#why am I so fascinated with this?

[sl33py-g4m3r]

ever just randomly get really into something with no rhyme or reason behind it? or maybe there was and I just have no idea what sparked the interest at all...

for some reason I've become really interested in Mahjong~~ and come to find out there are quite a few different styles of the game; as it seems like just a card game but with tiles instead~~

not the tile matching one either, the actual game~~

which style tho? through cursory research there are so many different varieties of the game~~ so many... and I might've missed some but from what I've gathered:

American mahjong (is it the tile matching one or the actual game but with different rules?) looked it up, its a spin on the og game~~

Hong Kong style

different styles of mahjong all over china

Singapore ruleset

Japanese ruleset

and idk if that's it or not~~~ or if there are many more that I haven't found yet.

and the tiles are relatively expensive or so I've read. a set I think at cheapest price (haven't actually looked but am tempted to; but I've no need for the tiles) is like $50

and you need at least 3 people to play~~~ usually 4~~~

So I'd have no need for the tiles, unless there's some other games you could play with them...

so which style should I try to learn? should I buy the tiles, or would that be pointless?

why the sudden fascination?? I don't get it....

how hard would it be to learn? would it even be worth it for me to learn, given I have no one around to play it with?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who is this sassy lost child?

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[karta-ri]

for your consideration: s1 jayce, old mage viktor

[oldbutchdanielcraig]

rip armand thevampire you would have loved the way hannibal lecter erased the memories of his lover. and played on his ipad when he was alone in the evenings

[divorceblogger]

I think it’s everybody’s god given right to develop weird erotic fantasies but when it necessitates involving uncomfortable racial stereotypes we can afford to do that in private instead of broadcasting it out there, maybe

[inkedinserendipity]

rereading system collapse is so funny because murderbot's humans (and its asshole research transport) are like. illogically protective of it. some variation of this interaction happens like four times in fifty pages:

murderbot, standing around and stalling, having a mental breakdown: come on murderbot you gotta be better than this you can't just be having [redacted] do your JOB

ratthi/iris, who know this, distracting it: do those hatches look weird to you? those hatches look weird to me. murderbot, based on your thousands of hours of media consumption, do those hatches look weird to you?

and then to make it worse, feat. poor tarik:

tarik, on a high-stakes mission spearheaded by a secunit who is sending absolutely zero information back to the rest of the crew: ? status update?

iris/ratthi/art-drone, pulling out knives (/bombs): hey tarik? can you leave our murderbot alone? that's our specialest little secunit? it's got anxiety and it's doing its best so fuck off?

and then they start verbally stabbing him.

the amount of glee these scenes give me. i genuinely forgot how quickly they all rally around murderbot. and then there was that scene where murderbot went oh no, was tarik security, i don't want to take his job, and art-drone was like that was NOT his job he was NOT security and actually fuck that guy and YOU are security for my crew and if anything ever happened to you i would BOMB A PLANET

[im-smart-i-swear]

coming back home.

@barrenclan

[stars-and-darkness]

why does so much of mel discourse on this site centre on to what measure she did or did not manipulate jayce like that's the extent of her complexity and grey morality, as if she has not directly and indirectly been contributing to the opression of zaun not because she's prejudiced or hates them but simply because she profits from it, like i am so sorry my queen that they don't get you like i get you

[angelellipsis-devilofdots]

there is just something so extraordinarily beautiful about the final jayvik scene. and not just the emotion (which is of course the most important part) but i'm talking about the concept, the visuals, the music, what it looks like. the astral designs of jayce and viktor matching each other so perfectly, the soft monologue, the way the animators conveyed so much emotion with colors and microexpressions, the vastness of the universe around them, the way it plays back their memories and most important parts of their story with a gorgeous cosmic score (fun fact: the minimalist violin, in film score, represents cosmic understanding and high intellect)... there could not be a more perfect ending to their story in arcane and i won't ever shut up about this scene

[loresung]

I need to talk about the sons of Priam and the sons of Telamon and how their dynamics compare/contrast to each other right now. I had a post earlier during book club, but I wasn’t able to fully articulate my thoughts because of book club, so now we’re back with a more in depth post. 

Paris and Teucer are (to a degree) the less desired sons of kings, Paris by prophecy and godly circumstance and Teucer by nature of his birth. On top of that, they both favor a bow and arrow in the face of war. Where Paris fights and deals death from afar, separate from his brethren but especially Hector, Teucer is right there in the thick of fighting at Ajax’s side. His brother’s tremendous, seven-hide shield protects him as they fight together. They (Teucer and Ajax) seamlessly fill the gaps in the other’s defense and offense. In the field of battle though, being an archer is not looked on as favorably as wielding a spear or sword — something repeatedly remarked upon by the narrative. Paris and Teucer are less skilled in close combat than their highly noble brothers, Hector and Ajax. In this way, no matter how many foes they slay during the fighting, they bring less honor to their fathers than their brothers. 

Paris should have been raised as a prince. He was born fully and without doubt in the confines of a legitimate, noble marriage between Priam and Hecuba. Yet he was cast away due to prophecy, given to a slave to be exposed, and having survived that forced to grow up beneath his station from birth as a shepherd (slave) on Mount Ida away from his family by blood. Teucer on the other hand, is a bastard (as Agamemnon states within the Iliad), and as such is implied that he should have been raised on the fringes of the royal family, which he was not. Instead, Telamon raised him within his own palace alongside Ajax. Teucer is seemingly above his station. They have the upbringings the other “should” have. 

It makes you wonder how often Paris and Hector looked upon Teucer and Ajax and wished that is who they should have been. But there will always be a gap between Paris and Hector. Their circumstances ensured it. Hector loves Paris fiercely, but he does not understand Paris on a fundamental level. Paris has lived a life that Hector has never seen, has never experienced in any similar capacity. Teucer and Ajax understand each other perfectly. They have never been apart. Teucer has always had most, if not all, of what Ajax had. 

Hector cannot understand the notion of choosing his personal happiness over that of their people’s safety. He has never lived with wanting before. He does not understand why Paris clings so fiercely to that which he earned. His decision to return to battle despite Andromache’s pleas is selfish, for Hector does want the glory that fighting will bestow upon him. He will not submit to a life of slavery, something his very own brother has experienced for years. He would rather die in battle and be remembered as a prince that fought for their home than as a father that chose to be with his family.  Yet in the same breath, it is sacrificial. He does want his family. He loves them dearly. But he, not Paris, is the protector of their city. He is the greatest fighter at the Trojans’ disposal. He must always return to the field of battle, even if he also desires to be with his wife and newborn son. 

Paris knows that Hector loves him and will do anything for him. To some degree, he does abuse that in how resolutely he refuses to give up Helen and his place among his blood family, now that he has been returned to them. He earned these things for himself. Hector was given them. Why should he be the one to let go? Does he not have the same right to happiness that Hector has had all along?

I’ve lost my train of thought a bit, but yeah… how often do they wish that they were as close as Teucer and Ajax? How often do they wish things could have been different? It must sting to see what they should have had reflected in someone else. 

[sincerelyrf]

me: *seeing people yell about how they did Glintshore & Percy's death in the show*

also me: ..................anyway

[sgt-dignam]

look, the fact is, tabitha got pushed out of a lighthouse and somehow ended up near a hiking trail in camden, maine. i don't think i'm being controversial when i say, by all known metrics, that's impossible.

+ bonus: #jade's little drinking umbrella

[loboazul16]

This is how these two went right?

[fuumiku]

Laios & Marcille relapse AU!

My grab at baking dogboy Laios into an AU and yay laicion to top it off! Yaad is having a stroke! ^^

Soooo they had to hire a wolf beastman coach for the king's new behavioral impulses. It's a criminal yes but a PARDONED criminal after the last dungeon war! How many wolf beastkins, which are ILLEGAL, ready at the call of the government (and not too important to send away) do you think there are. This is also a show of alliance! The official answer though is that you two know each other already.

Cue Lycion being a bad teacher who just always goes "Okay so when you get the urge to eat raw meat, don't do that" and a Laios who's been enabled one too many times and is now running off doing whatever he wants howling at midnight in his room, cue therian on furry violence, cue Lycion corruption arc where Laios goes "come be a dog with me :3" more and more convincingly. They were born to play fight together as wolf monstery humanoids, thank you

Alternatively this is all fanfic that king Laios is making of himself when he has free time. The classic "skip work and be a wolf" fantasy

My ipad is still broken and I've still lost my last 2 years of art wips so more doodles & AUs to keep me sane, giggles! 2025 becomes the year where I make art I want for no reason always, real

[mochi-kitty]

Begging y’all to read solo comics. You could learn a lot about Bart simply by READING then you wouldn’t say things that are straight up wrong

[baldursghaik]

Thyneron and the Emperor have dramatically different outlooks on money and finances. I would not exactly call Balduran "self-made" since it's highly implied that much of his financial acquisitions were questionable at best, and outright theft, extortion, and exploitation at worst, but at the end of the day, he did still acquire his own money, no matter how illicitly.

On the other hand, Thyneron was born with a gem encrusted silver spoon in the mouth. Money means nothing to Thyneron in the way that money means nothing to all immensely wealthy people, in that it's been a permanent fixture in the background of his life. He has no more regard for money than he does for the lavishly expensive rugs under his feet. It is simply there, because it has always been there, and presumably always will be there.

At the same time, the Emperor is completely unconstrained by perceptions of wealth. I believe it has a certain taste for fine things, but it dresses and lives simply, and is more invested in the love of the game of acquisition. I think to the Emperor (and Balduran before that), amassing wealth was like a game, with only marginally higher stakes than dice or cards.

Meanwhile, Thyneron dresses in clothes he dislikes, associates with people he disdains even more, and is constantly buried in a mountain of self-hatred because he feels compelled to keep the rigid standards of the Upper City for the sake of his family and business. If he had it his way, he'd wear simple tunics and trousers and never go to a damned ball, feast, gala, or party ever again.

I always enjoy thinking of what money means to various people, especially two that embody separate sides of the same coin (ha) the way that these two do.