#learning df

[dwarvendiaries]

Blind has released a 7 hour one-video compilation of all his DF tutorials (with timestamps).

[hanayotta]

i've also been thinking about how the main trio share the theme of striving for freedom and running away.

li lianhua was the first that i saw this in, with him running from his past, his legacy and the image people in general have of him as li xiangyi. from the expectations and roles that come with it. furthermore his relations, past and present, all those who get too close and threaten to limit his freedom. also (according to my personal interpretation) trying to evade societal norms he used to be bound by, like heteronormativity – which he used to fulfill in his relationship with qiao wanmian. now he immediately shuts down any woman making advances on him, without exception.

then, actually more obvious than li lianhua, is fang duobing, who's ALSO trying to escape the heteronormative life plans his family has for him, the arranged marriage to be exact. he keeps choosing to refuse the path prepared for him to instead chase after li lianhua, his dream of becoming a detective and follow his heart into the jianghu. but also wanting to have the freedom to choose li lianhua and spending time with him, against all better judgement or alledged better options.

finally you've got di feisheng who we only later find out has been trying to free himself from the gu bug all this time and by extension the shackles of his horrible past. he also doesn't care to fulfill the expectations people have of him: of exclusively being this evil final-boss leader of the jiangyuan alliance and of wanting to rule the world. even wanting to be strongest martial artist isn't on the forefront of his mind anymore, against wuyans expectations, with li xiangyi out of the picture. funnily enough he too struggles with heteronormativity or, well– he seems pretty certain about not being interested in having a female partner. unfortunately for him the world's largest yandere hasn't gotten that memo yet. so she is another factor he continuously runs from (in a broader sense).

funnily enough, while all three of them experience flight impulses in various situations, they often don't understand or respect it in each other, like with fang duobing chasing after li lianhua and them trying to force a cure on him. or li lianhua trying to "return" fang duobing to his family, seeing it as the better option for him. i think, out of all of them, the best understanding in this context is the one li lianhua has for di feisheng, which kind of shows in the openness with which he treats the amnesiac "a-fei" – as opposed to how fang duobing treats him on occasion, trying to link him back to the image of the bad guy.

[oobbbear]

Some recent magma

[mariesbee]

something something idk how to draw them yet

[moongothic]

Kinda started rereading Dressrosa and... Although I always chalked up the similarities between Crocodile's plan to take over Alabasta and how Doflamingo took over Dressrosa as nothing but Oda reusing similar plot elements but in a slightly different way (just to show us what could've become of Alabasta had Croc gotten away with his schemes, what Luffy helped prevent from happening to begin with)...

Robin's reaction to hearing the story of Dressrosa and HOW Doflamingo took over the country, that simple little "...!!", actually does kind of speak volumes

Like if you wanted canonical evidence to Crocodile having been "inspired" by Doflamingo, then yeah, Robin would be The Person who would pick up on that, she'd be the person who'd be like "hey, that story sounds awfully familiar to what Crocodile did", since he was her boss

Do want to note that, timeline-wise, Doflamingo only took over Dressrosa 10 years ago, where as Crocodile had been Scheming and establishing his position as the Hero of Alabasta for 16 years. Like Croc's intent to obtain Pluton and create his military nation utopia absolutely pre-dates Doffy's takeover, so that wasn't and can't have been inspired by Doflamingo at all. It's more just the plan and method Crocodile ended up going with (framing the king (through a bloodbath) and putting the country in a position without a ruler where he could just yoink it for himself with ease) where the similarity becomes more obvious. But it is also kind of where it ends. Doflamingo wanted Dressrosa because he felt like he was entitled to the island (as his family had been its original rulers and he was a Tenryuubito), and was using the island for his own gains (Smile manufacturing etc, for his dealings with Kaidou), all while having a great distain and hatred of the world and how he had been "wronged" (=Tenryuubito rights revoked). Meanwhile... yeah, Crocodile wanted to create a "utopia", only targetting Alabasta because he believed Pluton was there and because Pluton would be needed for his ideal military nation. That minor difference and Crocodile's clear and great distain and hatred of Doflamingo combined...

Yeah, I dunno, this is just interesting to me. God I need Robin and Crocodile to have a lil reunion chat

[movielosophy]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook |busy living a good life

[quiverpaw]

i’m sorry i can’t protect you / i’m sorry i can’t love you

[seas-tones]

small prices to pay

[nutcasewithaknife]

I cannot stop thinking about how a boy who was forced to fight to live could grow to enjoy it so much in a relatively healthy spirit, and it inevitably led to this: Think of a 17 year old Di Feisheng who heard that Li Xiangyi was around and decided to go see his future opponent. Think about him witnessing the swordplay of the foremost martial artist in Jianghu and not being able to look away- not just because it's powerful or clever or seamless but because it is all of that and also beautiful. It is performed with arrogance, yes, and also joy and indulgence. Maybe before that night, fighting to the top was something he did to preserve himself, so that nobody could touch him or trap him again. Maybe it was the first time he realised that there was more to a fight than survival and domination. Maybe it was after he saw Li Xiangyi dance on that rooftop that Di Feisheng's martial arts started becoming something he could enjoy, cherish, be proud of; something more than the legacy of a life of desperate survival.

[daybreakrising]

@resolutepath: "What if they kissed?" ( Dan Heng & Blade )

Do you trust me?

A loaded question, even heavier when it settles between them, two beings bending beneath the weight of a complicated history, and even as he asks it, Blade knows the answer could never be that simple. Do you trust me, he asks of a man he has hunted across the stars, of a man forced to kill him over, and over, or be killed himself. Do you trust me, he asks, when Dan Heng's only reason to do so is memories of a life that is not his own, of emotions that belong to another.

The vidyadhara has every reason to mistrust him, yet it is with a carefully considered nod that he answers. No words spoken, and though there is trepidation within those familiar eyes, there is also curiosity. There is a fleeting furrow between Dan Heng's brows that, combined with the quiet set of his mouth, transposes another's image over his, almost identical save for the slightest differences that only one who knew that face so well would ever notice.

Blade closes his eyes against memory, and hardens his resolve against the itch that crawls beneath his skin. He keeps them closed as he draws forth a length of cloth from a pocket, smooths it through his fingers. He says not a word as he lifts the cloth to his face, winds it about his head, so that even should he open his eyes he will see nothing but darkness.

If it works for her, maybe it will work for me.

Do you trust me, he asked of Dan Heng, but it is he who now places trust in the other, depriving himself of a vital sense, willingly making himself vulnerable in his presence - and though they both know he does not need to see to be a threat, he hopes the message he sends is clear.

"..." Lips part with intention to speak, but he falters, unsure which words he wishes to utter first. There is so much he desires to say, yet untangling the complex weave of their lives, their emotions, their memories, seems like an impossible task. Where to even start, when there is no safe path upon which to tread?

He can feel the presence of the other, like an aura that both comforts and electrifies him in equal measure. There is a warmth upon his wrist that soothes the itch, quiets the howling in the depths of his mind, and he wonders if Dan Heng feels a similar warmth upon his own, or if this is some imagining conjured by his own longing. He doesn't know if the vidyadhara still wears his half of this matching pair, or if it is lost to history, and he has not yet dared to ask, for fear of the answer.

Slowly, he raises a hand, reaches cautiously forward until he feels the texture of cloth beneath his fingers. He jerks back as if burned, his blindfolded gaze lifting to 'meet' that of Dan Heng's. "May I...?" He asks, and once again the answer that comes is one of silent gesture. He feels fingers curling about his hovering hand, feels the gentle tug guiding him forward. Now that he has been given consent, he does not hesitate - hands come to rest upon shoulders still tense with uncertainty, hold firm, and he takes a step forward, then another, until he can feel the whisper of breath against his skin.

He feels a stirring within the shadow of his mind, a familiar burn - but unlike previous meetings, it is less of a fire and more smouldering embers, present but dormant. It is working, he thinks, and he surprises himself at the relief that bubbles within his chest at the thought. He cannot know how long this trick will contain the mara - as much as he wishes to savour the moment, time is ever borrowed and must not be wasted.

One hand grounds him upon Dan Heng's shoulder, but the other does not linger in place for long. With the lightest touch, his fingers trace a path across cloth, seeking the warmth of skin instead. Do you trust me, he asked, and now that trust must be tested - fingertips skim the vidyadhara's collar and his hand, at last, meets the line of his throat. He is careful, of course, to keep his touch light, but still the other tenses, and he cannot fault him for it.

"It's okay," he utters, so quietly he fears it may be lost beneath the rapid beat of the vidyadhara's heart, beneath the pulse that he can feel racing under his fingertips. "Trust me."

The thrum of life he can feel beneath his skin is tempting, exciting, and if he could he would linger there for an eternity. Alas, he cannot ignore the other's discomfort - he trusts him this much, yes, but it is still too soon, too raw. Perhaps, in time, he can convey what it means for him, to feel that life within him, to be comforted by it. One step at a time.

And so he moves on from his throat, his touch instead creeping further north, to skim the line of his jaw, the sharp angle of his cheekbone, tracing each contour of Dan Heng's face with a careful reverence.

So like his, he thinks, yet not his.

He feels Dan Heng frown, and the corners of his mouth twitch into the faintest of smiles. There has been no question posed to him as to his purpose, yet Blade suspects he can predict the other's thoughts. Dan Feng is at the heart of their complicated tangle of threads, an ever-present obstacle they must overcome if they can ever hope to move forward. Does he believe this is to imagine another in his place? Is it Dan Feng I am seeing when I touch him, does he wonder?

That he is allowing this at all is meaningful - that he could believe himself a stand-in and still allow it is something else entirely. Your heart is too good, Dan Heng. "I know you're not him." Both hands now shift to frame his face, fingers skimming ears that are so very, very human in this form, sinking slowly into hair cut short. "You may look like him, but you do not feel like him."

Still, there is silence from his companion, but again he feels fingers curl about his wrists - at first he thinks they intend to revoke his consent, until he feels the grip tighten, anchoring the two of them together. He can hear the quickening of breath between them, and it is impossible to determine if it is Dan Heng's, or his own. "You feel different," he continues, the pad of his thumb brushing softly against his cheek, "here," and he leans in, the touch of their foreheads igniting a heat within him that for once has nothing to do with the mara, "and here."

One hand shifts, catches Dan Heng's in the same guiding grasp the other used only minutes prior, and settles it over the swordsman's own racing heart. "And here." A sigh breezes past his lips, a sound of quiet yearning that surprises even him. "You are not him, and neither am I. They are our past, no more than an echo that refuses to fade. We may not be able to escape them, but that does not mean we must be shackled by them. I once rejected all thought of you because you were him, but not him - and now all I once rejected, I embrace because you are not him."

He presses further against him, the hand that still frames his face holding firm, fingers twisting lightly into dark hair. He draws him in, bodies sliding snugly together like lost pieces of a puzzle finally reunited. When he angles his head, leans down, he finds Dan Heng leaning up to meet him.

It is a tender kiss, eager but gentle with it, as if it is the first they have ever shared. Absent is the desperation of that fleeting opportunity once gifted beneath a downpour, a final goodbye to what was - now there is only peace, the promise of a new beginning. And as they part, Blade feels a little of the weight that hangs over them lift.

"It is ever a complicated path for us ahead," he utters, and he would meet Dan Heng's gaze with his own, were it not shielded still, "but nothing worth the effort is ever easy." A smile, gentle, easy. "We have both endured so much in our lives; I think we can endure this, no?"

[cheezyharu]

Ignore the fact that I’m posting this at 2 in the morning. I can’t sleep :V

Initially meant to be posted w someone else, buuuut I got impatient, so here’s Rrhar’il while I’m reworking on Phigros floor lore lmao.

[goodnightngoth]

“being childless is selfish” god forbid i avoid bringing more children into this dystopian nightmare

[a-bit-of-cest]

I made an OC for v0re shenanigans. Type of goon that shows up for a 2-part filler as a thin excuse for the director's fetish

[erinravenseeker]

look you guys don’t understand i know Dan Feng comes off as really cold in the short but imagine how experiencing the universe outside of the xianzhou and away from the responsibilities imposed on him SINCE BIRTH, with the express crew to guide him, has given Dan Heng a chance to grow into and act on his own emotions. ofc DF is cold in the short, it’s DH’s perception of him, and outward temperament is not your inner self especially if you’re a political figure your entire life and are forced to do things you may not necessarily want to because your duty demands it (i am very normal about them i swear)

[mx-myth]

[dwarvendiaries]

To use Dwarf Therapist or nay?

Personally, I don't but I understand people who do use it. From what I can tell the gap with labour assignments that occured with the pre-50 versions has been narrowed by the UI improvement of v50.xx, which was the main thing people used therapist for.

(I'm assuming this is about Splintermind's fork of Dwarf Therapist. The original Dwarf Therapist was last updated in 2012)

Got sidetracked there. So advantages to Dwarf Therapist:

Skill use: the spreadsheet format allows to see which dwarves are mos qualified for which jobs. It does this by turning them into numbers making it quick and easy to do. Plus you can centrally con trol labor assignments without having to flip between tabs

Mood regulation: You also get a spreasheet for which needs are goihng unmet. If you want your fortress to be super happy then this is useful for finding where you can get the greatest gains.

Gaydar: It gives you a quick dwarven gaydar

There's a few other things as well. I've never usied it myself. To be fair I'm an on-off user of DFhack so maybe not the best person to go for advice on utilities.