#this is one of my favorite little bits of lore

[numberonemargarethazellefan]

I think that hullabaloo is a perfect representation of how people respond differently to abusive situations.

I understand that not everyone’s gonna be caught up on the previous lore or they might not know and that’s alright, but I remember when act one came out that everyone was so shocked when they would be like loving joker and people in the replies would be like “oh he killed Violetta” and theyd be genuinely baffled??

I also see a lot of people saying that Mike is bystander and that he didn’t go through anything hard and I also think that’s false ? Ive seen literally one person besides myself talk about his dynamic with bernard. I absolutely believe something was wrong in that dynamic, and mike still viewing him as this good guy is such an interesting direction, I think him viewing Bernard in such a positive light is such an interesting choice on how to represent things, especially when such an abusive relationship was present people who still view their like abusers fondly is not uncommon and I think that it was interesting that they represented that

Joker- no comment ive nothing to add. You know what you did

MARGIEEE AUGH the river leading back to lakeside :(

Margie and her letters are probably one of my favorite parts of the entire game, especially how she talks about other people

She tried so hard in every way to get out of her situation and I wish she did, netease when I get you

How it was clear that joker knew she was lying and trying to manipulate him because she's so so so so bad at it yet he just fed into it because he liked her oh my

Goddddddd

I think mike is always in this deep state of denial, he is stuck on a memory that never existed. I see his fans defend him for the wrong reasons and never touch on the things I mentioned, Ive cared for this little freak for 5 years, hes so interesting and time and time again its so amusing to see how wrong his fans talk about him.

Violetta is written so interestingly, honestly I was expecting her to be a bit more bold but I still love the direction they went with, I think everything played out so well.

Every single one of these worms deserve better

[adultemophase]

A VERY LONG ARCANE S2 REVIEW (Not spoiler free below page break)

Firstly, these are all my opinions and everyone is entirely entitled to their own. If you hated S2? That’s fine but I didn’t. So, I will be doing a kind of general breakdown of my thoughts on each act below but first my general review is that I think in terms of overall story telling, season 1 is better.

To ME, S2 seems like more of what they initially had in mind for the show, and they just really nailed the exposition of S1. This is what I think made S1’s pacing feel a lot better - it’s all exposition for S2. Season 2 had to fit a climax and resolution for all of these characters in the same amount of time that they took to set up all of these story lines in the previous season. I genuinely think that each act could have been it’s own season but w/ how expensive the show is to make and the amount of time production took between seasons, I see how that’s not practical. Especially if they want to explore other regions sooner than 15 years from now.

TBH I really enjoyed this season. I understand some people are hating it because of the parts they don’t like but it’s still a visually stunning show with great characters. Do I think there were areas where the story fell flat? Yes. I also think given the time constraints and restriction of this being the last season, the visual story telling was very well done and a great way to move along the story without sacrificing time. I genuinely think it’s such a phenomenal feat of animation that characters expressions convey thoughts and emotions that feel real without dialogue. I still am blown away that it’s a LoL show because despite my love of league lore and characters, I never would have expected that Riot could produce such a heart wrenching show about the tragic nature of love and loss, the things we do for love, and the flaws of our own humanity.

I also think some people set their expectations WAYYY too high for the social commentary aspect of the show after s1, as far as I’m aware there was never any claim made by any part of the prod or writing team that it would be one. Idk overall, I thought it was a lot of fun and still an exceptional show. Not what I was expecting but I’m not upset about how it ended. I think it was conclusive but also not so finite that it leaves zero room for interpretation of the characters implied futures.

It is a little disheartening to see so many immediate negative reactions to it but, again, people are entitled to their own opinions and as much as I complain about people not using critical thinking skills or passing grade 9 literature - art is subjective. Animation, ESPECIALLY at this scale and complexity, is a form of art. I, as I’m sure many other’s did, found it a fulfilling end to one of my favorite shows. Yes, I wish there was more but I can’t bring myself to be disappointed with what we did get.

Below is my (again PERSONAL and NOT SPOILER FREE) 1-10 rating and my thoughts on each act (not really going to analyze anything because I need about 3-5 weeks to scrub through every episode so only my little reviews) :

ACT 1 (7/10) : I think this act is the one with the worst pacing, but I said a whole back in a previous post that I believe to some degree it was intentional. There is suddenly a war happening so I think it’s supposed to feel chaotic a bit chaotic. However I can concede to part of it just being, well, bad pacing. This act is definitely one I wish could have taken up more episodes if there were more seasons since I would prefer flushed out development as opposed to music videos at the beginning of each episode. However, for what it was, they serve their purpose narratively and relay the information that the viewer needs to know. Otherwise, as heartbreaking as the act is, I gotta put myself on blast and say that I LOVE the end sequence of ep 3 when Ambessa makes Caitlyn commander. Like it’s so daunting and cool. Ep 1 fight scene at the memorial? super sick. I also loved the development of the dynamic between Sevika and Jinx. You can feel the characters devolve into a version of themselves that truly is worse and I think that’s so fun. Most of my drop in rating is from how fast it feels.

ACT 2: 9/10

I simultaneously have so much and so little to say. I won’t talk about Isha’s death because to me it was fairly evident that she was going to die from act 1. Anyways, for me this was the most tragic act and I’m still trying to decide between this and act 3 as my favorite. I love them both, in different ways. Seeing Jinx and Vi be brought together and Vander was so touching and sad. You get a real look of how much they still care for each other despite the fact that they’re perpetually ripped apart. I’ve already made a post about the scene between Caitlyn and Vi, so I won’t just say the same thing I’ve already said. I also honestly am not upset that Vi’s “six-ish months of going insane” wasn’t drawn out. Again, I don’t LOVE the music videos, but narratively, it tells you virtually everything you need to know about what’s happened to her and where she is mentally. It’s literally a montage of her life for the past several months. As a recovering addict and someone known to self destruct, I would much rather they condense that like they did rather than draw it out and not handle it well. If you’re going to be cynical, you could say they didn’t anyways but, recovering addict, so I was more worried before the act 2 release that it would be triggering rather than handled poorly.

Jayce coming back and tweaking out was also such a fun touch when it wasn’t explained until the next episode why he was acting that way. Like I figured it had to do with the hex crystal now fused with his body but it was still so interesting.

ACT 3: 9/10

Maybe unpopular but I LOVED this act. Everything was so visually intriguing that on my first watch I wasn’t even fully locked in just because I was focused on how good the imagery/animation is. I thought I was going to hate ep 7 because, unfortunately that leak was real (no I won’t be changing my pfp to a clown like I said I was bc I’m stubborn) but the implication to me of that episode was not “Vi dead so everything good!” it’s that they saw a kid die because of the crystals Jayce had and, in brevity, saw what the tension between the undercity and Piltover was doing to people. I am curious what happened to THAT universes Jayce but I imagine he was probably imprisoned.

Obviously, I have to address the sex scene, and honestly? I don’t mind that it’s in a jail cell BECAUSE of the very obvious parallel to how they first met. It was also done in such a wonderful way that it feels like a legitimately intimate scene between the characters and not just a “man well I suppose they need to fuck, huh.” or male gaze-y “lesbians 🤤” way.

I will be honest and say I don’t like multiverse stuff since it kind of kills the whole “arcane is cannon” thing. I also just don’t love it in general because in recent years it’s been just a cop out for companies to make more money off of IPs (see Marvel) but it makes me want to go back and rewatch s1 again to see if this has always been the plan. I don’t mind Viktor being the wizard that Jayce sees when he is a kid since they tied that up in a way thats really cool. I do think it’s an episode though that, after seeing it a couple of times, is easily skippable since it doesn’t really do a ton for the main plot. Like Ekko gets his Z drive, heimerdinger (i think?) dies, and Jayce discovers the damage hextech can do. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the episode, unfortunately it is just one that I feel like viewers can skip over upon rewatch because of the AU stuff.

Also MEL, I love her storyline with the black rose and I really hope that her putting on the Noxian clothing in the end is an indication that we will get more of her if Riot does a series based in Noxus.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

kpop sampler

my dear @auriette was asking about my non-skz kpop feelings, and i have so many of them, so i thought it would be fun to make a little playlist.

i'm sticking with the 10 link limit (which is v hard) but if you also have a lot of kpop feelings, please rb with a song/group rec of your own!

in no particular order:

The Rose (k-rock)

i love them. They are super funny on social media, and their music is incredible. Screaming this song at the top of my lungs fixes me a little every time. Woosung is also a soloist and he's amazing.

WOODZ

This song gives me the shivers.

He also has a cover of Hype Boy that is A+

The duality of man.

I think WOODZ is vastly underappreciated, and i wish more people were as into him as i am.

Ateez

i know i already talked about them a little bit, but i have to do it again because i love them. just a bunch of insanely talented, stupidly hot weirdos. i love that they're all nerds who make legos together and that everyone but hongjoong and jongho have zero concept of personal space. wooyoung and san are medalists in the kiss your homie olympics. (woo is also bffs with changbin and also yeonjun from txt)

i'm still obsessed with this song and this MV. the ateez lore is very intricate and this is basically cinema.

TXT

insane dance skills, super talented, great music. it was hard to pick which song of theirs to include here, but this is defintely a favorite. def check out devil by the window" also.

they collabed with the jonas brothers and anitta and both songs were incredible. yeonjun just released a solo album. more talented goofballs. i love them.

OnlyOneOf

i am obsessed with OOO. they are incredible. they do most of their own choreo, they committed to making their MVs queer af and include messages of acceptance and support for the lgbtq community in the notes for all their videos. they paired themselves up and talk about kissing each other casually.

and they back it all up with high concept MVs, insane choreo, and great music that will absolutley get stuck in your head. picking a song was hard, but this choreo is too iconic

Hwasa

i am obsessed with her. she is also in mamamoo, who are great, but i am currently absolutely obsessed with her cover of lunch. but this song which is a pretty direct call out of the rampant body shaming in the industry is so much fun.

KARD

kard is the only mixed gender kpop group i know of, and we need more.

they are all adults, and their music and MVs are, too. killer dancey tracks. their friendship is a lot of fun.

BM is also a soloist, and has some very explicit horny songs that don't bother with the (barely) innuendo that kard plays with. he's also hilarious on SM, and on the daebak show

Enhypen

they're just good. i love a concept album, and they killed it with this.

Evnne

i love them.

they were all on boys planet, and i love all the groups that formed from that show (i was going to cheat and make a whole playlist of bp groups, but i'm just going to share this one and i'll make a whole separate bp post)

this video and song are just so fun, and they're so good, and i wanted to yell about them.

(all the boys planet boys are also stray kids levels of obsessed with each other, which i appreciate --zb1 is probably the worst-best about this, but they're all super close)

oh gosh only space for one more... ahhhh who to choooose

Blitzers

this is just so much fun

no one really sounds like blitzers. the horns and big band elements are wholly unique and fit surprisingly well. they are super talented and clearly having a good time with what they do, and it's just a good time.

I hope you like at least some of these songs/groups!

(Now, to play by my own rules and not add another ten in a reblog unless specifically asked to do more!)

Please add your favorite kpop/krock groups to share the joy of good music that we can all be super normal about together!

[qwardivior]

DEMON BUSTERS!! — About Nezuko

Next Part>>

<<Previous Part

And so, the long awaited Nezuko post has arrived!!! Sorry for the long wait everyone, I had to work out some lore stuff and this kept getting delayed, so let’s just get right into it! In case you don’t know or need a refresher, in this modern kny au the Demon Slayer Corps has updated and rebranded into the Demon Busters! People have been dying to demon attacks at alarming rates so to make their jobs easier they’ve been running ad campaigns! However this installment is a little different as this is NOT an ad campaign! To protect Nezuko they did not run an ad campaign on her. Instead, this is known as an ‘about’. Several other characters will be getting an about section but let’s start with our favorite girl Nezuko!

— Lore Dump Incoming!!—

In this au, Nezuko got turned on her birthday. It was supposed to be a fun celebration, she would spend the night at her friends’ house and then go home the next morning to help her family prepare for New Years. Of course when the day actually came, there were complications as Tanjirou would not let her go for whatever reason, stating that he had a “bad feeling” about it. But nothing ever happens in their small town! In fact, the biggest event in a long while was their father’s death a couple months prior. Eventually, after some back and forth they just chalked it up to him being paranoid and she was able to go.

It wasn’t just paranoia. Nobody knew that anything was wrong until the next morning. Tanjirou had gone to pick Nezuko up since nobody had heard anything from her, and was met with a gruesome sight. Just like in canon, Nezuko was the only survivor, but she seemed to be a little off… Firstly, she had tried to attack Tanjirou before quickly coming to her senses after a man called Giyuu Tomioka appeared, stating that he was a “Demon Buster” and she was a “demon” and that he had to slay her. And secondly she no longer had a taste for human food and just slept all the time! Luckily, nobody was slayed, and the siblings were instructed to find a man named Sakonji Urokodaki, Tomioka’s teacher. But they couldn’t just leave! Not after everything. So they came to an agreement: because Nezuko was able to quell her hunger and more or less function like a normal human, the two would go home for now, and then Tomioka would come to pick them up at a later date. As it turned out, in order for Nezuko to get her humanity back, she’d have to become a “Demon Buster”. A perfect way to bring in the new year..

In this au Nezuko keeps her humanity and is more of her own person. This makes it easier for her to get around and get info from other demons easier. She also conquers the sun slightly earlier, but we’ll get to that later. She wasn’t able to really show herself to her family that often until she was able to learn how to disguise herself from none other than Yushiro. Her having a sense of self and a personality separate to Tanjirou also allows for them to go their separate ways a bit more. Of course they stick together but it’s not like Nezuko is bound to the box. They have missions that sometimes requires Tanjirou to go completely solo, thus Nezuko is left to her own devices.

Overall, I really want to explore Nezuko’s character more and there’s so much more to her than what can be explained in a single post. I guess you’ll just have to tag along to find out more huh? This will also allow me to expand more on her relationship in regards to Zenitsu. In canon, it seemed a little one-sided since we weren’t able to get Nezuko’s point of view, but in this au I want to show more mutual interest so it doesn’t come off as weird as it did in canon. This also allows her to make her own friends (read: Muichirou, Senjurou, Genya, and more). Nezuko is a very fun character to explore in this au and I can’t wait to show you guys more!

Also did I mention that a lower moon is seeking to kill her? No? Oh, my bad.

———

Hey! Thanks for sticking around. Sorry this one took a while! After this we will most likely be getting Tamayo and Yushiro!! Inosuke and Kanao will have to wait a little bit longer because I still have to figure out things lore/design wise. As for Hashira, the next one will either be Giyuu or Shinobu! That’s all for now and thanks for all the support on this au!! Feel free to ask me about anything lore-related! I’ll see you in the next one!

[winters-on-the-wing]

my impression of the marauders as somebody who is extremely new to the fandom

this will probably make people mad. i am ready for that.

remus lupin -> he seems cool. his lore is fascinating. imagine being bitten by a werewolf and having your entire life ruined just because somebody has beef with your dad. that's some tea. i think his personality is cool, he seems very rough-and-tumble while also being quiet and plaintive, and i love how he has more street-smarts than book-smarts. the chocolate jokes are already getting old, though, i fear. besides aren't dogs allergic to chocolate?

sirius black -> this guy also seems cool. i like his natural swagger he's got going on. i hate how people are framing him as some "puppy dog" character when he's clearly got such a suave and effortless cool factor that clearly differentiates him from the others. i also think his lore is interesting. i love when the older sibling is the scapegoat, i feel like so often, the younger sibling is victimized in fandoms and i like the little reverse of expectations with that.

james potter -> THIS GUY IS MY FAVORITE HE IS LITERALLY ME. i think jegulus is stupid (to me, it just seems like a bunch of walking talking tropes, no real substance, and i hate how it frames james as some overly-masculinized knight-in-shining-armor archetype with no real personality of his own besides being regulus' savior), and i love how he defends lily from the others' teasing. i adore how his lore and personality set him up for such an interesting character development. it is so interesting to follow an uncorrupted child who has never known pain, to see him throw himself into harm's way because he feels like he has to. i also LOVE that he is a deer because i've always seen myself a deer-like sort of person. and oh did i mention that james is literally me? also his personality seems like such a nice mix of mr. popular and a fantastical, elvish presence.

peter pettigrew -> idk how to feel about him. he kinda pisses me off but i also feel like too many people are writing him off when he has the potential to be just as interesting a character as all the others. i kind of resent the idea that he was a "traitor" type from the start because the idea of him being a traitor is supposed to be a huge surprise that nobody saw coming. i love the idea of him being like a well-meaning jokester sort of person who sometimes goes too far, but just wants to be liked and wants to belong very badly.

regulus black -> okay so this is probably very unpopular but i think regulus is such an interesting antagonist. i don't want to redeem him. i don't want to ship him with any of the marauders. i think he best serves the universe as an antagonist role, somebody who holds so much bitterness and fear in his soul, to the point where he is destroying himself and everything around him to try and get what he wants - but the problem is that he does not know what he wants. i previously mentioned that i think the ship between him and james is dumb, and i stand by that. i think it would be cooler if regulus and james were sort of like enemies, though not overtly. regulus feels like james is taking away sirius and further corrupting him, destroying who sirius was. james feels like regulus is preventing sirius from growing and escaping his life of misery. but the thing is, they both love sirius. just in very complex ways. i love the idea of regulus being a tortured villain, his situation does not excuse his awful actions, but they explain them in a way that makes your heart ache for him, and then makes you feel like a weird asshole for feeling bad for him. that just seems so cool to me.

lily evans -> this is MY GIRLLL. i think she is so cool, so sweet and smart. the only thing with her that i find a bit annoying is that she's close with snape, who i find super annoying. but i love her attitude and her vibe. she's a strong woman without being one of those obnoxious "i'm a strong female character" archetypes. her strength lies in her actions, not her words. i also do think that her relationship with james is adorable and i hesitate to throw it away for the sake of gay ships, but i do think canon deviance with the marauders ships offers so much creative freedom, so james is not the only person i could potentially see her with. i think she could offer such an amazing platonic role in any story, and i hate the notion that the only storyline she offers is a romantic connection with james.

marlene mckinnon -> again, i am obsessed with her. i do not know much about her compared to the other characters, but what i do know about her, i love. i think she is so fun, and her personality is a great mix of strength and integrity. she sort of reminds me of a happier version of katniss from the hunger games. willing to fight for what she believes in, but she uses her power to support her values. i also feel like she and katniss have a similar dry humor that is so funny without even trying. i also love the idea that out of all the marauders, she is among the ones with the least emotional intelligence, in the sense that she isn't a "voice of reason" character like lily is. i hate when all of the woman characters are magically emotional geniuses.

severus snape -> i think he is incredibly annoying and i hate the narrative that he's just a poor baby who was bullied by the marauders. i just feel like he has such a victim complex about everything, and a lot of jealousy when it comes to his relationship with lily. i get that he did not have as much social power as the marauders, but if you play with fire, you're going to get burnt. i don't view him as completely unsympathetic per se, but i much prefer to view him from an antagonistic lens. he just seems like such a whiner. like if you don't want people to make fun of you, then don't be an asshole to them? maybe i am being overly harsh, but as somebody who was bullied, i think it is ridiculous to frame snape's situation as bullying because he is literally such an instigator. the whole point of bullying is that it is unprompted. like come on he is NOT a little wet cat of a victim.

and the other characters, i do not know enough about to form a coherent opinion. i do know of dorcus, alice, preston, and emmaline, but not nearly enough. i would love some advice on who they are and what they contribute to the story!

also i have not read all of "all the young dudes", i made it to chapter nine and then got overwhelmed by all the names, so i got the quick cliffsnotes of the lore from my best friend. i don't care about spoilers, i would actually love them!

also please don't get mad about my opinions, this is all lighthearted and again, i don't know shit about this fandom so i am pulling most of this out of my ass.

[showf4ll-media]

Hello Genloss fans. Getting a little rain check here!

I want to make a sort of multi-artist comic based on the events of TSE/Founders cut. PLEASE interact with this post if you may be interested and Ill set up some discord server for it if theres enough.

Below is also a poll to decide which direction to go with deciding who gets what parts;

Option 1 would be me going through and writing out a script (probably from founders cut rather than tse) then putting it into parts for people to pick. More strict and reminiscent of a multi animator project script. I would also more than likely not include many parts that arent lore important… for my own sanity

Option 2 would be me dividing TSE into certain scenes and letting people pick their favorite parts from whatever scene they choose to draw. EVERY scene wouldnt be required to get taken, but lore important bits would :)

[loveisinthebat]

What's your opinion on vampires and fiction about vampires? Any favorites?

I found myself finding an appreciation for bats after getting into Castlevania, as silly as that is. Thank you, sad vampire show, for getting me interested in these cute lil guys!

As much as I love the 3 Species of vampire bat, I do think The connection is a bit too heavy-handed in modern media. It's a double-edged sword. on one hand raising bat awareness. On the other hand , tying Bats To this nebulous concept of ' evil' , and condemning them to Representation that consists almost entirely of being Low-level Cave enemies in RPG's that Don't want to do any research. Well, that or cheap halloween Decorations. Which isn't really much better. My relationship to vampires as a concept isn't as Pockmarked by my distaste for pigeonholed representation , but I do Enjoy studying the lore behind these things. The various diseases and symbolism of aristocracy as a parasite class Including how at one point people started mashing Autistic traits into signs of vampirism. ( Can't go somewhere without being Invited, dislikes being around Strong scents , compulsive counting, etc. )

Uh.. Ramble over, sorry. I do really like vampires but I wish we could divest of the association a little bit

[dawnslight-aegis]

16. third-rate

Kaede was deep in concentration instructing to two of her students in the task of setting lapis lazuli in silver when a commotion at the entrance of Crown Gemworks’ particular corner of the Reach finally drew her attention away from her task. Giving Wido and Hal a quick instruction to begin crafting their own ring settings, she rose and strode over to where a lalafellin man was yelling, loudly and animatedly, at Emeloth.

With a touch to the deputy headmistress’s shoulder, she stepped in front of the small, angry man and crossed her arms. “Can I help you, ser?”

Bright, golden eyes fixed on hers, and Kaede read several details about him in an instant – he was Dunesfolk, dressed richly for warm weather, and had a pair of hyur manservants following in his wake.

He was, in a word, Ul’dahn. Kaede suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

“You there!” he barked, sticking one pudgy finger several ilms from her face. “Are you the headmistress here?”

By all rights, she should have been. Nanamo and Serendipity had offered the position to her first, after all – but the life of the Warrior of Light did not lend itself well to the running of a school, even with a competent deputy, and so she had managed, with some convincing, to allow the title to go to someone eminently better suited to teaching.

However, there was no way in the seven hells she was sending this snide little merchant lord to go screech at her mother, so she merely crossed her arms and inclined her head.

Taking that as assent, the lalafell launched in on his tirade anew. “I cannot believe that the sultana would pass on her late mother’s crown, a beloved treasure of the Ul dynasty, to a bunch of half-trained, third-rate Ala Mhigans. That crown belongs in Ul’dah – if the sultana wanted it broken down for use in new pieces, it should have gone to Esthaime’s. Only they are competent enough to work with such finery, not a bunch of brutes taught by foreigners.” He spat the word, and Kaede could feel her jaw clench in irritation. “You lot must have obtained it by some sort of deception and chicanery. I demand you return it to Ul’dah, intact.”

Instead of grabbing him by the collar and shaking him, as she dearly wished to, Kaede simply let out a long, slow breath, and then looked him in the eyes and spoke, her voice polite but sharper than the rapier belted to her hip.

“Ser. You have not yet introduced yourself, so I suppose I must be the one to observe common courtesy here. My name is Kaede Kazarishi – master in good standing of the Ul’dahn Goldsmith’s Guild, independent contractor with Esthaime’s, free paladin of the Sultansworn, sixteenth generation goldsmith of the Kazarishi family of artisans, personal friend of the sultana’s, and Warrior of bloody Light. I can assure you, ser, that Nanasha Ul Nasha’s crown was obtained with the sultana’s full consent and blessing – at her insistence, in fact. As for your accusation about the caliber of students here, I trust that you are not looking for master-quality work from apprentices? But you may rest assured that once they have completed their stay here, all three will be highly competent goldsmiths trained in at least three different styles – Doman, Ul’dahn, and traditional Ala Mhigan – to create something truly new and unique. Even moreso should we be able to convince one of the ananta to join us, as I am currently in the process of mediating. The crown could not possibly be in better hands, especially for the sultana’s stated wish – that it be used for the uplifting and betterment of Ala Mhigo, and a reaffirming of the bond of alliance and friendship that lies between the two nations.”

From the moment she had mentioned her name, the ruddy flush of righteous anger had drained out of the little man’s cheeks, and he had gone paler and quieter as she’d continued.

“I – I – please, forgive me. Passion overwhelmed my good sense, miss, and blinded me to the virtue of this organization. I would love to make a contribution, in fact! Invest in the future of such a promising enterprise!”

How quickly his sneering had turned to simpering. There was a simplicity in dealing with Ul’dahn merchants, at times. They simply needed to be shown that they did not hold all the power, and that they stood to gain something by cooperation. From the traders on the Sapphire Avenue all the way up to Lolorito, they were all the same, under the bluster. It made them easy to handle, once one knew how, but it was never pleasant. Kaede had always preferred the more forthright manner of Limsans, who were more crude and oftentimes more dismissive, but infinitely more honest. Pulling rank on H’naanza of the Armorer’s Guild, or Brithael of the Blacksmith’s, wouldn’t have meant a damned thing without an example of the quality of her work.

Polite mask still firmly in place, Kaede turned to Emeloth. “Wido and Hal should be putting the finishing touches on a pair of rings set with lapis lazuli taken from the crown itself – perhaps you could show the gentleman their work? He might be interested in owning not only a piece of Ul’dahn history, but an early work of two future masters, as well.”

The highlander woman, whose face had been twisted in stymied rage at the man’s easy dismissal of her countrymen, smoothed and calmed as she took Kaede’s meaning. With him cowed as he was, they could fleece him for several times the rings’ value, and fund the next few moons of operations costs, easily. And the merchant’s attempts to recoup that cost would spread word far and wide of Crown Gemworks’ prowess.

“Of course. Right this way, ser.”

As Emeloth and the lalafellin man – who still had not given his name, though Kaede thought that was likely now out of embarrassment rather than arrogance – walked past her, the soft crunch of footsteps on grit and dirt drew Kaede’s attention to her other side, where a pair of cool, assessing blue eyes looked up at her.

“That was artfully done, natsuko. Where did you learn such a skill?”

In her pride at being complimented, Kaede didn’t even protest the childish nickname, merely linked her arm with one of her mother’s and walked with her back towards J’khebica, whose work the true headmistress had been overseeing. “Well. Turns out if you spend enough time around cutthroat Ul’dahn merchants and pretentious Ishgardian nobles, you learn a thing or two.”

“Mm. So I see. You embellished a bit, though. Our family records only stretched back seven generations before I left Doma – you would be ninth in that line, not sixteenth.”

Kaede grinned. “Neither do I typically claim any association with the Sultansworn, but he doesn’t need to know that, does he?”

Bell-like laughter echoed against the rocks of the Reach, and Yuriko shook her head. “Dawn Father help me, my daughter has become too cunning,” she said, her tone teasing and light. “It must be the Radz-at-Han in your blood. The samurai of my family would have been aghast at the very notion.”

The invocation of her father instantly brought Kaede’s mood from triumphant to melancholy, and she sighed in frustration. Always was there in her mind the endless push and pull of necessity and honor, whether it was better to cleave always to one’s ethics or bend them a bit in the pursuit of greater justice. Which mattered more, the ends or the means? Did she skew more towards the path of the dark knight, or the holy? And that one should be associated with her father made the question all the more fraught.

Sensing that her words had been taken wrongly, Yuriko patted her daughter’s arm. “I did not mean that as a slight, dearest. Too much honor and refusal to yield brings nothing but suffering and death. You have adapted to this world far better than I could have hoped, better than I myself have. And neither should you find shame in the other half of your lineage, regardless of how you feel about your father. In fact, you should embrace it – Zamair rejected everything that was Hannish about himself save his alchemy, and he was the worse for it. Balance, love, is what you should seek – and what I believe you have found.”

Her rapier bumped against her leg as they stopped walking, and Kaede nodded. That had been the entire purpose of taking up the red mage’s arts, had it not? To find a balance between the extremes, an equilibrium within herself.

With a reassuring squeeze to her arm, her mother changed the subject. “Are you truly treating with the ananta?”

Kaede had seen the way her mother’s gaze had sharpened in interest the first time she’d laid eyes on a member of the Vira tribe, adorned with gold and jewels. And for Crown Gemworks to represent Ala Mhigo in its entirety, the ananta must be counted among their number.

“I am, yes. I have a few friends who are assisting with the reconstruction of Velodyna, and they’ve promised to put in a good word with the Vira there. I’m hoping to organize a meeting between their broodmother and our headmistress.”

Yuriko’s expression of rare, unrestrained delight was all the reward needed for her effort, and Kaede quietly listened to her mother’s excited planning as they made their way back over to where J’khebica waited with her finished piece, seeking the headmistress’s approval, much as Kaede herself always had.

[devotedlystrangewizard]

renheng is arguably too delicious for the average hoyoverse fan because when i found out one of the main characters is haunted by a spectre of his past who hates him so much entirely because he once loved and trusted him. and they watched the stars together. and they have matching bracers that they can sense each other through. and they were closer than any other two in their old friend group. and

[moeblob]

Pen doodles from yesterday and then digital for today

Katale and Rudyard but as little crime babies. Since he's known her for a while and just thought she looked like a little street thug despite being higher ranking than him in the crime organization at first, the cat-ear hairstyle was just A Thing for her. And it spawned the nickname he would use in private of "Kitty" and even when she grows her hair out and he grays even more he still calls her Kitty in private. They're literally just bffs who do crime and what more can you want of them??

[lavellane]

IVE NEVER GOT THIS HOWE DIALOGUE. THROWING UPPPPPPPPPPPP

[age-of-moonknight]

“The Once and Future Knight,” Phases of the Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2024), #1.

Writer: Erica Schultz; Penciler: Manuel García; Inker: Sean Parsons; Colorist: Ceci de la Cruz; Letterer: Cory Petit

[neathbound-fiends]

copy pasting from DMs and expanding on this a little actually

Thinking abt the fact that Elliott is an unreliable narrator and will just outright lie about things about himself, or twist them so severely that they threaten to break in order to be palatable and not say anything he thinks people won't want to hear. Man who spent a lot of years lying about his family, and upbringing, and sexuality, all because none of it was something someone else would want to hear and he doesn't want to be seen as broken, or a bummer, or to speak ill of the dead. It's better to mangle the truth until it fits whatever narrative you want to spin than it is to say something that's going to horrify someone

[dailydegurechaff]

Have you ever read the Youjo Senki Restaurant manga?

Weiss and Erich are so moe in them, Weiss' sweet tooth is adorable characterization and Erich's poor tummy is way too endearing.

Plus, Visha and Elya flashback!

I have!! It’s so fun I love it sm. I love watching Tanya scheme and suffer on the frontlines, but some honest to goodness pure fluffiness really is healing for the soul, it’s so cute.

I count myself among the believers that the Restaurant designs are among the best designs we have. Everyone is so pretty… Perhaps most importantly to me, all of those pretty panels of Erich are near and dear to my heart.

[clonedchaos]

Hehehe, Alien Robots

Watched Transformers: Rise of the Beasts with my dad today and legit all I can think about is writing a fanfiction centered around the cast being found family and doing mundane slice of life things bc they’re aliens and need to interact with earth more. 😭

I also kept mistaking Optimus Primal as a robot version of King Kong, but that’s not relevant.

Read the tags if you want my random thoughts and some spoilers.

[cephalopodbrainrot]

Some more neo 3 because I'm just so normal about him

I changed his design some from my last post bc I liked this palette better.

I should really go in depth on his lore sometime