#(somehow????) method: unclear

[quiltcas]

I wish people really understood how much effort, time, and money is takes to knit something.

Even if it's small!

Like yeah no sorry dude I'm not going to make 30 pumpkins for you for free. I'm honored you think I have enough time and generosity for that.

[toytulini]

reeeeeeally wish. it didnt feel. like the needs of my body vs the needs of my brain were actively in fucking conflict with each other in a way that makes it impossible to function or exist

[exactlycleverpirate]

What happened to Lemuria and Rafayel?

A mix of facts and theory. I try to quote where I got stuff from in the game, but let me know if something is unclear.

This is a monster. For TLDR, jump down to the bold words, as this sums up the general idea of this post.

SPOILERS for Main Story, Anecdote 3, and some Memories.

(MS stands for Main Story)

What we know:

Rafayel is Lemurian (Ebb and Flow and MS Chapter 7)

As a child, a long long time ago*, he lived in a Lemurian community in the ocean, specifically in the Deep Sea. He would sneak away from his home to explore the ocean and the surface world. (Nightly Stroll, Whalefall Lament,  Ocean At Night).

*(What is a long, long time ago? 10-15 years? 800 years? He says his age is “24…probably” (promotional video). What does that mean? Has he forgotten exactly when he was born or is he alluding to the fact that he is much older? He made his vow to MC when they were both children (MS Chapter 7.11). Was that current MC or a previous reincarnation of her? If current, then he must be actually around 24. If a previous life of MC, then he could easily be 800 or more.)

Lemuria was believed to be mythical, and/or to have disappeared thousands of years ago. It was confirmed to really exist when, on December 31st, 2034 (the same year the Deepspace Tunnel appeared and the Chronorift Catastrophe occured), a tsunami and earthquake southeast of Linkon opened a rift in the ocean, revealing an ancient Lemurian city (MS, in-game article, and promotional video). When asked how he can be alive today if Lemuria disappeared thousands of years ago, Rafayel says to think of him as “a lost pearl that washed up on the beach”.

Other Lemurians are still alive. Rafayel’s Aunt Talia appears to be a Lemurian herself (his only remaining family) as she has known him a long time, knows about Lemurian ceremonies and other Lemurians, etc. In 2047, a Lemurian named K died. Rafayel attended his Seamoon Ceremony (essentially a funeral of sorts, returning him to the ocean to pass on and return to the water from whence he came), as did other remaining Lemurians (Anecdote 3). 

Now that we have that foundation to work with, let’s start with Louis’ Tale in Anecdote 3. 

For the sake of argument, I am going to assume that Louis got most of the story right, since Rafayel doesn’t contradict him on most points, aside from dismissing him in general, which I feel was to downplay how close Louis was to the truth.

They are discussing the opera Rafayel just performed in, particularly, the Siren’s Ballad. In the opera, the siren is a woman and the human is the man (played by Rafayel). Louis says they got this wrong. The Siren was “a charming, handsome merman”. Presumably this Siren is Rafayel.

Simple enough so far, but now it gets confusing.

The Siren (Rafayel) “met a woman on the beach, but she took his tail and cut off his scales”. This sounds similar in some ways to MC, but opposite in others. MC was a child, not a grown woman. And Rafayel got stranded on the beach (No way out, no hope, and waiting to die) and MC rescued him from death, rather than taking his tail and scales. 

However, if we assume Fragrant Dream was a memory and not just a dream (Rafayel acts as though this dream is significant somehow), Rafayel gave a scale, his blood, and his voice to save MC, and ultimately sacrificed his life for her, in some past life. The perfume (bitter like fermented aquatic plants, the same description as the potion in the dream) that brings the possible memory to MC’s mind is from Your Fragrance. Rafayel has some very strange lines in Your Fragrance when he is under the apparently intoxicating effect this perfume has on him. He says the perfume smells familiar, then goes on to say:

“It must be an allergic reaction. This isn’t perfume. How dare they use such underhanded methods to trap me…”

“Who gave you the perfume?”

“Are you trying to run away again?”

“I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna lock me up again… You’re with them, I just know it. Don’t think I’m unaware of what you’re about to do. (MC name), I won’t fall for it again. Not this time.”

This all implies that Rafayel was trapped and locked up in the past. And that on at least some level, he feels like MC played a role in him getting tricked. (Which might explains why he considers abandoning her when she is drowning in MS Chapter 7.11. See an alternate theory for this here.)

Back to Louis’ story, he describes the fate of the woman. The Siren is on the verge of death, and he sings the Siren’s Ballad. (Later, we learn this portrayal of the Siren’s Ballad is inaccurate: ““Siren's Ballad” isn't a song of revenge. It's an elegy sung for Lemuria”.) According to Louis, “Ultimately, the woman on the shore passed away with a smile as he sang.” Obviously, MC is currently alive. Did Louis get this wrong? Was this a past life? A different woman?

Louis then describes what he believes those who die by the Siren’s song experience. 

“People lured by the siren's ballad don't die peacefully. Their smiles are just a mask bestowed by the Siren. Instead, as they near death, they witness bizarre visions as they're plunged into endless torment.” 

The man, Mr. Fallon, who died during the opera is described as having died of no obvious cause with a smile on his face. After singing during the opera that Mr. Fallon died watching, Rafayel goes backstage. 

“A searing pain throbs in his throat, pulsating in tandem with his heartbeat, rapidly stimulating his nerves. As he touches his Adam’s apple, he pulls out a new tie from his leather briefcase, a smooth satin entwined between his fingers. The cool texture gradually envelops his neck. It’s like sheathing a blade.”

This strongly implies that Rafayel used his voice for something more than singing, hinting at it being a weapon. I think it is safe to assume Rafayel somehow killed Mr. Fallon man with his song, presumably in the way Louis describes.

Another interesting thing of note in this part of Louis’ description is: “A blue pattern, representing the Siren, appears on their chests. It's a constant reminder of the sins they committed against the sea.” At first, I thought this may be the pattern we see on Rafayel’s chest in Chapter 7.11, implying he sinned against the sea, but on rewatching it, I realized that the mark is red, not blue. So I am inclined to go with my first impression that Rafayel’s mark is related to his bond with MC (since it responds to her calling out to him).

So, now that we are thoroughly confused about what has taken place between Rafayel and MC, let’s move on to the next part of the story. This is when everything takes an even more heartbreaking turn.

“The Siren returns to the sea, believing everything has ended. But he discovers his underwater kingdom has turned to ruins, soaked in blood. His people have either vanished, turned into bloody foam, or were kidnapped. His homeland has turned into a silent, deserted city overnight. Oh, and as for the name of this underwater kingdom - Lemuria.”

(Interesting side note: After this part of Louis’ story, Rafayel’s meal is served: “a fish laying amidst white rosemary”. Rosemary symbolizes fidelity and remembrance.)

Later, in his memories, Rafayel adds to this scene for us.

“The young boy sits alone in the middle of the coral reef, softly humming “Siren's Ballad.” Waves lap the shores, staining it dark red. The color blends almost seamlessly with the bloody setting sun in the distance. Those who deceived him have long since sailed away on their massive ships, laughing all the while. “Siren's Ballad” isn't a song of revenge. It's an elegy sung for Lemuria.”

He also remembers:

“The dying cries of his people echo in his ears, fizzing and crackling like a broken record that's been ground into pieces.”

“In the darkness, the shadows of those he personally laid to rest emerge and drag him down, lower and lower into the depths.”

Now, let’s talk about the painting Raymond bought from Rafayel. 

But first, let’s talk about Raymond. He is a former patient of Zayne’s with a congenital heart disease. In his mansion, he has a giant fish tank with no water in it. Instead, it has a dull and pale skeleton. (MS Chapter 2.2-2.3)

“Fin-like bones protrude from its pelvis. This skeleton lacks legs, its spine extending like a long string. Its pose is ominously beautiful, resembling a girl sitting cross-legged.”

I think it is pretty safe to say this is a real Lemurian skeleton. 

Additionally, Zayne notes that “According to the Akso remote monitor, your vital sign data has improved. The equipment also determined your age to be far younger than what it actually is.” In other words, Raymond’s health has improved, and he is unnaturally youthful for his age. Raymond even suggests he should be dead by now and asks Zayne if he is curious as to why he is not dead. Zayne admits to initial curiosity, but then moves on.

Before K died, he said “They took away my scales and drew my blood. Over and over again. I’m no longer Lemurian.” The doctor told Rafayel that K had endured “such agony”. This appears to be something many of the Lemurians on land are facing or trying to hide from.

In Rafayel’s Myth (Chapter 3), it says that the humans of that time believed:

"Every Lemurian was blessed with beauty. Their tears turn into glimmering pearls, their voices brought dreams of wonder, their blood made one live forever or could even resurrect the dead. Once you tamed a Lemurian, they were the most loyal, powerful servant. They listened to every command, even if it cost them their life."

Even if only parts of this are true, it shows that Lemurians are considered highly desirable as slaves or for parts. And the part about the blood seems to have at least an element of truth, given Raymond's health.

It seems reasonable to conclude that Raymond has been harvesting something (scales, blood, etc) from Lemurians to unnaturally lengthen his life and make him younger.

Now enter Rafayel’s painting. 

He used blood red coral, infused with Metaflux, from the ruins of Lemuria for this painting.

When MC resonated with the painting in Raymond’s house, this is what she experiences:

“A stunning oil painting hangs on the wall opposite of the sofa. It depicts a brilliantly blue sea with cascading white waves. Each brush stroke feels alive as if countless fairies are jumping out of the water.

At the edge of the sea, the water is gradually stained crimson like something is being torn apart, swallowed, and coalescing into a blood clot.

The gloomy weather, the sound of the ocean - a salty humidity slowly creeps into my hair.

A girl by the shore, the lower half of her body submerged in the water. Strange. It's almost like she’s crying and laughing at the same time.

The swirling fog carries a faint, ethereal melody on the sea breeze. It sounds like a song, yet is also a lament.”

Mermaid Song plays in the background while MC is resonating with the painting. The translation of it is: 

“A fish in your hand. Please burn with passion. Nets of moonlight. With coral, a prison. When waves kiss the morning sun. The scent of roses pierce. With a fish in your hand. Blood. Blood. Blood covers the sea.”

When MC visits Rafayel’s art gallery, we learn a bit more about this painting.

“When I was a kid, I had dreamed I turned into a fish.

I swam and swam and swam from the deep sea, seeking a place beyond the water's surface. Only to end up in blood-red seawater.

It was the first time I ever saw such a color. Who knows how many years I've spent trying to recreate it. But I never really could get that same shade of red.

It was always a slightly different hue, you know...”

All of this put together paints a scene along these lines for us:

A young Rafayel returns from an encounter with a human woman on the beach (MC?). He finds that Lemuria is in ruins and empty. He swims to the surface. It is nighttime on a coral reef. There is a smell of roses in the air. As the sun rises, he sees that the water is filled with blood. Perhaps there is a Lemurian girl there singing mournfully, or the girl in the painting is representative of Rafayel’s experience and the experience of other survivors. (Perhaps it is even her skeleton in Raymond's home). Some Lemurians are dead or dying in the water or on the beach. Rafayel hears their dying cries and returns those dead on land to the sea to become one with the water. He then sits alone on a coral reef, surrounded by bloody water, singing an elegy for Lemuria as the sun sets. He knows he was deceived and that his deceivers have already sailed away. Some of the Lemurians have been kidnapped and taken away with the deceivers.

("A fish in your hand" from the Mermaid Song seems to refer to the Ocean Emissaries (little blue fish) that come from making a Lemurian vow (though Rafayel also seems to be able to summon these on command). Is this a reference to the promise between Rafayel and MC? How does that play into the rest of this scene?)

Given how vulnerable Lemurians are on Ebb Day, I think it very likely that this occurred on Ebb Day. (Perhaps this vulnerability was revealed to those who killed the Lemurians by MC or Rafayel himself. Did one or both of them trust the wrong people with this information? This also might be why Rafayel was stranded on a beach in the first place when he met MC.)

So now we have some kind of a picture about what happened to Lemuria. Is this ancient or recent history?

Either way, Lemurians still live and are still being harvested for parts.

Louis concludes his story by asking Rafayel, “When the Siren returns to the beach…How does he exact his revenge on those responsible for Lemuria's destruction?”

To which Rafayel responds, “I think he’d first learn from them. He's gotta study their wits and cruelty, you know.”

Which brings us back to Mr. Fallon dead with a smile on his face at the opera. And also Raymond drowned in his bathtub after carving fish scales into his body. The painting has vanished from his home. (MS Chapter 7.3)

I think this is why Rafayel has a bounty on him, since those participating in harvesting Lemurians are being killed by him, but can't exactly go to the authorities about it.

I also think Rafayel is not solely motivated by revenge. He tells Aunt Talia “Not every Lemurian survivor can wait.” Somehow, what he is doing is supposed to prevent other Lemurians from ending up like K.

Talia notes that Rafayel has changed "After that incident in Lemuria." He seems unrecognizable. Past Rafayel was like a blazing flame, whereas he "now resembled a reef battered by relentless waves - outwardly cold and hard, yet riddled with cracks, vulnerable to crumbling from the next wave." Talia is helping Rafayel gather information for his goal, but she isn't convinced that they are doing the right thing.

What are your thoughts? Was this helpful? More confusing? Is Rafayel ancient or young? What the heck happened between Rafayel and MC? Let me know your thoughts!

[dragons-and-handcuffs]

About the Targaryen birth tradition

If you’re comfortable with talking about it

It makes sense that it was originally an old Valyrian thing. In the old days it functioned quite differently. But the core remained the same. Making Valyrian births quite an intense and spiritual affair. Maybe it began as a superstition, supposedly helping with the connection to dragons. Maybe not. But it gained popularity fast in Old Valyria. And even after the Targaryens left, they continued it.

The specifics of who pleasures the mother and how began to differ. Since in old Valyria there were several options. One being an ancient order specifically for this purpose of guiding Valyrian births. Including providing pleasure. Though sometimes the spouse or members of the family preferred to take on that role, instead then being guided by the order.

By the time it got to Aegon’s era, things might be different. They might not have access to what they once did. So if they did practice it, it began to differ. The people of Westeros however, might begin to know it as Maegor’s method specifically because of how well known it was that Maegor applied it. It was far from a secret. And Maegor was VERY enthusiastic about it.

If Alysanne practiced it for her births, she might’ve kept it quiet. So as not to remind the people too much of her late uncle. But Viserys and Daemon’s mother Alyssa, did use the method. And HEAVILY enjoyed it. Even recommending it to her sisters or women of the court.

During the reign of Viserys, a few of the royals might’ve used it. Alicent had no choice. Though it could go one of two ways with her. Either with Aegon she refused, and only relented by the time Aemond was born. OR she had no choice BUT to use it for each child. Rhaenyra…. You can decide what she did

If Aemond had taken a lady wife or been present at the birth of a child of his, he would have insisted on the method. His own version, but insisted nonetheless. Aegon probably has a slight fascination with it. But in a distinctly Aegon way

Unclear if Aegon the younger ever encouraged his wife to. If she did or didn’t, that might’ve been her decision. But Larra Rogare DID use the method for her births. Most definitely. Naerys (a devout follower of the faith) wouldn’t want to at all

By that time the method, or rumors of it, have begun to spread. And some other houses begin to adopt versions of it. The Lannisters don’t often speak of it. But heavily pride themselves on it. Though it began as Lannister WOMEN and wives insisting to give birth in this manner. Even after being married into other houses. In this manner, it spreads. The Tyrell way is much gentler. And begins before birth. In the late stages of pregnancy, surrounded by soothing and arousing scents from flowers, the mother is pleasured. With more frequency as the birth approaches. Until it’s as if she hardly had to struggle at all. Quite a soothing enjoyable affair.

Everything the Bolton version isn’t.

The rumors of the method did reach north. And the second they reached Bolton ears, it became something else entirely. Almost a test. Not all of the pain is taken. Just pleasure added. And while the mother is overwhelmed, sometimes she does it all upright on the cross. Sometimes the lord watches, as if to judge. A saying begins that you do not become a Bolton through marriage. Only through childbirth. And the wives of this house find out the true meaning very quickly…. It’s a method you either forget or adore. Very transformative.

That is how the Starks first hear about it. Whispers of the depraved Targaryens and the sadistic Boltons really puts them off the whole thing. If a Stark woman was to marry into any of those houses, she’d be in for the shock of her life. Same for if somehow, a Lannister woman became a Stark. And insisted to her husband on using this.

Unclear if Aegon and Betha used the method, maybe wanting to distance themselves from the old Targaryen traditions. Their son and successor however, most likely did. And at some point, the mad king might insist on it as well

Cersei has absolutely used it. Does it in the Lannister way and surrounded by only people loyal to the Lannisters. But then she surrenders herself. Part of the reason she has more than the bare minimum of children. She had studied and looked forward to it for YEARS

Ramsay definitely has a fascination with this method. If the opportunity presented for him to witness or participate, he would eagerly take it

What other houses do you think would engage with it? And how do you think it would go if they did?

Same for other characters. What’s their feeling on it? And do they try it

I love and agree with everything you wrote here. i believe I have talked a lot about it months ago

In old valyria this method is a huge deal. its basically a scared ritual, with a special order of priests and priestess takes part in it. Wont be surprised if fire and blood is also involved. Like imagine giving birth with people pleasuring you, nursing you, overwhelming pleasure that dulls the pain, imagine dragon egg in the fire, dragon hatching just as you give birth. how powerful a moment like this would be?

My OC Rhaella is Aegon the conqueror's third wife, and she is like a witchy priestess type who is very much into all the valyrian traditions and rituals. She was part of the whole ritual when Visenya gave birth to Maegor, and she herself did a very elaborate ritual and went through the method when she gave birth to her own son Aerys (OC). Thats the first time Westeros first heard about the method, safe to a lot of people were horrified and some believed it was just a rumor. Rhaella never tries to hide it, she is proud of it and she is the one who teach Maegor and Aerys all about it.

Alicent probably was not a fan of it at first since the Hightowers don't practice this method, but I feel like she realized by the time she gave birth to Aegon that embracing it is better. And the other labors were better experience for her, but I feel like she wont really admit it. Aegon probably doesnt has any interest in this when Helaena gave birth, but he has witnessed and taken part in lot of these and definitely enjoys it. I can see for Aemond it is non negotiable, his wife has to honor the Targ tradition.

Rhaenyra probably used the method...or maybe she didnt when she gave birth to her Strong boys, but she certainly did when she gave birth to the rest.

For the Tyrells I can see them growing herbs and aphrodisiac flowers in their garden. Like you said, they prepare for the birth weeks ago. giving herbal teas, putting those flowers in the room, getting the mother familiar with the feeling. During labor the room is filled with those strong flowers which also effect those in the room. And they are gentle. Lady Olenna definitely love this, there is no way she doesnt enjoy it.

Lannisters spare no expense for this. the best oils and flowers, getting the best people who are experts in this method. Imagine for some reason when Tyrion was born this method was not used. Cersei is a big fan of the method. Imagine Cersei telling Sansa about it after she finds out she had her first period, telling her how it will help her give birth to Joffery's children. Jocelyn (OC) has witnessed many of these and she herself went through with it, can imagine her in her room in Castarly Rock looking over the sea getting pleasured by the best while her guards watch

The Martells are for sure not shy to practice this birthing method, with all the exotic flowers and oils and women pleasuring the mother, men takes part in it as well. Can imagine them in like a beautiful oasis garden

Starks never accepted this tradition, if the mother is originally from any of the houses that practiced this then I can see the husband trying to convince her to give birth in the tradition way..the Stark way. But some don't listen and honestly you would choose pain or pleasure?

The Boltons....the cross is definitely involved. I have said this before and now you have also mentioned, if you don't give birth on the cross and survive you are not a Bolton. The pain is always, maybe they add more with herbs and potions, and the pleasure is just enough to make you beg for more but certainly not enough to make you think the pain is worth it. The Bolton men and council members will be there to observe, judging the mother or praising her depending on how she is doing. Ramsay is a big fan of it. I can imagine him always looking forward to it. Imagine he marries a Stark who has been though these methods are unnatural and bad...and now Ramsay is her husband so there is no escaping it.

What else is left? What else should we add in this birthing method?

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

I am autistic. You would think that would make working in the heavily regulated and rigidly ruled field of being a lab scientist would be a great fit for me because of that. But it turns out it’s actually just infuriating beyond belief. Non-autistic people have no idea how to communicate, and apparently find joy in making everything unclear. I’m well aware of that from conversations and such, but I had foolishly assumed that it would be different for scientific lab work. When someone sends me their request for me to run tests on their experimental drug product, I would expect that they would provide clear details on what they want me to do. This was of course an incorrect assumption. And then when I reach out to them as ask if they could clarify what they mean, I assumed they could, oh I don’t know, tell me what they want me to do?!???!?

Apparently non-autistic people enjoy communicating by sending each other conflicting information and then being unable to answer when asked for clarity. I guess they probably like how when, I guess one of the many options of things I could do that fit their vague “instructions”, they then get the opportunity to tell me how foolish I was for doing it incorrectly. I cannot read minds, especially not ones as apparently labyrinthian as theirs.

And then when they are unable to clarify to me what I need to know via the extremely convenient communication method of text-based messages, they decide we need to schedule a meeting to “discuss”. Great. Now my entire day’s schedule is ruined. And now I have to meet with these people so they can be unclear on what they want verbally and we have to repeat ourselves at each other for an hour until I can somehow convince them to tell me what they fucking want. And then hope that I can actually process the sound properly and keep it in my memory in the time between it entering my ears and my pen moving on the page, because there’s no goddamn record of a conversation I can reference later and if I get a detail wrong I have to start the process all over again when I realize something is unclear.

And if I get an actual answer to the question, I will of course ask if they can verify that is what they meant, a simple yes or other word of affirmation to tell me that they did not misspeak or mistype or just to reassure me in some way that they wont have an excuse to change their mind later and say I interpreted it wrong. This seems like the most simple and reasonable request, but they really don’t seem to like it. I simply repeat what they said, and ask if that is correct, and for some of them that’s apparently a sin. I ask “oh that’s what you want me to do? Can we do that?” And expect a “yes” in response, instead they tell me to see the message I’m asking for their affirmation on. That’s not a yes! That’s not an answer to my question! I now have to go on with uncertainty in my feeble human mind because it’s apparently way too fucking hard to say yes. Fuck off

I need the whole world to be autistic. I’d rather endure 1 million heated debates over which way is the optimal way to format something argued by people who are so stubbornly stuck in their ways that the heat death of the universe will happen before they cede their ground, than have to deal with these non-autistics and their guessing games for the rest of my life. I can’t fucking do this shit. Why are you even requesting testing from me if you don’t even know what you want tested and how, why are you like this?!?????

[kujakumai]

A Quick Guide to How Ka Work in YGO, because apparently even the anime writers didn't get it:

Every person, everyone, has an individual spirit Ka. It is a little (or big) monster that represents you somehow and is tied to your soul.

99% of people cannot see or utilize their Ka because they don't have the necessary magical training. However, anyone can be trained to summon their Ka. As long as it's your own Ka, and still attached to you, you don't need a millennium item to do this.

When your personal spirit Ka is destroyed, you die.

There is a method by which your Ka can be excised from your soul and sealed in a giant trading card slab instead. This means it is no longer attached to you and you cannot summon it. The person whose Ka has been removed lives, but it's unclear if this has any other effects.

Anyone with a millennium item can use it to summon any Ka that's already been sealed in a slab. When those Ka are destroyed, the wielder will feel the hit (shadow game style), but they won't die unless they run out of magic HP (Ba).

Some people are very special like Kisara, which is that their Ka is so entwined to their soul that it cannot be excised without killing them.

This means that:

People without millennium items can summon Ka, but only their own (See: Mana, Thief King before he got the ring)

A millennium item holder has access to both their own personal spirit Ka and anything in the slabs, and they appear to regularly use both in combat.

It is possible to willingly excise and seal your own Ka away in order to avoid the risk of death upon it's destruction, at the cost of needing an item to summon it.

All of the Ka currently in the slabs, as far as we know, belonged to an individual person at some point. They appear to be harvested mainly from criminals.

[nicka-nell]

Hi you all! First of all, thank you for taking part in my previous survey. It looks like the majority would like to see a haikyu smau.

I'm curious which characters you would like to see as the main char or better said, which idea you like the most for them. 🤔🥰

You can find the information as well as more details about the topics under the cut.

Thank you all 💚

Love in hostile territory

Where the reader and Kuroo work in hostile companies and compete for new talent and sponsors. At least until they were faced with a contract to work together on a project. Will they get along or will it all end in chaos?

100 days a bet

Where Suna makes a bet with his friends that he can get any girl, even you, who always seems so tough and uninterested in him. Will he manage to wrap you around his finger in 100 days and tus win the bet?

True love debate

Suna doesn't believe in true love or relationships. For him, it's all just money-making and has only been implanted in people's minds by the media. Simple hook-ups are enough if you're looking for physical closeness. Annoying, that you're suddenly there, a person who thinks about nothing else but true love and romance. You get into a denate, and you want to prove to him that love is not just an invented media device. So you make a deal. The winner? Well, what he gets is probably unclear.

Love rehab (idk if I would write it for Atsumu or Sakusa)

The star athlete suffers from a career-threatening injury and needs treatment. You, as a huge volleyball fan, can hardly believe it when you get his file on your table and are allowed to treat him. In your sessions, you try to do everything you can to get him fit again, even though it's getting harder and harder to stay professional.

Not your playbook

Where Iwaizumi is the coach of the Japanese youth team and sees potential in your little brother. He acts as his mentor, but you don't seem to like his methods. He probably thinks you're a typical Karen and you think he's an arrogant good-for-nothing. Will you find a method that suits you both?

Second serve (Oikawa or Atsumu)

Where you were both high school lovers, but you had somehow grown apart. Maybe you were just too young for a real relationship. Now almost 6 years later, you have your first day of work as a doctor for a certain volleyball team... his team.

[cosmerelists]

How Cosmere Characters would cook a turkey

It is possible that you or your loved ones are cooking a turkey today. But how would Cosmere characters approach such a task, assuming they had turkeys and a desire to cook them and also modern appliances?

Rock: Low and slow, with plenty of basting. It will be delicious, and after smelling it for hours, his guests will definitely appreciate it.

Tress: In a pinch, after she finds the host weeping on the floor after some sort of dinner-related disaster: maybe the veggies are all moldy or something. Tress takes charge and somehow puts together a delicious dinner in like three hours. But how?

Kaladin: Tests out many different turkey-cooking methods in an attempt to survive dinner, including the "side cook" (a horrible failure) and "going out at night to gather herbs" (works better) and "getting all his friends to help" (works the best)

Amarem: Just steals Kaladin's turkey and claims he made it.

Yumi: Makes turducken. Only, the birds are stacked on top of each other rather than inside one another. Also, there are way more than three birds. It's an intimidating Tower of Fowl and everybody is half scared, half in awe.

Painter: Orders KFC. You cannot deny that it's delicious and effective.

Breeze: Cooks it in wine.

Wax: Decides to deep fry it. Goggles on. There is an explosion. Luckily Steris had a backup turkey (or three).

Aesudan: Buys enough turkeys for the WHOLE CITY. (Leaves most of them outside to rot, though.)

Dalinar: Leaves the turkey too long in the oven until it is very, very burned.

MeLaan: Proudly serves just the bones. It is unclear whether she is joking.

Zellion: Turns Aux into a bungee cord and tosses the turkey out into Canticle's sun for just a single second. It's burned. But nobody wants to say anything mean about the Sunlit Turkey.

Stormfather: Uses his storm powers to pressure cook the turkey. I'm pretty sure that works.

Lightsong: Chooses herbs and spices on a whim without any thoughts. It is nevertheless very delicious.

Taravangian: Has a 478-step plan for cooking the world's most perfect turkey that is immediately spoiled when Renarin inadvertently buys the last 7.5 pound turkey, which is what Taravangian's entire plan hinged on. Taravangian didn't see THAT coming.

[scoutfnch]

Losing My Best Friend to My Ex-Boyfriend

An act of betrayal leads a writer to ponder what it means to end a friendship

By HANNAH HORVATH

Jessa always refused to use the words "best friend." I long feared her reticence masked a reluctance to fully welcome me into her life. That, in her eyes, I might be somehow unworthy of the love, praise, and hugs that I so eagerly bestowed upon her. She nurtured all of my insecurities, allowing them to fester, then grow.

I realize now, with the benefit of the wisdom that can only come once you've lived as long a twenty-seven years as I have, that this was probably my favorite thing about her.

Adam always refused to use the word "boyfriend." He courted me for months. His method involved me inviting myself over to his apartment, where we'd have weird sex that never quite satisfied me. He was, and remains, the only person I've ever truly loved. 

But I realize now that what initially attracted me to him were the same things that attracted me to her.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Adam and Jessa are in love with each other.

Adam finally agreed to be my boyfriend on a sticky hot night in the summer of 2012. I fell off his bicycle and he told me everything about him. Things I didn't know because, as he reminded me, I never asked. He loved books. He was an alcoholic. He owned pants.

Is was the same night that Jessa met Adam for the first time. "He does look like the original man," I recall her saying.

I met Jessa for the first time on the campus of Oberlin College in the fall of 2006. I chased her around Northern Ohio for seven months before a heroin addiction landed her in rehab. She wouldn't return to school. 

She had no Facebook or MySpace even though it was 2006. She didn't understand text messaging either. "Word alerts," she called them. We kept in touch on the phone. She'd call me at all hours of the night. She'd wake me up and I'd pretend that I wasn't asleep. I loved hearing her (possibly fake, likely exaggerated) British accented voice in my ear as I listened with wonder. She'd drone on about whatever guy had fallen in love with her or whatever country she was in that day. [...] She disappeared as quickly as she had from Oberlin, stranding me at her father's house Upstate. She'd end up in rehab again. 

In her absence, I fell apart. My long-dormant Obsessive Compulsive Disorder was back and in a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big way. I needed Jessa, though what aide she might have been able to provide remains unclear.

Adam was there. He came running. Literally, running shirtless through the streets of Brooklyn to my door in Greenpoint. 

Our relationship began again in earnest. A few months later, I got a phone call in the middle of the night. It was the same person who always called me in the middle of the night.

[...]

We broke up, and after a few months, Adam wants to get back together. I said no. I started dating a co-worker. 

Some time between then and when we broke up, Adam and Jessa kissed for the first time, had sex for the first time, told each other for the first time - things I might not even know about. They fell in love.

Maybe they are better for each other than I ever was for either of them. Their addictions are to substances, but mine are to people like them. People whose behavior confirms my darkest fears about myself. People who give me an excuse not to be happy. 

My story is a simple tale of jealousy. Or, of beating jealousy back like in the medieval dragon it is. In this story, I am Viggo Mortensen in "Lord of the Rings," and jealousy is powerless against my sword.

And this begins the way all stories of jealousy do... all great stories of jealousy... which is with my ex-boyfriend and my best friend fucking. And this is not just any best friend. This is the best friend who I would say looks like Brigitte Bardot had a baby with a mermaid. She literally had an open fungal sore on her face and Matthew Perry still asked her out.

So, um, I guess I'm not what you would describe as, like, a chill girl. I'm not like a cool, relaxed lady. Like, you would never meet me and be like, "That Hannah, she really goes with the flow like a funky youth." You would be like, "Has she snorted Adderall in the last 60 minutes?"

So when I found out about my ex-boyfriend and my best friend, um, I was weirdly calm, considering that fact. Frozen, even, you know? I tried to imagine all these horrible things, like him licking her elephant tramp stamp and sucking her tiny tit while she cupped his balls and then he sucked on her lip, which is shaped like a rosebud.

And I tried to get myself really worked up and just imagine all this horrible stuff on a loop, but the fact is that I wasn't angry, I was sad. I was sad about what I thought they knew I was. I thought they were sitting there going like, "Oh, God, Hannah's freaking out. She's gonna kill a cat and she's gonna nail it to our door. She's going to cry so hard that all of Greenpoint fills with tears and it's like fuckin' Waterworld."

And you know what? They weren't wrong. I had to fight really, really hard not to be that girl. And it wasn't easy. I thought about, um, throwing a bike through his window, but, A, he lives on the third floor. I have very poor upper body strength. And, B, he probably would have appreciated it and been like, "Thanks for the bike."

I thought about sending her a text that said, "How does the wind feel caressing your two faces, young lady?" But instead I sat and cried and thought and ate and wrote and masturbated thinking about Chris Farley, which is a thing from my childhood that I haven't fully worked through yet.

But when I heard tonight's theme was jealousy, I knew that I needed an end to my story, a real end, and that end came about 20 minutes before I arrived here when I delivered a very nice and not at all cheap fruit basket to his door, along with a note that said, "Good luck. I mean it sincerely. In perpetuity, Hannah."

'Cause that's the fact, you know? I'm Hannah forever. No matter what I do, no matter whether I, you know, start a new nuclear missile crisis with my emotions or just sit back and chill and give someone a fruit basket. I can only control the mayhem that I create around me.

But the crazy thing is that when I showed up, I heard screaming and I heard my name and I heard madness, and I knew that I was free, at least for tonight. That's all. Thank you.

[landgraabbed]

hi cat! 🩷 so as you know i really enjoy your ts2 posts and lately i've gotten the itch to play it again! but last time i played ts2 i played it with only a few crappy cc clothes lol, so i have no idea what mods are essential mods to have in ts2 or where to get them, how to prevent saves from getting corrupted and how to build your own custom hood - stuff like that. so i wondered if you have any advice or if you knew any guides on where to even get started on this? 😭 thank you 🩷🩷🩷

vilna hiiiiiii!! first of all i am so sorry that this took me so long to reply! i got ill and it hit me harder than it should rip 😭 anyways, thank you so much as always for your kind words, you know i love your stuff so it really is appreciated 💖

it’s a long write-up and i reference a lot of guides and resources from the community from which i learned myself. i’m really grateful to this community for sharing these resources, truly! i tried to organize this as best and include as much as i could, but i'm sure there may be missing things or things left unclear. so if you have any questions feel free to message me!

i. installation

i personally use the sims 2 rpc launcher by lazyduchess, which is included in osab’s installation guide. i really like this guide, since it includes links to the full sims 2 collection, as well as indications to make the game work more nicely with modern hardware and software, such as modern graphics cards through graphics rules makers or the 4gb patch.

it also includes instructions for reshade installation (i personally use the rpc injection method).

ii. setting up a clean slate

whether you want to play in a premade neighborhood or a custom neighborhood, i recommend using a clean slate, meaning empty and/or clean neighborhoods. many functions of the game use hoods, and sometimes these aren’t actual physical hoods and instead add sims as townies or npcs. there are also “clean” versions of premade neighborhoods that fix/tweak oversights by maxis.

mind that if you want a brand new hood without maxis’ townies, you need to get an empty pleasantview template (N001) in your game’s installation folder, or disable it somehow by changing its name. you can still play in pleasantview as it will be stored in your documents neighborhoods folder, and you can use clean versions for that. you also need to get empty stealth hoods.

this all may sound a bit complicated, but simgaroop made a wonderful write-up here for different user cases depending on what you’d like to do in your game. the mods linked here are a boon!

as for making a brand new empty hood, i love getting custom terrains (which are sc4 files originally made in simcity 4). some of my faves are made by @/nimitwinklesims, but i also like finding them at modthesims. you don't need to create each type of subhood, but i do have at least one of each in bloom valley. in bloom valley i have two downtowns (one is magic town from sims 1 originally converted to sims 2 by @/voleste. the other is @/kattaty's remake of downtown, which will be deleted and replaced with a downtown i'll make myself to be more consistent with my other subhoods. it is incredible, and i think i will use some of their lots in my new downtown because they are great), i have two shopping districts. one is strangetown because i love those premades and townies; i never have sims visit or form relationships with them though, it's just so i see them around. the other is oakburg which uses acorn bend as a base, it works more or less as an expansion to bloom valley and it's where i play more often than not these days. then i have the vacation hood makeovers by @/plumbtales. the university hood was made from scratch by me.

when you create your own hood, you will either have to set up your own townies from scratch or source them from community shared townie hoods. for making townies from scratch, i recommend @/simper-fi’s guide (also recommend getting the mods linked here before you make a hood).

for townie hoods shared by other simmers, i recommend those shared by @/mikexx2 (seriously, look at all those familiar faces that ended up as spouses for gen 1 in bloom valley) and @/marvelann’s sims made townies by @/letthemplaysimscc. i also use the bon voyage locals shared by @/plumbtales. i also make my own townies from time to time or use specific downloaded sims as townies.

iii. on corruption

here’s the good news: as it turns out, corruption really isn’t an issue. april black has made an excellent video on the matter of corruption; although it is long, i recommend anyone who plays ts2 to watch it, or at the very least the final timestamp. to know what to do and what not to do.

although corruption isn’t an issue, i still consider the suite of “anti corruption” mods to be essential in order to avoid overpopulation and overall weirdness.

iv. making the game look pretty

i have linked my eye and skin genetics over here

my supernatural skins default replacements: alien - witch - vampire - plantsim - werewolf - considering switching my vampire, zombie, and werewolf defaults to this

for hair, i only use 4t2 conversions. i just like the way they look. i use @/platinumaspiration’s 4t2 defaults collection, which is a boon. for custom hairstyles, i recommend going through @/4t2clay

for clothes, i recommend going through the sims 2 defaults database. i have also linked some favorite creators for male clothes here. note that they also have female clothes. other creators i enjoy: @/mdpthatsme @kaluxsims @/jacky93sims @/goatskickin

i have a lot of makeup and “skin details” in my folder, but i have always been fond of @/lilith-sims’ things

for build/buy, that’s more difficult to pinpoint, but i again recommend @/sims4t2bb for a conversion database, and also @/veranka-downloads’s plentiful 4t2 and 3t2 conversions. some creators that feature in my folder: @/i07jeuu @/linacheries @/nonsensical-pixels @/pforestsims @/tvickiesims

custom sliders in cas: @/simnopke’s sliders, @/memento-sims’ sliders

for the ui, i use the incredible @/greatcheesecakepersona’s clean ui; i also use the mods linked here (+ @/keoni-chan’s amazing talk to me icon to replace icons), particularly the one to remove the red border in pause mode since that won’t be removed in tab camera

speaking of camera, this is the camera mod i use

i regrettably don’t recall the exact lighting mod i use (looking at them, probably cinema secrets), but i know it is one shared by @/veronaquiltingbee

to beautify my neighbor, i consider these skylines by @/lowedeus to be essential (+ optimized textures by @/celestialspritz). additionally i use the rural charm terrain and roads default replacement by @/criquettewashere in addition to most if not all of their hood decorations. i also love 3t2 hood decor conversions!

another useful resource is the gos events

please note that a lot of these creators do multiple categories of cc, so recommendations for one category may overlap with another; i know that this is just scratching the surface but i hope it helps

v. gameplay mods

i use so many mods to overhaul the gameplay so there will be some omissions. i’ll do my best to provide the most important ones (ignoring the ones previously mentioned)

economy and careers: uni part-time jobs for teens - lower wages - no 20k simoleons handout - loan jar (afaik lamaresims is working on a version to enforce regular payments) - custom bills (750%) - expensive bills for apartments (300%) - private school bill fix (in moreawesomethanyou-al.zip; charges the household 200 simoleons each school day for a child in private school) - lamare’s job options mods - 50% job promotion chance - restricted job offers - work food delivery

food & eating: basically @/jacky93sims's whole library

lifespan & health: lifespan (modified as follows, baby to elder: 3 - 7 - 14 - 21 - 91 - 7-14; i will make the adult lifespan longer still given that i play very slowly, it works as young adult and adult stages, and as is i don’t see many sims of gen 1 living to meet their grandchildren) - more dangerous fires - frequent & faster disease processing

personality: 3t2 traits project and associated mods

relationships and woohoo: acr - romantic standards - reproductive capabilities configurer - pregnant sims wear any outfit

supernatural/occults: plantsims can change hairstyle - no more leafy hair - no more werewolf hair - child lycanthropy - werewolf fangs fix - werewolf transformation 3 nights a week + no personality change vampires can’t eat food - vampire motive decay during day based on aspiration + vampire hunger goes down at night & social/fun decay- hereditary supernaturalism

travel and community lots: visit other sims - community time (+ limeyyoshi’s fix, reuploaded bc i cannot find it)

university: semester changes - pets at university - maternity for young adults - maternity outfit fixed for young adults

misc: planting overhaul - monique’s hacked computer, which i use to give sims separate bank accounts, study skills and badges online, and so on (1 - 2 - 3 - 4) - townie apartment residents - community lot skilling - engagement and wedding ring for color traits - invisible medicine cabinet (so sims can brush teeth and wash face with any mirror) - shiftable everything - midgethetree’s mods - fix subhood selection - longer seasons (7 days)

[blood-orange-juice]

We need to talk about Caterpillar.

This has been discussed when he was first leaked tbh but there have been Important Additions and also who's to stop me from writing yet another wall of text.

Our precious boy. I love him.

Arle's hands.

I'm disregarding the possibility that this is a red herring.

There's a theory that Caterpillar could in fact be Carter.

We know from 4.0 quests that Rene and Jakob tried to heal Carter through abyssal means and it backfired, turning him into something strange. It's unclear what exactly but from the horrified descriptions everyone assumed he became some sort of self-regenerating meatblob.

One possibility is that there was no blob. He just got turned into a hilichurl (descriptions just overexaggerated how bad it was) and later given consciousness.

Another possibility is that his consciousnes was transplanted into a body of a churl (Rene does write about transplanting consciousness and this version seems the most likely to me). Or maybe the blob itself was turned into a churl.

What if Arle was cut out from the same blob? Or another similarly created blob? What is she has the ethics of a meatblob?

Also there was a self-regenerating Ruin Grader in the Virgil quest, and iirc we know from the webcomic that humans can be turned into Ruin Guards (Dottore does it and he uses a similar method to create his clones) and maybe meatblobs can too. So maybe a lot of things we see in Fontaine are in fact Carter. LIke that famous colony of cancer cells that everyone uses for their experiments.

Alternative theory: Caterpilar is a dead god, given the form of a hilichurl. I think that's unlikely because his "past life" involved Mary-Ann somehow and seems like they were close.

Another alernative theory: he is both. They tried to heal Carter using pieces of a dead god from the Abyss. How nice.

(but then Dottore kiiind of did the same with Collei and the result was different. but also Rene did the same with Jakob and the result was also different. maybe it depends on the god and the person being treated)

Also if Caterpillar is going to turn into a butterfly then so will Arle. She'll make a beautiful butterfly, don't you think?

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. Genshin lore is insane.

[meltypancake]

hellooo!! i love your art sm!! do you have any tips on how to study something effectively? 🤔 how do you approach studying something for your art?

hi anon!! thank you so much 🥹and that's a really good question!

there's a lot of things that can go into it, since it will depend on what kind of artist you are - but here are some general things i look out for.

make sure the study somehow ties back into your personal work. for example, while drawing a character i'll notice that i'm struggling with a certain hand pose, so afterwards i will look up the same or similiar hand refs and do a couple studies of them. i'd approach the study like this: draw a hand based on the reference, then see if there's anything off about it. draw it again with the new knowledge you've gained. try to be careful and put your lines down accurately, since it's less about speed but about understanding the structure. finally, apply it to your personal work. this method works best for me, since it stops me from thinking "i should learn anatomy" which isn't that helpful, but lets me pinpoint something specific i'd like to learn about.

ultimately, it's about keeping the practice sustainable. it can be easy to lose your way when remembering all the things you have yet to learn (perspective, figures, muscles, colors etc.) and you end up frantically studying and studying without a clear goal except "getting good". i know the sentence "you need to practice" gets thrown around a lot, and i get where it's coming from, but i don't find it very helpful. art can be anything you want it to be, and for me, having fun with it and finding joy is a huge part of it. so if you're studying and dreading every second of it, it'll be hard to keep it up in the long term and it might even sour your relationship with your art. so a couple things you could do to study, but also have fun: - figure out what kind of art you want to do. legit, write it down somewhere and think about it. do you prefer more graphic art? more painterly and textured? bold lines, thin lines, lineless? what kinds of artists do you admire (though loving a certain art style doesn't automatically mean you would enjoy their process either!) do you prefer monochrome or greyscale or color? - depending on what kind of art you want to create, choose what you want your studies to focus on. if you just wanna draw everyone in super big poofy dresses, you don't need anatomy nearly as much as someone who's into drawing buff ladies in tanktops! - instead of thinking "i will get good at perspective and then i get to have fun drawing my blorbos", just draw your blorbos in an environment with perspective! you don't need to separate your studies from your personal art at all - you can combine them, having fun and learning from them at the same time. if it doesn't work out the way you wanted it to, set it aside, let it marinate, and try again if you like.

and if something is really hard to do, it just means your brain is changing, growing, adapting, OVERCOMING!! and it'll be a little easier the next time around :]

i hope this helped a little! feel free to hop into my inbox again if anything was unclear. hope you have a great weekend! <3

[muninnhuginn]

thought I'd compile a list of some of the current dangling threads we have in link click. specifically, going to ignore the ones that others have gone into detail exploring and just bring up the ones that haven't gotten as much attention but will almost certainly be relevant.

the missing files on the seventh victim of the serial murders from season one. emma was noted as 'victim one' in the files and there were eight in total. if these killings were done by red eyes then all we know of the victim profiles is that they're not seen to be 'innocent' in the culprit's eyes (ofc, we can only speculate what that means, but I'm currently gunning on it being some form of bystander to crime just going by themes*/what we know of emma/the fact the police struggled to find a uniting motive) and there's no set age/gender being specifically targeted. the killer's methods are said to be 'meticulous' (big qian jin vibes there ngl even if the motive part of it doesn't seem to obviously align). anyway, missing files implies an inside job and timing-wise it's unclear if that means qian jin or if chen bin was somehow involved. chen bin apparently was the last to handle the files before passing them to xiao li, but at the same time he doesn't react in a particularly guilty manner when xiao li asks of the missing file. meanwhile, qian jin would have left the force before these killings started but I'm sure he still had plenty of connections left in the force. either way, the seventh victim has been hidden for a reason. knowing what was in that file should lead to a breakthrough of some sort.

liu min's younger brother mentioned in the first two episodes of season two. said to be the more favoured of the two siblings and hasn't yet officially entered the game, but just from law of conservation of detail I think he is going to be a player because why even bring him up when liu min is already dead.

li tianxi's mutism and subsequent abilities of speech as a teenager. the mutism and later explanation are both such deliberate details to include. I don't know for sure what the answer is, but I do think the idea of tianchen or someone else possessing tianxi is a possibility given we know that possession overrides certain physical traits. cxs even explicitly confirmed that this would include mutism when he spoke as tianxi in his dive. it could also be that tianchen is literally dressed as tianxi and is using the mask to help disguise this fact. or tianxi could be tianxi. but whatever the case, I do think the mutism is a relevant point to return to. (also, in s2e4 it looks like the sibling with the messy fringe (tianchen?) doesn't speak. unsure if this is to hide that there were multiples and we just didn't hear the speech but ig it does add to the option that tianchen and tianxi have swapped bodies entirely)

fountain boy. I know I said I'd avoid the stuff that's already been explored but this is such an obvious thing that *will* come back. my intuition says that the fact they picked such an adult sounding voice actor means the character hasn't yet been formally introduced and will appear later (and so opens up the possibilities of hat guy/liu min's brother etc) but that's purely on a meta level. within the story itself it could be almost any male character sans cheng xiaoshi.

Liu Min's phone, taken by Li Tianchen(? - going by the fringe but not confident of this) without Qian Jin's oversight. Does this mean Tianxi is working with Qian Jin whilst Tianchen is double-crossing? Either way, these three are not all in it together. They have some shared motives but ultimately their own agendas.

*themes here meaning qiao ling's big regret re: doudou was that she saw someone leave with him and said nothing. emma's only 'crime' was that she knew of the financial irregularities but didn't speak up. li tianchen saying about people pretending to be nice but secretly are jerks are the worst. my other idea is 'people the law won't punish' because qian jin's backstory (vigilante justice type deal also kinda fitting the themes) especially as the murderer who killed his wife later 'committed suicide' and it was mentioned that several of the meticulous killings were initially mistaken for suicides. anyway, I'll fully admit I'm running on vibes for this as speculation and am fully open to there being another theme tying together the victims.

[lupisspiss]

Would it be alright if I asked you for some tips and tricks on how to draw detailed faces like yours?

Awh thanks so much for the ask! It makes it look like I actually know what I'm doing lol

I don't actually have a method, but I guess my way of learning is just trying my best to copy from real picture references, and make sure you pay really close attention to angles (I use my pencil and line it up with the angle and then put it on my paper), do NOT get disheartened! If it looks bad, just wait a lil, and if it keeps looking bad, don't feel afraid to erase and start over. Additionally, just try to be as technical as possible and ignore whether something "looks right" or not and focus more on whether it actually matches the reference. Real people can sometimes look weird. Try to draw people you like (mine are Hannibal and Astarion ehe) bc then you can hang them up on your wall. Draw really lightly and only draw harder if you're certain it looks like the reference.

Eventually you kinda get a feel for the spaces between the different features (though I haven't really yet lol), and uh maybe it'll work out

Also like draw skulls if you can because that's supposed to help ig, and remember that with a side view somehow the ear is always farther than the tip of the eye than you think?? Anyways hope this helped lol

Lmk if something was unclear or if you needed something more specific <3

[maliro-t]

Early on in my second BG3 playthrough, I had my pocket picked by Silfy at the Emerald Grove, and when Mol returned my things, they came in the following container:

Pickpocket's Bag: "A warning is embroidered in shaky letters on the inside flap- 'HANDS OFF'."

There was a lovely bit of irony to this whole affair, given that my Tav was an urchin that grew up on the streets of the city running similar cons, and keeping similar stashes. He was endeared by them (and by the bag), and I'm overly sentimental, so I started collecting items that I thought would have stood out to him in this sack, something I added to through the end of the game. Just trinkets and letters; the kinds of things that didn't feel right to just sell or lose in an overfull chest. Little bits of other people's lives that he wanted to remember.

So, to give myself something to look back on, the following is an account of its contents by the end (excluding some utility items I kept in there for easy access), and some musings on each.

Kanon's Handkerchief: "Its owner frequently insisted he didn't need this hand-cut linen square, but his sister kept it to hand in case his allergies kicked up."

Found on the body of the tiefling Arka, on an overlook between Moonhaven and the goblin camp. He thoughtlessly encouraged her push for revenge. He wished he had told her to live instead.

Mirkon's Story: "Mirkon's present to you, describing how you saved him from the harpies, and how he thinks you were 'ammazeing'."

Once, there was a boy on a beech. he saw there was a harpie nest. He was a very good climer. he wantet to clime to the top and steel from the harpie nest. But the harpie was very mean. She sang a song and the boy forgot wat he was doing. But then an adventurer passed by. The adventurer was very strong and killed the harpie in one blow and safed the boy. The boy was very cold and scared. He was standing in the water so he was very cold. But the adventurer was ammazeing. The boy wanted to be like the adventurer. He wanted to be strong and safe peopple and never be scared egain. Just like the adventurer. THE END

A little scrap of someone else's wonder. Nothing else like it.

Brass locket: "Slightly tarnished and opened with a mere flick of the thumb."

Found on the body of one of Aradin's crew; an adventurer that died at the gate to the grove. It seemed important somehow.

Dog Collar: "An old, leather collar for a large dog. The name 'Myrna' is engraved on the tag, surrounded by a plethora of indecipherable runes."

Someone's still thinking of her, all the way down there.

Guiding Light: "Used by the previous owner to access both the Underdark's darkest corners and her own basement, this ring seems to reflect light where there should be none."

Torn-Out Paper: "A torn strip of paper with two lines of barley legible script."

[The writing on this torn-out strip of paper is shaky and blotted with tears, making it barely legible.] The silence stretches on- I'm all alone. Please, can hold your hands, for just a while?

Patched Parchment: "A small poem about love and loss inscribed in this torn paper."

[The paper is torn and patched in many places, as if it was well-used but treasured. On it is a small poem without a name.] These empty sheets are all that's left of you. The last of all the thoughtless gifts you gave. I will hold onto them; it's all that I can do. I can't throw them away; I've never been that brave.

Vestiges of Lenore. He never had a handle on pretty words like this. The arcane tower was striking, even as someone with little knowledge of or interest in magic. Sometimes you enter a place and can sense the fingerprints of the people who lived there all over it, take in their joy and their pain and their loss as if it were your own, and leave feeling like you've lost a friend even though you never met them.

Sending Shell: "Faint whispers creep from this Sending Shell when you hold it close, yet the method of sending messages from it is unclear."

Purchased from Mattis at Last Light Inn. You can't knock the kid's hustle in even the darkest of times. And besides, this thing has got to work eventually, right? It's pretty, if nothing else.

Stuffed Bear: "This bear- oft torn and repaired- seems one good squeeze away from crumbling into mouldered stuffing and threadbare patchwork."

Found abandoned on the road through the Shadow-Cursed Lands amongst other belongings likely left by refugees. He's sure someone is missing it. He tries hard not to think about the shadow vestiges.

True Love's Caress: "The most pragmatic and courageous lover ever known was, of course, Sorcha MacTire, for whom the popular hairstyle is named, and for whom many an extremely sappy poem has been written (most of them comparing her to geography)."

One of a magical pair of rings connected by a warding bond, the other of which he never found. He's a romantic at heart, in his own way. The idea of it was sweet, anyways.

Barnabus' Collar: "Necklace the Gnoll Master gave Barnabus when she first met him."

He watched this creature tear itself apart, unable to fulfill its master's saccharine-voiced requests. Even a monster deserved better than to be twisted like that. It mattered that it had a name, even if it was given by her.

One Becomes Many: "This book is redolent with the enticing smell of paper and ink."

In each of us is more than what we are; Parts and multitudes that form our thoughts, desires, nature itself. Manifold are the creatures inside you- and what you can become when you speak my words is all your parts made manifest. Your weakness can become strength if it is made legion: quaking hearts can find courage in their numbers, the lowliest vermin can humble a goliath if they stand as an army, and a ruin can become a kingdom for one soul made many. Speak Itori mustag thrice. Become your finest self- all of them Raphael.

Perhaps he kept this one as a warning of what becomes of dealing with devils. Or, on the other hand, out of enticement. But maybe there was just something about a man so desperate to live that he split himself into a hoard of vermin- left to be the final wretched survivors worshiping at the ruined altar of spiteful god- that felt worth mourning.

Crumpled Note: "A plain, unadorned note."

Papa, I love you. LOVE FROM IZ

How quickly we lose things, he thinks, carefully folding one more note into a side pocket. How desperate we are to remember them as they were.

Arfur's Private Musings: "This book is redolent with the enticing smell of paper and ink."

[An unfinished love story, handwritten by Arfur Gregorio, whose name is attached to the bottom of every page.] Her ample bosoms fluttered like doves' fingers, brushing against his nails. The very ends of his moustache stood to attention as the fire stirred behind his eyes. No doubt this was love. Love, ah love! The stuff that dreams are made of. It made him sweat to think of it- the graceful, enduring, blossoming magnitude of what it all, the priceless, breathlesss, weightless, sheer romping joy of it..."

Sometimes you intimidate a 'philanthropist' into surrendering his house to squatting refugees, discover his involvement in an elaborate plot to kill a bunch of kids, scare him into skipping town, go through all of his shit, and keep his half-written smut as a hilarious trophy to fondly remember him by. You know. That universal experience that everyone has.

Guild Ring: "Calishite emeralds are embedded in this heavy silver ring"

A souvenir from past and present.

Inklings: "This book is redolent with the enticing smell of paper and ink."

[This novel is bookmarked on a page lined with markings; its reader seems to have underscored certain parts for emphasis] After all, there's no point in denying the undeniable, which, until that moment, I had obscured with the million minor tasks by which I measured my life. Yes, the polishing, the scrubbing, the pouring of wine and tea and deference into my master's cup- all of it had surrounded and obscured the essential truth of my life, like a phalanx now fallen. I had wasted my years, one by one, and now there were hardly any left to me at all.

Garlow's Retirement Plan: "This book is redolent with the enticing smell of paper and ink."

List of Things To Do: -Climb a tree -Have a truly exceptional sandwich -Spend a whole day reading -Visit Waterdeep -Get a massage -Swim in the Chionthar -Buy a new coat -Get a cat

Vestiges of Garlow. Reminders to live life and live it joyfully. To always notice how beautiful the sunset is, even when he sees it every night. To never take the gentle warmth of the sun on his skin for granted. Wherever that old man ended up, he hopes that he never stopped seeing how precious it all was. The clock won't stop, and this is what we get.

Dear Ansur: "A plain unadorned note."

Dear Ansur, I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again- there is no cure, and that's all right. I'm fine, more than fine, I'm better than I've ever been. So why torture yourself like this? Of course, I know why. Remember Yal Tengril? You and I sailed together for months, seeking the Great Spire. By the time we found it, we were sick as dogs. But you never left my side, not for a moment, even though you could have simply chosen to fly. You told me there was something about experiencing it with me- through my eyes- you wanted to share in my passion for the adventure. It was, you said, a privilege. The truth is, the privilege was mine. You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me Ansur. I never had to ask you for anything, but I'm asking you now to stop. I may no longer feel my feelings, but I know yours, and yours are agony. It doesn't have to be this way. Be free, Ansur, Fly. And know that even if I'm not beside you, I will always have been your Balduran.

He's not better than he's ever been. He's sure of it. What would it be like, he wonders, to try to impress upon someone the profundity of a love he could only remember once feeling?

Yet here, the Emperor begs not just for its own life, but for Ansur's. Of course, that didn't matter in the end. But there's something about this that feels more real than the carefully presented facade he sees most often from it. There is an incurable humanity in the way it believes unfalteringly that it is right.

[odaclan]

Rotating volley technique possibly exist in Sengoku Japan

Previously in my Nagashino post, I mentioned that the popular story of the rotating volley tactic is considered dubious. The main reason for it is that the source of it is completely unknown. At some point it became a just-so story in the Edo era, and was affirmed as fact by the Meiji government, clearly without properly checking its veracity. 

Even Oze Hoan’s Shinchouki text (this is not Ota Gyuuichi’s Shinchoukouki), which is already considered dubious in the first place, only recorded that the Oda forces had 3000 guns. It also did not describe a rotating volley tactic. 

However, even if this artillery tactic is not explicitly used in the Nagashino battle, there is proof that the Japanese troops are aware of and seemingly well-trained trained in this tactic at least as of the late Sengoku. It was known to have been used in Hideyoshi’s Korean war, as recounted by the people of Ming and Joseon:

In 1593, for example, Ming General Song Yingchang (宋應唱, 1536－1606) noted that the Japanese employed the musketry volley technique, writing that he feared the Japanese would “break into squads and shoot alternately against us (分番休迭之法).” In 1595, Korean King Sŏnjo shared the same apprehension that “the Japanese [would] divide themselves into three groups and shoot alternately by moving forward and backward (若分三運, 次次放砲)?”

From "Big Heads, Bird Guns and Gunpowder Bellicosity: Revolutionizing the Chosŏn Military in Seventeenth Century Korea", a thesis by Kang Hyeok Hweon.

Maybe there were records of this method employed in domestic battle that the researchers just haven’t discovered yet. For now it’s still unclear where and when the Japanese troops learned of this. Just that they seem well trained enough in it during the battles mentioned above. 

It’s noteworthy, however, that this rotating volley tactic was already a very well-known method of warfare in China as early as 750s AD in the Tang dynasty. First, it was used by archery and crossbow units. Then, they evolved the technique to be used with guns. Below is a description of a battle in the year 1414:

“The commander-in-chief (都督) Zhu Chong led Lü Guang and others directly to the fore, where they assaulted the enemy by firing firearms and guns continuously and in succession. Countless enemies were killed.”

From “The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World” by Tonio Andrade. 

Especially noteworthy is that the enemy’s army described in this passage are also mounted troops. It’s not impossible that the Japanese somehow learned of the above literature from Ming, and then put it in practice, though without proof we cannot assume too much.

King Seonjo’s description, specifically, sounds like the kind of rotating volley usually described in the Nagashino stories. This brings to mind how many times I’ve seen cases of Edo period stories inserting anachronistic objects or settings into narratives of the past, so it could be how this legend was born. Perhaps the Edo storytellers took the volley technique that wasn’t known or used until later, and just assigned it to Nagashino for dramatic flair.