#(with the exception of crafted beings and so on)

[awionetka]

𝐥𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬

xavier ✩ quality time

To Xavier it matters not what the two of you are up to during your time together, only that you willingly chose to dedicate those precious hours to be in his presence. From household chores split more or less evenly down the middle (with him kept at a reasonable distance from your kitchen) to bookshop dates and shared nap time, the two of you are the kind of couple that managed to blend into each other's lives almost unknowingly. Xavier will always go out of his way to spend all of his free time with you and make sure that you're aware of how his attention is fixed on you thoroughly.

zayne ❅ acts of service

Taking care of you comes naturally to Zayne. He's dedicated and reliable, barely even registering all the little things he does for you daily, simply because he doesn't even consider them "work". When you're reading, he silently brings you a cup of your beloved tea. If you're out of town, he'll drop by to water your plants and feed the cat that's grown quite accustomed to his calm presence. After a long day at work, when you're moody and exhausted, he draws you the loveliest, most considerate bath and gently washes your hair till you're fully relaxed yet again. At this point, it's safe to say that when it comes to acting in a true husband manner, Zayne is definitely holding the number one spot.

rafayel ♤ words of affirmation

Rafayel is exceptionally skilled when it comes to wording himself. Just like anything he does, the remarks and compliments he offers, seemingly so nonchalantly throughout the day, are thoughtful, observant, reflective. Listening to him talk is like witnessing a poem being delivered in real time, except that all of these beautifully crafted sentences are meant solely for your joy and pleasure, nobody else's. He's a sweet talker, always knows how to butter you up just the right amount to keep things fun, fresh and, of course, fluster you to the absolute heavens. And with how well Rafayel knows you, inside and out, his words always strike exactly how he intended them to, kind and genuine, charming and attentive.

sylus ♯ gift giving

It should come as no surprise to those acquainted with Sylus, at least to some extent, that if there is anything in this world that he adores more than you, it is buying you whatever your heart could possibly desire at any given time. He's a wealthy man, that much you know, yet the sheer extent of his riches still manages to catch you off guard whenever he makes a particularly big purchase seemingly without a second thought. If you point it out, perhaps a bit taken aback by his boldness, Sylus only laughs, assuring that it'd take much, much more to drain his wallet than a couple of pretty little things he just cannot seem to stop buying for you. But oh, you are more than welcome to try...

caleb ➢ physical touch

Fingers tightly intertwined and pressed to his lips in a featherlight kiss, a steady hand at the small of your back, a gentle squeeze of your thigh as Caleb and you rest on the couch – with him, it's all easy, natural, comfortable. Ever since you were kids, he was there to keep you company, a warm, comforting presence which stood for shoulders brushing lightly during dinner and tender hugs at train stations. Over the years it changed, becoming more purposeful and brazen in nature, akin to his affections towards you, yet never wavering in the slightest. After all, it's how Caleb expresses his adoration, glued firmly to your side as though it'd kill him to leave.

[apple-salad]

Not Rose Basket: An Approx. 5 Year Old Remake Project

In which I attempt to make a Rose Basket JSK.

Read below the cut for my process and crafting notes.

Did you know that all Mary Magdalene "prints" use commercial fabric excepting Perfume Bottle (their first and only original print)? What this potentially means is that scraps of fabric featuring familiar MM motifs sometimes can be found floating around. It seems like at some point, someone found the original Rose Basket fabric and had it made into a JSK (likely by the handmade Taobao store that is known for making MM replications if the buyer provides fabric) in Mary Magdalene likeness.

The resulting item was a good attempt, especially given that the maker only had tiny stock photos to work out the general shape and print placement, but definitely there was something to be desired...

When I saw this JSK for sale, I felt that I had a decent remake project on my hands. I had already been looking for MM (or MM-like) materials for a while, so I figured I had the capability to bring up the piece to its full potential. I don't usually take on larger/i.e. actual garment projects, but this piece was a very strong case for giving it a try.

However, such projects are not without their pains, aren't they? Even with some semblance of a garment existing in the form of this dress, one may as well have been starting from scratch.

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos of the "before" dress so the pictures I do have don't really give it a fighting chance (it's so wrinkly and overexposed), but the shape was pretty much all wrong. However, it had good bones due to good fabric being used, and I knew I could make it better.

Laid flat and from afar, the JSK actually looks okay but there are numerous areas where it falls short. I'll talk about them shortly.

I was initially pretty excited to work on this project, so I pretty much seam ripped it apart right away after receiving it. Little did I know it would sit in parts in a bag for years...

Part 1: Trying to remember what I was doing 5 years ago

In terms of materials, I searched within Japan/Japanese sources using Mary Magdalene's original material terminology as reference. Unfortunately it had seemed that the original "shirurido" lining material had been discontinued, but it had a successor material that was almost identical when I bought a small amount, so that ended up not being a worry. The original lining is a little bit offwhite/ivory, so I purchased white lining and tea-dyed it. This colour will likely lighten as I wash it.

Many think that this light lining material that MM often uses ("for spring and summer" garments) is cotton, but it is actually 100% polyester! However, it does have a great hand feel and seems to have wicking properties as well, so there's no reason to discredit this poly.

Oddly, the wine rose basket specifically uses this kind of more chunky/slightly less structured braid. The other 3 colorways use a firmer type with the same wavy style. I managed to find a shop that carried both types and just bought as much as I felt was appropriate.

I was actually told that the firmer braid had been discontinued (which maybe explained why MM chose a different one for wine--there wasn't any stock of the other braid in red?) at the time (this was ~2017), but currently as far as I know the loose braid has actually been completely discontinued now and another company has picked up selling the firmer braid (maybe the machine that makes it was purchased by another company).

Dot tulle was thankfully not difficult to find. The colour matches perfectly, so I knew I had the right one 🙂

Now, let's break down the original dress.

Note that I did have the original Rose Basket (in a different colour) to use as a reference, which helped immensely.

The silhouette is obviously not quite right, although attempts were made to match seams similar to the original. The measurements are also different (likely made to match the buyer's requested dimensions) with the bodice being a little bigger. The skirt is also shorter, but I think that is just a mistake of the original seamstress.

The tulle is not very nice/cheap looking and the lace is also totally wrong. Those definitely had to go, so ripping off the lace and taking off the lining was first priority.

The lining material was a light cotton. It was okay, but cotton lining doesn't have the slipperiness of the original lining fabric so I preferred replacing it.

The lining and skirt lining would be completely remade from scratch, but obviously since I only had a dress' amount of original rose basket fabric, I would have to use what I had.

I initially focused on the skirt because it was the easiest portion to tackle as a pleated rectangle.

The original dress had the tulle sewn/serged onto the main fabric. This is...you could say, "incorrect", and changes the way the tulle sticks out of the skirt (as you can see in the comparison pictures), so I opted to just cut it off as closely to the serged edge as possible. It seemed sensible to leave the edge alone (rather than rip out the serging) since at the time I didn't have a serger of my own and the edge being already hemmed is convenient.

The original dress uses some kind of serged edge+blind hem stitch, while the replica more lazily folded over the bottom edge and used a line of stitching to secure both the braid/lace and the hem.

When comparing the length of the skirt to the original rose basket, the replica actually has more fabric folded into the seam due to the method used. Thankfully, the length of fabric used for the skirt was actually pretty much perfect when using the old hem fold and I guess the shorter appearance may have been due to other factors (cut of the bodice and length of tulle lace used maybe?).

Because it was easy to leave things as-is, I used this same hem fold and sewed the new braid onto the hem with two lines of regular straight stitch for security (two lines of stitching are consistently used on MM garments to secure braid or lace, although some older items may only have one line).

(I actually made a mistake here which I'll get back to later)

I attempt to use a method similar to MM to create the skirt lining layer. Dot tulle is cut into strips, gathered carefully (I don't have a ruffle foot so I used 2 lines of straight stitch+gather by hand since it tends to gather more evenly and look nicer than using only one, and I wanted to use some care here) and then attached to the skirt lining.

Without a serger, I used my machine's hemming stitch (it's a bit ugly, but it worked okay) and then topstitched the ruffle flat.

I also tried to take advantage of the lining selvedges so I wouldn't have to hem. Any extra fabric with raw edges I had to sew on to match the hem circumference of the original lining also was roughly machine hemmed.

The dot tulle doesn't need to be hemmed, but MM has neatly clipped the bottom edges of any tulle seams so the seam looks cleaner, therefore I did the same. (Sorry the picture seems to have turned out a bit blurry)

I can't really remember well, but I think it was at this point that I initially thought my job was done until I realized that the replica dress' pleats did not line up properly with the original. The widths were all wrong, possibly because the original seamstress had to make some modifications to the skirt pleat proportions to match the adjusted bodice measurements?

The skirt circumference and the way the fabric is cut for the skirt is somewhat different from the original dress, so I had to do some careful adjusting to get the pleats to have the same width and overall appearance as the original dress. I think some of the pleats are not as deep as they should be but you can't really tell with the final result. Such is the trouble when you have to work with what you have and there is no extra fabric available!

It was at this point that I took a break from the project because the bodice was next and that was, of course, a very daunting task. I think I had marked out some seam lines for adjustment on the front piece, and I had also decided that the back piece could remain sewn to the side back portions since they weren't too far off from the original appearance (the original back panel is actually only one piece of fabric with darts--the seamstress of the replica had used 3 separate panels for the back instead, so there are inevitable differences).

I also spent some time making new bows for the rose basket as I was not satisfied with the ones included with the dress. I don't have any pictures, but I dyed cotton sateen dark wine and that was a huge pain since red is a very tough colour to dye. I also made some mistakes with my bow making method (they were initially interfaced and used too much fabric in the middle which made them look too thick), so they were also left as unfinished pieces for a while.

Anyway, many years pass...

Part 2: The revisit

I would like to think I am maybe older and wiser 5 years on, with a more sewing expertise, but I'm not really convinced about that. Anyway, maybe I was better equipped for trying to adapt the bodice because I have a mannequin now.

I had previously had a bit of trouble fussing with the curves of the bodice flat with my fabric pieces, so I threw my mint rose basket on the mannequin and tried to match the seams carefully. Although...this mannequin might have been a tiny bit busty for rose basket and deformed the shape a bit.

Apologies for the cutout PNGs from here on out, the background was way too chaotic for me to let you see it.

It is at this point that I am wanting to put the project down again and really not enjoying working on this because trying to gain a rough pattern, and carefully match seams is not very fun and rather exhausting, requiring a lot of back and forth checking things and making sure I don't mess anything up.

After marking seams and having some confidence in the shape, I sew the front back to the sides again.

Thankfully, it seems like the pieces have enough fabric to create an original-looking bodice, but I suppose that was my expectation given that the original bodice measurements were a little larger than the actual MM dress. It's interesting to see where the original pattern cuts differ compared to how they should look and be sewn.

My first attempt at sewing the front together had a little too much of the print stripes showing at the sides, so I brought them in a little and tried again. When scrutinizing where the print is placed relative to the seams of the original JSK it once again becomes clear where the pattern cuts were a little off in the replica, but it isn't too bad and I think this result is almost indistinguishable.

There is a decent few centimetres of excess fabric at the sides (which was completely expected as the extra bodice room of the inital dress had to go somewhere), but I avoided cutting it down because it's precious extra fabric...

The only real modification the back needed was some small adjustment of the corset loops. I think I had also previously increased the seam at the very bottom of the back side panels because the original dress has this kind of "widening" (circled parts) that gives it a slight dropped waist.

I check both front and back portions, and when I am satisfied with the result I sew one of the side seams together.

Pretty much a completed bodice, the other side seam is left alone for now since zipper insertion will come last.

I can sew on the braid now. It is at this point while I am looking at the braid and realizing that is has a "right side" that I seem to have sewn the braid onto the skirt wrong (those many years ago...)

A 50% chance of getting it right and it was wrong!

While I'm sure a regular person would not care, I felt that it was worth repairing the mistake so the dress could be as close to the original as possible.

Fixed trim on the right.

I spent a few grueling hours ripping out the braid and reattaching it in the same method as before.

Braid also attached to the bodice.

I am wishing I had a complete dress by now, but unfortunately not...getting the bodice lining sorted is next...

MM's Rose Basket has a facing using printed fabric, however since I have no extra fabric to use for it and the dress I was working with didn't bother with adding that kind of detail (the original lining was just plain cotton with no facing panels at all) I decided to use this untextured rose basket fabric.

I originally considered just using the same lining fabric for the facing panel but seeing the dress laid flat with a matching printed facing is a detail that somehow enhances my enjoyment of looking at it a lot.

This fabric is from a reprint of the rose basket fabric from a couple years ago. It is also discontinued now but is very lackluster compared to the older fabric in my opinion. It is a rather thin quilting cotton and doesn't seem as vibrant as the original fabric, and has slightly different contrast colours. While you could still make a garment with it, I feel like it doesn't match up to the fabric used on the old rose basket because of the new fabric's sheerness.

However, given fabric supply limitations (i.e. I don't have anything) I think it's a decent nod to maintaining having self-fabric for the facing and will not be seen when worn.

Lining pieces are similar to the bodice pieces I traced out earlier so I used them as a reference and checked the shape with the lining panels on the original dress (on my mannequin).

The back lining seems to have a centre back seam as opposed to the outer fabric layer that had no seam/darts, and is made from 4 panels total.

Lining complete.

Next I attach the bodice lining to the main bodice piece, along with the straps. I mark where the straps should go based on my reference rose basket, sandwich them between the bodice pieces, pin and sew.

I left the straps as-is from the original replica dress. These are made from two strips of fabric sewn on each side, vs MM having used one strip and folding it in half. Just a different way of achieving the same thing, I guess. Of course I would have preferred the method to be "same as the original" but once again, no extra fabric... (I think I may have asked my SS to ask the seller if they had any extra and to include it if so, and the seller said they didn't have any...)

I also sew an elastic channel (sort of like topstitching) all the way along the top of the bodice about 1cm wide for later.

At this point I think that I seem to have pleated my skirt lining wrong. however, I may have just misinterpreted the other side of the lining pleats as the side that was "wrong", so I ended up having to repleat multiple times in my own confusion.

[it hurt itself in its confusion!]

Anyways, after that fiasco I baste the pleats down and attach the skirt lining to the bodice lining so I can check the length.

It's coming together!

I sew the outer skirt to the outer bodice fabric next, a step that makes me very nervous because if the seam shaping is wrong I feel that it could mess up the silhouette of the dress quite severely. To try to diminish this, I baste the bodice in sections to the skirt by hand, frequently checking beside the original dress.

I ended ripping out my basted skirt pleats and re-pleating the entire back because I didn't feel like the pleats were aligning well.

After sewing the outer skirt to the bodice, I once again check that the lining length is okay (it was a bit too long at the back), finish inner seams etc.

I added the elastic to the channel I added earlier now. Unfortunately I think I should have encased the elastic while stitching in the channel because it was a huge pain to get distributed properly and I had to unpick some sections to get the elastic to spread out and then carefully try to invisibly re-stitch. The elastic is gathered more around the armpits/sides than the front and back.

Last task is attaching the zipper. The dress has a completely encased invisible zipper with no zipper tape edge showing from the inside. It seemed like the lining was sewn on separately after the main fabric was sewn to the zipper, but I ended up folding over and seaming the inside by hand because it seemed too complicated for me to sew the lining to the zipper cleanly with my machine at my current ability level.

Zipper attached, definitely a lackluster job... I don't have a proper zipper foot and the cheap plastic invisible zipper foot I have is definitely not helping with keeping the zipper allowance even. I hope to fix the skirt seam alignment issue here and sew the zipper seam (especially near the top) closer to the fabric, but I'm not entirely sure if I'll ever be motivated to do that since the dress is now "wearable".

I actually also carelessly clipped the excess zipper tape at the top thinking that was what I should be doing even though it seems like MM has cleanly folded it in on the original dress 😢 (can't attach a photo as I'm pushing the post image limit as it is)

Since it was kind of getting down to the wire to the day I wanted to wear this dress, that was when I roughly finished/handsewed the lining to the zipper tape on the inside so the dress can be worn without any terrible consequences. What I should do next is fold in all the upper seams nicely, actually machine sew the lining to the zipper tape so the seam is clean, sew in a hook and eye to the top of the zipper, and add threads to secure the lining to the inside of the skirt + loops for the ribbon belt, but as of now that has not been done.

Dress finished (?) (how does it look beside the real rose basket now...?)

Unfortunately, I feel like I'm not entirely satisfied with how this turned out because although I had tried hard (especially at the beginning) to have clean work, as the project went along I think a lot of places ended up sloppy (like stitching lines on the inside), and the final piece still didn't end up exactly like the original (the bodice seems to be a little shorter somehow but I had no extra fabric especially along the side panels to make it longer, so I think it's a point that I can eventually accept).

Anyway...to finish off I finally add the lacing ribbons and prepare the detachable ribbons.

For the bows + ribbon belt, I have a length of cotton satin ribbon and finished off the bow brooches I started previously. For whatever reason, mint rose basket has burberry material bows, but I believe all the other colourways use sateen bows so I used cotton sateen for these. The original wine dress did come with a long, wide poly satin ribbon and two detachable small ribbons, but I have no idea where I put those relative to the dress and I didn't really like the way they looked anyway.

I took my old handmade bows apart to fix their dimensions (they were slightly too long) and also fixed how the middle fabric was folded, and then sewed them to some nice sharp brooch backs.

While ironing, I noticed that apparently I didn't rinse the fabric well after dying and adding water made the bows bleed. Not great. (I later soaked them in dye fixative and the bleeding issue seems to be better now)

These pictures use the bows from my Valeria JSK (which seem to be approximately the same wine tone), but it's always nice to have a separate set for each dress. I may remake yet another set of bows with a different cotton satin (slightly thinner, not self-dyed) eventually.

Finished, or at least as finished as things are going to get for now.

As I will be wearing this JSK in future outfits, I'm a bit torn as to how I will tag and label it in posts. The design for sure is Mary Magdalene's, and this dress is a big tribute to it, but it's also definitely handmade and not legitimate MM. I'm actually not even confident about labeling it handmade by myself because I didn't technically hand make all 100% of it (at this point, only the initial cutting out of pieces was not my own, but somehow this lack of initial patterning and cutting step bothers me and makes me feel like I didn't put in all the work a handmade piece usually would be). I will probably have a hard time not adding some additional comments each time it comes to adding a label to it in future photos.

Anyways, now I have Rose Basket at home.

Thank you if you read all the way to the end like this!

[xxsinisterxx]

Tadc spoilers

The scariest part about the whole ragatha and jax discourse is that i have at some point. i have been a jax and a ragatha. I think that is the whole point here. Like i both fear and relish in the worst parts of myself, so when i see everyone tearing these characters apart, i am like, "Oh no, better stfu or I am next."

Especially when ragatha went in on her backstory.

Ragatha and Jax are supposed to bring out the worst in each other. The whole thing of them being the same side of the same coin, etc. Except at different points of their trauma.

Ragatha had to be perfect in life and well presented, so in death, her body she is a raggedy anne character to show how she still has this view of herself as a toy doll. She was quite literally treated like one. Obviously, we don't know a lot about her backstory or how her mother is treated, and i might be projecting onto a fictional character or whatever. But a lot of the time, the self images of ourselves are usually reflected, usually by our abusers whether we like it or not. And sure, it might be a jump to say her mom was absuive, but not normal. Person reacts that way when bringing up their home life and brushes it off like it is a normal reaction.

Anyways, onto Jax having a moment of disillusionment when he found out he didn't have a tail. I feel like Jax also has a well crafted front that she shows to everyone to show how he doesn't gaf and how he is so unlikeable. But even unlikeable people want to be like, that is why he is so confrontational with Ragatha and saying, "she tries too hard."

Like i also find it clever that he is a carnivorous rabbit, who is actually p**sed that he has to be vegan because other people voted for it. It is a contradiction to the idea of a rabbit and what they are known for behaviorally. However, his finally straw was a maid outfit, and he found out he had a tail. A guy who seems not to give a s**t cares about how he is perceived in his body? Obviously, anyone would get mad if their autonomy what stripped from them, like in the previous fast food episode (but, tbh it was more or less traumatic).

I don't think Jax is an abuser either, just an instigator who is more or less insecure about other people's perception of him because he feels like that is the only way he can remain in power or in control. Though he does tirelessly try to change pomni's perception, convincing her that he isn't so bad, which i think is a step. I am kinda of excited where this goes and what the next episode holds sorta.

You can say i am playing both sides, which i am because they are literal fictional characters, which i care deeply about also.

[helpmeimblorboing]

Dragons are actually amazing blacksmiths and pyrographers. They’ve spent their whole lives learning how to control their inner flame and how they externalise it, after all

The Dwarven Blacksmith industry, which held a monopoly over all forged items before dragoncraft became more widely accepted, hates how the recent surge in popularity of the Draconic Smithing Confederation has started to cut into their profits, and so started spreading rumours about how dragons are actually these super evil, super greedy, creatures

The human monarchies, who had always been in need of an external enemy to distract from the fact that they were monarchies and thus inherently repressive, willingly bought into and began peddling this lie, picking fights with local dragon kingdoms and using their retaliatory attacks as excuses to further demonise their race in their propaganda pieces

Because of discriminatory actions such as these, certain species of Dragon - most notably the solid-colour dragons, who were not only less marketable than their metallic cousins, but also worshipped a different, more primal, god - were driven to form a coalition with the Demons, who had undergone a similar pogrom in the past and had thus been driven from their homes on the surface down into their ancestral homeland of Hell

This, of course, resulted in more hateful propaganda being churned out against them, with several Metallic Dragon rulers jumping at the chance to condemn their Tiamat-worshipping “heathen” brethren

The Drow, a species of elves who had undergone a similar religious schism as the Metallic and Solid -Color Dragons (with them worshipping Lolth, a god of grace and deceit from the polytheistic elven pantheon before the human-made religion of the Pelori, who worship the Dawnfather and his kin, took over most High Elven kingdoms ), began getting nervous on seeing this, rightfully fearing that their High cousins would start to get ideas on how they could deal with the Drow

So, jumping the gun, they joined the Condemned Coalition, and earned themselves a blackened reputation for it

Over time, more and more minority and marginalised races would come to join the Coalition, including the orcish followers of Gruumsh One-Eye “the Ruiner”, an orc prophet who preached against the growing idolisation of human and elven aesthetics in orc communities, and pushed for a return to the polytheistic and self-sufficient days of orc society, for which he was branded an extremist and a terrorist.

Goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears, who had for centuries worshipped Bane, the god of war, suddenly found themselves under attack from the elves, who used Bane’s mythical enmity with the High Elven god Corellon (a member of the Pelori pantheon) to instigate a series of reforms that further marginalised goblinoid communities, already unwelcome in circles that saw them as inherently untrustworthy.

This, unbeknownst to them, was in part because of the Drows’ defection to the Condemned Coalition, as the High and Wood Elves, eager to seem League-friendly in the fallout of their cousins opposing the League, began cracking down on “mistrusted” races like the goblinoids to earn favor on the Council

Thus, they, along with the yuan-ti, whose god Zehir was undergoing similar oppression, joined the Coalition

Artefacts from the SDSC (the Solid-Color branch of the DSC) and the demonic smitheries (originally founded by the demon King Asmodeus, whose wars against human and elven encroachment got him branded a villain) still exist, and still circulate, but are now seen as “demon’s wear” and “lewd and corruptive”

Meanwhile, the MDSC has formed a cartel with the DBI to monopolise the industries of smithery and Artifact-creation. With the exception of ludicrously expensive wizard and elven artisanal crafts, the average adventurer is usually kitted out in MDSC or DBI wear (sometimes, to inflate their sales, the SDSC and demon smitheries will attempt to pass their creations off as MDSC or DBI make, but as this provides the League of Light with ample ammo against the dragons and demons, most dragon and demon leaders have instituted a ban on such acts, as set out in the Condemned Charter)

In addition, the spread of the Pelori faith has led to it’s splintering, the formerly monotheistic, Dawnfather-dedicated, faith transforming organically into something more polytheistic, as aristocratic High Elven families and rich DBI families lobbied for their racial gods - ones like Corellon and Moradin - to be placed on equal status with Pelor the Dawnfather

This has led to a schism within the Pelori, between the Archists - who follow the “arch” teachings of “Pelor above all gods” - and the Polytheists, who accept other gods beside Pelor.

This has negatively affected the so far human-led Wizardic and Clerical Institutes, however, as all races and all religions have now been given a free pass to challenge human supremacy in these jobs, the study of clerichood no longer requiring submission to Pelor, and the study of wizardry no longer requiring that you be either an Archist Pelori or unassociated with the hagiographic (as Corellon and other non-human gods were so far considered solely saints) sects of Pelori

This has, predictably, led to controversy

Far more controversial, however, is the recent New Age fad of humans, elves and dwarves worshipping Condemned gods like Lolth, Zehir, Asmodeus or Gruumsh (Asmodeus and Gruumsh having been deified by their home race after their deaths, and diablified by the League of Light).

In addition, there is a push for reclamation among members of “border races”, still marginalised but accepted by the League, like the Metallic Dragons, the High Elves, and the more human-looking Tieflings, to reclaim the gods of the Pelori pantheon who were assimilated from older pantheons

(For instance, Corellon was once part of the same pantheon (the Seldarine) as the orc god Baghtru, later conflated with Gruumsh, as well as the goblinoid gods Maghlubiyet and Bane, and was often seen as the counterpart to the Drow god Lolth. However, as his cults made up most of High Elf aristocracy, when Pelori swept into the Elvenlands, it was easy for him to claim a place in the Pelori pantheon. Similar things happened to Bahamut, Moradin, and most of the non-Pelor parts of the Pelori pantheon)

Known as the Reformists, there are suspicions amongst the League’s top members that these groups - mostly anarchist and progressive in nature - are covertly providing aid to the exiled Condemned. However, as their entire power base rests on looking benevolent and gracious, they cannot crack down on them without probably cause

This has, predictably, not stopped certain settlements from banning the worship of the Condemned gods entirely, leading to them being branded “fundamentalists” and being disavowed from the League.

Several of the more belligerent monarchs of these repressive states were branded as “supporters of the Condemned”, their leaders put on trial for “trying to legitimate the exiles by purposefully persecuting them, that their lies against the League may seem as truth”.

Afterwards, they would be treated like any other noble on trial - depending on their standing with the central power of the League - the Sunlit Council - they were either freed or, in more extreme cases, where the League would benefit from it, they were exiled, their lands stripped from them and granted to League-supporting heirs who were allowed to rule on behalf of the Sunlit Council. If there was no such heir in the immediate family of the exile, the lands would be claim by the Council and assimilated into the lands of the nearest League aristocrat

Notably, such mechanics extended across the League’s lands - if you were the ruler of a state on bad terms with the Council, they wouldn’t usurp you openly, but should you die without a male biological heir to carry your line, the League would take over your lands “to defend it from invasion”, and eventually incorporate it fully into their own lands.

The lands of the Yuan-ti received an even heavier blow, as their religion - that of the serpent god Zehir, was demonised almost completely, with yuan-ti purebloods- common in human settlements - being recast as temptresses and manipulators, and the less humanlike yuan-ti being made to seem like monsters and abominations, nicknamed “the worms of the desert” by a high-ranking member of the Sunlit Council.

Through violence and threats, the more monstrous yuan-ti were driven into the wide desert that bound the Infernal Gates, while the more humanoid purebloods were often tolerated in League lands, if not accepted

The deserts that the yuan-ti fled to are known by two names - the yuan-ti call it the Zehirite Sands, where the serpent god crafted the first of their kind out of sand, poison, and shadow, and where the dunes still shift with his breath.

The Zehirite Sands are treated as one vast, natural temple—rituals are performed under open skies, and even the venomous creatures of the desert—serpents, scorpions, sand-striders—are considered sacred, their movements used for omens and auguries.

To the League, they are the Infernal Wastes, a vast stretch of barren land between them and the Infernal Gates that open into Hell, treated as a natural prison and romanticised as an exotic “testing ground” for heroes, and the birthplace of the still-marginalised, if tolerated, purebloods

However, as time passed, the purebloods, more willing to accept League rule and as a rule more humanoid than their monstrous brethren, began to be more and more accepted by the League and the Council, with them disavowing the “wicked” Zehir, and taking up the worship of the storm god Kord. For this, the non-human yuan-ti, who began calling themselves malisons, started to resent them

Things came to a head when the King of the human settlement of Rhell performed a pogrom on the purebloods (for which he was exiled by the Council. His entire bloodline was denied the crown, and Rhell was assimilated into the lands of the High Elven Councillor Venreal ), setting off a chain reaction of dominant races starting to propagandise against the purebloods, treating them as “monsters trying to be human”

Several purebloods attempted to return to the yuan-ti deserts of their ancestral origin to escape this, but, as they had been gone to the League’s lands for centuries, the malisons showed resistance to their presence, eventually erupting into open warfare

The League, however, wanting a League-loyal buffer state between the Gates and their lands, threw in its lot behind the pureblood armada, and, little by little, a pureblood state was carved out of the malison desert, much to the resentment of the Condemned.

Currently, the state of Kordson is bound on every side by malison kingdoms, even as it slowly pushes out the few malisons left within its own borders. With the League unwilling to step in to help defend it for fear of provoking the Condemned armadas, and the Condemned equally unwilling to aid the malison kingdoms, it exists in a perpetual Cold War scenario with it’s neighbours

Within its borders, however, it is a very different sight. To the purebloods, the Zehirite Sands, or as they call it, the Thundered Soils, is promised to them by right of their reverence for Kord. Thus, in their worldview, the malisons are outsiders who never belonged in the first place

Kordson’s special militia, the Thunder Cohort, has thus developed an unfortunate and sadistic quirk of sweeping into unarmed malison villages and proceeding to commit massacres, building up the pressure at Kordson’s borders by enraging local malison states

The malison resistance (or, as Kordson calls them, terrorist groups) - most commonly displayed in groups like the Zehirite Army and the Serpent’s Fangs - is supported by the Condemned, the same way the Cohort is supported by the League, making the malison-pureblood war essentially a proxy war between the two powers

More controversy has arisen due to the fact that Kordson has effectively captured the borders of the Zehirite holy site of the Sandstruck Rock - a vast standing stone said to mark the place Zehir first created the yuan-ti and Naga common ancestor.

They have historically used their control over the region to deny yuan-ti pilgrims the right to enter the Rock’s vicinity, though certain more liberal Kordsonite leaders lobbied to allow it. With all eyes on the Sands, people started whispering about the League allowing this religious suppression, causing the Sunlit Council to force Kordson’s hand by internationalising the Rock, declaring it “under the League protection”, and allowing Zehirite pilgrims in - for a tax, of course

[teddy-shifts]

Niche DR Ideas/Concepts I have

None of these have scripts yet, but I figured I'd throw some I'd like to make in the future

Preppy girls & their favourite looser

Going through highschool & college with a friend group of primarily/all the nigh stereotypicical popular girls, while just kinda being my loser ass self.

They actually like me and aren't put off by me doing my weird shit. And I actually like them and (while slightly confused) go along with their stuff with a smile

Probably would help with my self esteeme

Reincarnation Station

A hotel/office building for souls where you can endlessly live new lives.

There's these little tablet things were you can select what you would like to experience this time around (What time period, species, race or breed if applicable, social class, religion you're born into [if any at all], ect.), as well as a way to customize your physical appearance for that lifetime, and see your past lives' specs. Also with a randomize button to go in and be surprised

Soul concierge to assist with any decision or questions you would have about the life you're crafting

Places for souls to take time away from being mortal for a while. Because sometimes being alive is exhausting.

Also works as a Waiting Room

Rule 63; Everything gets genderbent

Literally just my life, except genderbent... That's it.

I'd probably be mtf not ftm in this case also. So that's fun. We love the dolls on this page

That's all for now. I'll reblog this or smth if I get any more

[cheerfullycatholic]

I went to a craft show in my town today and got the BEST smelling cherry almond lotion c: and one of the sellers had a service dog that my nephew really wanted to pet so I had to hold him and explain that we can't pet service dogs because they are doing important work which he was too distracted by his agony to hear (big mood, I wanted to pet the dog too, she was a German Shepherd and doing such a good job)

[greenerteacups]

What do you think as Hermione's career would be post battle of Hogwarts? To me her being minister for magic really doesn't make sense. She does not have patience or tact to wade through murky waters of politics 😭😭

So hard to say! The Trio are so, so young when we leave them, I find it almost impossible to project their futures farther than a few years out. The job that suited me at 17 would be radically unsuited to me now. That's why of all the Trio, Ron's ending strikes me as the most realistic — he jumps straight into the save-the-world business again, burns out, realizes he's actually Done The Fuck Enough, Thanks, and pivots into a low-stress career where he gets to see his family a lot. Feels accurate! The others are weirder to me because they do seem to just... pick a lane and stay there.

With Hermione, you could spin her a couple ways. You could say that she leans into her bookish side and does research or teaching, which is not my preference for a couple reasons (namely, I don't think Hermione would like academia as a profession; she finds her classwork interesting and enjoys intellectual validation, but she'd be stifled and wasted in a DPhil program, and she'd be infuriated by the administrative politicking of your average higher-ed faculty). You could say that she gets disaffected with politics and ends up as a barrister or a lobbyist of some kind, but if anything that requires more political finesse, because you don't actually have institutional power, you're just handling the people who make decisions and trying to persuade them of your goals. This is not Hermione's preferred method of influence. She's not even particularly good at persuasion, she just happens to be smart enough (and right often enough) that people take her ideas seriously.

Or you could say her brashness fades with the years into a softened flavor of tell-you-like-it-is honesty, which some politicians actually do successfully trade on; as we see in British politics today, you don't have to be all that charming or clever to get ahead, you just need to be really driven and well-connected (which Hermione completely is; she fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the first postwar Minister and her bestie, the Literal Messiah, runs the Auror Office.) But I don't know if Hermione especially wants to be Minister, after the war. She's just watched years of horrendous bureaucratic incompetence plunge the country into a violent civil conflict. She's had not one, but two Ministers of Magic try to bully or shame her friends into complicity with fascism. Her view of government is... likely extremely dark.

But Hermione also isn't the kind of person who sees her life as a quest for happiness. Babygirl has a savior complex that makes Harry look selfish. (She basically kills her parents — yeah, obliviating is a form of murder, #changemymind — "for their own good," and justifies every batshit, vindictive, mean-spirited move she ever pulls on the grounds that it "helps" one of her friends.) She is a mean, lean, dragon-slaying machine, and she needs a dragon. After Voldemort, the Ministry is the no. 1 threat to muggle-borns and non-wizarding Beings. As a war heroine with basically infinite political capital, I'd be surprised if she didn't try to do something there. That said, Hermione is so vivacious and dynamic that she could potentially grow in a hundred different directions; it's possible that all of this, while true of her at 18, becomes completely inaccurate by 22. That's why I'm not too fussed about any particular fanon interpretation.

[safety-pin-punk]

yall Im so fucking tired. This month has been exhausting. I promise Im alive, just barely functional atm.

[arealtrashact]

what'd you think of jacobi as elvis? how would you compare him to austin butler?

This movie is rapidly slipping from my mind with each passing hour but I think he did great ! He nailed the stutter as well as the thick Memphian mumble that Elvis determinedly shook after Hollywood. I don't know what other fans think of his performance because I'm a hermit who doesn't insert myself into fandom / fan spaces but I hope they appreciate the subtle approach he took. It's very easy to create a caricature + imitation of Elvis ( given what pop culture has done to him ) but I don't feel that this actor did either of those things. I think he did a wonderful job of playing the many different 'shades' that refracted through the prism of Elvis Presley. Playful, petulant, desperate. . .

He didn't have the aid of Baz Luhrmann's bombastic colors and cinematography to fall back on either. In fact, he had so much working against him in regards to this film's editing, I'm giving him bonus points.

Comparing him to Austin is a little unfair, considering he only plays Elvis for a chunk of his life while AB played him from 19 to 40 (and very well, in my opinion. The gradual shifts in both his accent and demeanor are still incredible to me -- that is nothing to say of the performances. In my heart he won that Oscar).

The short answer :

[icewindandboringhorror]

I was just thinking what a cool job this might be.. what if you were just the person who makes little still images of cute animal figurines doing various activities to post on social media...? like.. show up to work and just spend the whole day like "hmm... this table should be placed to the left a little.. let me set this miniature bagel down in this way... this tiny rabbit should be wearing a scarf", setting the backgrounds, the lighting, etc. ... dream job perhaps lol...

[sskk-manifesto]

!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[elprupneerg]

today is stupid. i should get a do-over where my joints are working enough that i can actually open the bottle of tea i bought and my brain is working enough to actually work on my homework instead of just sitting here

[butterfly-apocalypse]

There’s a special kind of ouch that comes from learning that teachers that meant so much to you growing up are homophobic/transphobic

[devotion-between-the-wheat]

for the actual involvement of life in the plot of the p.nb movie, I'm considering the idea of at the start of puss' various lives, life would vist him. they'd pass themselves off as a random fairy and so on, and would occasionally try to nudge him in the direction of improving himself. it wouldn't take of course, but that's the point.

and of course when the ninth life rolls in, things shift.

I like the idea of when death takes over, and his subsequent hunt, it is something both him and life agreed upon.

but part of me is uncertain about it, but also I like the concept that the two do respect each other's domains most of the time, and have good communication, and because of that it adds a flavor of you're stuck in here with me now when it comes to puss' situation.

and it can be read as life is going at the angle of sink or swim, improve or be struck down, whereas death doesn't expect him to change, but nonetheless.

[lord-squiggletits]

Tfw there's a popular fic/fic writer in this fandom that everyone seems to love but you actually have a bit of genuine criticism with their writing/characterization and the trends they started by people copying their fan fiction, but you don't want to say it because fanfiction isn't supposed to be critiqued the way popular media is (no concrit unless asked for) so you're just sitting there thinking "I want to explain why I'm not a fan of this author's works but I don't want to actually post a critique because it would feel rude at best or make people start drama at worst."

[mothbaaalls]

so funnily enough in my town there are two music stores basically right next to each other and as someone who's never owned an instrument before i've never had cause to go into one (always been a little afraid to go in because I Didn't Belong) but i've always been BURNINGLY CURIOUS. do they have beef?? the owners must know each other right??? I WANNA KNOW SO BADDD

and now that i have a guitar i actually have a reason to go into them because i desperately need new strings (mine were already really rusted because the guitar was secondhand from somebody who played it maybe a handful of times and then left it in its gig bag for years) AND I WANNA KNOW SO BADDDDDD