#dancelike

[visenyaism]

Okay but what’s your daeron ranking from most to least exciting I’ve got to love gay flight daeron son of the unlikely vanishing from the narrative

1) war criminal daeron, imperialist. jon snow kinned him as a child and the idea of him shouting IM THE YOUNG DRAGON in the winterfell courtyard is everything to me. why was his fantasy to die young doing futile dumb war. i mean i know why that’s the shit jon has always been on. but anyways daeron watching his father never ever mentally escape the effects of the dance of the dragons until he dies relatively young because war is hell and then immediately being like LETS START ANOTHER WAR the second he was crowned king at 14. anything to fill the void of not having a dragon.

2) gay daeron who invented gay marriage. we know not much about him except he was too based to live so Aelora’s opps from FIFTY YEARS EARLIER somehow returned to take him out. rip

3) war criminal daeron, 8th grader domestic terrorist. Love the greens inexplicably having one completely normal member who is just cheerfully committing mass casualty events because his big brother told him to. cant wait to see him on television when he shows up in season 2 (he will. you’ll see.$

4) daeron the good. should be a sicko given that his three parental figures in his life were aegon iv naerys and aemon. and 3/4 of his children were at least a little bit dragon madness pilled and yet. a boring pretty chill nerd king who almost got usurped just because daemon blackfyre could do a cartwheel and he couldn’t. bear the sword next time

[slavonicrhapsody]

why Divine Beast Dancing Lion has the best soundtrack in the entire game

When I watched the first DLC trailer 6 months ago, I was so focused on Messmer that I never gave the lion dancers a second thought. But in a shocking turn of events, Divine Beast Dancing Lion is now my favorite boss in the whole game. To me, what makes this fight truly exceptional is its soundtrack, so I want to go through the music and outline all the things that make it so great!

What makes the music stand out is that it feels SO different from the rest of the OST… the majority of the boss tracks have a pretty similar style and instrumentation, but Divine Beast stands out in my opinion because of how it emphasizes its rhythm and texture.

Conceptually, this boss fight is first and foremost a dance — you are fighting two Hornsent warriors operating a lion costume based on the traditional Chinese lion dance in an arena that’s actually a giant stage.

The Chinese lion dance is typically accompanied only by percussion (drums, gongs, and cymbals). So naturally, Divine Beast’s soundtrack has much more pronounced percussion in comparison to the rest of the soundtrack, featuring heavy drum beats and cymbals, plus shouts and chants from the choir. The music is in a steady 6/8, with 2 beats per measure divided into three pulses (think 1 2 3, 1 2 3) giving it a lilting, dancelike quality (this type of meter is often used in folk and traditional dances!). And, in the boss’s second phase, the dancing lion’s lightning, wind, and frost phases each have their own music and are timed to transition as the music transitions. The whole boss fight is programmed like a dance, so when you fight the boss it feels like you’re dancing with it too!

The choir has a range of vocalizations that goes beyond singing melodies and harmonies; as I touched on before, they’re also shouting and chanting. The shouts are used percussively and help accent the rhythm of the dance, and the low chanting also brings to mind a sort of religious ritual? Which is exactly what this boss fight is… in Hornsent culture, the lion dance is a ritual for invoking divinity:

“A charm depicting the crazed, cavorting dance of the divine beast conducted at the tower festival. Raises potency of storms. Divine beasts are messengers of the heavens, and their rage mirrors the tumult of the skies, of which storms are the pinnacle.” (Enraged Divine Beast talisman)

The lion dancers, or “sculpted keepers,” are those amongst the divine beast warriors (themselves the chosen amongst the tower’s horned warriors) who truly excelled at divine invocation, and were “granted the honor of the lion dance” (Divine Beast Warrior Armor). In the boss cutscene, the Hornsent Grandam calls upon the divine beast to possess the bodies of the sculpted keepers, and rise again to defend the tower… so the lion dance, performed by warriors skilled in divine invocation, is essentially a ritual for invoking the presence of the divine beast within the dancers in order to commune with the heavens.

The sculpted keepers, having invoked the rage of the divine beast, are able to channel the forces of the stormy skies — lightning, wind, and frost. The force of the storm is represented in the music by quick runs in the high woodwinds and strings that come and go like gusts of wind. The music almost never lets up or loses momentum; it goes at a powerful, furious pace until the end, embodying the divine beast’s fury.

But the Divine Beast that we fight has an extra layer of emotion that goes beyond divine ritual:

“When the Impaler's army assailed the tower, the ritual of the lion dance was turned toward martial ends—its divinity, its fury, its light-footed beauty.” (Remembrance of the Dancing Lion)

What was once a beautiful ritual dance conducted at the tower festival was forced to become a weapon of war in order to fight against their people’s annihilation at the hands of Messmer’s crusade. And even this was not enough…

The Dancing Lion that we fight was slain, lying in a pool of dried blood, when it is miraculously awoken again with a fervent prayer. This is the last lion dance that may ever take place, giving us a mere glimpse of this ruined city’s long-vanished splendor.

Listening to the soundtrack, there is not only pride in the music, but also an urgent, visceral, warlike rage, a multitude of voices joining in a desperate fight for their civilization’s very survival.

[sonicaspeed123]

Yknow what speaking of blazes sometimes-bent sometimes-not tail. A lot of her movement is very dancelike and gymnastic-inspired. Tails are used for balance typically so how do you think that affected her abilities. Disabled im saying blaze is disabled

[lesbiangiratina]

Top 5 Testament moves animations wise?

HEHE YAY. NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

• Missing link exebeast. I like how dancelike it is opposed to them Just bowing in x. Heres a clip of them killing me in the beast blender then taunting me.

• Both gravediggers are awesome i like their weird giant centipede friend and i like it when their blood has freaky faces in it.

• Ive already said this but warrant has the funniest 2 sequential frames ever. I like that they turn into goo. And teleport behind you. And poison you. I wish i was good at using it.

• NOSTROVIA :) DANCING YAY

^ freecam image of them posing together.

• Seventh sign bring back their funny demon sex bed. I dont feel like finding or making another gif

AND THEY HAVE SOME CUTE NORMALS TOO i love you +r 2h and strive 2d. All of their poses in strive in general are so fun I THINK I JUST LIKE TESTAMENT DANCING and the skull of course.

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

Fantasy High Sophomore Year and Positive Masculinity

In the Cinema Therapy video "Aragorn vs. TOXIC MASCULINITY", Alan Decker, a licensed therapist, uses Aragorn to give an example of "Positive Masculinity," highlighting traits like providing, protecting, being brave, being determined, being ambitious, being sensitive of others feelings and being supportive, among others. I believe that, if we use these patterns of behavior as indications of Positive Masculinity, then the male characters of the DnD actual play show "Dimension 20: Fantasy High" and especially its sequel show "Sophomore Year" and associated one shots, are amazing examples of Positive Masculinity, especially as the second season draws to a close.

Of course, the most famous example comes from the season two episode "Blast from the Passed," in which Lou Wilson's character Fabian Seacaster yells "TOXIC MASCULINITY IS DEAD! I DANCE NOW!", a moment funny out of context and touching in context, as by that point he truly has overcome his toxic tendencies. The midway point of Sophomore Year is a sort of breaking point for Fabian, as everything he believed about himself comes crashing down around him and he has to pick up the pieces with the help of his friends. His fighting style is emblematic of this - pre-breakdown, Fabian is headstrong, rash and believes he doesn't need anyone to help him while after his breakdown, Fabian's fighting style becomes more dancelike (and, within the mechanics of the game, much more dangerous as Lou Wilson redesigned Fabian to be a College of Swords Bard/Battlemaster Fighter multiclass, a build legendary for its damage output).

The moment he unveils his new fighting style is during a fight he's in as he, Gorgug (played by Zac Oyama) and Riz (played by Brian Murphy) attempt to break their friend out of a magical prison. As Fabian begins to move and fight, he's met not with mockery or derision from his comrades, but with awe at the beauty of his fighting and the grace with which he moves. His father, now a demonic pirate, also reacts positively, tearing up when he sees Fabian dance and then utterly annihilate foes during the fight in which the quote that started this paragraph is uttered.

Fast forward to the Toxic Masculinity is dead moment, and we see how this rejection of Toxic Masculinity is embodied in Ragh (fan favorite NPC and former antagonist). Ragh was a closeted gay member of the equivalent of the football team of the high school that the cast of characters attends. His arc over season one was the rejection of the internalized homophobia he experiences and other toxic traits. These traits are replaced with a desire to protect his friends and be emotionally supportive and open. This, and Fabian's new dance-centric, non-toxic fighting style are contrasted with the toxic masculinity of Coach Daybreak and Dayne, antagonists from season one who come back to torment Fabian and Ragh. Dayne had previously assaulted Ragh when Ragh expressed his affection for him, a moment that happens offscreen in season one and that the Bad Kids pick up on and find grossly unfair in the final battle of season one.

Next are the other two male Bad Kids, Riz and Gorgug. The two of them are consistently positively masculine, sharing moments of emotional vulnerability with their fellow cast members (a particularly touching scene between Gorgug and Kristen comes to mind) and using their abilities to protect and care for their friends, like Riz pushing himself to be the best detective he can be. They also don't mock Fabian when he's dancing in the fight where his new style is debuted, instead repeatedly telling each other "Spring break, I believe in you!", which fittingly becomes not only their motto but the way in which Fabian uses an ability called Bardic Inspiration, oftentimes referred to as "weaponized believing in someone".

Finally, there are the adults, most notably Gilear, Jawbone, and Gorthalax. All three of them act as guiding figures, looking out for the emotional and physical well-being of those in their care. The moment in Sophomore Year that Gilear tells Fig that he had no idea she viewed herself as a manifestation of someone betraying him and that he's going to get his life together is particularly notable, as it shows that he feels like he has been failing her and is ashamed of that failure.

These examples clearly show the series' attitude towards toxic masculinity and the negative impacts it has on men, especially young men while encouraging positive masculinity, a message sorely needed in this day and age.

Link to the video referenced at the start:

[bigdvmnhero]

pairing: bachira/rin/isagi

word count: 5,510

summary:

Isagi’s parents always joked that when God was putting him together in the womb, he made Bachira between his breaks. They were a matching set. The yin to his all-consuming yang. Bachira didn’t route-read, because Bachira didn’t care about what was logical. Hell, Bachira didn’t care about what was legal. ”What’s the fun in knowing how it ends?” he laughed. “Good luck pulling that kind of shit on a real crag," Rin said. "You do know holds like these don’t exist in the real world, right? One wrong move and you’re dead.” “Well, do tell us more, almighty climber,” Isagi teased. “What’s it like in the big bad deadly outdoors?”

Or: Summer in the Blue Lock climbing gym. Going up and growing up. Don't look down now. [bachirinsagi]

::

Chapter One: first ascent

Whipper (Climbing) noun. a sudden and unexpected fall in lead climbing, where one plummets often dramatically in an arcing manner, with the rope creating a forceful whip-like motion

Warm-Up

“You the route-setter?” said the boy.

Isagi wasn’t paying too much attention to how life looked like before this moment, and that was his first mistake—he would’ve held on to it more, if he knew; noted the logical geometry of where things fell, the brown noise of climbers milling in, chalk dusting the air like a parody of snowflakes, the protein shake metabolizing in his gut, and one napping Bachira Meguru, drooling on his lap. The predictable trajectory of his life as it unspooled before him. A trajectory that did not include boys like this one—long under-lashes, dark hair that fringed a heartbreaker’s face. And the face, well. There was no preparing for it. Like a lance to the gut.

The black hole had opened on a Tuesday, 7 PM: the new boy had walked into Blue Lock’s climbing gym with a long-limbed easy grace and topped the boulder Isagi had set—a nasty V10 that even Bachira, for all his freaky hundred-and-one tricks, couldn’t send, the one Barou called, “absolutely sickening” and “fucking psychotic” and not in a good way, mind you, you donkey, you ever gonna stop fucking around and set some real boulders? 

Isagi was going to be done with it, he promised; with Blue Lock being the only decent climbing gym this side of Saitama, Isagi knew it was time to settle for a little less crazy, a little more “friendly for the masses.” Even if the thought of it clawed at him. If no one could top this problem, then that would be his sign.

Eleven seconds. That was how long it took for the boy to assess Isagi’s route. He bent down to dip his hands in his chalk bag. Graceful hands, like a pianist’s. Then, simply, he—

”Went up,” was all the words Bachira could muster while they debriefed over greasy post-climb ramen and Isagi tried not to flounder in the soup of his despair and whatever tatters remained of his climbing career, whatever that was supposed to be. Bachira spoke with reverence, like recounting an urban myth: how, with an uncanny strength and elegance, the new boy went for the paddle dyno with no breath wasted—had the gumption to hold it there, where most had fallen, like he had time to ponder about what he was having for dinner while his legs flared out behind him, eight feet of air below.

When it happened, Bachira stilled, slowly sitting up from where he’d pillowed his head on Isagi’s lap. Bachira always had a sense for The Fun. Six holds left. The boy traversed to his right, with a tiny delicate footswap, over the hold the size of a crumb. (“A hold for fucking ants,” Kunigami grumbled.) Quick pogo to another paddle dyno, his back muscles contracting like tectonic plates. “Holy shit,” Isagi said. Bachira’s jaw fully ajar. Isagi had never seen such dancelike, sure-footed movement. Like the holds were magnetized to his body. This was a boy that would not fall. 

Four holds left. The crux: an ugly blind dyno to an even uglier hold. (“Tore my meniscus again just looking at it,” Chigiri observed.)

Three holds left. Two.

One—

The boy’s left palm silently accompanying the right. Slow and controlled.

Match.

“Well?” the new boy said, eyes granite. Isagi’s mouth went dry at the full force of it sent his way. “You set that V10?”

“Yeah—yeah, I did.” This bastard just flashed it . “Just that one though, I’m still in training. Anri-san’s our head routesetter, so—”

Around them, climbers began to clap, like they were all breaking out of the same sleeping spell. The boy didn’t seem to notice; his eyes turned to the wall then back to Isagi, and the potency of it made Isagi stand a little straighter. Lashes, Isagi thought, already sliding all these new minute details into the vast library of data he accumulated to make sense of it all. Lashes, climbing like dancing, boys, pretty boys—          

“You call this a V10? That was hardly a V6,” Itoshi Rin said. “This gym is a fucking joke.” 

Then he turned to leave.

Beside him, Bachira made an aborted noise, a cross between a shriek and a garbled scoff. “Wait!” Bachira cried. “Well, whatever you feel about this gym, we still honor first ascent privileges. You top it, you name it. Don’t we, Isagi?”

“I guess,” Isagi managed, despite the lance in his gut. 

Rin’s mouth curled at the edges, turning and turning the handle of his weapon. “Mm, how about,” and he smiled, like recalling a sour joke, “Warm Up?”

—lashes, chalk, pretty boys, graceful boys, punchable-in-the-fucking-mouth—

Reset

“Fresh problems, fresh out the oven,” Isagi sing-songed, turning the corner to see Kunigami, Chigiri, and Bachira already warming up by the bouldering mat. He ducked out of Bachira’s fake-high five and ruffled his hair, if only to see the answering pout. “Exrta spicy, just for you. Yeah, yeah, I set you some dynos on the steep wall, Kunigami, who the hell do you think I am? Everybody say thank you Isagi.”

“Thank you Isagi!” Bachira and Chigiri chorused. Kunigami mimed zipping his mouth and bumped Isagi’s fist as their friends dashed straight for the walls. 

Why anyone would choose to spend their spare time climbing fake plastic rocks only to climb back down again, Isagi couldn’t tell you. Everyone had a different reason. There was a logic to it that drew him in—set your base, build the triangle, find the most optimal body positioning, tension, momentum. There were 1000 ways to reach to top, like there were 1000 ways to die doing so. 

While there were no hard rules to sending a problem, there was, Isagi liked the argue, a single best sequence to get you there. Isagi had spent his first few years climbing being that weird, off-putting kid in rentals who studied how you moved up those multicolored cracks and footholds, only to tell you after—depending on your weight, strength level, and climbing IQ—what bad fucking form you had, actually, those first four moves were really shitty, and that’s why you ruined the rest of it, but it’s fine, hey, listen, we can fix it, next time here’s what you need to do.

Needless to say, that sort of intensity never stood a chance in a commercial gym. 

Route-setting was the obvious choice.

Of sorts, Bachira was his natural antithesis. Isagi’s parents always joked that when God was putting him together in the womb, he made Bachira between his breaks. They were a matching set. The yin to his all-consuming yang. Break to his lever. Bachira didn’t route-read, because Bachira didn’t care about what was logical. Hell, Bachira didn’t care about what was legal. ”What’s the fun in knowing how it ends?” His best friend liked the flashy moves, the zingers and shoulderbusters. The sketchier, the better. Mostly, he liked breaking Isagi’s carefully sequenced routes and blowing his mind wide open.

There was THUD as Bachira’s back hit the mat. A few heads turned, a split-second of shock, until Bachira rolled back to his knees and beamed, like he didn’t just fall 10 feet.

“So close!” he giggled. “That was a fun one, Isagi!”

Only Bachira would think of doing a figure 4 in such a cramped, unstable position on the steep wall. Isagi rolled his eyes playfully as Bachira swiped his water bottle and planted his mouth on it, drinking long and greedy. Then it was Chigiri and Kunigami’s turn. 

“That was inspired,” came Chigiri’s calm verdict; he came close to Bachira’s last position before bailing from the purple route with a loud FUCK, SHIT!

“Fun, right?” Bachira said. “I love when Isagi gets creative.”

“I don’t know, sometimes I swear he’s trying to kill us,” Kunigami replied, panting, two minutes after Chigiri’s attempt. “That one-handed catch? Disgusting.”

“Was thinking of you, you muscle freak.” Isagi winked. “Too spicy for you?”

“Yeah, Kunigami-kun. It’s literally all jugs, bro.”

“Don’t even fucking start. No yapping until you send it.”

“Oho.” Chigiri grinned, all teeth. “Maybe I will.”

Bachira swatted Chigiri’s back as he faced the wall again, accepting whatever it offered. “C’mon, Chigirin!”

“You got this, princess,” Isagi crowed—so buoyed by the presence of his friends, their laser-sharp attention that some days bordered on religious, even Blue Lock’s speakers piping awful hyper-pop into his ears, that for a moment, he forgot all about strange dullness that washed over him when he put on his uniform this morning, the same one he wore yesterday, same one he’ll pull on tomorrow, and the day after that. “C’mon, yes, nice, let’s go, nice one—you’re so close, c’mon, listen to me, no, listen—WHAT ARE YOU, SOME KIND SOME WEAK SHIT? FINISH IT!” A curse, then a body hitting the mat with a groan. “THE FUCK DID YOU BAIL FOR?”

“There it is,” Kunigami drawled, “Deranged Asshole Mode: On,” at the same time Chigiri hollered back, “Shut the hell up, I don’t wanna hear nothing!” 

“Aw, good try, Princess. I think, maybe if you skipped that hold—the one that looks like a nipple? Then imagine if you went like—” Bachira flung himself on the third overhanging hold, facing them, then swung both legs over his head to hook his toes on the crimp above—a perfect bat hang. “Then you can rest your hands for a bit. See? Then, you just gotta—”

“Yeah, no.” Chigiri turned around. He jabbed a finger into Isagi's chest, breathing hard. “Isagi, I swear to god if you open your mouth.”

Isagi raised his hands disbelievingly. “Fine. Figure it out yourself.”

“Or you.” 

Kunigami grinned back, rising to his feet to roll his shoulders. “I guess I gotta do everything around here, huh?”

“I hate gym rats,” Isagi announced, after Kunigami managed to cross over to the second to the last hold with no feet, all biceps, which was just sickening to see, really. “You put your heart and soul into a problem, and in the end, they’re just gonna campus it.”

Chigiri agreed. “I despise you.”

“Aw, don’t cry, babygirls,” Kunigami said, accepting Bachira’s exuberant high-five. “We can’t all be me.”

“Talking shit when you haven’t even sent it?”

“Don’t worry, guys. I’ll send it,” Bachira announced solemnly, and then was off.

“Speaking of gym rats, guess who I bumped into at the chest press this morning,” Kunigami began. Legs crossed, they shifted closer to each other in the middle of the mat. Isagi checked his watch; soon, the 8 PM after-work crowd would start swarming in; Igaguri took the day off, so Anri subbed him in to do a few safety briefings with some newbies.

“Is this Mr. Indoor-Climbing-Isn’t-Real-Climbing?” Chigiri said.

“That’s stupid,” Bachira called without turning. He blew off a layer of extra chalk on the starting hold until the purple underneath shone. “Indoor holds look way yummier.”

“...Right,” Kunigami said. “Anyway, get this. I hear Mr. Rin here moved back from the US after a climbing accident.”

“Accident?”

“What, like, a bad fall?”

“Real bad,” Kunigami said. “Failed rappel on the Revenger.” 

They shared a collective, full-body wince.

Isagi gripped his ankle, eyes tracking Bachira blurring on the wall, still relentlessly trying to stick his bat hang move. “That’s crazy, though. Do we know any Japanese climbers who’ve sent the Revenger?”

“Nope. And still none,” Kunigami said. “Guy’s still crazy, though, I’ll give him that. Him and his brother. Itoshi Sae? Yeah, so that’s the bit: the minute Rin here’s back home, he starts visiting all these gyms. Saitama’s his second stop. The catch? People are noticing he’s challenging all the same comps Sae did, years ago, before they moved.” Kunigami added, “Winning them, too.”

Chigiri whistled. “Big brother push him off a cliff or what?”  

“So he’s here for the summer comp,” Isagi said. “Bolting for Glory.”

Chigiri cursed, popping his heel out of his climbing shoe. “And I thought Barou was gonna be my biggest problem this season.”

“Not me?” Kunigami teased.

Lashes, Isagi thought, outdoor climbing, bad falls, climbing like dancing. No wonder the man moved like that; there was a knife-edged precision climbing outdoors demanded of you. It turned you inside-out. Summer comp. Bad blood? Itoshi Rin. 

“Yeah, that’s his name,” Kunigami said, and Isagi flushed. Here he was, mumbling like a fool again.

THUD on the mat. Bachira, for all his airheadedness, managed to whisper-shout at them after rolling upright: “Guys, Mr. I’m a Climber Who Climbs Outdoors is here!” 

He was right; Kuon was checking Rin in at the front desk. Rin was wearing a plain black tracksuit that drew even more attention to his stupidly long legs. As he passed, they all seemed to find great interest in their shoes. Only Bachira seemed brave enough to turn and wave. Isagi didn’t see what Rin did, though he imagined he kept emitting that same brand of Unpleasant.

Two hours and two safety briefings later, it was time for Chigiri and Kunigami to go. “My flappers have flappers,” Chigiri explained. He held up ten fingers and boasted their flayed, red skin. 

Bachira said, “yuck!” like it was amazing.

“Anyway, we’re headed home. You coming, Bachira? Waiting up for Isagi, as usual?”

“Yep!” Bachira said, popping the P. Kunigami ruffled his hair. Isagi waved, watched them go, then turned back to watching Rin on the moonboard, absolutely demolishing the moves, from the corner of his eye. 

“You don’t have to wait up again, Bachira,” Isagi called out, though it was half-hearted; Bachira always waited up for him to close shop. 

“S’fine, I really wanna try sending this today. I’m so close! Also, I think new guy’s gonna project Anri-chan’s V12 on the boulder roof.”

The sentiment was loud in Isagi’s ears: I wanna see him send it. Isagi burned for it, too.

Every day Rin walked into the gym like it was his mission to send each of Isagi’s “unsendable” routes, the exact same way Isagi had envisioned, only to blow that vision apart with one brilliant move at the last second. If Isagi dwelled on it a bit more, he’d realize Rin had been going here nearly every day, all alone, and that he looked bored out of his mind. Or no—that wasn’t it, was it? It was a face that reminded him a little of Bachira, a lifetime ago, on the day they met. Holding on, waiting for the drop, and so keenly, quietly in pain it took Isagi years to catch up to it. Something inside him broke softly. There was a high victory whoop. A tangle of limbs hurtled against his side.

“ISAGI, I DID IT.” Bachira’s skin, like the soft bodies of giddy bees, against his. “I sent your purple route!”

“No way.”

“Uh, yes way.” The proof, shoved under his nose: a video of Bachira slinging his whole torso into the void to catch the final hold. “FIRST ASCENT, LOSERS.”

“You monster,” Isagi laughed, feeling the smile split his face. Bachira kept grinning back. “Well? Was it fun?”

“So fun.” The glint of Bachira’s eyes was a pocket knife. “I want another.”

“Greedy.” 

“Duh. Now, I finally get to watch Rin-chan!” Bachira left the piece of paper in Isagi’s hands and darted off in Rin’s direction, like a bee to the world’s most repugnant flower.

Isagi glanced at the slip. “Oh, you are not naming my route Purple Nurple —”

Purple Nurple (V11 | FA: Bachira Meguru)

Rin considered the purple wall like it was a minefield. Bachira was grinning, like he planted them there.

“Oh, this one’s super fun, Rin-chan. Promise! I spent all yesterday afternoon sending it. It has two coordi-moves, then a really sketchy knee bar—”

“Did I ask?”

“Sheesh, man, just try it,” Isagi said. A rare rest day for him, and of course he’d spent it at the gym. Somehow, he’d found himself walking over to the duo, drawn to the line of Rin’s back and the hook in Bachira’s smile, reeling something in.

“Another pathetic warm-up route?” Rin spoke, in greeting.

“Nah, not this one," Isagi said. "This one’s got a little something in it.”

Isagi was proud of the way he kept his eyes level, even as his gut lurched at the gaze. The guy’s face card was making him feel violent. It was ruining his life.

Bachira let out a whoop! as Rin coated his hands in chalk, making a loose fist and blowing at to get rid of the extra stuff. Sit-start, the first move—then it was impossible not to notice the arc of his shoulders, all lean, corded muscle. Or the quiet power in his left arm, muscles flexing simultaneously while he rotated his body 180 degrees to reach the next overhanging hold. It was hard to pin down a style; Rin seemed to be using a mixture of Chigiri's speed, Kunigami's power, and Bachira’s general absurdity—their best moves, Isagi noted, with his own cocktail of jealousy and awe.

Rin was past the crux now. At this rate, he was going to flash it.

“I know!” Bachira groaned, like it was delightful. Did Isagi talk out loud again? 

Well, whatever. Flash or no flash. This was why Isagi put two cruxes.

“C’mon!” Bachira gripped Isagi’s shoulder and shook him like a ragdoll. “Rin-chan, let’s go!”

Second to the last hold, the biggest, hardest nipple of them all—a ginormous, glorious sloper with dual texture: texturized on bottom, deviously slippery on top.

Pulling his torso back like slingshot, Rin jumped sideways—his first dynamic move. The swing nearly took him off: for a second, Rin was falling. Then he caught himself with his free hand and kicked on the wall hard, reorienting his center, then made his way up. Denying texture, denying physics. Weightless, again. 

Match. 

Two electric-blue Scarpas hit the mat.

Bachira whined. “You made that look way too easy!”

“Damn, dude. Solid.” Isagi reached his fist out for a bump. This, Rin quickly rebuffed as he reached for his water bottle.  

“That won’t do.” Bachira grabbed Rin’s wrist and bonked it with Isagi’s. “Where’s your manners?”

Rin jerked back. “Where’s yours? You don’t just touch strangers.”

“Strangers? We’ve been climbing buddies for weeks now,” Bachira complained, crossing his arms. Rin looked like he wanted to contest this, but Bachira was already talking over him. “But why did you static the third move anyway? Bo-ring. You could’ve done a bat hang, at least. Right, Isagi?”

Bachira was already running towards the wall to demonstrate. “He’s not gonna let up,” Isagi informed Rin. “By the way.”

“See?” Bachira said, upside down.

“You’ll use too much energy,” Rin scoffed.

A laugh as Bachira accepted gravity. Isagi let him swipe his water bottle again as he hopped over. There was a stripe of chalk on his cheek. “Yeah, but it’s more fun, right?” 

“It’s excessive and inefficient.” Rin looked pointedly at the way Bachira massaged the calf where Isagi was betting a cramp was going to set in, any minute now; in three, two, one— “Look: now you’re all pumped, your legs are useless and you don’t have any strength to do anything else. Am I right?”

“But did I look cool though?”

“Debatable,” Rin said. Bachira stuck his tongue out. Instead of taking off to hiss at first-timers or shred pushups at the pullup bar or god knows whatever else Rin liked to do all by his lonesome—not that Isagi liked to imagine what Rin did, not at all—Rin sat down, pulled off his Scarpas, and stared at the purple problem with a keen gaze. Tilted his head, like a cat. “Bat hang, huh,” Rin said, the closest they would get to a concession. “Maybe.” 

“Maybe?” Isagi tore his gaze from the way Rin’s throat moved, taking in full gulps of water, back to the nasty cramp he was helping push out of Bachira’s leg. On his back, Bachira made pitiful sounds. “So it can work.”

“Good luck pulling that kind of shit on a real crag. You do know holds like these don’t exist in the real world, right? One wrong move, you’re dead.”

“Well, do tell us more, almighty climber,” Isagi teased. “I beseech you: what’s it like climbing in the big bad deadly outdoors?” And the second surprise of the night: Rin did exactly that.

Hakuho High West Wing Arete

In the strange blistering weeks after, summer crept towards a degree closer to unbearable, Bachira demanded wilder and wilder routes, and Rin continued to find more creative ways to badmouth his route-setting. Rin, Isagi learned, who under all those stupid lashes and radioactive levels of Off-putting, seemed to be a guy who was irrevocably, if not equally, obsessed with The Rocks like Isagi was. 

Isagi was getting used to the shape of his attention. Rin jammed his fingers into Bachira’s back when his spine sagged without tension. Barked, “WRONG,” every time they made a move that wasn’t Rin’s exact flavor of climbing. Called Isagi’s latest boulder route, “fucking lukewarm,” like he was some kind underpaid undersecretary, delivering him coffee for the day. Still, Rin never failed to hold up his end of the bargain in this tenuous belaytionship: to show them some damn good climbing. 

The little flame in Isagi’s chest was back. It licked him black and blue. 

“You got that look on your face again,” Bachira sing-songed as they left the gym.

“What look.”

“Ah, yes. The look,” Kunigami agreed behind him. Chigiri grinned.

“What.”

“That little wrinkle. Here.” Bachira’s finger poked Isagi’s temple. “You’re thinking about Rinrin, aren't you?”

“Rinrin?” balked Isagi.

“Ah, did I not mention? We’re lead partners now! I think. He walked up to me one day and asked me to be his belayer.” Bachira swept his bangs over his right eye for his best impression of one Itoshi Rin. “Might as well, since you’re hanging out being useless all the time.”

Kunigami whistled. "Sounds like him."

“Okay, first of all? You gotta be around the same weight to be partners,” Isagi pressed. "Second of all, really, Bachira?"

“He said, don’t worry. I won’t fall. Isn’t that crazy?” Bachira laughed. “He’s so crazy. He's just like me!”

“He’s nothing like you, Bachira."

“Damn, Isagi’s gonna kick him out the gym for stealing his belay partner,” Chigiri said.

“I’d kick him out for less, if I could,” Isagi tossed back. “He’s gotta stop sending all my problems. Seriously. He’s scaring off all the first-timers, too. And he takes way too long at the showers! I swear he has this whole beauty routine, like—guys? Aaand there they go.”

Save for Kunigami, Isagi was alone on the street; they’d lost Chigiri and Bachira a few ways back to some cracks in the wall. They looked mesmerized by it. The sign on the arc above read: HAKUHO HIGH. Isagi recognized its fancy brick design. Flemish pattern. 20 meters wide. Crimpy, but good for traverse. 

Chigiri was pulling out three fingers he’d plugged into a small gap in the wall. “That’s a great finger jam. You think you can do it?” 

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Bachira winked, already rolling up his pant leg.

“Sometimes, I hate climbers,” Kunigami despaired for Isagi to hear, but he was already whipping out his phone. Later, there’d be a reel of all four of them: climbing and slipping off the wall and climbing again, then falling all over each other in public.

When they were young, Bachira was always falling off of things. He’d gotten the itch first—always scaling trees, finding small notches in the wall, hanging upside off of ledges and promising the view, Isagi, the view! The first time they’d met, he’d chipped a tooth falling off the first-floor balcony when Marcus, the moneyed, hoity-toity class president, flung a shoe at him while Bachira tried to reach the school bell. 

As kids, that bell was the closest thing they had to a god. It dictated class, recess, nap time. Only Bachira had the gall to reach out and pluck it for himself, grinning as he made that slow ascent. Grinning, as the sidewalk opened his hands. As they called him freak. 

Later, after the parent-teacher meeting, the tearful fussing, Isagi had snuck out to tie Marcus’ shoe, his bag, and all his favorite things on the balcony like a flag. His teachers mistook it as another rebellion. Isagi meant it as a promise. 

You know what would’ve made that more fun? Isagi asked him.

Bachira, who had hunched into the void inside himself the moment his mother came, said, Tell me. Unfurling, a flower to its first sun.

No one was surprised to learn it wasn’t a phase for either of them. Bachira liked it all—lead climbing, bouldering, top rope—he was happy to be weightless, to be a body hanging off an abyss, better if it was just them two; tied to one another, braiding visions to top a wall and come back down to do it all over again. 

On the world's most awkward family dinner Isagi confessed he wanted to make plastic rocks for a living, Isagi had hoarded the apology in his mouth all day—until Bachira had whooped and said, mouth full of macaroni, you know Isagi, route setting at Blue Lock is a great idea!

It was a great idea. And it was turning out to be a great life. Bachira vaulted to the top of Hakuho High’s arete, pumped his fist, and for a fevered moment Isagi remembered that same hazard-eyed kid at twelve years old who matched his crazy, who leaned over the table and said, Make me fun routes, Isagi. The most fun. Chigiri caught his legs as Bachira jumped off. They rolled together in a haphazard tangle. Their laughs shattered the air. Kunigami grabbed them both by the scruff and grunted, fuck, cops, cops, move along.

Isagi would’ve been okay, if this was how the rest of his life looked like. He would've been fine. Then there was Rin's dumb little face again, rising to the surface. Bored, with a dash of pissed-the-fuck-off. Like he'd taken one look at Isagi's life, the small patch of green he’d been diligently watering and said, that’s it?

Lashes, Isagi thought, summer comp, climbing like dancing, outdoors. Then what? What comes next after all this?

“C’mon on, Isagi.” Bachira was grabbing him by the wrist, giggling as they ran down the opposite lane as cop cars blurred past, lights strobing red-blue-red. “Keep up!”

Lukewarm, Part One

Isagi found his answer, two hours after blindly pitching down the rabbit hole that was Itoshi Rin’s traditional climbing Youtube videos. Despite Rin having the online presence of a rock, leaving them to subsist on the odd compendium of short clips, competition recordings, and the even rarer interview accompanying his past partner, it was clear Rin’s magic was hereditary. None of those Itoshi boys moved right. Not like anyone with skin and blood. It was like watching water travel through rock: no second thoughts, just the cool forward rush, a bubbling under the surface. 

The video was five years old: Boulder Breakdown: Hueco V15 Itoshi Brothers. Isagi finished the video, and he knew.

Rin nodded at him now when Isagi smiled at him in greeting. Small jerk of the head, barely there. Small wins. Isagi blew the steam from his coffee mug and sat down to man the front desk for the early Saturday shift. Rin took his usual spot by the moonboard, began picking out some warm up equipment. I swear, it’s this whole thing, Bachira described. I fell asleep waiting for him once! But after, Rin’s skin looked warm, more alive, sweat gathered on his lashes, and the way he moved—

It took Rin an eternity to notice the new route on the 45-degree wall. The holds brilliant blue. He looked back at Isagi for a second. 

He took in a pull of coffee. Tried to go for nonchalant while Rin climbed but couldn’t help it—it was like looking away from a comet.

Seconds later, Rin’s shoes were hitting the mat. The sound was like a gunshot in the quiet of the gym. Rin pushed himself up, looking stunned.

Isagi tore his gaze away, back to his phone.

Then Rin made a second attempt. He spent ten seconds glaring at it, finding the path up this beast of a climb Isagi had agonized over, inspired from Rin’s various trad climbing feats on scorched crag and mossy overhang, this little homunculus Isagi knew could finally bite back. Isagi even threw in a fist jam in there, then two disgusting moves one normally wouldn’t find in an indoor gym, because it tested the body in a bad way. The last hold, if you made it there, was lethal. Isagi made sure of it. If you could wriggle your torso out of those three consecutive heel hooks, you’d need the perfect balance of tension and momentum to surge up and stand on the sloper without windmilling backward, into the abyss.

One move left. A big one. Rin made the upwards move. The edge of Rin’s shoe planted itself on the sloper, catching it. His calf tensed so hard Isagi tensed his own in sympathy. Two palms on the wall as a brace, feather-light.  

Clever, so maddeningly clever. But not enough.

Itoshi Rin didn’t fall. He slipped though; caught himself miraculously on another blue hold below, then let go—a little too fast this time. He landed on two feet—always on two feet—and had to roll twice to get upright.

Isagi couldn’t even hide it anymore. He was grinning right into his coffee.

“Oi. Routesetter.” Rin asked, palm landing flat on the front desk. The back of his head was in disarray, like he’d just dodged an electromagnetic field. "You set this?"

A slow sip. “My name’s on it, isn’t it?”

“So you did.” Rin's chest was rising, falling. “V13?”

“I don’t know, haven’t graded it yet.”

"You don't know."

Isagi’s smile edged out of its sheath. “What would you grade it?”

Rin’s nose flared, dodging the trick. “It’s not your usual style.”

“Call me inspired,” Isagi said. “Well? What’d you think?”

Rin’s chest was still heaving, proof of the effort he’d made. A bead of sweat unclipped itself from his chin and ran down the long column of his neck. The longer Isagi stared at it, the more flushed it grew. “Better than the shitty problems I’ve had to tolerate this past month.”

Isagi snorted. “Whatever you say. It’s the first time I’ve seen you not flash something. Don’t worry; that was a solid try though. Really smart climbing.”

“Thank god you think so,” Rin said.

Isagi bit back a laugh. “God, you really are like this all the time, huh? Don’t you get tired of it? Come on, get. There's more shiny stuff on the lead wall."

Rin’s annoyance didn’t abate, but he looked around the gym. “Where’s your fungal overgrowth?”

“Bachira never gets up this early. He’s coming in around twelve—but you only get him for an hour, tops. I’m doing lead later, too.”

“Get your own belayer.”

“He was my belayer first, asshole.”

“Don’t you have more boring walls to set?”

“You can’t even send this one, dude.”

At that, something in Rin’s eyes seemed to crystallize and go sharp. Isagi shouldn’t pitch forward, grinning wide and for show; he should be backing off, covering the tender in his throat. 

Rin said, “Then, better keep your eyes on me.”

Isagi fake-yawned. “What're you gonna do?”

Rin was already walking off. “I'm going to fucking send it. With one hand.”

Lukewarm, Part Two

To Isagi’s chagrin, Rin, did in fact, “fucking send it.” 

One-handed.

The video was in his phone. It burned a hole in his pocket. Isagi took it out to watch between shifts, twice or thrice a day, when he was in line at the grocery, when he was bolting candy-colored holds to the wall, when he wanted to remind himself how utterly, perfectly ruined his life was, now that Itoshi Rin stepped foot in it.

In the dark of his room, the video branded itself behind his eyes. 

Then, strangely and without warning, he imagined himself, in Rin's place. A phantom tracing over his moves. All the ways he'd reach the top. All the ways he'd do different.

Ridiculous. That was what Rin's climbing was like. And Isagi was a realist: there was nothing particularly impressive about him. He wasn't monstrously strong or endlessly creative. There was nothing safe about this train of thought either. Only air under him. Nothing good. Right here. Right here was a good place to stop, recoup. But the light was seductive. Even as Isagi slept, the backs of his eyes felt dry, his mouth parched. The lance in his gut kept turning, turning, glowing white-hot.

[iiboronii]

Ok so the aforementioned OC universe is known as IDPS, short for Interdimentional Pizza Shop (and Mercenary Work)! There is literal YEARS worth of lore and ideas put into this thing I love it so much :D

This version of Artic is the one in my pfp, and who the oc: artic tag refers to lol- Basically she's embodiment of the season of winter, a huge dragon enthusiast, and the much-needed voice of reason!!

She's not a "true" skeleton per se, like she's not undead, she's just kinda in the shape of one- Though she can disconnect and reattach her bones like a cartoon ouo

She has ice powers, but not in a "shooting ice beams out of your hands" kinda way, it's very contact based!

She can freeze things by touching them, she can make a layer of ice under her feet to sliiide around super fast, and sometimes she physically freezes up under stress so you have to wait for her to thaw out akjfds

She can pick up your drink and little ice cubes form in it, in whatever shape she wants! And when she cries the tears freeze up so there's just little bits of ice on her face you gotta wipe off

In IDPS there are these things called essences, which are the super concentrated (and super illegal) form of a concept, usually in liquid form like a potion. Like if you poured a drop of Essence of Princess onto an apple, it would turn all sparkly and have a big bow on it!

Artic just naturally has the Essence of Winter in her bones instead of blood or marrow! So she doesn't have to worry about vampires bc they'd just get a really bad brainfreeze lol

She mainly fights with dual blades made of ice, inspired by Monster Hunter's dual blades! She's a very strategic and speedy fighter, her movements almost dancelike in combat, and she likes to use the terrain to her advantage!

And since this is a multiverse story, she actually goes through the story mode of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, saving a village from a giant sea monster! The gal who gives out quests in that game, Aisha, is like an older sister to her hehe ouo

So Artic is a licensed monster hunter, and she is absolutely FASCINATED with these creatures and how they work. And after some shenanigans in her childhood town in the mountains, she even starts her own sanctuary to educate people and care for dragons that wouldn't make it in the wild!

Here she's shipped with Ink Sans, and they live together with her dragon pet / companion Blizzard ouo!

It's this really sweet little story about Ink showing this really anxious and sheltered girl the world, seeing all the potential and life in her eyes and wanting to see her blossom.

And there's a scene where Ink is trying to hide his condition (basically he's undead and needs to drink magic paints in order to feel and regulate emotions), bc so many people have left him after finding out. But Artic doesn't mind at all, after all it's still him and she likes him for who he is ouo

The two are basically opposites, but they work well together and they're just silly little guys in love ouo

Artic's main arc is about identity and archetypes. Like how winter is often portrayed as this harbinger of death that needs to be driven away, but Artic is really soft and sweet-

She wants so desperately to be a hero, but the archetypal hero is confident and charming and brave and super strong; everything she thinks she isn't. But in reality, she's the most heroic of her peers because of her kindness!

There's a whole theme of knights and dragons and legends, realizing that those notions of what she should or shouldn't be don't define her, because people are more complex and nuanced than that ouo

THIS IS SO COOL OUGHHHH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT

My FAVORITE part is that there's literal years of lore built into this thing. Clearly it has been crafted with nothing but love and care in mind and I think that's beautiful.

I didn't even realize that was Artic in your pfp?? That's so cute I love it so so much :DD (Is there a high definition version I can look at? I wanna see her clearer!)

ARTIC'S POWERS ARE SO NEAT IN THIS!!!! I want heart shaped ice cubes that's actually so cute. And the way her abilities affect the way she experiences stress and cries? Chef's kiss. Do her ice powers affect her whenever she experiences other intense emotions? And also can the thawing out process be helped by blankets and stuff or does she just stay frozen? Oooh or does she just continuously keep refreezing bc of the stress? Like trying to thaw her out helps a little but not for long and not much? SORRY I'M JUST SO CURIOUS I REALLY LIKE THE CONCEPT OF HER POWERS AFFECT HER BASED ON EMOTIONS THAT'S SO FREAKING COOL-

And essences!!!!!! Oughhh I really like the concept (pun intended)!!!!! Is there an essence for every concept or just certain ones? And vampires getting brainfreeze LMFAO. Can you drink an essence or does that turn your organs into the concept? And is Artic the only person with an essence in her bones or do other people have it?

THE COMBAT YES OMFG I CAN SEE IT SO CLEARLY,,, STRATEGIC AND SPEEDY AND DANCELIKE I LOVE IT!!! She's so intelligent using the terrain!!! I can see her in my head looking around, eyes darting quickly to survey the area as she narrowly avoids an attack before making her next move!! Effortlessly she slashes her opponent when they're not looking due to her adaptability and quick thinking.

And I'm so sorry I don't know anything about Monster Hunter whatsoever </3 BUT I DID SOME RESEARCH FOR YOU OFC AND IT LOOKS LIKE SM FUN???? I didn't get much of the story aspect of it but it seems great omg. Anyways Artic's curiosity is always something I love seeing!! I can see her killing this giant sea monster (Lagiacrus, I presume?) and then being like "wait a moment- I know this thing was terrorizing you all but I want a closer look at it-" AND FOUND FAMILY MY BELOVED OUGHHH ARTIC AND AISHA <333 THAT'S SO CUTE,,, and the sanctuary <33. Artic is so caring it's so sweet!! It's completely refected in her character and everything she does, I think. Not just in IDPS but across the board! Like. She saves this village from a sea monster and she wants dragons to be taken care of because she's just like that natrually. And even in like Buttermilk Daydreams she just wants to take care of The Onceler as best as she can!!!! And in the Biggering AU even though she's MAD at this man she's STILL telling him that they'll figure something out (they always do). Sorry I'm literally IN LOVE with the threads that stitch your AUs together I got so sidetracked LMFAO-

But anyways Artic and Ink Sans being opposites is SO GOOD AAAAAA- Artic feels so deeply and Ink doesn't feel at all without the paints. Artic has been sheltered and Ink has seen too much. And there's Artic's sweet and caring side coming out again!! Ink is afraid to tell Artic about his condition, but Artic could care less.

ARTIC SELF DISCOVERY YES YES YES YES YES!!!! SHE DOESN'T NEED TO GIVE INTO THE STEREOTYPES!!!!!! She's not winter even though she has its essence flowing within her. She's a hero even though she doesn't look like it. And her kindness being the thing that makes her most heroic?? I'M IN LOVE. This is what I was talking about earlier!!!! She's just so caring and sweet!!! It's something she uses to her advantage!!!!

[mmatopgunart]

Day 18: I spent some time revisiting and polishing up the look of my favorite drow NPC, Nadia!  She came from a prominent Drow family that was fairly high up on the food chain but spent much of her life struggling to resist the call of the Dark Maiden.  After meeting a certain elf that was taken prisoner by her family, she ultimately decided to help him and his party escape, joining them, to surface away from Lolth’s web.  Nadia grew up being trained in various styles of combat but upon answering Eilistraee’s call, she began to focus more exclusively on the sword and developed a very dancelike style.  It was cool to use one of these days just to just play around and doodle, and I’m hoping this will lead to some more substantial art of her in the future! linktr.ee

[enden-k]

saw ppl call kavehs animation ugly and boring on one side, the others finding them great on the other so here i go explain why i like them and find them fitting for his character bc i like kaveh a normal amount ✌

its prob the same thing with zhongli enjoyers legit getting mad hes shown as a "friendly gentle grandpa" in the game bc it doesnt fit their hcs (trust me, i saw ppl on twt being all upset bc hes the opposite of their violent egoist zhongli hc) i feel like some people really hold onto their hcs and beliefs of a character they think of them as true and canon and get super annoyed or mad when it gets disproven (which i dont understand really)

anyway, most ppl hate kavehs animations bc they were hoping to see him wield the claymore and show hes stronger and buffer than al haitham. ppl ofc are free to think of kaveh however they want; if they want him more muscled or tall or lifting the claymore then thats all fine, i literally dont care. i just wanna ramble about how i think his animation is actually not as boring and ugly as they call it, but pretty fitting for his character :]

first of all that "silly briefcase" he holds onto is actually a lil robot friend called mehrak and it does the attacks for him. kaveh controls mehrak and how and where the attack strikes. it keeps him free and nimble and i already yelled about how beautiful his animation look bc!!! they are

his movement is very clean and measured, not a single step out of it. at the same time its very artsy, the little jump he does, how he keeps a certain rhythm and how he goes with his knees (i cant find the proper english words to describe what i wanna say in my language) - its all very similar to a dance. hes so light and graceful on his feet

kaveh is an architect; he was a ksharewar student, the school of technology and theory, and he appreciates and pursuits aesthetics and arts. he is both creative and logical; its why he can keep up with al haitham (who was at haravatat btw, meaning he studied linguistics/semiotics. they really are opposites yet matching in any sense huh)

after all architecture is pretty much mathemical form of art and you can see that so clearly in the swings the claymore does: it looks like a ruler or divider for geometrical/technical drawing (architect kaveh) and its especially gorgeous after his burst, showing pretty flowery patterns (kaveh pursuing aesthetics)

(↑from here)

so seeing his animations as a mix of measured steps and dancelike movement and all the shapes of his swings, i think it fits him as this creative, logical person perfectly. sm thought put into it

anw, this is what i thought when i saw his animations, so im a bit confused some ppl seem to hate it just bc hes not whacking people with a claymore violently and show muscle. i think this fits him perfectly (altho it would have been so funny if he would have wielded the claymore with his slender body type akjcbjk)

btw im not judging or talking bad about anyone tho, no matter if they like kavehs animations or not. just wanted to show theres thought put into it to make it match kaveh as the person he is :]

kavetham view (no matter if you like seeing them romantic or platonic): it also adds more to the sun and moon boyfriends opposites with similar traits complementing each other thing with al haitham (theres a ton between them but thats an essay for another time if u want) → kavehs measured, clean movements vs haithams violent, kinda feral movements 🙏

[supercantaloupe]

Genuinely curious, why is Beethoven's 8th Symphony your favorite? It's a fun pick for favorite Beethoven symphony so I'm interested to hear :D

okay so i can't deny that a strong influence on how much i like a symphony comes from personal experience with it, to wit, i played beethoven 8 in my freshman year of college right before the pandemic lockdowns hit. not every symphony that i love is something i've played before but admittedly most of my favorites are. but i do think that practicing a specific piece for weeks in preparation for a performance is part of what leads me to enjoying them so much -- it forces me to live with a piece for a long time getting to know its ins and outs and intricacies, and i can appreciate it on that much deeper a level as a result

anyway. i find beethoven 8 deeply charming. i think it's underrated as far as beethoven symphonies go, especially since it doesn't fit some kind of perceived model of continuous innovation. what i mean is that 5, 6, 7, and 9 in their own ways have all been cited as massively innovative and influential on the symphony as a genre, and present a (nearly) unbroken string of progress leading up to the apotheosis of form that is 9. i regret that i can't find the source for this right now but i remember in class before discussing how wagner considered himself to be beethoven's true successor and that his symphonies paved the way for his own music dramas by developing instrumental music and combining with other forms of art into the ultimate gesamptkuntswerk: 5 includes that all-important recurring motif in every movement, 6 incorporates the drama of a program, 7 incorporates dance, and 9 finally brings in voice.

now as usual i think wagner was talking a small load of shit. for one thing opera had included all these elements across europe for two at least centuries prior to beethoven, and beethoven himself famously flopped at writing opera. i also think calling symphony 7 some kind of innovative dance symphony a real stretch; it's got dancelike rhythms, sure, but so do...most symphonies? and he completely skips over 8 like it doesn't exist. because it doesn't fit the romantic idea of progress and innovation and artistic genius, i suppose. it's definitely the least romantic and most classical of beethoven's late symphonies, for sure. but i don't think that's a bad thing at all.

it sticks very closely to the conventional symphonic structure. it has a lightness and a cheerfulness that makes it sound almost more at home among beethoven's earlier periods. but it's still got the compositional maturity of his late career as well! it uses contrasting themes and dynamics expertly. it's got some of my personal favorite counterpoint in all of beethoven's orchestral output. it's just so...playful and joyful and bright. the first movement is so bright, the second movement feels like it was copied directly from haydn's playbook, the trio of the third has probably the most gorgeous horn and clarinet duet ever written,and then the finale is just this great bow to tie the whole thing up in, it's like the exact perfect middle point between haydn and mendelssohn somehow...

now, i am biased because the late 18th/early 19th century is my very favorite era for orchestral music. i am a classical era bitch more than any other, but that grey area at the tail end when the romantics began to push on the boundaries and expand them and explore what's possible, that's the sweet spot for me. and i think beethoven 8 really encapsulates that perfectly because it's smack dab in the middle of that point in time, just on the cusp of the romantic era. it's pushing forward as always in its own ways. but it's also still so cognizant of and grateful towards the galant style that shaped it, the classical giants on whose shoulders it was built. it's just about everything i want out of a symphony.

beethoven himself referred to it endearingly as his "little symphony in f", differentiating it from his much larger and more ambitious/innovative symphony no. 6 "pastoral" in the same key. he even liked it better than 7, despite 7 being more popular with audiences. well, who am i to disagree with the man himself?

[ask meme]

[bigfan-fanfic]

Waterbender bf " So this form of fire bending is dancing?" Zuko " Yeah... Its strange though. its not something that taught as fire bending form." Water bender " Probably because someone wanted to be seen as a show of power vs expression." Zuko " Now that you mention it... Using fire bending for anything outside of combat is pretty rare."

I think we get an amazing foreshadowing of that with the Firelight Fountain in Ba Sing Se - it's probably Zuko's most impressive display of firebending skill in the series before the final episodes, and Zuko very clearly centers himself beforehand, and then delivers muted/silent firebending with enough precision to not only light these tiny wicks, but to not miss and damage or hurt anyone or draw attention with the sound of flames.

His movements are quick and precise, but they feel like a midway point between his fighting style and the more fluid dancelike forms he uses later. And it's no coincedence that this is firebending used out of combat, for no other purpose than beauty and enjoyment - you can't even truly call it utilitarian either. Almost by necessity, this is bending as a form of expression, as a way of interacting with the world.

And in the way that Toph engages with her bending not just as a martial art but the way she literally sees and interacts with the world, the way Katara insists on bending as a cultural tradition and her way of connecting with her people, this foreshadows Zuko understanding bending as a way of healing his people's culture and using bending as self-expression and not just a combat tool.

[dailycharacteroption]

Retrograde Revision 2: Arcane Duelist

(art by NatteRavnen on DeviantArt)

And now we move on to the arcane duelist, an archetype I was somewhat dismissive of my first time writing it. However, I’d now like to take the time to look over it with fresh eyes.

The first thing I noticed looking back at this archetype is that some of it’s abilities are almost a prototype for the powers we would later see with the magus class, and overall, one could imagine this being a sort of proto-magus in general, albeit one built from a bardic perspective and origin.

Indeed, this archetype is all about using performance to bolster one’s combat prowess and that of others through the graceful dance of combat, tying into how many combat styles are almost dancelike in their motions, and in some cases, are also literally dances. “bladedancing” has long been a thing in the hobby, though others might choose to blend their combat with other performances, using song or oratory to control their own breathing, or even acting or comedy in place of dance to coordinate their movements, particularly in a way that seems deceptively graceless in the latter case.

Additionally, these mystical duelists learn arcane secrets to briefly enchant their blade similar to the way a magus does, but theirs only lasts as long as they maintain it, making it mostly useful in short bursts.

Honestly, now that we have the benefit of time, seeing how this archetype might relate to the magus class in terms of theory and expression could be very fun to explore.

At the most basic level, these bards learn how to focus just enough of their magic into their weapons to help them pierce foes that resist mundane weaponry.

However, they also learn a variety of performances to enhance their ability as well. The first let them call out a rallying cry or song to bolster the spirits of allies, helping them overcome fear and despair. (technically there is nothing explicitly call a “despair effect” in Pathfinder, but we can assume this is things similar to doom or the crushing despair spell).

The second, however, is the real meat of the class, letting them enhance their own weapon, be it melee, ranged, or even an appendage, with magical power, even tailoring the effects from a short list.

Among the most powerful, however, can grant this magical blessing to allies as well, albeit with reduced potency the more allies they bolster the weapons of this way.

These duelists also learn various combat techniques, specifically drawing upon those that make them effective against other casters in close quarters as well as those that help them break the defenses of especially tough creatures.

Additionally, they invest power into their weapon to make it a bonded item similar to that which a wizard uses, letting them cast one extra spell from their arsenal that day, and of course letting them enchant it without other training.

They also slowly learn how to cast effectively while wearing heavier and heavier armor, allowing many such duelists to become as armored warriors while still retaining their magical ability.

This archetype is interesting in how it sets up many of the abilities we see in magus class, and if you wanna just say that magus replaces arcane duelist that is perfectly fine, but I think there is still a place for it at the table. If you do decide to utilize it, I would recommend taking extra performance a few times so that have plenty of daily rounds for your weapon enhancing. However, remember that this does not replace the classic Inspire Courage/Competence/Heroism and so on performances, so you can easily switch between personal buffing and buffing the whole party as needed, perhaps reserving the weapon enhancement for when they actually get involved in duels or other one-on one fights. Also, don’t forget that their bonus feats are heavily geared towards being anti-caster, making them useful for singling out and disrupting spellcasting enemies.

In a way, this archetype also taps into the dilletante aspect of the bard, as we can see aspects of wizardry and what would become the magus in them. They might belong to a dedicated style that blends these things together, or they might be unique individuals with their own reasons and history for blending these aspects. All of which are interesting questions to ask about the character and the setting around them.

The so-called “chaplains” of the orc nation of Golvakk are not affiliated with any religion at all, but are master arcane duelists, bellowing out war-cries to their bloodthirsty gods, bolstering warbands such as the one that now looms on the hills above Golvakk’s verdant coastal nation, Irdiz, where the heroes have been acquiring the favor of the king. They must fight if they hope to continue swaying him.

Hardgg Oakbreaker is the last of his clan, an ancient dwarven lineage stretching back hundreds of years, reknowned for their skill in fighting surface elves and drow. After the shaky alliance with the elves solidified, the Oakbreaker prestige shriveled, now regulated to defending against drow incursions from below. He won’t speak of the rest of his clan, except to say that they have perished, and has been seen headed towards elven lands. Is the old soldier returning to the sites of old battles to reminisce, or does he have something darker and more foolish in mind?

Rumor on the Bitter Coast speaks of a strange masked man wearing mithral armor and wielding both magic and longsword together. They say he travels up and down the coast, hunting down criminals, his every clever quip seeming to make his blows bite deeper. Who is this mysterious man, and why is he never in the same place as the local merchant lord?

[shadelorde]

I’ve been seeing a few takes on human!Vaatu all over the internet and I wanted to add mine to the mix.

So here’s the Guy: (tumblr will. Destroy the quality so I’d recommend clicking on the image)

(Some GIFS and an explanation of my design under the cut!)

So Vaatu has a rather vain arrogant air. Bro preens. He monologues at Wan for several minutes straight about how great he is. (“I have lived ten thousand lifetimes before the first of your kind crawled out of the mud!” I mean.) He’s like if my cat could speak, he has the biggest Vain Cat vibes of all time. So I gave him the biggest grin and an elegant posture.

He also moves in a very dancelike swirling way, with his tail and tendrils settling in behind:

So I designed his clothes to taper much like his spirit form, and gave him a leaner form. (Raava, on the other hand. She’s buff. She picked up Vaatu and threw his ass into the ground and called it good.)

He’s also pretty. Why? Because I felt like it.

[ladyof1000masks]

Part One because I'm tired as fuck and want to go to bed. Inspired by the song "Shot Through the Heart."

Int. Arkham Asylum - Night (Post Arkham Knight)

A figure wreathed in dancing shadows watches the cell block below. Their orange eyes aglow like Jack-o-lanterns stalk the patrolling guards with predatory keenness. A palpable anger emanates from the figure as their eyes land on the cell at the far end of the block. The bodies of fallen guards lay at their feet.

SCARECROW/JONATHAN CRANE cowers in the corner of his cell jabbering to himself. His milky blue eyes dart fearfully to the minutest movement outside his cell.

SCARECROW: Bat... Ashes... Piano.

Cunty Guard: (bangs his fist on the glass of Crane's cell.) Shut up in there!

SCARECROW: (Screams.)

Cunty Guard: Not so scary now are you?

Guard: Batman really did a number on him. Not much left of the poor bastard now.

Cunty Guard: (Laughs.) Poor bastard? He's lucky Waller doesn't let us beat him more.

Guard: Yeah, remember when Chuck beat him last week? Crane shit himself - literally.

Cunty Guard: I love my job! Nothing like unleashing my aggression on these scumbags.

The figure kicks one of the bodies off the catwalk. The body lands in front of the two guards with a wet crack. It stares at them with melted eyes and a sloughing face.

Cunty Guard: What the fuck?

Guard: Chuck!? Who did this!?

The figure jumps down. A petit red-headed woman about 5'0 lands on top of Chuck spraying a little bit of his juice onto Cunty guard's shoes.

Mystery Woman: (In a slight southern accent think southern belle) Hiya boys.

Both guards rush the woman. She parries their blows with elegant dancelike movements. Her supernatural flexibility makes her seem uncanny and inhuman, unnerving the guards.

Shot through the heart And you're to blame Darlin', you give love a bad name

------------------------------------------------------

To Be FUCKING continued. It's a rough draft/kinda outline. Sorry for the cringe.

[artmialma]

Robert Henri (1865–1929) American

“Figure in Motion”      1913

Robert Henri (1865–1929)

Created for the famed Armory Show of 1913, Figure in Motion presents a nude woman in a dancelike pose; it evokes a single moment in a movement that presumably will continue. 

Henri’s expressive brushwork complements the figure’s sense of motion and emphasizes the active nature of painting itself. He portrays the female nude as a modern individual. 

Her fluid gesture, as she raises herself on her toes, recalls the emerging art of modern dance as pioneered by the acclaimed performer and choreographer Isadora Duncan (1877–1927), whose work Henri avidly followed. In this work, he suggests that the relentless motion and change characterizing modernity are synonymous with the dynamism of life itself.

[strangepersonthefirst]

This is probably dumb-

I LOVE naming my astral spells and my astral objects. I don't fucking care that I sound like a cringe idiot. It is LITERALLY NEVER when you get to name something the fucking "Void Paintbrush" and have it be remotely accurate. Here are a few more of my all-time favorites: Harbour's Authority: A weapon in 20 parts, designed for defense of the harbour. Dance of the All-Consuming: A dancelike fighting style revolving around offensive energy vampirism. Aura Enhancement: More simple- Pushing your aura down into your astral body and using it to directly drag out more energy. Domain Expansions: Based off JJK, I made like 5 of these things based around various epithets. I even have various technique subnames! Void Paintbrush {Repaint my will.} : A use of the VPB where I use it to rewrite any spell I cast to be mildly more intense. Dance of the All-Consuming {Eat with your hands.} : FUCKING PUN NAME. also. I'm not gonna explain this one. it's a semi-secret art!