Ortho: Can't be too thorough. 😔

Grim: Next time means you eat ramen often, Kalim?

Kalim: Yeah. I saw Jamil eating it once so I asked for a bite and it was super delicious!

Can he hear

he looks SO fancy! ...but I cannot lie, this was my first thought

this did awfully well on twitter even tho it’s kind of rushed gulps so i’mmmm putting it here too 😭 will be doing a hc version later with a diff hairstyle probably… he has long hair so it’s easier to play around with than short hair www

"Shhh! Listen. Did you hear that? I think it was Leona Senpai's knees....."

"I'm gonna break your knees if you don't shut your-"

Or-

"What was it like?"

"......What are you on about-"

"Being around when the dinosaurs were here still. What was it like seeing them? Was it like Jurassic Park?"

"...........I am killing everyone here"

Or even-

"Cough! Hack! Leona Senpai! Give me some space!"

"? Why??"

"I can't breathe with all the dust coming off your brittle elderly bones"

"You little son of a bitc-"

he'd go full flippant sarcasm. he'd go begrudged babysitter mode. he'd be so, so insufferable.

someone's trying to rile him up, and Leona asks if he should get them a chew toy, because he remembers how annoying Cheka was when he was teething. actually, Cheka needs playmates, and you're basically the same age, should he call his sister-in-law and arrange for a play date?

oh, he needs to go to class? if he's so old, it makes sense he already knows all of the material taught, why would he need to attend?

while we're on the topic, did no one taught you to respect your elders? go run to the cafeteria and bring him lunch. obviously he can't go himself, don't you know he's so old and frail?

oh, you need help? too bad he's going to sleep. you know uncle's old, he needs his nap time!

again, apologies for the salty bitch i'm to become for this one

*inhales*

WHERE THE FCK ARE HIS EARSSS

WHERE THE EVERLOVING FUCK IS HIS HAIRRRRR

*screams into the void*

*exhales*

ok so? i like the actual fit. big buff intimidating lion man in a lacy suit? looks amazing. loving the contrast. everyone have shades of any given color they can work is, so Leona would have some shades of blues and yellows that suit him. idk if those are his specific shades? but imo pastels look gorgeous on him, they bring out the rich tones of his skin or smth

i also love the slouchy pose and the nonchalant energy. this is so Leona. like, you can tell that the nice suit was a big compromise on his part, because he signed up for that La Bonbon collab for some reason - but no one can force him to act prim and proper. he's gonna be exactly as comfortable as he feels like, and everyone else just has to deal with it

BUT THE HAIRRR WHERE THE FUCK ARE HIS HAIR AND EARSSS

like, i'm not even mad about the fact the hat is there. i even kinda feel like the hat looks alright! at least compared to the ones Vil or Kalim wore! but Leona's specific hat type really sells the "mature bastard /aff LI" vibe he's got going on

but oh my fcking gd i get such a huge vibe dissonance when i look at his head

like? i do appreciate that the guys put a bit of extra effort and try to style their hair differently for this series. so it would make sense if Leona also tried something different. and given that it's Leona, it would make sense he'd go for something simple

but??? doesn't he kind of care about his mane??? idk it just kinda feels weird that he'd decide to cram the entirety of it under a hat - which by the way should not have enough space to fit it????? they could've given him a braid. or a ponytail. don't get me wrong, the side lock is very fun and flirty, but. um. nooot a fan of him looking like he lost a bet to Vil and the latter approached the lion's hairstyle with vengeance.

He's vaguely implied to be kind of old, if Idia saying he's under an ancient curse is anything to go by. Sage's Island is also pretty remote and hard to get to. Did Grim make his way to the island recently? Did he, like, hitch a ride on a boat when he learned about NRC and decided to go there?

Okay, actually thank you @wyvernslovecake for these tags bc it actually made me think about my own theory for Grim, which is that he's got memory problems.

Think about it: Grim's under the effects of an ancient curse, canonically doesn't remember where he comes from or what happened prior to coming to NRC, and he's oddly naive about the world around him despite having basic knowledge that someone must have taught him (he can read and write, though possibly not well).

He also disposes of blot stones. What organization do we know of that would be interested in such a thing and has (well, had) access to a device that could wipe people's memories?

That's right. STYX. Perhaps Grim is a direbeast created or modified by magic in order to be a perfect containment vessel for blot. One that repeatedly had his memory wiped by STYX to prevent him from getting out of their control. Eventually he escaped (or was freed), but was still suffering from the effects of the Lethe program, enough that he has scraps of memory and knows things that are important, but lacks any personal memories of his life.

I was looking at the Sage Island map and took a closer look at the RSA campus due to our newly introduced boys

One thing I find interesting is how disconnected from the isle RSA is I mean it's basically on it's own island with only the bridge connecting it (not very safe i must say)

There also seems to be a rather sword in the stone shaped center of the campus...it might be a well and my eyes are bad but it'd be interesting for it to be in the center of it all

Right beside it too is what I assume to be their version of the mirror hall based on how similarly it's shaped (edit: it might be the building just above the green circle actually with how fancy it is)

i think the big building made of glass is probably their botanical garden and it looks way bigger than NRCs considering it's larger than their magift field which is fairly easy to spot so no notes there but what does draw my attention is that lighthouse.

is there a point for it? maybe a place where Mii (RSA! Yuu joke) would stay?

Also speaking of that bridge can we talk about that incline??? hello??? that looks like hell on someone's back D: it's so steep from this angle

To be fair to RSA, NRC's design and architecture also don't lend themselves to being very accessible. (Discussed here and here!) Just reaching campus from outside means climbing or driving up a super steep incline. I think Yana and her team followed the "rule of cool" (if it's cool, add it) in this case, rather than thinking about how difficult it may make life for students and those with disabilities.

Safety aside, I like the little aesthetic choice of having RSA off in its own little island/world. The shore being so close by also feels really dreamy, especially when one of their dorms is based on the Mermaid Princess’s passion.

It does look like a sword in the stone in the middle of RSA 🤔 although it’s hard to tell for sure because of the image quality. It’s said that many arcane academies have their own special artifacts, and being that RSA is NRC’s rival, I’d assume they have some equivalent to the Dark Mirror. We currently have zero lore on what RSA’s artifact is, but many fans assume it is, in fact, the sword in the stone. (More discussion here!)

The one thing I find a little odd about this is that this would mean the school’s ultra important and special item is just… out in the open, unprotected from the elements?? At least the Dark Mirror is kept in its own building and the Bell of Solace is up in its tower.

I don’t have anything to add regarding the theorized Hall of Mirrors and the Botanical Garden. Those guesses make sense to me, just based on the structure of the buildings compared to NRC’s.

I think the lighthouse just adds to the seaside feel? Or maybe it’s to add to the whole theming of the Radiant Seven having their own “lights” (ie virtues/values), in a more literal sense.

He's vaguely implied to be kind of old, if Idia saying he's under an ancient curse is anything to go by. Sage's Island is also pretty remote and hard to get to. Did Grim make his way to the island recently? Did he, like, hitch a ride on a boat when he learned about NRC and decided to go there?

The first spark

Practice doodle with Jamil, I wanted to draw him discovering he had magic when he was younger.