#it's a poor example but you get the gist

[crossmyheartwonttellnoother]

hc that andrew laughs but only at neil's deranged jokes

[maxzinn]

off topic but also on topic its so clear that the genshin/star rail (saying both cause theres a large overlap) have no capability of thinking.

there are so many fics where *reader* somehow becomes a (sex)slave or is forced to do horrible shit and just general dead dove behavior. the fact that the author used INGAME LORE, CANON BACKSTORY FOR THE CHARACTER proves how braindead so many people are.

like people try to free slaves/captors in media isnt a new thing. theres a lot of art of that angelhusk ship where one gambles for the others freedom (never watched it but its an example)

like having slaves/captors in media isnt new and never has been but the only reason people truely care is because its a hoyoverse game and cant handle anything darker or complex then a PG rating

(sorry anon, I got carried away with this one tee-hee)

YOU'RE SO REAL FOR THIS!!! y'know I was sooo confused when people started screaming for blood when the authors are using his IN-GAME LORE in their fics and then claims that the people who enjoyed writing those have "white-knight syndrome" like cmon sjsadhjg you're giving me a fucking stroke.

I'll say it again, wanting to give slave aventurine or someone a better life DOESN'T mean they have "white-knight syndrome" when they have good intentions!!! We were all were crying for him and his tragic past, we all wanted to comfort him, and we at some point also wished for his salvation and the betterment of his life. These people need to stop throwing these "white-knight syndrome" accusations cuz it's definitely not about that. And like you said, it was his IN-GAME LORE. I already expected some authors to write about reader saving him from his slavery and there's nothing wrong with that! Cuz please, don't tell me you won't help the guy out of his abusive owner, let's be fr here.

Like you also said, many have been writing yandere/heavy dark themes about reader being literally SA'd and R'd by said character (do not tell me you guys haven't read all those fics where Aven was our debt collector and in paying our debt, he noncon or manipulated us into sleeping with him 💀) and now they wanna talk about morals?

And please, don't even try bringing up Romania or irl people in here. IT'S A FICTIONAL RACE IN A FICTIONAL STORY. it may be "inspired" like they said, but it's not directly addressing Romania!!

I get their point alright, I truly do. Like I said in my other post, I do not condone the sex slave! aus about aventurine and the master/slave bdsm cuz his story truly hurt me and I'm uncomfortable sexualizing his slavery when I know about his story and what happened to him as a slave. But I won't go as far as to actually send death threats to those authors and act like a hypocrite💀 people can write what they want to write and I don't have to read those writings if I don't wanna.

Just to say, I'm a yandere/dark-content enjoyer as well, it's just that I draw the line when it comes to aventurine cuz I just wanna cuddle and dote on that man and give him all the love and affection in the world. but like I said, am no hypocrite as well. (sorry if I can't explain it very well but I hope you get the gist of it)

It's just funny and baffling how people are like "eww this person wrote a fic about reader buying slave aventurine so they can be a good owner to him".... this is leaving me speechless how they turned an act with good intentions into something malicious... that poor author doesn't even have bad intentions when writing that fic.

When you apply their logic, it's like saying "this person adopted an abused child so that they can be a good parent to that child, disgusting" do they even realize how stupid they sound??? 😭

[toujokaname]

Card shuffle / Episode 2

Author: Akira

Characters: Rinne, Tatsumi, Aira, Mayoi

"Why'd you change so much, Rinne-senpai?"

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[ Read on my site for a better viewing experience using Ois~su ♪ ]

Season: Winter

Location: Training Room

Rinne: Anyway, yeah.

For that reason, we've been dragged into this fateful (?) showdown (pfft) between ALKALOID and Crazy:B! Talk about being saddled with a stupid plan!

Honestly, it's a royal pain in the ass to deal with, since it was clearly cooked up by some moron who doesn't know jack about us.

You guys aside, we Crazy:B are still at a disadvantage in ES 'cause of what we did in the summer. We reap what we sow, but still?

Apparently, ES wants to make this Matrix thing into a big event that'll mark the end of their first year of existence—

And we gotta do our best to hype it up, right?

If we disobey, well, you guys may be fine, but we might actually get the boot this time.

Can't say I'm thrilled about caving in to threats, but... Really, what has ES ever done for us?

Did they actually think we'd be all like "oh, yay, we're so pumped to work for ES!" with stars in our eyes? That nonsense's fine in dreams, but they need a reality check already, hm?

Tatsumi: ...You've been harsher than usual for a while now. Rinne-san, do you have any particular thoughts on this plan?

Though it's admittedly a flawed project, I'd consider it an honor to be entrusted with a major event.

Will this, too, be made fun of as a model answer from a goody-two-shoes?

Rinne: Ahh... Well, no need to worry 'bout that.

It's just that, back when I was an idol under my own name, there was a lot going on.

Aira: ...?

Rinne: Anyway, seems like ES is dead set on having ALKALOID and Crazy:B duke it out no matter what.

Tatsumi: Yes... It appears they want to create that kind of wrestling match atmosphere.

Aira: In reality, we're not even on bad terms... I mean, we had some issues in the summer, but honestly, we barely cross paths at work.

Mayoi: Our target audiences are completely different... The so-called issues in the summer largely revolved around aiding Hiiro-san's efforts to stop Rinne-san from going on a rampage.

From a personal standpoint, we harbor no ill will towards Crazy:B.

Aira: Though we're at least aware of each other, since we debuted at the same time.

If anything, Crazy:B's constant blunders make us look better in comparison, so it's kinda handy.

Rinne: Mhm, mhm. But see, that's a problem for ES! They really want us to be archenemies!

And that's when the focus turned to me and Otouto-kun. We're blood-related brothers, each leading Crazy:B and ALKALOID.

"The Amagi brothers have always had a bad relationship, and they formed their units just to spite each other—"

Something like that. Seems they wanna make a scandalous scenario that the public's gonna eat right up.

Aira: Even though you and Hiro-kun actually seem rather close... I mean, for some reason, he weirdly looks up to such a scumbag of an older brother.

Rinne: Oi, oi, don't call me a scumbag. If I'm not the "foul-mouthed character" type, fans might get disappointed.

Aira: Every once in a while, you put on airs of a snobby senior idol...

Anyway, I think I get the gist of it?

ES wants to create a scenario where Hiro-kun and Rinne-senpai are at odds 'cause it fits their script.

Rinne: Right, right. That's why I became ALKALOID's leader this time as part of that scenario.

We'll swap units temporarily to prove ourselves and brag about beating our sibling.

So, for example, what happens if I make ALKALOID more successful than it was when Otouto-kun was leading?

It'd prove I'm better than Otouto-kun, yeah?

That's the kinda thing the fictional Rinne Amagi-kun would say.

ES always wants to play the poor victims being pushed around by that kinda selfish idol, huh? Gyahahahaha! ☆

Even if this plan backfires, ES can still escape responsibility. Maaan, I've gotta hand it to ES, still as shitty as ever ♪

Aira: Such a foul mouth... Yet you're the one telling off others... Isn't that why you're hated and forced into these harassment projects?

Rinne: I keep harping on the same thing over and over, but I'm totally fine being "that kinda character."

Aira: When you first debuted, you were more of a pure, orthodox idol... Why'd you change so much, Rinne-senpai?

Rinne: ......

[ ☆ ]

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[re-dracula]

I was listening to another podcast at some point a while back where they had an interview with you guys to advertize re: dracula coming out. And you guys said some stuff about Lucy that hit a weird nerve with me as a history buff.

So the VA described her as polyamorous, and it triggered some conversation about how her character gets pretty maligned for it. And that last part is an adaptation issue not present in the original text.

See, victorian era courtship did not come with a presumption of exclusivity the way modern dating does. You were not off the market until you were formally engaged to be married. So the general gist of it for upper and middle class folks (like the Dracula characters most likely are) is that there is this thing called the social season. And during the season there would be all kinds of parties and events where you would meet people. And the general structure was that if you went to a dance, you should dance with a lot of different people. Get a sense of the eligible bachelors/bachelorettes. And if you were a young man, you would be expected to go and visit each of the young women you danced with that night at some point during the week after. If you hit it off, you would then start courting (visiting back and forth attending other events together etc). But, as I said above, it wasn't exclusive. So a man would court a few women, and a woman would be pretty disappointed to only be courted by one man. As the season went on couples would get engaged (anding any other ongoing courtships).

So Lucy's situation, in its original context, goes something like this: Lucy is pretty and charming. A perfect victorian maid. She has many suitors. Three of them decide she's the perfect women for them. They each want to pop the question but they are good gentlemen so they agree to all ask her the same day so she can choose between them on her own terms. She is thrilled because of course she is. Any woman in her position would be! But! Before she can make her choice Dracula comes to steal her away. She gets terribly sick and dies. But then she is not dead after all. She came back all wrong and corrupted. Even such a bright, innocent, young woman as Lucy is not immune! It's tragic what she becomes.

By the time early film adaptations roll around though, courtship was mostly replaced by dating especially in America where it hadn't been so institutionalized. And now there is an assumption of exclusivity. Those poor men being strung along by that harlot Lucy when in the end there can be only one husband. No wonder she fell victim to Dracula's charms! And like, that was the exact opposite of the point in the books. But the culture was too different by that point to read the same way. So Hollywood made Lucy an example instead of a victim.

But yeah. I heard the polyamorous comment, and had a weird mix of "yay poly representation! That rarely happens," and "put that woman back in context, or so help me!" So when I saw you guys had a blog, I had to send a little mini rant. Feel free to disregard.

Thanks for the historical context! It is hard with historical texts to keep from bringing your modern ideas to our interpretations, but as an almost completely queer crew, it was hard to ignore the subtext in:

LUCY: Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.

That’s what we’re talking about, we’re talking about subtext in a very sexy very queer-coded book. I believe the VA you’re talking about is Beth Eyre? As a professor, she knows this too and is playing with it in her performance. And she does brilliantly.

We’re not changing the text, as we’ve said before, we’re just having fun with what’s already there.

We’ll talk some more about this in our bonus eps, which I’m very excited about.

[danthediamondminecart]

yO

guess who couldn't hold it in

(I WONT SPAM I PROMISE 😃😃😃😭😭😭👍👍👍👍)

I just wanted to ask a teeny tiny lil question, can you give us a semi-detailed summary of how you potray the BLSMP battlers????

Like how do u wanna show them in the series, cuz i have a feeling we r potraying them VERY differently, and i wanna know how YOU think of them before i start to theorize once again >:3 (hopefully i will soon)

And also, ships. Can you ramble abt rbb ships?? U said u were gonna ramble abt some??? Im still waitin' Xd

Cuz some of them r so weird dude like WHAT 😭😭😭😭🤚🤚🤚🤚

I’ll start with the ships question first, because I feel like the second question is a hell of a loaded one. Basically, I’m not a shipper, and don’t really get it. But ship and let ship, don’t ship and let ship, as long as you’re not being an asshole about it, I won’t get upset. Hence why I haven’t made one of ‘em ‘ranking ships’ lists, because I really don’t care.

Won’t stop me from having capital-O-Opinions, though. My friends will know that TanqrCraft became a bit of a NOTP for me because of its overabundance and some poor interactions with the forefathers of the ship (2021/2022 RBB fandom was wild, guys, be glad you weren’t there), and my theory on PinkNebula feels controversial, as I've said. I am slowly working on the PinkNebula essay, but it’s not a priority, so it might not come out for a while.

As for the second question, as much as I love rambling about characterisation, I think attempting to show how I characterise all fourteen of BLSMP’s main cast (including Jimmy and Russo) would be quite difficult, especially trying to keep it short. I do have my hypothetical 'bios' for a hypothetical ref sheet, but those are as much about their backstories and set-up than it is about their personalities.

So…who’s up for a drabble under the cut? This is something that I feel like definitely happened during BLSMP, but it doesn’t fit anywhere during the story, plus you know the cast, so you don’t need a scene like this.

Perhaps I'll post this as supplemental material (like, in a separate 'work') on AO3?

“You know, Russo.” Jimmy pipes up, snapping Russo out of his thoughts. “Remind me. How many Robloxians got trapped again?”

“Twelve.” Russo answers. “How come?”

“Well, you know. I don’t know any of them, and I kinda want to know a little bit about your friends! Well, I know, BigB, but you get the gist.”

“Jim, if I attempted to explain my friends to you, we’d be here all day.” Russo chuckles a bit.

“Okay, well, why don’t we make it a game?” Jimmy suggests. “You attempt to explain your friends to me in 3 sentences or less.”

“Oh?” Russo raises an eyebrow, so Jimmy elaborates.

“Like, uh, using BigB as an example. Kind but mischievous, enjoys mucking about, cares deeply for his friends.”

“Hmm. Okay, I can do that, though I’m probably going to go over the limit. Repeatedly.” Russo takes a second to think, before starting. “We’ll go in alphabetical order:”

“AshleyTheUnicorn, RB Battles S2 finalist. Fearless, reckless, goes headfirst into battle, always encouraging her friends to be the same, BigB, we both know and love him, but he’s a little quieter around Robloxians from what it sounds like, DenisDaily, also a finalist - can charm anyone that he meets with just his smile, generally more aloof unless it’s a matter to do with someone’s wellbeing, DylanHyper, though we usually just call him Hyper - yet another finalist, prone to nervousness but also the smartest person in a room, if he's got a plan for something he'll have considered every detail, Flamingo, aka Albert, lover of chaos and breaker of rules, the type of person to kidnap people for fun, but does love his companions in his own way-"

“Slow down, what do you mean kidnap-"

“KreekCraft! Another finalist and the former victor. Jack-of-all-trades, super confident as long as you don’t question him and his determination is unmatched (even when it gets unhealthy), LeahAshe, finds it easy to make friends and teases them all, generally likes to act as both a mediator and as the cause of strife, adaptable but cowardly at times, MeganPlays, likes to know everything she can about everything and is always curious, a bit of a pessimist, and tends to hold grudges for longer than she can even remember, PinkLeaf, quiet and dislikes social situations, but with one heck of a temper so don’t anger him (we all think he’ll be the favourite to win Season 3), prefers to run away from fights both verbal and physical, iAmSanna, or just, well, Sanna, unafraid to speak her mind even with a sword pointed at her, super perceptive and spots everything, prone to intense emotions of whatever variety, Sketch, an ‘act-first-ask-questions-later’ kind of guy, likes to mess about and has a tendency to end up as a bit of a load, will look out for his team though always himself first, Finally, there’s TanqR, current reigning champion. Normally laid back and chill but has a fiery side, likes his control, likes the fact that people are intimidated by him, would rather solve his problems through punching.”

“Okay, there’s a lot you glossed over there, but I won’t bring it up.” Jimmy’s still reeling from the ‘kidnaps people for fun’ comment. “Ooh, ooh, actually, do me! You’re good at the 3-sentences thing, do me!”

“Hmm…only if you do me. SolidarityGaming, you’re, hm…prone to yelling and making mistakes, but more courageous than you first appear, and dedicated to whatever cause you choose.”

“Aww, that’s…you know, with the way that started, I really wasn’t expecting you to be nice there.” Jimmy admits, somewhat bashful. “As for you…well, you’re optimistic at all times and clearly will do whatever it takes to protect your friends, though I have to say, you’ve got some wild ideas.”

“I’m going to take that last part as a compliment.” Russo jokes, leading Jimmy to giggle.

“Well, your friends sound like a colourful bunch.”“We’ve gotten pretty good at controlling the more chaotic personalities. Uh, not perfect, but pretty good.” Russo replies.

“I certainly hope so.”

[mbti-notes]

Hi. I'm a software developer. I like thinking up clever algorithms, ways so solve problems and so on, and I'm not bothered by complexity. My weak side is implementation: I literally get hung up on bringing ideas to life in this world because of arithmetic and similar "low-level" stuff. When working in team, taking charge, managing people and solving problems with no known solution is easier than implementing what is known. How do I overcome this downside? My type is xNTJ.

I have discussed these learning issues before because this is a common problem for Ns, see the section on Learning & Study. When learning, the typical N relies heavily on intuition to get by, for example, through: being a good guesser; only remembering information long enough to pass and/or practicing just enough to pass; believing that grasping the "gist" is good enough; only attending to information as long as it keeps one's interest; only performing as well as is necessary to look good in comparison to others; etc. In essence, they don't realize that their way of learning is very superficial and leaves them lacking a strong foundation of knowledge.

Not until they are properly put to the test is it revealed that they: have many gaps in knowledge; have a poor grasp of basic details/skills; don't know the methods/procedures inside and out like they should; have no reliable way to structure information and retrieve it quickly; don't know how to apply ideas and concepts; often waste too much time reinventing the wheel; etc.

A smart person should heed these warning signs and work to correct the N-S imbalance by better integrating the S function into their learning process. When you mentioned "low-level stuff", did you say it with a tone of impatience or disdain (as many Ns would)? If so, it might be revealing a bias against S-related learning.

Unfortunately, in reality, many people also have ego development issues exacerbating their learning problems. For example, some Ns get arrogant because they receive praise or feel rewarded for their bad learning habits. With unearned confidence, they double down on their bad habits. Experiencing multiple failures might push them deeper into denial of their shortcomings. Denial might lead them to stick to situations where they can show off their strengths and avoid situations that would expose their weaknesses.

This behavior reveals that they don't really care about real mastery but only the appearance of it. In the workplace, as long as they can keep weaseling their way into a better position, they can keep telling themselves that they don't have a problem. Having curated a false self-image over many years of being "quick", "intelligent", "insightful", "creative", or being "above mundane tasks", etc, they fear what might happen if they were to take the mask off. I am not saying you have this problem. I only mention it as a common obstacle to be aware of.

If you want to be an effective learner, you have to get rid of your bad learning habits, whatever they are. To really know your stuff seems like the harder path to take (that's why many choose to fake it instead), but the pay off is huge when you're eventually able to handle and adapt to any situation with ease. Personal growth is its own reward. It's important to note that the best learners care about personal growth and understand that humility and curiosity are vital to learning. Humility is necessary for acknowledging the full extent of one's ignorance. Curiosity is necessary for doing what it takes to fill in those gaps. This means arrogance and stubbornness are two big no-nos.

It sounds like, for reasons you should reflect on, you've put the horse before the cart. Learning is a complicated process. It needs to follow a particular sequence in order to maximize intellectual growth. But many people are impatient and want to do higher order tasks without properly mastering lower order tasks first.

For instance, the problem of "application" can be broken down and understood like this:

You don't possess enough foundational knowledge because you didn't put enough effort into memorizing all the important details, ideas, concepts, principles, etc.

You don't have a deep understanding of the subject because you didn't "make it your own" by taking the necessary steps to organize information properly into a comprehensive and coherent structure.

You can't apply ideas well because you don't have detailed knowledge of methods and procedures and/or you haven't put in the many hours necessary to practice and learn from practical mistakes.

There are several possibilities. It's possible that only #3 is the problem. It's possible that #3 is a problem because of #2. It's possible that #3 is a problem because of #2 AND #1. Whatever the problem is, go back and fix it.

[ophthalmotropy]

Hi Dae! Sent a similar ask to Vi but I thought you would also be a good person to ask. A friend has enlisted me to help her find good books and movies and we are now at the stage of searching for more general/meta advice on finding (high-quality) books/movies on particular themes that are too hard to concisely describe for a straightforward search to yield much. If the question is too specific, any general description of how you pick books/movies for your to-read/to-watch list would be great, and if that's also hard to do then top-of-your-head fantasy/sci-fi recs are also much appreciated. Feel free to ignore this if you're too busy or don't know how to answer of course!

Hi! I'm happy that you thought of me, but I don't have a lot of advice because there's a lot of serendipity involved for me. Taking the latest novels I've most enjoyed, for example, I discovered Solaris because I watched Tarkovsky's film adaptation—and I discovered the movie because my high school professor mentioned it in class in 2020. I similarly read Crash because I watched the movie first, and I started reading Arlt because of a scene written by him that I heard read aloud on the radio by pure chance. So I guess my first real piece of advice is to keep your eyes and ears open?

I can't really speak on finding books on specific themes because I feel that they find me most of the time, but sometimes looking at which artists are friends with each other helps (Cronenberg and Clive Barker were like that to me), or seeing which filmmakers adapt which books (Cronenberg led me to Ballard and Burroughs). Tumblr parallels compilation posts aren't bad either.

Tumblr is a source of book recs to me too. I got a good percentage of my current TBR just by following Vi lol, and when I see a quote I really like I normally add the source to my TBR too (same with gifsets and movies). I also like to browse through bookshops even if I don't have money atm, just in case something catches my eye. Those two sources plus what my professors mention make up the bulk of it, but since I started logging my reading on The Storygraph (kind of like Goodreads) I also look at what it recommends me from time to time. The algorithm can't quite nail your preferences, but I do find stuff I wouldn't have found otherwise. You can also search for recommendations filtered by genre and mood there.

For movies, aside from seeing gifsets, I sometimes discover them through the actors in them. Very rarely, I click on Letterboxd's "films like" feature out of curiosity and find some interesting films.

I don't know if that was helpful, but as for sci-fi book recommendations, I can give you off the top of my head Solaris by Stanisław Lem (a psychologist is sent to a station that orbits around a planet covered by a vast, possibly sapient ocean), Crash by J.G. Ballard (a group of car crash fetishists explore the relationship between the human body and technology), and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (political intrigue set on a planet populated by hermaphrodite aliens). In terms of fantasy, His Dark Materials is a series for children that I still find a lot of value in as an adult.

For movies, my first recommendation is Cronenberg's early body horror films (especially Videodrome, Crash, and The Fly) plus Crimes of the Future (2022). I also recommend Poor Things (2023) (describing it as a female Frankenstein's monster does neither character justice, but you get the gist), Primer (2004) (convoluted time travel movie), Pan's Labyrinth (2006) (dark fantasy set in post-war Spain), and of course Solaris (1972). I also rather liked the Alien prequels (as well as obviously the original films, but those are better known).

I hope this was somewhat helpful and good luck!

[jewishbarbies]

May I say, I have never been a fan of Taylor, never listened to any of her songs (luckily she's not that big in Italy, you just hear her on the radio sometimes and that's it), but when I first came to know her through social media I was... Kinda admiring her? Like "wow she's so pretty and it looks like she's overall appreciated".

But then, once I started to dig... Oh Lord. Oh boy. Aside from her being the Carbon dioxide Queen™ and all the other stuff, what baffles me the most is the fact that she's exactly my age and... I get second hand embarrassment from how she acts and the lyrics she writes... Ma'am do you think you're still 17? You complain about interviewers asking you questions about your relationships when you're the first one to make your love life your entire personality, and to let your rabid fan base eviscerate your lyrics and doing nothing to stop them? Girlies on the internet were calling you and Joe "mom and dad" up until last month and now they hate him??? Why don't you say anything if the split was amicable as sources are reporting? If it was amicable doesn't that mean you'd still care about him at least a tiny bit to help him, and to block the hate he's getting?! Also why do you never take any accountability for anything gross your fans do?

I think that the true depth of an artist is shown by their actions and statements and stances... She just ignores all kinds of criticism that comes in her way. She speaks up just when she's the victim and there's someone else to blame. That's no way a 33 year old woman of her fame should act, if she'd care about her fans at all. But, I guess it's more remunerative to just keep quiet about it and to write songs about, idk, just an example, how your ex was older than you and overpowering you when you did the exact same thing... But, RIGHT, you're a woman so you get a green light 🤷

Oh and don't get me started on how she's owning the music critics and joirnalists in her fist by threatening to sue any publication that gives poor reviews on her bland records... Ma'am owning the media to have them sing your tune is what we'd call fascism here ☠️ obviously I'm exaggerating but that's the gist of it

“owning the media to have them sing your tune is what we’d call fascism here”

the realization-

[mysticstars02]

KW: Miscellaneous (RAW)

this is the best image i could use for this blog. ik there's one i really luv to use (it's the huge collab art made by yumikosudou where they transform YW characters into those gegege no kitaro art style characters you see in the right). Buuut i think it's safe to use this image here haha

Featuring two collabs with actual stories! And also some stuffs I find that Idk if it'll fit or I never seen these before lol

Cells at Work! Collab

(ngl i did not expect this to collab a series i barely know of. I don't watch but the concept looks cool!)

GeGeGe no Kitaro: Great Yokai War (?) Collab

most pure thing i ever seen. it's like seeing the interactions and the epic fights...but in chibi style XD

The Great Trial of Challenges

OH THIS ONE! I really wanna talk about this cause i think this is a pretty cool feature they add. Sadly I didn't get the main gist of this buuut I'm pretty sure this feature requires a shit ton of your playtime experiences and some competitive thinking (rambling warning btw lol)

How it works is that you have those green keys you can spend ONLY on the Great Trial and let me tell you: the Great Trial...is srsly a trial. Y'know those competitive features in the YW mainline games where you can set the rules only to specific rank of youkais (Like set the rule to an only Rank A or C battle), the Great Trial of Challenges is kinda like that...except it's very mean (It may be easy if I have some translation skills but it may be not haha XD).

Let's set up a real example coming from a KW player: If I remember, the trial is set up by 3 stages. Each stage contains restriction and certain aspects for tribe AND rank.

The 1st stage is free-for-all style meaning no restriction/rule, just put out your best team.

The 2nd stage gets a bit harder. There are now rules and restrictions. Let's say the rule for this stage says you can only use Rank A or lower youkais (I believe this also applies to Gunmashin/War Demon God's Rank???) AND you cannot use this following tribe: Enma and Kaima tribe

Now comes the 3rd stage, this time it's serious. I believe they add more rules and restriction to this stage so now, you can still use Rank A or lower BUT you are forced to use them from this tribe like you can use Rank A-C but only from the Slippery tribe. This also will go for the Gunmashin as well (You can only use the demon god's from this specific class)

Sometimes the rule will keep you using Rank Sho but you can't use Rank Paradise/Heavenly Rank youkais

Very challenging but it's also pretty cool! You may think that this looks like it's worth to try it out...yet I haven't mention why this feature is very mean. I haven't gone that far yet I also forgot how many challenges I clear (I think I clear at least 50???) BUT...there is a challenge that will forever be a wall to me before this game announce to go defunct. What challenge is that I struggle the most?

On the 3rd stage of the challenge I was on (again Idr what it is exactly), there is one rule...that is so mean idk how the f- am I suppose to do. These are the following restrictions: Rank Sho, Any tribe is acceptable, Gunmashin is allowed, you are forced...to use one youkai

Yeah

A rule said to use one youkai against a team of 5 Rank Sho youkais

Part of me thinks that maybe with quick summoning, instant collision damage and bulky stat could work right? Ngl, I got my ass kicked like so many times on this freakin 3rd stage of the challenge I was stuck on (I tried to use Rank Sho Rinne on this challenge, 3 seconds later and he immediately got his ass kicked asksa)

Again, pretty cool feature for challenging players and huge props to the user responsible for the Heavenly Rank's stories (bc I'm pretty sure you unlock those scenes by completing certain amount of trials. I'm very positive you have to beat EVERYTHING and my poor brain is not enough :'''>)

Never-see-before events (well for me lol)

I found a few of these videos coming from the user who's responsible for the Heavenly Rank stories. I actually don't remember seeing these events during my KW playthrough (I might have misremember it but yeah)

More interaction with Gunmashins? Part I

More interaction with Gunmashins? Part II

[spottyissleepwalking]

Hello, sorry to bother you but can I ask a question about the warrior cats disability post you reblogged earlier? And I mean this in good faith, honestly, I want to understand.

I haven't read warrior cats, but just from what was described in the post, it sounds... realistic? Since not everyone bounces back from becoming disabled. For example, a coworker and I (in a labor intensive field) have the same injury to our knee. He, I guess you could say has responded "well" to his injury. He has a higher drive to push past pain, not let it limit what he can do, and is able to work as hard, or harder, than non-disabled coworkers, but he is still absolutely disabled. In his case, he often overworks himself and thus ends up having to take off several days to recover and is on a lot of pain medication, both Rx and self medicated. In the scenario presented in the post, he would def be able to stay in the warrior class. But I didn't respond well to my injury, and don't react well to pain. I fell into a deep deep depression that took almost 8 years to crawl out of. Doing the exact same tasks as he does, I work slower and more carefully, avoiding pain at all costs rather than pushing past/despite pain. I'm slower, not as effective. But I don't need to take time off or frequent breaks to recover, and though it takes a little longer, I do just as much work as he does at the end of the week when accounting for the time he takes to recover. I like to imagine that I've reacted to my injury well, but can't help feeling inadequate and worthless when compared to coworker. Especially on days that we work side by side and he's running quite literal circles around me. And remember, we have the exact same injury with very similar causes and only a few months time difference.

From what I understand of the culture of Warrior cats (which is admittedly very very little) I imagine I'd end up in a healer class as well, even if I wished I could be warrior class. I would give almost anything to work as fast, as effectively, as hard as coworker does. But I can't.

So I guess what I'm asking is, what am I missing from the narrative, as someone who hasn't read warrior cats, that makes a character, who has not returned to their former glory after an injury, a poor representation of disability? As the post stands on its own right now, it just feels like it's kicking disabled people when they're down for not acting like they're still fully abled. Like shaming a paralyzed person for not joining a sport.

I have to assume that it's just poorly worded for anyone outside the fandom, but it really does come of as... well... ableist. Which is what drove me to ask, since making assumptions of ableism is generally kinda shitty, and I am curious about the source material.

I hope I didn't come off aggressive or let my emotions on the subject get carried away here, genuinely sorry if it does come off rude. I promise am asking in good faith because I want to understand from a creative standpoint if the narrative actually handled it poorly, and how-so, to help myself and others potentially avoid making the same artistic mistakes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this wall of text, and again, so sorry for bothering you!

No no!! Not aggressive or rude or anything of the sort :D

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the full text, but I got the gist of it so I’ll try to answer aptly ^^

The problem with Warriors isn’t that there isn’t disability representation - there is, it’s just. Awful. Why? Because almost every single disabled character, sans THREE, in a series that has thousands of named characters, is FORCED into a role they don’t want - or KILLED. Solely for being disabled, solely for being “different”.

It’s not that they necessarily chose that life for themselves, it’s that it was forced upon them, which is where so many fans (reasonably) draw issue with. Disabled characters are offered the bare minimum in Warriors canon. Either they’re essentially forced to become a doctor, with the trope of “the broken-bodied healing the able-bodied” (which personally unsettled me greatly), or they’re shipped off to the elder’s den, which is a place where cats retire due to old age and are cared for by their Clanmates, usually without ever having the chance to prove themselves, and display both their abilities and weaknesses. They’re just automatically shoved into this corner.

There was a Deaf character, once, in the decades-long span of this book series, that was told he would never become a warrior solely because of his deafness - and then was immediately killed off in a manner that was almost never used again as a device to kill a character.

There was a character who was hit by a car and, as a result, ended up losing the function of one of her back legs. Prior to this, she was training as any other young member of her society would. Immediately after? She became a doctor.

There was a character who became blind due to an outside force, and, despite being the equivalent of maybe a thirty-year-old, immediately retired to the elder’s den.

There was a born blind character who fought to train as a warrior, under a half-blind warrior. He was doing well in his training - until the in-universe religion came down to him and forced him to give up his dreams in order to become a doctor. Granted, his case was a little more complicated and intermingled with plot, but it still stands.

There was a character with anxiety who was a poor hunter, and was pressured to become a doctor because of his lack of skills.

There was a character who was paralyzed, and was dismissed as dead, or “better off dead”, by almost everyone around her - INCLUDING HER OWN FAMILY - except the blind character, who found kinship with her and fought tooth-and-nail to keep her alive and healthy.

And the thing is? These characters are CATS! Cats, who have been documented living alone in the wild with these sort of disabilities and thriving!! Which makes it all the more frustrating to see a narrative built around the appeal of cats, have them have this whole support system and community, and that community actively turn their backs on them.

It’s not about them choosing. It’s about them being forced. Not having any opportunity to grow, or learn, or allow others around them to do the same in regards to them. There’s no acceptance here. In universe, it seems like they’re just shoved into the shadows so the able bodied characters don’t have to look at them or think too hard about them, unless they’re healing their wounds.

The characters themselves are not the poor representation. It’s how the authors have handled them - by shoving them aside, to the shadows, to the dogs. It’s frustrating and disheartening.

[weebsinstash]

soooo what you're saying is yandere emperor & love sick concubine x empress au with bakugou as the emperor and izuku as his favourite concubine yeah??

oof those two would be an awful (read: amazing) duo for poor reader empress to go up against

Not going to lie I actually always meant to write more for Izuku??? I've actually had a decent amount of ideas for him because like, he already has habits that you can tweak ever so slightly and boom he's a lil yandere simp, drooling over you as he watches you from a distance and doodling into his lil notebook. He gives "hello mommy I love you so much and would die for you let's get married ❤️" energy but he's also feral enough that like. Could easily imagine him as one of those sweet tiny dudes who has a third leg and Fucks Severely. Like to be honest I'm a bottom as fuck and have always likes taller partners but certain personality types just deliver what is needed lmao. Like I've kinda unlocked a thing for having something smaller than you partner wise especially like that holds you down extremely easily, like the helplessness of it? Idk like in hentai where chicks get surrounded by like little tiny extremely strong but hugely dicked goblins, like not always that small obviously but you kind get the gist. Imagine an adult Izuku being shorter than you and younger than you and you think he's so passive and sweet or you think he's an annoying little boy and try to brush him off, and suddenly he's got you up against a wall hugging you so tight you can't shove him off and you're met with like the horror you can't overpower him by ANY means. And the whole time he's just like OuO sweet and smiling and just this secretly heinous little sex fiend who can easily fold you like a pretzel

But I will admit those two would work fairly well for this formula 😳 hm. The gears are turning. I dunno... hmm.....

Let's look at it from this angle. Bakugou is probably one of those Emperors that either killed all his brothers and took the throne by force, was his father's only child and usurped him, or maybe was a nobleman or high ranking soldier who became Emperor by wiping out the royal family. Just typical domination by overwhelming force kind of guy. Known as a somewhat of a savage albeit with amazing tactics skill and talented in warfare and combat. And then Midoriya is. Hm. Maybe a childhood friend or whatever but tbh I'm just kind of imagining him as this lil hippy thang that dresses in white and soft colors, I wouldn't say femboy per say but, maybe a little lmao. Katsuki sitting at his desk stamping documents and then here's Izuku bringing him tea and snack cakes and Bakugo is still like, a little rough, but nicer to him then he is to you lmao

But I just cannot imagine the like absolutely infuriating scenario of 1. Being stuck with Bakugo against your will in a political marriage 2. Having to perform duties you may not even be remotely interested in, for example tradtionally the Empress manages the other harem women who are often high ranking nobility but she's also not allowed to get involved in politics, so like, you influence but not much actual power of your own 3. He's not even a nice fucking person, like in this scenario you literally struggle to think of his good qualities that don't inevitably circle back to him being a brute 4. You're expected to have children with him and 5. On top of having to share him with other women, one of his concubines is a man who is essentially tries to guilt trip and pressure you into loving Bakugo

I remember in "I'm Divorcing My Tyrant Husband", which is kind of an infuriating read and idk if I would recommend it, the cruel tyrant Emperor doesn't respect his Empress because she's too nice and I imagine Bakugo, depending on what mood you're going for, would either be a condescending 'oh you're so weak and delicate, what use is there for you, worthless crybaby' OR 'you're so delicate therefore you must be kept like a precious caged animal where no harm can come to you like a beautiful rose encased in glass so it cannot wilt'

Bakugo would definitely be one of those characters who you constantly have massive 'misunderstandings' with, 'misunderstandings' translating to 'this guy is constantly a massive fucking asshole who doesn't properly communicate for shit' and Izuku is always trying to tell you how he "really" feels but since its never Katsuki himself you could care less. Like for example, an idea I can imagine for him is something like, Reader has a precious garden she takes care of day and night, while gardening you get bitten by a viper that was hiding in the brush, you get extremely ill, the next time you wake up and have recovered your entire garden is gone because he tore everything out and you're devastated because it feels like you've been punished for falling sick when his intention was to completely overturn your garden in case there were more vipers (which, to his credit there were, but you don't even care because you actively encouraged animals to take homes in your garden and now it's all ruined)

[lgcjaejin]

Dressed in a light gray short-sleeved polo shirt and beige cotton chinos that hung loosely around his black leather sandals, Jaejin stood confidently at the front of the class, his laptop hooked up to the projector, ready to start his presentation. The process of choosing his "favorite" Korean idioms was a long one. To be honest he didn't exactly love idioms or at least the concept of them. Play on words and figures of speech wasn't really his thing, he preferred directness and for people to just say what they meant. This vagueness was an aspect of Korean culture he still hadn't gotten used to. But unfortunately due to his poor Korean he had no choice but to delve head-first into the subject.

"안녕하세요, 여러분! Good morning, everyone!" Jaejin greeted warmly, his voice carrying across the room as he clicked the remote to display the first slide. Bold Korean characters glowed on the screen.

"Today, I want to introduce you to an interesting idiom that I recently discovered," Jaejin began, his tone enthusiastic and engaging. "병주고 약주다 literally means 'to give disease and then give medicine." he pauses for dramatic effect But what does that mean in practice?"With a smile, Jaejin paced slightly, his hands gesturing animatedly to emphasize his points. "This idiom refers to the act of offering constructive criticism or, to put it bluntly, insult someone 'giving disease', followed by sweet words of encouragement, support, or a remedy 'giving medicine'."

He paused, glancing around the room at his classmates before clicking to the next slide, displaying examples on the screen. "Imagine you go to a friend and ask them what they think about a painting that you spent hours on. If that friend tells you honestly that your painting is trash and belongs there too, but then follows it up with 'But at least you tried your hardest'. That's 병주고 약주다 in action—balancing honesty with compassion."

Jaejin chuckles before clicking to the next slide " That may not have been the best example but you get the gist" He paces across the front of the room once more before continuing. "I think the reason I like this idiom is that, in my opinion, It reminds us to be mindful of how our words can affect others and encourages us to support each other, even in moments of critique."

The next few minutes are spent on the remaining slides and answering questions and eventually Jaejin returns to his seat glad that it was over.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Okay, another one!

Baking buddies!

(If I recall correctly, Julian likes to/knows how to bake, right? Or I could be wrong, I've been switching social media 😅 But I think you did mention it somewhere here🤔 But I hope I got it right, otherwise, this can be ignored 😭)

This one is what the title implied, baking buddies! Featuring Ziana again, and Rain (@silly-farmer's farmer, since she also can bake/likes to bake. If you know some farmers/NPCs who also know how to bake, feel free to add them as well! I don't know many farmers like you do, unfortunately 😭🙏🏻)

Imagine them all (Julian, Rain & Ziana) good at baking but then there is one that they haven't baked yet (probably... Strange Bun for example in here? 🤔) and one of them suggested trying this out together. So, imagine the scene as they all mess up and struggle in the kitchen trying to bake this thing and after many errors, it's done! And now, for the taste!

The result...? (Up to you 👀 Is it good? Or bad and that they worked hard in vain? This is also another funny interaction, hehe.)

Have fun! ^^ I don't know why I have so many ideas (this is like, a gist of it) 😅🙏🏻

Uh, have a good day, Mousy, and uh, bye! *runs* 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

Hello again! Here's another story, and thanks for the question!

This time, in addition to Julian and Ziana, the heroes will also be Rain (@silly-farmer) and Wren (@girls4zelda). This story is shorter than the previous one, hope you don't mind. Enjoy ❤️

_________________________________________

"The culinary disaster"

________________________________________

The spacious cottage kitchen was filled with various sounds and pleasant aromas. The banging of pans against each other, the sweet smell of strawberry jam, the heat from the oven where baked goods were baking, the noise of water from the tap, the kettle boiling.... And talking, so much talking. Of course, because there are not one but four cooks in the room at once, running from one part of the kitchen to another, trying to get the food everywhere in time.

"Goddamn it! What are we doing wrong?!"

Ah, yes, on top of all this, the kitchen is filled with the shouts of those very same cooks.

"I don't get it", Rain continued to wail. "We're doing everything according to the recipe. This bun is much easier to make than the other dishes!" She gestured with her hand to the tray on which a few burnt pastries lay.

Julian, Ziana, and Wren sat at the walnut kitchen table and watched poor Rain try to figure out the reason for such a botched cooking job.

"Maybe the recipe itself was wrong?" Ziana cautiously voiced her suggestion. Cooking with her friends in the kitchen at Rain's house had seemed like a great idea to her earlier, but she hadn't realized that they would encounter such a problem as not being able to cook a bun properly after perhaps the sixth attempt.

"I don't think there was anything wrong with the recipe. It's just a normal bun, we've made dozens of them before", answered Wren. And indeed, on the table there was a whole vase with freshly baked cookies, puffs and buns and various jams and fruits, which were beckoning with their aroma and beauty.

"Well..." Julian began cautiously. "You don't put void mayonnaise in ordinary buns".

"That's true". Wren couldn't agree more. "Rain, my friend, why don't we just forget about the Strange Bun? Sit down with us, and we'll finally start the meal."

But Rain, arms crossed, waited for the timer on the oven to reach zero. "I'll check on that last bun, and then we'll be done".

All three of them looked sympathetically at the blue-haired girl. They understood that the failed baking had hit Rain's confidence hard, as she was a great cook, and had even agreed with her friends to organize a communal cookout, teaching them new recipes. And all was well... Until Shane left her the recipe for that obscure bake yesterday. And now Rain wants to make sure she hasn't lost her skills. Thankfully, the timer has already managed to emit a chime, alerting those present that it's time to pull out the baking tray.

"YEEEEES!!! We did it! We are the best!" Rain's excitement slightly startled all three of her friends, but they immediately breathed a sigh of relief as the girl held the hot baking tray victoriously in her hands, where a - oh, miracle - properly cooked Strange Bun was displayed.

Rain, satisfied, set the bun aside on a plate, letting it cool. The pastry itself looked true to its name: the dough was unnaturally orange, and the filling was an acid purple color.

"So", Rain summarized, "would anyone like to try this pastry?"

"Nope", Ziana, Julian and Wren answered their friend honestly.

"That's good! I don't want to either..." She looked a little suspiciously at that 'culinary misunderstanding'.

"Now let's drink tea!" Finally, Julian poured hot jasmine tea into each of their cups, and they all sat down at the table, eating the delicious fruits of their labor, listening to praise about each other for their good cooking.

[beevean]

I think Frontiers has such low replay value for a few reasons:

While you can traverse the islands non-linearly, there is legit just very little that rewards your curiosity. There's no cool hidden items that you can find if you search for them, at most a few pretty places you probably would have gone to anyway if you want to complete the map for 100% each. So once you've gone and fully completed each map, you've basically seen it all already.

The game can be rather rail-roading: on Chaos Island, for example, there's a few smaller islands you can basically only ever go through in the same one or two ways. Picking the wrong way will bring you to a place where you don't need to go to anymore. Good luck if you can't find the correct paths, though, because it is very difficult to make out just where the heck rails and the like lead you.

Talking about the items: there's like... five, six of them total to be found on the map? You've got the attack and defence fruits, the Koco, the memory tokens, Experience Points, rings... and that is basically the gist of it, even if I feel like I'm forgetting stuff (which is not a good sign at all, since that means it is forgettable). It gets very boring very quickly to have those be the only things you ever find. To bring back BotW, if you went out of your way to go explore the game usually rewards you with a strong weapon or useful item... because it's got hundreds of weapons and items you can collect. Not just a mere six or so on the islands, who eventually become moot anyway if you've fully upgraded Sonic and his skill tree.

The world is just empty. There's legit nobody interesting to talk to, other than perhaps Sage and Sonic's friends, who disappear afterwards from those spots. And furthermore, they have the problem that you can go through their developments completely unhingedly depending on where you find them, so you can easily have Sonic and Sage chat cordially on the final island and then go back to the first and have her be blunt and rude instead. I would have liked a 'good ending' where Sonic helped his friends and Sage through taking the time to talk to them fully on each island before going to the next and a 'bad ending' where he did not do that, but alas...

So yeah, overall the replay value is low because once you've put in some effort on your first run, there is nothing that rewards you for doing more. Everything you get is the same constantly, and if you went and 100% completed the maps and talked to everyone the first time, there's just nothing new to be found on new playthroughs.

Btw I should add that the game has such poor replayability to me that I haven't even picked it up despite the various updates throughout the year already, so maybe things have become better and I just haven't noticed them yet. Maybe😅

As always, huge W for ShTH, King of Replay Value ❤️

I'm starting to think that it's not my issue if I can't watch a playthrough of the game without getting bored lol. But more seriously, it's a shame, because Sonic games have usually high replay value, through their level design with multiple routes or the ranking system, or exceptional cases like Advance 3's gimmick.

Sage was really wasted. Her interactions with Sonic are 99% "you will die" "how?" "go fuck yourself I'm not telling you", until we're supposed to care about her and her NANANANANANA. A sidequest where you have to make the effort to befriend Sage? Teach her what a loving relationship is, making her realize that Eggman doesn't actually care about her like she hoped to? And maybe unlocking her as help during the final boss? It would have been something new and interesting! oh well.

(also yeah I read that part about Khaos Island. It doesn't sound fun. Why rail road part of your open world like that?)

[cosmica-galaxy]

(this is something I've wanted to ask for a long time, but feel free not to answer if it makes you uncomfortable)

how the main 4 or the other characters would react if the Player comes out as asexual, this means that they are ok with being in a relationship with them but they prefer not to have any intimate relationship

I missed Ace Week, dang it... First time writing for an Ace Player! So I hope it's not too inaccurate! -- The moment you come out about being ace to the SQ crew, the others take a moment to process it. Some expressed confusion about what you meant, so you had to elaborate a bit. Hank gets the gist of it after a brief explanation and he respects your stance wholeheartedly. Your his PLAYER, you can decide what you want freely from him at any time and Hank would never do something to make his Player uncomfortable or unhappy with him. So he settles with whatever you're comfortable with. He has to admit, he's kinda disappointed that you don't desire something more with him. But he surmises that gods just simply do things different than mortals. So he'll merely become a cuddlebug and seek your affection in ways you're comfortable with. Deimos is probably the one that takes it harder than most, but he still respects your wishes. He's a natural flirt and it kinda makes him realize why none of his innuendo comments, voice, or attempts to show off didn't really affect you. You just simply weren't attracted to him like that and he sulks for a bit. After his pitiful wallowing, he comes to accept that his precious Player just doesn't do things like grunts do. It must be a god thing...at least, that's what he tells himself. But Deimos is still happy with your relationship, even if it has a learning curve f0r the poor grunt. But he's nothing short of determined to keep trying. Even if he messes up from time to time by impulsively kissing you and then realizing what he did and furiously apologizing. He's trying his best. Sanford is barely seems effected by the news, with his stoic expression barely changing as he gets the information from you. It made sense, he supposes. You never really took up on Deimos's flirtatious personality and you barely responded to other "sexually" stimulating sources....like his muscular chest, for example. But after the fact of your coming out, he becomes much more hesitant to do things. The last thing he wants to do is make his Player uncomfortable with anything he does, so he restrains himself...probably too much. At first, you take his newly reserved nature as a negative thing, to which he quickly denies and explains that despite your relationship, he didn't want to do something to make you uncomfortable or upset.

It took some time to encourage him to engage with you again, but this time he's taking your terms much more seriously and he won't step into a direction that you're unhappy with. He'll settle with whatever his Player is happy with. 2BDamned was pretty much the one that caught on the quickest out of all the the SQ crew, which was obviously typical. The way you would wrinkle your nose when Deimos would flirt with you, the neutral response you had to Sanford's bare chest, and the disinterested looks you would throw Hank when he tries his best to impress you. Gods apparently did things differently and how they show their affection must vary. Something that the rest of the crew tends to not consider. Even when you two were in a relationship, you both treated one another like you two WEREN'T in a relationship. It was confusing to the others, but made sense to him. You never engaged in anything involving romantic interest...and you were probably even disgusted by the mention of such things. 2B is clever and nothing short of respectful of your wishes and pretty much lets you call the shots on what you are comfortable expressing. If you want a hug or cuddle, then 2B obliges. If you want to just chat, then he's fine with that too. He's here for YOUR happiness, not the other way around.

[phoenixradiant]

Side Character Intro!

Okay, after having mentioned her in several recent posts I realized there's a character I haven't introduced to you guys yet.

So meet Ephila Nightingale. She's one of Kar's secondary characters, and her claims to fame are:

Being the younger sister of Fari Karven, the late queen of Knithren (wife and mother respectively of Keidor and Lutian Karven), making her Lutian's aunt

Being the female lead of Knithren's most prestigious opera troupe, and

Being Magrom Karven's ex-girlfriend

Now I think about it, all those things are actually related. The gist of it is that Fari and Ephila used to Ilim (Non-Daurian) priestesses, but, influenced by Thaccia, Fari eventually got into acting to raise money for immigrants and orphans. Life happened, she wound up getting married to Keidor, and while she made him promise to look after the poor (something he followed through on), she convinced Ephila to take her place acting and charity-ing.

Fari and Keidor also tried to convince Magrom and Ephila to start courting, which neither of them were particularly interested in and which only started a few years after Fari's death because... y'know, dead person's persistent wish, and also, Keidor was getting really worried about how callous Kar was growing. It fell apart really quickly, partially due to maturity differences (Ephila is ~3-4 years older than Magrom, who is notoriously immature), partially just because neither of them were actually interested in relationships in general, and partially because Kar was committing murder right and left, which, y'know, not exactly ideal, especially to a former priestess.

So now because Keidor's busy running a kingdom, the exes are raising Lutian in his place (in his defense, he spends as much time with her as he can, but for plot reasons that's like an hour and a half a day tops, usually a good bit less), each doing their best to turn her into copies of one of her parents. Ephila wants to turn her into Fari, and Kar wants to turn her into Keidor. Frankly, Kar would be fine if she ended up more like Fari and Ephila would be fine if she turned out like Keidor, (frankly they were quite alike, even and especially for a married couple) but they definitely don't want it to be the other's doing. Kar's winning because he gets to spend more time with her, also because, while she's heard great things about her mother and wants to be like her, she sees her father's example and emulates him whenever she can. So yeah.

I don't think I'm going to spoil what her role is once the plot starts, but I will say this: I have no intention as of 5-May-2024 of having them get back together. They will do a lot of bickering though.