#old ages

[i-do-not-mean-it]

X century cathedral in Bedia, Abkhazia

[doccywhomst]

[shcherbatskya]

starting a collection. pierre talking to natasha in war and peace

[atissi]

i don't really like when people say dungeon meshi is accidentally good autistic representation, because while i understand not wanting to make conclusions without explicit confirmation from the author, there's always the weird assumption that non-western authors somehow don't know about things like neurodivergency/queerness/etc. (on top of the assumptions that east asian authors are somehow more naive or oblivious to "western" social issues).

given that dungeon meshi started being published in 2014, it's not really a "work belonging to its times"—it's as contemporary as any other media we discuss on this site, which means it should be fair to assume it engages with contemporary topics (and at the very least, you shouldn't say that the representation is accidental with so much confidence)

but anyways, the chapter "perfect communication" in ryoko kui's "terrarium in a drawer" is some of the most straightforward autistic representation I've seen, and from now on I'm going to assume that laios's character writing is absolutely intentional in that regard:

[chiekodivine]

girlhood never stops we just evolve…

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[twinkietwistz]

› Yargaza ‹

CHAPTER TWO; RIDICULED

· Warning(s) - N/A

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Mesara questioned Yvette with a strong tone of disbelief and anger.

Mesara Yargaza, better known as the sister with the pure heart, stood before her sister with her sword in hand. She'd just gotten back from training. Yvette stood countering her with Astrophel by her side as he'd always been. Although standing a bit of a distance behind her, he was still set being her loyal companion, with her at every move.

"Killing father, letting the commoners burn his belongings and relish in his riches?" Mesara spoke while pointing an accusing finger at the barren room their father once slept in, "He may have been cruel, but this is far crueler than his actions have ever—"

Before she could say anything further, she stopped herself and let out a long sigh. Mesara looked at her sister with an almost disgusted expression to her face, "My sister," she began more softly, "I understand that—"

"Do not patronize me!" Yvette snapped loudly, cutting her off with a brutal interjection.

Her voice echoed through the palace with that simple sentence. It made the servants flinch. Not because it was unexpected, but rather because of the verbal abuse they endured while her father ruled over Eveena.

"You have no right, or authority to tell me what is cruel and what isn't involving that!"

"Authority?" Mesara scoffed, "Just because you are now empress, a forced one at that, doesn't mean we are any less sisters."

A glare was shot Mesara's way by Yvette, "Don't attempt to direct this elsewhere. We are sisters. And that means we support one another no matter what!"

"You murdered father!"

"And how many has he murdered?" Yvette retorted sharply. She barely let Mesara finish her quip.

Silence.

Mesara could only sigh in disbelief as she stared at her sister. She tucked her sword back in its designated holder, not saying a word to retort back.

"Now you obtain the silence you should've had from the start? Now your mouth is shut?" Yvette stared Mesara down with a scowl painted on her face, "I am sick of you defending father with your entire being. I am sick of you reprimanding me for giving father the treatment he deserves! You said it yourself, you yearned for his death. You prayed and cried to the gods he'd die so we'd suffer less!" Her voice rose the more she spoke.

Mesara just stared at her as her voice rose with every sentence, "You're an evil... Vile daughter. If mother were here, she would be ashamed." Her voice shook as she looked at her sister.

"And what was he? A saint?" Yvette shook her head as she scoffed, "Mother isn't here to shame me because she is dead, and he murdered her!—"

"He did not kill her!" Mesara groveled loudly.

"He did!" Yvette's voice overpowered her in an instant, "He did it and you know it!"

Her words didn't stop like they would've did in their past arguments before she executed their father and took his crown, "Is it all you're good for? Kissing his feet, even when his headless corpse is being eaten by bugs in the forest!" Yvette's protests did not waver. Mesara couldn't drop her protection over their cruel, vindictive father. No matter how bad he would get—Mesara's first instinct is to defend him.

"You are absolutely unbelievable... You claim we are no less sisters than I am empress, yet here you are trying to ridicule me for what I've done!"

"No, sister. You are unbelievable." Mesara said quietly. The look of anger faded from her face, now just filled with disbelief and hurt at Yvette. Mesara was hurt especially by her sisters actions.

"I cannot stand by and witness you do this... He was our father. Our flesh and blood, and you're just throwing him away like this!" Mesara gestured back towards the barren room—messy with the aftermath of Yvette destroying it. Maids were in the process of taking out the rest of it as their empress' orders permitted them to do.

Yvette let out a sarcastic laugh, "Is that supposed to make me feel some sort of way?" She asked while putting a mocking hand to her heart, "Are your words of him being our blood supposed to disregard how he treated us like nothing?... My apologies... Stefani and I like nothing. Because he treated you like his daughter... Like his little princess..." Her voice grew quieter as her words of their mistreatment.

Yvette shook her head—her eyes glazing to the floor momentarily before she looked back at her sister. A flash of hatred in her eyes, "If you cannot stand to witness this... My new era of Eveene... Then you are free to go."

Another tense silence crossed the palace. Mesara just looked at her sister with a look of hurt.

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat before she spoke again, "If that's what you want," the quiet words were forced from her throat, "then it shall be given, empress." She added bitterly.

Mesara proceeded to storm off silently. The tension in the air was still palpable, even when they'd stopped arguing. The maids didn't stop cleaning, but it got rather silent. Not a sound. Not one.

Astrophel silently approached the empress from behind. He seemed to hesitate faintly to speak, but otherwise he did, "My empress." That deep voice vibrated in his throat like an awakening from hell.

"What?" Yvette responded with a sharp, yet dull whisper.

"It has been a long day." he began cautiously. He knew how she could get when she was like that. But that didn't stop him from feeling some type of way about her, "Perhaps a bath while the maids clean will set you at ease?"

It took a moment for Yvette to respond--calming herself down before she spoke to him again. She turned around to face the tall beast. Her eyes glazed up to look him in the eye. Astrophel was quite tall, especially given how he towered over everyone like a monster. Even then, Yvette didn't fear him. Especially not after a decade of him being brought into the imperial palace.

"Yes. That sounds... Needed." She sighed.

Astrophel could feel his heart struggle whenever he laid those honey eyes on her. He bit his tongue as he watched her walk away. His eyes traveled down her form subtly from behind before he caught himself and darted his eyes back elsewhere. He went back, or at least tried, to being the stoic monster everyone considered him as.

A shadow watched him from the corner, seething as he caught sight of the beastly man trying to keep himself composed. Even if no one noticed it, the soldier Xaro did. An angry grimace wrinkled his features. He looked away before he'd let himself get mad, however.

The knight trudged through the imperial halls of the palace. His thick armor clanking on the floor made the other guards tense up harder into their positions. The air grew thick as he marched towards the War Room. The room they used for planning attacks, or planning expansion.

"A beast... Before me..." He grumbled to himself, anger rising by the minute, "That foul monster ruined what we had... My Yvette...."

He pushed open the door with a violent shove, making the others in the room flinch when he entered.

"Listen before me!" Xaro said firmly. The soldiers and one of the imperial doctors were there. They all stared at him, awaiting whatever words were going to be spoken.

"The beast. The one that sits by the empress' throne, Astrophel, that one!" He said in a stern, half-yell. The name ‘Astrophel’ spat out of his mouth like he was saying an ungodly slur. At least Xaro considered his name a slur to his tongue.

They all remained silent as the general soldier spoke with hate, and envy.

"He is a sinful, ugly, beast and I want him gone!" Xaro nearly shouted once more out of pure rage, and anguish. He slammed his hand down on the stone table holding the empires map. Their highness reigned over miles and miles of land--nearly taking over the entire north. There were only 4 more empires aside from Eveene. Ulessa, Targa, Ve'tmora and Llaoesy.

"He is nothing but a danger to the empire!... And the empress." He said in a snarl, "I want nothing more than to watch him die. Therefore, I am assigning an expedition to cause his demise..."

"...out of the empress' regards."

The other soldiers and the doctor listened intently to the generals planning. The murder of Astrophel. The beast, son of nothing, abandoned by the monsters that dared birth him.

A young boy, no more than seventeen, watched amongst the little group. His eyes were of a doe, a blonde haired boy with rosy tints, unfit for a soldier. His eyes were near black in color, yet his hair looked like the gold around the empress' neck. Theodore, was just a boy serving in the military.

He felt uneasy listening to the general ramble and talk away. He thought Xaro to be evil himself--but he wouldn't dare utter the thought out loud. Especially not to his face. Theodore seen general Xaro as a fierce lion. Scarred, strong, brooding. While he seen himself as the oryx calf he'd easily maul. Theodore was still a boy, and a bit scrawny at that.

The decrepit doctor seemed a bit hesitant to speak up after Xaro got done on his mini rampage, "General..." His old, weary voice just intensified the tension, "... I don't think we should—"

Then it came.

"You do not think!" Xaro snapped at the weary man, "You cannot even remember how many fingers you have on your hand! I'm shocked you're still an imperial doctor, you old, scornful..." There was a harsh scowl on his lips. Yet he let his words trail off with a grumble.

"Out!" Xaro snapped his fingers. They all went rushing out of the War Room. Except for the old man who tried his best.

Theodore seen this and gently guided the older man out of the room with his help. He held the old man's hand with a grasp as light as a dove's feather. It was as if he was afraid to hurt the old man.

"Thank you, young boy." The old man wobbled out. With the guidance of the kind boy, he made it out nicely. Except for the hard slam that rang behind them.

Theodore felt horrifically sick to his stomach. He felt the ill intention radiating off of his general. He felt this strong urge to run to the empress, but he knew Xaro would make it seem like he was lying. The punishments afterwards would be unbearable. So he bit his tongue and tried to go on like he didn't feel physically ill from the anxiousness.

[bioshzrd]

this random ass guy who’s entire bit is that he can move like this is the only good wesker fan ever

[manicpixieangel444]

[catmask]

sometimes while i think about that while a lot of adults did not treat me very well as a kid i also get a lot of 'in hindsight this person was so good to me and i didnt even realize it until now' as an adult. today i was thinking about how the first anime convention i ever went to was when i was 10 and i asked the man working the manga cafe what manga was/what a good place to start was (because the con was very overstimulating for me and i had gotten lost) and he asked how old i was before recommending yotsuba and asking if i wanted any water or something to eat. its really simple but theres a lot of bad things that couldve happened or he could've been careless in his recommendation, but instead yotsuba has remained one of my favorite manga for years, and probably a large portion of why i continue to read manga as an adult... i think adults who try to involve kids in the world safely/kindly even in little ways make so much more of a difference than they ever really know.

[fleshdyke]

art tips that actually help. tracing pictures is fine. try not to shade with black. draw as much as you can all the time and make it shitty im so serious. dont buy expensive materials its not worth it. never post your art to tiktok. raise your commission prices. sparkle on be yourself

[noodles-and-tea]

Returning home

[blithe-bee]

color sketches from yesterday's livestream (vod is over here for a couple of weeks)! I was in the mood to play around with some light scenarios

[blastovkatamarinecromancy]

OK TUMBLR LET'S SETTLE THIS

NO SEE RESULTS OPTIONS, COWARDS! PICK ONE!

[idlesuperstar]

this speaks to me on a molecular level

[jsheios]

So Hilda season 3. (This post has nothing to do with hilda season 3)