thoughtful of his son!

“What is your name?” Silver asks.

“Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge.” Lilia replies. From what he can tell, Silver seems to have his memories wiped clean. Who would do this to him?

“It’s nice to meet you Vanrouge-San.” Silver says as he gives back the bats.

“Please call me Lilia, no need for honorifics.” Lilia says as he pats one of his bats on their head. The bats were sad that they had to leave Silver. He understood their feelings.

“Silver. There you are.” Lilia’s blood freezes. He knows that voice…

Silver turns around and greets a certain brown haired guard. “Ah hello Andrei.”

Him.

Andrei looks at Lilia. “Who is he?” He asks Silver.

“Ah that’s Vanrouge-I mean Lilia. I met him when returning his bats to him.”

“I see…” Andrei’s eyes lingered on Lilia as he placed his hand on Silver’s shoulder.

“Uh-Andrei is my guardian, ever since my parents died.” Silver explained trying to ease up the sudden awkward silence.

“Guardian…? I See.” Lilia says, trying not to sound angry. How dare Andrei. How dare he take his son and claim him as his guardian. He did this. The vampire fae restrained himself from attacking the guard and kept his cool. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Andrei” he says.

Andrei looks at him stiffly. “Pleasure is all mine. Come Silver, you must have your daily tea now.”

Tea, huh. Lilia could see the grimace coming from Silver but he nods and bides goodbye to the old fae.

Lilia stands there utterly shocked and angry. He’s angry at Andrei for taking his son away. He’s shocked that his amnesiac son now attends RSA.

But that doesn’t matter right now. No matter what, he’s fueled with a new mission. He’s going to get his son back no matter the cost. Getting his memories back? Not a problem. All it costs is Andrei's blood…

[krysmcscience]

Call this the Whoopsie AU (it's barely an AU)

I mean. Narinder never explicitly SAID the Lamb would stay dead... :3c He probably should have been more specific. >:3c

Part Two:

Well. The Lamb tried, but...sorry, Nari, the crown hates you now. Shouldn't have been so quick to lend it out, I guess. :D

Aaaand Part Three:

'Isn't he just adorable?' -The Lamb, probably, while their followers smile and nod and internally scream at the brand new hellcat they now have to share living space with...

Anyway, nothing says 'Dead To Me' like following a person around to loudly remind them of how dead they are to you. Right? Right. Narinder's got this all figured out. <:]

[medi-bee]

isat pokemon au, my liege?

my rambling in tags

[dinoserious]

sending ori to hisui. for funsies

[twinsoftriumph]

SHOCKING: i still haven't finished this sky nightly arrangement from forever ago (the procrastinatorrrrr) but here is what i have (mostly) finished so far and i adjusted some of the instrument volumes etc etc. here's the original song for comparison

[sysig]

I can’t stop drawing tiny Watchdogs (Patreon)

[icewindandboringhorror]

Recent game related things .. hrmm...

[legendary-alliance-stance]

finally posting this after procrastinating for days and at this point i'm just giving up waiting to post this during the day and will just queue reblogs of it for later

A relationship chart / semi-family tree chart for @legendary-assassin-stance's and I's Cantha Crew. (AKA the Rev Family and other characters associated with them + will be part of a plot thing with them at...... some point)

(Canon characters featured on this chart: Shiro, Viktor, Archemorus, Vizu, Nika, Mai, Ihn, Petrov, Danika, Rama, Valeria, and Hao Luen.)

Brief descriptions of Important Folks + rambling under the cut!

Im Hana - One of the Heroes of Cantha. Childhood best friends with Yūma, and wife of Nika.

Im Min-Seo - Daughter of Hana and Nika.

Im Nari - Present day descendant of Hana and Nika. Serves the Empire as a Willbender, and bodyguard of Princess Jié Yuèlóng.

Chén Yánglóng - An ancient dragon God of Cantha, true ruler of the Celestials, and husband of Lǐ Bǎofèng. Father of Jié Yuèlóng, and Empress Ihn's secret lover.

Lǐ Bǎofèng - An ancient phoenix God of Cantha, true ruler of the Celestials, and husband of Chén Yánglóng.

Jié Yuèlóng - Imperial Princess of Cantha, daughter of Empress Ihn and Chén Yánglóng.

Yuán Zhēnjīng - An ancient fox spirit revered by the Miyajima family.

Shion Miyajima - A Priestess of Grenth born in Kryta who went to Cantha in search of her family's history. Currently trying to restore the abandoned Miyajima estate off the coast of Shing Jea.

Yūma Miyajima - One of the Heroes of Cantha. Childhood best friends with Hana, and - more infamously - the man who bore a ghostly Shiro Tagachi a child.

Yūki Hashimoto - Son of Yūma and Shiro.

Noriaki Hashimoto - Present day descendant of Yūma and Shiro. A revenant that channels the power of Shiro, after accidentally summoning his spirit. Dating Orion.

Orion zu Heltzer - Present day descendant of Saint Viktor and Archemorus. A revenant who channels the power of his famous ancestors, after an incident bound them to him. Dating Noriaki.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Masquerade

historical fiction set in 15th century West Africa

follows a young woman from Timbuktu, recently conquered by the the warrior king of Yorùbáland

her guild of blacksmiths were already shunned as witches, and their conditions worsen under Yorùbá rule - so when she’s kidnapped by the king to be his wife, she decides to accept that it’ll be a better life for her, as long as she can get her mother’s blessing

but as months go by without her mother being found, and political tensions rise, she must decide what she wants

[lanatusnebula]

Well clearly I am confused.

[kyistell]

This was just a random idea I had. In my brain Central Jersey is the Jersey that shows the most, problem is is since CJ is so...let's go with disconnected, with the rest of the country he gets overwhelmed, and sure North could just switch in and South could do the same if they all wanted to scare the others with a southern accent that has the slang of the California coast, but watching a place that doesn't exist (it totally does btw) is way funnier.

Besides, by now all the other states that aren't the OG13 think that New Jersey has brown-looks red in certain light-eyes and it would scare the devil out of 'em if they see the red eyes that North actually has (and considering it's HIS body, it is far to tempting).

Also is it obvious that I love the idea that it's the Jersey's and not just Jersey, like I live here, if it's one singular state then I'm from Pennsylvania (I may have been born there but I sure as heaven ain't from there). Jersey would be three different states if we wanted to be associated with the rest of the country more than we already are, that and we may not agree on things but we don't HATE each other, we leave that for the rest of the country (plus let's be real, central wouldn't exist and then what would north and south argue about?)

Anyway as a proud Centralian looking at the news of the rest of the country is overwhelming, I just want to go skating, to the arcade, and continue lovin our favorite Devil, and down the shore when it's nice (and no, down don't mean literally down, though normally we are going down).

[darlin-djarin]

Hi I’m back (<- never left)

So did Emilian’s whole covert know Galactic Sign Language (GSL?)? Or is it a bigger population where the learning of the language would taper out the farther removed from Emilians circle? Or is it just something most already knew?

And Ahmed. Where is his planet? Is there a specific planet where Arabs From Space (other than Lothal) live? Or is it just widespread?

Also. Where were they the night mandalore went bye. How did Emilian feel.

Okay I’m done now sorryyyy bye! (Again sorry I just need 2 digest somethjng Mandalorian that isn’t touched by Favroni or Traviss. Love mandalorians. Hate the people who write them)

(u changed the “traumatise me” thing does this mean I’m not allowed to anymore)

okay so not all the covert knows galactic sign language, but most of the leaders and the armorer know. most of the covert does know tusken sign though, since the armorer teaches a lot of the foundlings as they're younger (i am a tusken armorer truther). emilian is more reserved, kept to himself, so he doesn't communicate much with anyone anyway. he uses tusken with the covert though, and galactic with anyone else who knows it.

i'mma be real, idk ahmed's planet. i'd like to think he was a foundling, but grew up away from mandalore with his buire, and on the planet where he learned his native tongue (space arabic ??? sparabic. SPARABIC???). while he never settled anywhere for long, he did teach nablus sparabic so they talk in that with each other mostly. not a lot of people know sparabic so it's more of just a him and her thing.

ahmed and nablus weren't near mandalore when it got glassed, so hearing the news was. well. idk. ahmed never had a real connection to mandalore anyway, but it was still freaky to comprehend. emilian was on concordia or one of mandalore's moons or something. he fled with the rest of the mandos, and joined the covert later. really fucking devastating for him. doesn't like talking about it.

(i changed the "traumatize me" bc tumblr's new update doesn't let me have more than 26 letters on the button </3 rip)

[irregularbillcipher]

working on some lisa stuff and like. no wonder birdie can't budget or plan easily. how do you plan for this, ESPECIALLY as a single parent, ESPECIALLY as one with a seriously ill kid who might require you to take sudden and unexpected absences