my crime tools are rusty

This might be unpopular but I’m not going to use simpler vocabulary in my writing if it’s out of character for the narrator. If my POV character is a botanist, he’s going to call a plant by its name. If you don’t know what it is you can either Google it or move on just knowing it’s a plant of some sort.

I don’t like this trend of readers being angry that not everything is 100% understandable for them. I want my characters to be believable as people and sometimes people use words people outside of their field will not understand. That’s not a bad thing.

You don’t have to understand every word to get the gist of what’s happening. I’m not going to slow down an action scene to describe every weapon because someone might not know them by name. They can just assume it’s a weapon because that makes sense in the context of the scene.

Muad'Dib

I've slowly been chipping away at drawing scenes from that imaginary Muppet retelling of the Princess Bride, figured it was about time to share what I've drawn on Tumblr!

The Flame General hated these affairs. Around him, Ul’dah’s wealthiest and most privileged citizens swished this way and that, stuffing their faces with a bounty they had no hand in procuring, jostling for the attentions of the Sultana, comparing last quarter’s profits, trading stories of how hard it was to find good help these days. He scowled into his cup, not particularly caring who might see. His feelings on this matter were no secret.

His gaze drifted across the sea of garish finery to the only other person in the room who seemed as ill at ease as he did. The guest of honor.

The Elezen had managed to slink back into a far corner of the hall and was now watching the ostentatious display with an expression equal parts amusement and disdain over the rim of her own cup. The worrying of her free hand at the crook of her other elbow betrayed her discomfort, though, and it was obvious why. Grey Elezen were, as a rule, excluded from this caste of Ul’dan society.

She hadn’t noticed him yet, and he took the opportunity to study Ul’dah’s new champion, who was, admittedly, not what he had pictured when he’d read the Flame Lieutenant’s report. She cut a striking figure; lean and muscular, and tall, even for an Elezen; her closely-fitted, black leather garb almost more out of place than she was. A life hard-lived was written plainly in the angles and lines of her face, yet there was still a loveliness to it, framed handsomely as it was by jet black hair, cut bluntly to her chin. When she finally caught his gaze, he was startled by the paleness of her eyes - almost white against her dark, flint-gray skin. The look she gave him was inscrutable, but it lit something in him and he took it as an invitation to approach.

“Miss Penni, was it?” He asked, once he had worked his way through the crowd to her quiet corner.

“Moni,” she corrected, flatly, still regarding him with that unreadable expression.

“That is an unusual name for an Elezen.”

“Is it?” She took a sip from her wine, looking past him now. The dismissiveness of her air might have infuriated a lesser man, yet Raubahn found himself all the more intrigued for it.

“Will you not partake of the bounty that has been presented in your honor?” He probed, gesturing to the massive oak table laden with delicacies from what was likely every corner of Eorzea.

“Too rich for my blood,” she replied, after a pause, with a hint of irony in her tone. After another, longer pause, she turned to meet his gaze once more, a glint of fire in her pale eyes. “Does it not bother you to watch them gorge themselves while refugees starve in your streets?”

“Aye, it does,” he responded earnestly, his voice low so only she could hear. “But we do what is expected. The Sultana is not blind to the plight of the refugees, and she has directed a great deal of the crown’s resources to feed and house them, but there is a limit to even Ul’dah’s ability to provide.”

She scoffed, her gaze now fixed on a particularity rotund Hyur merchant who was presently stuffing a decedent meat pie into his mouth. “I’m sure the destitute take great solace in that…”

“And what do you know of Ul’dah’s destitute?”

“I’m a Thanalan Duskwight. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from there,” she replied dryly. Then she turned to look at him, fixing him with a curious gaze that seemed to pierce right through to the heart of him. “But you know what it is to belong among the unwanted dregs, don’t you, Flame General?”

Keeping reading

Ancient lock mechanism

Life and death are inseparable.

ZUHAIR MURAD Couture Spring/Summer 2024 if you want to support this blog consider donating to:ko-fi.com/fashionrunways

X'rhun Tia is actually the funniest mentor in ffxiv you can't change my mind

Eight of Water. Art by Maria Raducanu, from ​Radiant Scales: A Dragon Tarot Deck.

More things I had forgotten from the ARR patches: how Alphinaud basically accuses Aymeric to his face of manipulating the Scions on behalf of the Holy See for their own ends, and Aymeric just calmly looks him in the eye and is like, Wise up, kid. You and I want the same things here. It's such good foreshadowing for the fact that Alphinaud really is not as politically savvy as he thinks he is. But it's also such a great character moment for Aymeric, who is seasoned in politics and knows when to speak and when to keep his mouth shut and how to gracefully work around the obstacles laid in his path. By his measured response to Alphinaud (whom he undoubtedly recognizes as a precocious teenager shooting his mouth off thinking he's being clever), and his amiable response when Alphinaud relents and apologizes, not only does he preserve the arrangement with the Scions but he comes out looking like the magnanimous one in that situation, with the other party contrite and eager to demonstrate their cooperation.

sits on the floor and thinks about how the twins' extreme force sensitivity probably connected them before they even knew each other

(support me on kofi!)

when I started FFXIV I was a little confused, bc usually fighting gods is the last part of an RPG, but here it was one of the first. so I was wondering how escalation was going to go from there.

I have to say, I really respect a story about someone who can slay gods, but spends most of their time desperately trying to stop fighting people.

after the Ghimlyt Dark rescue 🍃

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DEV PATEL as THE KID

Monkey Man (2024) dir. Dev Patel

And both The Magician and Temperance, featuring Y'shtola and Zoissette, in their respective card frames. Once more, excellent and beautiful work by @home-halone! I love how they both have the same background but there are differences - Zoissette's with the gold lines, and Y'shtola's with more silver. Also, the subtle ways in which each card lean into their respective colour palettes. They are a matching pair, but they are different, each wonderful.