just an appreciation post for the set itself. my GOD have they outdone themselves this time

And who are you? Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023) (x)

It's only just now clicked for me that all the despicable horrors Sukuna drags Yuuji through time and again, all the feats of grand, unseen violence he puts up just for Yuuji, all the heinous atrocities and pain he inflicts on Yuuji -- they actually carry an inkling of something strategical, coldly calculated. Don't get me wrong, doing all that Sukuna clearly enjoys himself, his rampage in Shibuya sizzling with euphoria of finally getting to move freely, unshackled, and in the end that is the very nature of a curse -- cause suffering for the sake of suffering and feast upon it. But Sukuna, perhaps rather oddly, doesn't strike me as someone who would hold petty grudges and act upon them spitefully. Especially in regard to someone like Yuuji, who Sukuna considers little different from the filth beneath his feet and doesn't hesitate to make it known. So why even bother hating something so insignificant, miniscule? Why spare an effort to make this particular life miserable when suffering is already inherent to human condition? And while I'm at it, here's one more question, perhaps more on point with what I'm trying to say: why retreat of your own free will to the state of entrapment and give up the reins of control so soon after they fell into your hands?

Back to the point I started this rambling with, it seems to me that in the chaos Sukuna causes there is calculation. I think he's trying to do to Yuuji what he did in the end to Megumi -- crash this boy's beating heart and drown his soul. Sukuna's actions appear pointed, aware of the effect they make, targeted directly at that very thing which would hurt Yuuji the most, thus pushing him to the breaking point. Countless casualties, pointless bloodshed and utter devastation -- all to crack Yuuji's resistance, to eliminate the ability to fight back in a boy who was careless enough to wear his heart out on his sleeve in a world that grinds the kind down and spits out their bones.

But the darker the weather, the better the man. Where every other human being would break, Yuuji stands unyielding. The more is taken away from him, the more reasons he has to keep fighting. When the only sacrifice he could ever accept was his own, he lost too much. So he ploughs on -- because that's the only way he can pay the unfathomably high cost of him being alive. And for all his experience and cunning wit, Sukuna's miscalculated with this one: he cannot destroy Yuuji's heart for it was never Yuuji's to keep. He gave it away a long time ago. It beats with other people's pulse.

low poly nation make some noise

it's basically the same explanation as in the manga, but the anime has made it easier for me to understand what Kabru's beef is with the Touden siblings, and I think that explanation was really well done

Thoughts on prince Riko’s “perfect court” before anyone escaped Evermore ( @thefoxesraven pls remind me if it was you with the branding vs tagging idea on that insta live)

@snazzy-jas-z-is-a-fan-of came up with SO MUCH of the possible politics and family ties of this au, it was incredible to watch and I think I finally understand enough to post about it 😂 there’s a balance of power between the two branches of Evermore royalty, which balance is shifting slowly to the Moriyamas and by the end of the story belongs solely to them with Ichirou as king. I’ll try to explain it in a different post if there’s interest

(And lest we go a day without Abram angst: he does in fact get his brand and more, when he’s taken back to Evermore and Riko takes the chance to reclaim his property ‘like he should have done to begin with’.)

When your husband reminds you he's actually gorgeous.

when your wife makes you taste a meatball for the first time in your life together, and your whole body stops working because holy fuck, THIS is what they’re supposed to taste like?????

Dude

I'm gonna lose it

can you believe it took me until now to learn that angmar is in the far north of middle-earth. like well north of rivendell. i swear i really did read the appendices as a kid but clearly i did not retain from them a damn thing

Seeing as how I’ve now read two mxtx series where “arms tonight” by mother mother would be an appropriate addition to the playlist…

…how appropriate an addition to the playlist would “arms tonight” by mother mother be for tgcf

The fact that I have like 4 different really good games I could be playing, but instead I’m just playing two different stardew valley esque games whilst ignoring BG3 despite really wanting to play it… good job brain you’re doing great.

Going to my favorite local record stores google reviews was a mistake bc theres soooo many ppl complaining that it doesnt stock new records and is "too focussed on vintage" ok so go buy your shitty tswift records somewhere else bestie, its main focus is 80s punk and 60s psychedelic rock, why did you even come in here

(via @cordycepsbian)

We can answer this actually we love talking about Cool Art Stuff.

Despite what one may assume, sharp edges in watercolor is actually quite easy! Come, sit, allow us to share our secrets. It's like 50% "materials" and 50% "we spent a long-ass time figuring out how to do sharp edges in watercolor and now we're really good at figuring out the exact combos of consistency and brush stroke required to make those really hard edges"

The first trick is, of course, to not try and do it at the beginning of the painting. When you're just starting to block shapes in to your watercolor, pursuing sharp edges is a fool's ordeal, and you can only really get those sharp edges in as finishing touches near the end of the work.

The second trick is to work wet-on-dry - this limits the spread of the watercolor and allows you to prevent bleeding, but you have to make sure your painting is COMPLETELY dry before painting, or you'll risk having some ill-defined lines and bleeding.

The third trick is to work with... cake watercolors? There's a tern for it, we just can't remember it - dry pan watercolors, where you have to wet the paint to "activate" it, offer you a LOT more control over the consistency of your paint, and using a relatively thick paint will allow you some REALLY sharp lines! Fair warning, your mileage may vary based on the specific paints you use just because pigment is Expensive and cheaper brands of watercolor will almost definitely be, like, cutting out as much pigment as they can manage in order to cut corners, and the sharp edges will be less obvious the more transparent they are.

As a general rule of thumb when you pay for Fancy watercolor you're paying for the insane amount of pigment that they put in their Fancy Stuff and that lends itself a lot more to Sharp Lines (plus one thing of it will last Fucking Forever). The black we use Specifically is an Artisanal Fancy Brand that we don't remember the name of and we've been using the same ~$10 thing for more than a year without even using up half of it, but honestly the actual paints you use are the Least important part of doing watercolor, you can do like the exact same thing with dollar store paints it'll just be a bit less pigmented.

The fourth trick is to just, like, practice a TON. You WILL have to spend time getting it right. It will take a Long-Ass Time. You will have So Much Trouble. Unfortunately this step cannot be avoided but we can still warn you that you'll be trying to make really sharp lines for like an hour and it still won't quite work.

The last trick is to uhh

ok as much as i hate the newer cover designs for warriors, the one cool thing i have to give them props for is how all the spines line up to form one picture cause it does look really nice on a bookshelf. but for SOME REASON whatever advertising/marketing person took photos for the amazon listings decided to just. LINE THEM UP BACKWARDS???

like. this is such a silly stupid thing that doesn’t even matter but i just cant fucking get over it. i need to speak to whoever took these photos im so serious i need to grab them by the shoulders and shake them until they can explain to me why they thought this was a good idea