#context is irrelevant

[fitpacs]

qsmp admins said ok enough wholesome gay roleplay time for CAPYBARA :)

[sayonaramidnight]

And so, they begin a tour of the Hawkers' Alley, with particular attention to shinies, flowers, clothing (the more frills, the better!) and model ships in bottles. Not much shopping is actually done; the very sight of the multitude of wares on display leaves Arya starry-eyed and breathless.

"I didn't think making new memories would be so much fun," she confesses, as they move on to jewellery stands and Helvi names all the precious stones for her. "I might have lived all my life in this city, but in a way, I'm seeing all this for the first time. And it feels amazing!"

One of the jewellers, a dark-skinned woman in her early thirties, gives an unimpressed stare when they approach her stand. "Well, well. I thought you would show up sooner or later."

"Were we expected? Do you often check up on your competition here, Helvi?" Arya asks with a giggle.

"You could say that, girl," the jeweller cuts in before Helvi can answer the question; her accent is familiar, albeit quite uncommon in Limsa Lominsa. "My name is Enid and I believe you met my son Elstan last night. He claimed you unleashed a swarm of angry wespes at his silly crybaby of a friend."

"I bet he did." Helvi stares back at her. Running into one doting mother while fleeing from another - of course it was bound to happen. "He struck me as a lad who had a lot to say about everything."

"Ha! My boy is indeed talkative and his imagination runs wild when not restrained. But he should be smart enough to recognize your gear. I thought I taught him well of the history of my homeland."

"Homeland? Are you... Gyr Abanian, madam?" Arya asks timidly.

"I was... once. Which is why I know what you're trying to do there - and I wonder what for. Are you playing pretend without knowing the true meaning of your game?"

"We're not playing any game!" Arya raises her voice with indignation, all timidness instantly gone. "You should have seen Helvi fight off all those wespes, while X'rhun was working hard to heal H'nethi and me! With real red magic!"

"So you say. Elstan did mention a Miqo'te man - the leader? Another red mage wanna-be?"

"Not a wanna-be, but a true Crimson Duelist who's been teaching us all he knows!"

"The Crimson Duelists were freedom fighters. How can a sheltered princess like you relate to that?" Enid's voice drips with bitterness and something else - regret? Spite? "That's an experience which can only be gained, not taught. What does he expect from the likes of you?"

"And what do you know about my experience? Or Helvi's?" It is plain to see Arya is intent on having the last word in this argument. "If our mentor deems us worthy of his teachings, it's all that matters!"

"She's right, you know," Helvi's voice sounds calm in contrast, but no less firm. "We may not share a history, but is that supposed to stop him from sharing his experience? Would you rather see the tradition die?"

"I'd rather see it live on where it belongs, that's all. Among those who truly understand it."

That's the point, lady: most of them are long dead. That's what she should say. That's what she is going to say. And yet, she clenches the hilt of her rapier and spews out something else entirely. "If you're so fond of your homeland, then why are you here, instead of going back and fighting for it?" And there it is. This time there's no armour-clad figure to stick around and say these lines for her. As she finishes speaking, she closes her eyes to isolate herself from Enid's shocked stare.

So much red behind the eyelids.

"I... Hmph." The jeweller's voice seems to come from afar. "You've changed, Herlfryd. Now that you're some sort of adventurer, you think everything is that easy and simple, don't you?"

The Warrior of Light opens her eyes and looks around, at the streets of the city she used to call home. "No," she says quietly before she walks away. "On the contrary."

The mood for shopping is all gone and there's no point of staying at the market. As they are leaving, Arya takes her friend's arm with a worried expression; Helvi notices it and gently pats her hand.

"Mistress Enid spoke as if she was quite familiar with you. Do you know her?"

"Gods damn me if I remember." Helvi shakes her head with a mirthless chuckle. How many more Lominsans who knew her in the past have the same opinion about her as that woman does? Hells, what if they used to be good friends? What if she was right and they play red mages like ignorant children?...

No.

"Before you ask," Helvi says after a long, heavy sigh, "I, too, lost my memories several years ago and some of them still haven't come back."

"You-?!" Arya's eyes widen in shock. "How did it happen? Were you drugged, like me?"

"No, I..." A long pause; should she tell this girl who relies on her so much that she shut off and rejected her past? "It might've had something to do with magic. You see, I had no magic abilities; they only appeared after the memory loss and-"

"I wouldn't have thought we had this much in common... Is that why you're being so caring? Because you can relate?"

"I'm helping you, because I can relate. I'm caring, because you're adorable." Helvi corrects her with a smirk. "And you've got quite a spirit, after all, talking back at her like that. Shall I tell X'rhun what a devoted defender he's got?"

"Please, there's no need for that!... Unless I tell him I wasn't the only one?"

"No, thanks. I didn't say those things for the applause."

"Neither did I. Now that I know what a kind and honourable man he is, I couldn't bear to hear someone judge him without even meeting him in person." Arya lets out a sigh that turns into a chuckle. "I know he thinks I'm afraid of him, but I'm honestly not - it's just that at our first meeting, he seemed so intense and... intimidating."

"You can say that again," Helvi replies with a smile, recalling her own first impression of her mentor, which has remained unchanged. Truly, there is intensity in everything he does - and passion, the kind of passion she herself once had - and, ironically, his icy blue eyes could burn one to ashes as easily as warm one's heart. Perhaps that was what made her follow him in the first place - not the magic, not even the hat?

Follow even if uninvited, damn it.

-

(AO3)

[context-is--irrelevant]

never compromise your passions 😤

[ahappyphjl]

phan phorever

[ghostsinmachine]

soooo convinced that will is deliberately masterminding a good portion of this media circus lmaooo (although masterminding may be too generous a word.) unprompted, he's like "yeah mack and i watch romcoms" wink wink nudge nudge [will voice, smugly] i'm not going to elaborate right now because i know sheng peng is going to ask me about it later anyways :) also, mack and i made this tiktok together on an off day where we played three hours of basketball. i'm not going to say whose idea it was. but you all know it was mine. also did i mention it was after three hours of basketball????

each time you would think he might resent playing second fiddle to mack he's all "mack and i are real movie guys" "playing with mack is really fun" "mack and i are together all the time". like sike. u thought. i've seen jokes about mack's ten year plan but u know what... i think will has one too and it's like. actually more cerebral. guy who looked at getting drafted to a tanking team like sure, why not? then i'm just going to get the chance to play with high draft picks, and what's not exciting about that?

will smith hockey, attention seeker, i See You....

[willlic]

I've spent the last 45 minutes crying because relationship emotional labor imbalance struggles, but that's not what is important here. What's important is it made me realize EXACTLY WHY I GET SO UPSET EVERYTIME I THINK OF THE WATER SEVEN USOPP STUFF. THE DUDE WAS DOING THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL LABOR OF THE CREW, AND 'HOUSE UPKEEP/MAINTENANCE' AND HE THOUGHT EVERYONE WAS FINALLY ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT THE SHIP, AND THEN HE TRIES TO EXPRESS EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL SAFETY NEEDS ABOUT THE MONEY, GETS DISMISSED, GETS BEAT UP, VEIWS IT AS HIS FAULT AND RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE HE WAS BASICALLY TOLD AND SHOWN THAT THROUGH LACK OF SUPPORT AND SAFETY, TRIES TO DEAL WITH IT, GETS BEAT HALF TO DEATH AGAIN, AND THEN WAKES UP WITH PPL WHO HAVE ALREADY HAD TIME TO PROCESS AND BE UPSET, GET MAD AT HIM FOR NEEDING TO PROCESS AND BEING UPSET. HE LOOKS FOR SUPPORT AND INFO, IS REJECTED, AND EXPECTED TO ACCEPT THAT THE HOME HE TRIED TO MAINTAIN FOR HIS FAMILY IS JUST GOING TO BE REPLACED WITH A NEW ONE. HE PUT IN THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL LABOR FOR THEIR HOME AND ORGANIZATIONAL/EMOTIONAL NEEDS, DIDNT HAVE HIS MET BECAUSE THEY WERE SHRUGGED OFF AND NOT UNDERSTOOD, FINALLY FELT HOPE, AND THEN HAD THE RUG PULLED OUT. THEY DIDNT EVEN PRIORITIZE HIS WELLBEING WHEN HE WAS HALF DEAD. THEY PRIORITIZED THEIR EMOTIONS AND PRIDE WHEN THEY WENT 'he's still breathing' AND THEN RVEN THE DOCTOR??! WENT TO BEAT THE PPL UP BEFORE TAKING CARE OF HIM?AND JUST COMPLETELY DIDNT EVEN NOTICE OR ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK HE DID/DOES. HE WAS UPSET THINKING THE REASON THEY WERE GETTING A NEW ONE WAS HIS FAULT AND HE WAS TOLD 'i don't care that you lost the money' AS IF HE DIDNT JUST PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE. AND HES JUST EXPECTED TO BE COOL WITH IT IMMEDIATELY?? PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY REDIRECT TO THEIR OWN EMOTIONS AND GET DEFENSIVE INSTEAD OF ADDRESING HIS? THAT IS LIKE TEXTBOOK MENTAL/EMOTIONAL LABOUR IMBALANCE SOCIAL PATTERNS. LIKE WHAT?? THE ONLY ONE THAT SEEMS TO GET IT IS SANJI (thank God that he did). Am I just fully projecting?? Am I crazy here?? I feel like that's part of what happened and definitely part of what had/still has me redlining mad about it. Like he fixed that ship for months, advocated for it and tried to remind and keep mental track of finance priorities regarding the ship, and other people's emotions. Anticipated their needs, mediated arguments, comforted them, tried to keep them mentally aware of consequences and safety, he was doing the invisible work. And I genuinely don't think a lot of them saw and understood the full extent. Ugh I always feel so mad on usopps behalf.

[janniksins]

the vogue article launching jannik's foundation just casually bringing up jack draper for no reason

[abyssalzones]

naptime. can't decide if they're getting a rare instance of natural light or someone forgot to turn those damned halogen lights off

[eli-is-an-idiot]

if my english teacher is going to make us read pride and prejudice, i'm going to make it fun

[dreamsy990]

hi i wanted to draw my own au so have a snippet of scene i rewrote like 12 times and will likely rewrite again

[wonder-worker]

Wild how we know that Elizabeth Woodville was officially appointed to royal councils in her own right during her husband’s reign and fortified the Tower of London in preparation of a siege while 8-months pregnant and had forces gathering at Westminster “in the queen’s name” in 1483 – only for NONE of these things to be even included, let alone explored, in the vast majority of scholarship and historical novels involving her.

[context-is--irrelevant]

get friends who are delusional FOR you 😤

[raayllum]

was so caught up in the euphoria of finally having Callum's "however dangerous, however vile" in the trailer it is only fully sinking in now that we're going to have a scene In Canon where he says The Thing In Context and i'm

[hello-universe-lovers]

@everestgale called me to drew their human hero (and who could blame em? He's cute :3). So I drew him with my Hera! (I personally headcanon em as cousins)

[jtownraindancer]

totally normal conversations to have with your best friend part ii

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

If, or when a friend...

Judges you for enjoying/not enjoying a character the "right way"

Constantly belittles, mocks or insults a character you enjoy in a way that is not meant to be teasing or sarcastic

And does not afford you the same courtesy of reserving or preventing themselves from speaking negatively of a character you enjoy, but they do not...

Then they are probably not your friend. Or at least, a very good one.

And if a "friend" ever tries to FORBID you from enjoying, talking about, or even passively liking a character? They are DEFINETLY not someone you should want to be friends with. Life is far too short, and you should love yourself enough to not put up with cop-like behavior from someone who claims to be your "friend".

It does not matter how much older or younger they are than you. It does not matter how long the two of you have been friends. When someone tries to police how you enjoy things, you should take a serious look within yourself and decide if you would find yourself happier if you no longer had to deal with that kind of bullshit.

Because that's what it is.

And on a similar, shorter note, if someone ever tries to apply their self-chosen cut-off point of what they consider "canon" to YOU: tell them they have no right to police you like that.

And the sooner you do it, the better. Trust me on that.

Never give someone the ability to determine what is canon FOR you.